Y/N P.O.V.
The siren announcing the new greenie sounds all over the glade and makes me jump again. Even though I have been living here for 5 months among some boys, I have not gotten used to it yet. After Alby I was the second glader sent up, then Newt, Gally, Zart, Frypan and today the new one. Unfortunately I am the only girl here but that could change now.
Curious I look through the only small window of the blood house outside towards the box where all the boys have already gathered. The alarm fades and as far as I can see Alby opens the elevator gates with Newt. I take a look at my little watch and sigh. My lunch break starts in half an hour so I will meet him- or her later. I cut off more strips of meat with the sharpest knife I own and wipe the blood off my once white apron. Until my shift is over, I feed the living animals behind the hut and slaughter a pig. My job is cruel but none of the other boys can or want to do it so this is up to me. Actually none of the shanks can see blood without throwing up or fainting - yes they are real little princesses sometimes. I don't have a problem with blood or guts, I'm pretty tough. Tensely I look at my watch - two more minutes and I'm done for now. I go behind the piled up bales of straw and fill a bucket with water when I hear the door of the big hut open. "That new greenie's pretty rude, don't you think?" I recognize Alby's deep voice immediately. "Yeah, he's a real slinthead and blows off one sarcastic remark after another but he seems to be brave. Maybe I can take him into the maze and make him my running partner. See what Y/N thinks of this boy." Newt replies and I come out from behind the straw pile. Emidiatly I am greeted by two high screams that the boys emit when they see me. "Ladies calm down! I'm not proud of my job either but shall I tell you how you look while you are working?" I say with a grin and shake my head. Newt is actually even paler than usual and Alby puts his right hand on his chest as if he just had a heart attack. "Bloody hell! Y/N, you shucking shuckface look like a murderer! Stop being a buggin' creep for God's sake!" yells the British boy in his thick accent. I just chuckle and brush my hair to the side. "What do you want? I'm about to have a break so hurry up, because unlike you guys I've got a lot of work to do." I say while Alby seems to have calmed down again. "You can enjoy your break but we wanted to ask you if you want to meet the new Greenie?" our leader asks. I just shrug and frown. "Okay, but from what I've heard you say, he's not really great." I turn in while wiping my hands on a towel. "You better find it out by yourself.", he thinks for a moment before he continues, "How about scaring him a little, like a prank? He doesn't know anything about you but your job yet, and that you're the only girl. I think I speak for everyone when I say he deserves it." Newt says with a mischievous grin and I raise my eyebrows with interest.
I'm always ready for a good prank and love to scare the others so this is perfect for me. "Sounds good. Where is he now?" I ask with a smirk. "Kitchen." Alby replies and I quickly run over to the open hut.
I sneak in through the back door and take one of the smaller knives from my belt, which I still wear over my bloodstained apron. Frypan is chatting with the new guy and I hide near his table. "Is Y/N pretty? If so, does she have a boyfriend?" the unknown voice asks and I roll my eyes annoyed. Boys. "Yes she is pretty, everyone thinks she is wonderful and besides that she is quite tough. So don't even think about hurting her, you hear me, shank?" Fry replies slightly irritated. I mumble a silent "Aw" and get ready. As Frypan leaves the kitchen, I sneak up on the dark-haired boy. I stand behind him and tap him on the shoulder. As he turns around with a grin, I put on my psychopath-look and smile. "Well, hello greenie." my voice is sugar sweet but I have to look really horrible with all that blood on me because the Asian shank is losing all colour from his face and with a little scream he falls off the bench. I can't hold myself back anymore and break out in laughter. "Seriously, you guys should really worry about your girly screams." I say giggling and get a scathing look from the black-haired guy who is just picking himself up and knocking the dirt off his clothes. I hear clapping behind me and turn around to see the rest of the gladers applauding with a grin. "That was really necessary, the shuckface wouldn't stop babbling garbage." mumbles Gally and leaves with the others.
I go to the small sink in the kitchen and quickly wash off the blood, make a new braid and take off the apron. Then I take some of the food that Frypan has left for me and sit down at the table. "Minho..." mumbles the newbie, who still looks a bit lost. "What?" I ask as I chew on my bread. "My name... my name is Minho." he says louder and I smile. "Congratulations greenie, won't you sit down again?" I ask with a grin. Minho sits down hesitantly and looks at me in silence. "It's impolite to stare." I mumble and Minho smirks suddenly. "Not when you look at such a beautiful girl. Did it hurt-" I interrupt him and roll my eyes, "- when I fell from the sky? No, not really. I took the stairs from hell." I reply with a little smile on my lips and Minho laughs. "I like you Y/N. Do you think I could have a chance?" he asks and I make an innocent face. "Maybe." Then I get up and leave him sitting alone at the table.
During the next weeks Minho and I really grew together and we spent every free second doing whatever was on our minds. We laughed and talked for hours and pranked the other Gladers as a team. Sometimes he would sneak away from his work to meet me and made me laugh with his flat jokes. And sometimes I would steal extra food from Fry and share it with Minho. Of course Alby noticed this at some point and the two of us had to listen to a very long lecture. As time went by more and more boys came to us and then suddenly Minho became a runner.
Since then I spend my lunch breaks alone on the small rock next to the animal enclosure or, like today, with Fry in the kitchen, waiting for the runner. I sit on the counter and bite into my sandwich while the cook cuts carrots for a soup. Somehow my mind wanders to today's morning while listening to him.
- flashback -
Like every day I got up very early and accompanied Minho to the gates. And on the way there we both fooled around until we had to say goodbye. Just as the sun rose over the walls, I hugged him and wished him good luck. But today it was somehow different. Otherwise he would make one of his comments like: "I hope you don't miss me too much, shuckface." but instead he just looked at me and smiled. All of a sudden I felt this tingling in my stomach that spread all over my body and I felt incredibly warm. We stood there and looked at each other for a minute, but then Newt came and the two of them ran into the Maze. Apparently I really fell for him, although I never thought that real feelings could arise from our little flirts that meant nothing.
- flashback end -
The corners of my mouth turn into a smile and I chew on the small slice of bread in my hand. "Y/N? Are you okay?" asks Fry and my head shoots up. I stare at my best friend with big eyes and he peeks me with a wooden spoon. "You're thinking about him, aren't you?" he whispers with a grin and I shake my head blushing.
Unfortunately, Frypan knows exactly what's going on in my head. "No...no, I-" He gives me an 'are you serious?' look and I sigh. "Okay, yeah. I was thinking of him. Are you happy now? I didn't think it was possible but I might have a crush on this dork and now I can't stop thinking about him." I admit and fold my arms across my chest. "What should I do now, Fry?" I ask helplessly and look at him sadly.
He leaves the food on the table and walks to me. "Come here." He takes me in his arms and strokes my back reassuringly. "Let me tell you something: Anyone with eyes in their head can see that you like each other. You are a beautiful girl and any shank out there should call himself lucky to get you. Now especially Minho. Probably the best way to tell him how you feel would be when he comes out of the maze later. What do you think?" he asks encouragingly and I nod. "Thanks Fry, you're the best buddy a girl can have." I mumble and he chuckles. "You're welcome. You better go now or you'll miss Minho at the gates." he says and I jump off the counter. Before I leave the kitchen, Fry holds me back. "One more thing: if he hurts you in any way, I'll personally throw him into the maze and he'll die as griever- food!" he yells and I nod with a grin. Then I storm out of the hut and run to the open gates.
Before I reach them, Minho and Newt jog out of the maze and I run faster. When the dark-haired runner sees me, he stops and spreads his arms smiling. I don't even think about slowing down and run straight into his embrace. Minho stumbles backwards but catches himself quickly and closes his arms around me. It doesn't bother me that he is sweaty, because somehow I block it out completely every time. "What did I do to deserve such a heartwarming welcome, munchkin? Besides that I'm the bestest friend on this planet." he asks and I can literally hear the smirk that is plastered on his face. "Just needed to do this. Can I talk to you for a second? There's something I have to tell you." I ask and look at him pleading. "Minho, are you coming? We have to draw the new route. You can chat later, but I want my bloody work done for today." Newt shouts, who has already gone in the direction of the map room, and Minho nods at him. "Can it wait just a little longer? It's really important that we remember everything and I'll be back in fifteen minutes, okay? Thanks.", I open my mouth to say something but he runs after Newt without waiting for an answer.
"Well I guess I'll...see you later then." I mumble feeling down and head back to Frypan.
An hour has already passed since Minho came out of the maze and I sit together with Alby, Gally and Ben, having dinner. I convince myself to swallow a few bites and listen to the boys with half an ear. "...and that's why llamas are good cooks." I look up in confusion and frown. "What?" I ask and the others start to laugh. "You were so absent that you didn't listen to us anymore." explains Gally with a smirk.
"I'm sorry, guys. I wanted to tell Minho something important but he stood me up." I murmur and shrug. Ben waggles his eyebrows conspiratorially and Gally snickers. "Will you finally tell him you're into him?" I choke on my own spit and cough, my eyes wide open. "Why do you think that?" I stutter and Alby rolls with his eyes annoyed. "Really? You wanna play that game? There's no other boy you spend more time with and nobody laughs at his jokes more than you. It's so obvious and besides, Minho told us to- aah! This wasn't shucking neccessary, was it?! ", our leader howls and bumps his knee against the bottom of the table. Obviously one of the other two shanks has kicked him on his foot. "What do you mean, Alby? What did he say to the others?" I ask curiously. He looks back and forth between me and the boys. Ben shakes his head and Gally gives him a warning look. "Boys! Tell me!" I demand louder and I feel the eyes of the surrounding Gladers on me. Just as Alby is about to answer, Minho comes to us with Newt and lets himself fall on the bench next to me. "What are you talking about?" my best friend asks and wraps an arm around my shoulders. I shake him off and see out of the corner of my eye that he glares at me for a moment. Newt seems surprised but I turn to the other three. "You were about to tell me what Minho said to you, that you were so afraid to tell." The runner next to me becomes nervous. "I only told them that you are like a sister to me and I didn't want you to know that because you would have teased me forever with it." Minho chirps with a grin and I feel like he just stabbed a knife in my heart. I smile under duress and get up. "Oh, okay." I feel the lump growing in my throat and blink the tears away in my eyes. Minho holds me by the arm. "Hey, what's wrong, munchkin? I thought you had something you wanted to talk to me about." he asks and I press my lips together. "It's not important. I'm not hungry anymore. It's probably better if I go to bed now. I'll see you tomorrow." I mumble and pull my hand out of his grip. With hurried steps I bring my plate to Fry, who looks at me worriedly but I shake my head and wish him good night.
Even before I leave the hut, I start running. Right now I am happy to be one of the original gladers and to have my own room in the homestead. I run up the stairs and open the last door at the end of the corridor. The first tear runs down my cheek but I pull myself together and wipe it away. Frustrated and sad, I kick my shoes into the corner and sit down on my little bed. Why did he say that? Am I too ugly? Too annoying? Too clingy? Did I say something wrong? Did I do something to hurt him? I bury my face in my hands and take one deep breath in and out. Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! I'm not gonna cry over a shucking boy! Why does my heart hurt so much when I'm mad at him anyway? This buggin' slinthead of a runner...
I get up and walk to my tiny sink and wash my face. When I look up I see my distorted reflection looking sad and disappointed. I take a trembling breath when there is a knock at the door. "Hi munchkin, it's me - Minho. Can I come in?" his hushed voice sounds. I grit my teeth and claw at the sink to pull myself together. "No, I don't want to talk to anyone right now. Just please leave." I hiss and hear him sigh. "Listen, I'm sorry if I said anything wrong and also that I took longer in the map room." I suppress a sob and squeeze my eyes shut.
Minho P.O.V.
"Please, we're best friends" I say quietly and I could slap myself for this lie. Friends?! Who am I kidding? She's the most wonderful girl in the world, and I'm not saying this because I've never seen any other girl, but because we just blindly trust each other. Y/N is everything to me. "Can we talk? I feel really bad.." I ask her, but the next moment I hear a dull thud, followed by the sound of broken glass falling to the floor. Without hesitation I open the door and look for Y/N in the dark room. I hear soft whimpering and discover her huddled together next to the sink. Around her are innumerable small glass splinters and with a look in the direction of the mirror, I conclude that she has been hitting it. I squat down next to Y/N and pull her towards me. "Why did you do that?" I ask angrily and wipe away her tears. She remains silent and doesn't look me in the eyes. Her lower lip trembles and I take her bloodied hand in mine. "Munchkin, talk to me, please. If you're sad, I'm sad, too. And you can tell me anything." I whisper but she stays silent and I sigh. We just sit there for a few minutes until Y/N doesn't cry anymore and starts laughing softly. "I was so stupid." she mumbles incredulously. "What? No, you're not stupid." I say, she just shakes her head. "Yes, I am. How could I have been so stupid to believe that you could fell in love me? You only care about yourself and not about other people's feelings." she raises her voice towards the end and pushes me away so she looks at me. Her eyes sparkle angrily and hurt. "Th-that's not true. I-wait, you love me?" I ask, not sure, whether I might have misheard. "You know what? I really don't care about our friendship right now. Yeah, I was gonna tell you today, but you slinthead didn't have time! I should be so mad at you- but... I can't." she looks at me with those big, beady eyes and sighs. "I just can't hate you, you shuck-face." I stare at her speechlessly, searching for words. "I'm sorry, Minnie. I've ruined everything.", my brain works in slow motion until I put one and one together. The corners of my mouth move up and I grin at her. Carefully, I lean towards her so that our noses touch. Y/N looks at me insecurely and holds her breath. My hand brushes against her right cheek as I brush her hair to the side. I am not someone who lets people get close to me but with this girl I am a different person. I close the small gap between my lips and hers and my eyes flutter shut. It seems like the world grew silent when our lips move in sync and I can hear the blood rushing through my veins.
Slowly, both of us pull apart, exhaling as our eyes find themselves again.
Tears shimmer in their eyes. "H-holy shuck." I breathe out and she looks at me in disbelief. "I don't understand, I thought you see me as a sister." she whispers. I can't help but laugh. "That was a lie. I didn't want the boys to tell you that I forbade them to keep their shucking hands off you. You wouldn't believe how mad I get when the greenies look at you. I really have a crush on you..you make my heart go crazy. " I admit and she chuckles. All of a sudden, she leans back over to me and presses another soft kiss on my lips.
"You're the shuckiest shuckface on earth, ya know that?"
---------------------
3367 words 💭