Later, I was able to join a gathering. No one was sitting this time. They were standing, obviously. All the Keepers were there, Newt leaning against a pole. Thomas and Minho came back from the maze with what looked like a metal cylinder and threads hanging out of the end. A red seven was put onto the small, black square on the side of it.
Newt handed the strange device back to Minho after inspecting it. "We found this." Minho spoke up. "It was inside a Griever. These are the same letters we get in our supplies." He motioned at the w.c.k.d printed onto it, too.
"Yeah." Thomas nodded. "Whoever put us here obviously made the Grievers."
Wow, really? Had no idea.
I secretly glanced at Gally, only to catch him staring at me already. Then he looked away.
"This is the first real clue, the first anything, you've found in over three years. Right, Minho?" With a desperate look, Thomas stared at the Runner.
"Right." He confirmed.
Satisfied, Thomas turned to the person I considered as his crush. "Newt, we gotta go back out there. Who knows where this might lead us."
"You see what he's trying to do, right?" Gally's face was full of disbelief. He was looking at Newt too now, expecting him to choose for his team.
"First he breaks our rules... and then he tries to convince us to abandon them totally. The rules are the only thing that have ever held us together."
He had a point. So did Thomas. But Thomas wasn't trying to abandon the rules.
"Why now are we questioning that? If Alby was here, you know he'd agree with me." He continued. "This shank needs to be punished."
Before Newt could reply, Billy did. "And what about your girl, hm? I don't think we can let her get away with this either."
I was close to rolling my eyes.
"And I don't think we should be discussing that right now." Gally gave the boy a death glare.
"Gally's right." Newt interfered fast. "Thomas broke the rules. One night in the Pit, and no food."
"Oh, come on, Newt!" Gally threw his hands in the air. "One night in the pit? Do you think that's gonna stop him from going into the maze?"
Triumphant, he turned his head. "No. And we can't just have non-runners running into the maze whenever they feel like it. So let's just make this official." He gave Thomas a nod. "Starting from tomorrow, you're a Runner."
I gasped. And I knew this was not about me, but this what they were doing now? Discrimination.
I had tried and tried to be a Runner even before my attempt and got ignored, and now Thomas just got to be one after a single night of surviving while I survived too? I was aware I couldn't be a Runner with my limp, but still. Jeez!
"Wow." Gally moved toward the exit of the hut. Frypan tried to stop him, but Gally avoided his hand. "No, Fry."
A few seconds later, I got ready to leave, too. Not to follow Gally. But to do something that would keep my mind of all the drama going on. Such as writing poems.
~
I found myself close to crying a few minutes later.
I was sitting on my bed, legs crossed, and notebook in my hands. I went through the pages, staring back at the things I wrote in the past.
But the words were blurry and I couldn't concentrate, especially not when shouts came from outside.
It sounded too interesting to not check up on it, so I, very slowly, made my way to the noises. It didn't take long for me to see multiple boys standing under the tower, and someone throwing fruits from the top.
I covered a laugh with my mouth at the absurd sight.
"Girls are awesome!" Chuck pointed out to Thomas.
Facts.
"Hey, throw one more of those things and I'll- OW!" An apple flew onto Gally's head, which made me laugh even louder, from a few feet away
"Go away!" A female voice came from the tower. The girl was awake.
"We come in peace!"
"Just duck!"
Newt hid under a piece of wood with Winston. "I don't think she likes us very much."
"What do you want from me?" She shouted.
"We just wanna talk."
"I'm warning you!"
"Take cover, y'all! Take cover!"
Then of course, Thomas made his way into the situation. "Hey, it's Thomas! It's Thomas!" The fruits stopped. The black-haired girl peeked over the edge to the tower, her attention clearly drawn to Thomas. "I'm gonna come up, okay?"
Gally moved forward, too, but Thomas stopped him. "Just me."
Offended, he watched Thomas climb up the later.
And I was overthinking a little.
Why would Gally want to climb up that tower? To see the girl? Hopefully just to get information? And wow, she was so beautiful.
Jealous? Nah.
I walked away again, still not daring to talk to Gally. He didn't seem to want to talk to me either, so we kept distance for a while. The next day I would tell him sorry.
~
I felt a little left out.
Or very left out, actually.
My plan to make an impression didn't even work. All they talked about was Thomas and the Griever he killed and really, no offense, but he wasn't the only one that survived.
Though I did get hurt and never killed a Griever.
My mind was struggling with its own thoughts.
Who knew what their cute little club was doing right now? I heard rumors about some kind of serum the girl brought up with her and that they wanted to try it on Alby, but I had no idea if it was true.
Could've arrived a little shuckin' sooner, I thought, throwing my notebook onto the wall. Could've saved Ben.
God, I missed him. And sometimes I saw Josephine wandering around the Glade, her gaze confused. Looking for the boy that took care of her. And now he was gone. Shucking gone.
A tear leaked from my eye. And soon there were more. And there was also a knock on the door.
"What?" I snapped.
The door opened, revealing Thomas. Behind him was mostly darkness, since twilight had fallen a while ago.
I wiped all the tears off of my cheeks fast. "What do you want?"
He shrugged. "Just checking up."
"I'm doing perfect, Thomas. Thanks, Thomas. Bye, Thomas. It was nice to have you here." I muttered as I took my notebook again. "Just leave. I don't want to talk."
"Even I know that you love talking."
"Stop saying that." My eyes narrowed. I didn't dare to look him in the face, so kept staring at my hands, which rested on my lap. "Everyone should stop shucking sayin' that I love to talk because I do not."
"But you-."
"There's a difference between saying everything that comes to mind or just talking because you enjoy it." I snarled.
"But we like it when you talk."
"Lovely for you. Bye, Thomas."
He sighed. "You can't send everyone away and lock yourself up in here."
"Watch me. I've done it before."
"Why?"
"Because I jumped off a maze wall." I blurted out.
He scoffed. "Funny."
I stared at him.
His smile started to fade. "You weren't joking...?"
"I wasn't. Minho told you I had been in the maze before."
His face paled, and his brown eyes turned big. "Oh. I'm sorry." A long pause. "Why did you do it?"
I glared at him.
"Sorry." Thomas looked down. Fidgeted with his fingers. "I do think you did amazing in the maze."
My face lit up. "Really?"
"Mhm." He nodded. "A-maze-ing, ya know?"
I shook my head, closing my eyes at his stupid joke, but smiling. "Thanks."
"It's not nothing. Minho and I already struggled, let alone you." He sighed. "I have to go soon, though. My night in the Pit, or Slammer, whatever."
"It's cold in there. Good luck." I was still smiling.
"Thanks. I'm sure I'll enjoy it a lot." He said.
"You better." I chuckled. "Did you give Alby that serum?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. We did. It calmed him down. We're gonna wait to see what happens next." He got up from his seat. "It was nice to talk to you, Val. See ya."
"Thanks, Thomas. Bye."