A/N: Next update! Thanks everyone who reviewed and followed! You're all amazing :)Disclaimer: I don't own Maze Runner
I wake up still feeling happy from the events of the night before. With a smile on my face I get dressed in my typical leggings and combat boots. I decide to wear a baggy tank top that is super cute and comfortable. It's purple with a sequined pocket on the upper left side. I grab the sweatshirt that was Minho's and tie it around my waist in case it gets cold later. I leave my hair down and clip back a piece.
I walk out the door and meet Newt and Minho in the hall.
"Good morning!" I say with a big smile on my face.
They both grumble out a morning before we make our way to breakfast. Minho and I obviously haven't really talked about last night, but I don't care. I told him I like him and that's all that really matters to me. It is out in the open now.
As we walk, Minho takes my hand in his so I look to him with confusion. He just winks causing me to blush and smile. Since Minho isn't a big emotions talker I'm taking it as his subtle way of saying we are officially a thing.
"I said it last night and I will say it again, it's about buggin time you two admitted your feelings. I don't have to listen to Minho complain and wonder if you liked him and watch you over analyze every little word that came out of the slintheads mouth. You were practically a couple anyways but I guess that snog really solidified the deal huh?" Newt says looking to us for confirmation.
"Oh shush." Minho says but smiles at Newt. Those two really are the best of friends. It actually comforts me a bit knowing that Minho was talking to Newt about me.
"So we are a couple now?" I ask Minho.
He squeezes my hand, "If you want to be."
I squeeze his hand back and nod. Newt applauds and the three of us start laughing at his antics.
Minho looks to Newt, "You know Newt, that makes you a perpetual third wheel now if you keep hanging around with us."
Newt groans, "Please keep the couply stuff to a minimum when I'm around then? If you're really my mates you'll grant me this one wish."
"Sure thing," Minho pauses, "Newtie."
Newt just glares at Minho but eventually can't keep the angry facade up and breaks down laughing. We get to the Kitchens and get in line for breakfast. Everyone sees Minho's hand in mine.
"It's about time," Clint says coming up besides us, "Newt and I have been starting to worry neither of you would ever say anything."
"Do all of you shanks just gossip while I bust my butt running all day?" Minho asks meaning it jokingly.
"Pretty much," I say as we reach Frypan who thankfully doesn't make an 'about time' comment and lets us go in peace.
After breakfast, Minho has to leave for the Maze and I have to go the Medjack hut.
"See ya tonight!" I say and give him a hug.
"Yes you will." He says and kisses my forehead before turning and running off to the Maps Room to get his supplies. I smile and walk into the Medjack Hut to get ready for the day but not before the other Runner's see us hug.
Ben comes over and pats Minho on the back, "Finally got her?"
Minho just slaps his arm away and kisses my cheek before running off with Ben.
Clint and I spend the day tending to Baggers and Builders. We heard the Greenie is starting off at the Slicers today. It's apparently a tradition but I wouldn't know considering I went the nontraditional route. It sounds disgusting anyway.
Sometime after lunch, Winston comes into the Medjack Hut with the Greenie. He looks incredibly pale.
Clint looks to Winston, "Not a Slicer then?"
"Nope. Took one look at the pigs and then the knife and passed out. Just woke him up and figured I'd bring him here to freshen up a bit." Winston then leaves the Greenie behind and gets back to work.
I walk over, "Hey, don't feel bad. We have so many jobs for a reason. You'll find where you belong I promise."
The kid looks at me and his face suddenly brightens up, "Thank you Ellie."
I smile at him, "You're welcome. Now do you remember your name yet?"
He nods, "Yeah, actually I do. It's Jack."
Before I can respond Alby and Nick come into the Medjack Hut. Nick approaches Jack, "Greenbean, what happened? You okay?"
Jack nods, "Yea just didn't like that job. I'm clearly not cut out for that."
"That's fine. You'll be with the Baggers the rest of the day then. Get the two hard to stomach jobs out of the way Greenbean." Nick says and turns to leave.
"What's a Bagger do?" Jack asks.
Alby chuckles darkly, "Oh you will see. They clean up any dead bodies we find lying around and kind of do maintenance in the Deadheads."
I roll my eyes at Alby's lack of understanding people's emotions.
"Also, you remember your name yet Greenie?" Alby asks.
"Yes. It's Jack." He says simply.
"Welcome to the Glade Jack!" Nick says, "Follow me. We have a pit stop to make before you get to work with the Baggers. Time to make you an official Glader."
"It's not another Griever is it?" Jack says and shudders.
It's then I realize what they have in mind, "Nah you only get to see that once. You're going to be signing the wall if my guess is correct." I look to Alby and Nick for confirmation and they nod. "Nothing too terrible. And if you need any advice Jack feel free to come find me! I was the last Greenie so I know exactly what you're going through."
Jack nods and then follows Nick and Alby out of the Medjack Hut. Jeff and Clint turn to me with a weird look.
"What?"
"You're really good with the Greenie. You have a calming and comforting presence." Jeff explains.
"Just trying to make him feel welcome. Plus, it's important to make someone feel comfortable if you want them to do their part." I explain and go back to my work.
Soon after we close up the Medjack Hut for the day the Runners return. They all disappear into the Map Room to do what it is they do in there. I decide to help Frypan out in the Kitchens for a bit.
"How's it been going Frypan? I haven't had the chance to work with you in a bit." I ask as we prepare dinner.
"It's been same old same old Ellie. How about with you? Anything new you want to tell me about? Anything about a particular shank?" Frypan asks and I look at him with eyebrows raised.
"Do you even need to ask?"
"Of course I do! I want to know the gossip." Frypan smiles.
"You know, boys are way worse with gossip I'm learning." I say and we both laugh and finish working.
Once dinner is served I join Minho, Newt, Alby and Nick. Odd group, we normally sit with Will and Dmitri.
"Hi guys!" I say and sit down next to Minho who smiles at me. I smile back at him and turn to Alby and Nick who are looking between Minho and I.
"I'm just going to say it. You two are so cute together!" Nick says with excitement.
I laugh, "Uh thanks?"
"But, I have to be a leader first and tell you to make sure you keep doing your part. We can't have lovers quarrels ruining either of your work ethics good that? Also, keep the PDA to a minimum please, can't have all the other shanks getting jealous and starting fights" Nick says suddenly back to leader mode.
"Good that" Minho says while I say, "PDA?"
Nick looks at me weirdly, "You, the resident girlie doesn't know what PDA stands for?"
I roll my eyes, "I know what it means Nick. Why do you think that would be an issue? Do either of us really seem like we love attention and PDA?"
"Good point Greenie." Nick says and goes to speak again but I cut him off.
"Not the Greenie anymore!" I say and sigh.
"Yeah Nick, she's just the Shebean, not the Greenbean" Minho says with a smirk sent my way and I glare at him.
Alby clears his throat, "There's one more thing I wanted to ask you guys. Ever since Newt got hurt we've been short a Runner so no one gets a break anymore and I don't want them getting exhausted. We need a replacement and we need to hold try-outs."
Minho raises an eyebrow and looks skeptically at Alby, "Isn't that my job to decide if I need more Runners or not?"
Nick steps in before things can escalate because I was getting the sense Minho didn't appreciate Alby making decisions on his behalf, "It is your job. You're right, that's why we sat here to ask you your opinion on if it's time to hold another set of trials and if we should start asking Keepers who they recommend?"
Minho sits in silence a second and looks to Newt because frankly I know nothing about this and don't even know why I'm here. Newt and Minho appear to communicate without words. It's always creepy when they do that but they've gotten so close they can tell what the other is thinking with just one look.
"Fine. Is that all?" Minho asks clearly indicating the conversation is over.
"Just one more thing," Nick says hesitantly and looks to Alby, "We were thinking and we have a recommendation. Do you want to hear who now or at a Gathering when we get all of the official recommendations?"
"Just get it over with now." Minho says and starts eating officially losing interest in the conversation. I grab one his hands under the table to calm him. In some ways, Minho seems more of a leader than Alby and Nick.
Nick and Alby share a look. Nick finally clears his throat, "I'll rip off the bandaid. We are officially recommending Ellie. She's the most qualified Glader here. She will officially be participating in Runner trials."
Minho stiffens next to me and rub circles on his hand to try to calm him but to no success.
"What if I don't want to be a Runner?" I ask.
"You don't have to decide just yet. Wait until after trials and then tell us that you still don't want to be a Runner." Alby says.
"That it?" Minho asks tersely.
Nick nods and shortly after Alby and Nick quietly excuse themselves and leave the three of us alone to talk about what just happened. It's mostly Newt and I talking, Minho remains relatively quiet.
"So you just pick people to audition for Runners?" I ask.
"Audition? No, it's not a bloody audition Ellie. It's called try outs. Keepers pick people either from their group or who they've seen doing exceptionally well around the Glade. They then have a Gathering and Minho and Nick must ultimately decide who gets to officially participate in training. Training then lasts a few days and is primarily with Minho and sometimes Ben. From there, we have another Gathering to decide who becomes a Runner and who goes back to their old jobs." Newt explains carefully.
"That sounds intense. But wouldn't one week not be enough? Clearly running requires adrenaline and muscle. Your muscles need time to adapt to the sudden change in movement and to eventually develop muscle memory thus making the runs easier. Also, one week is not enough time for muscles to get toned or to learn the entire course of the maze. I mean I would have no issue with the memorization but I take it not all of you have photographic memories?"
Minho chuckles and speaks for the first time, "No El. Only you have a freaky memory and brain."
"Hey! My brain is not freaky! I just have a large capacity for the storage of information and memories. My guess is my hippocampus is larger than most others." I cut myself off when I see them looking at me as if I just proved my own point.
"Right, I see what you mean. Sorry I tend to slip into nerd mode. But what about adrenaline? And heart rates? Wouldn't the Runners in training need to adjust their diets to compensate for the sudden increase in physical activity and thus an increase in their rate of burning calories?" I ask suddenly full of questions.
"I guess. That would explain why Minho always eats a ton." Newt says smirking at Minho.
"Maybe I just have an awesome metabolism." Minho says and takes a big bite of dinner.
After a moment of thinking what it would be like running the Maze I blurt out, "But I don't want to be a Runner. I've made that clear since the day I got here. I don't want to ever have to think about facing a Griever. I hate running, I don't have the endurance or muscle tone for it!"
"Actually El you do. You have the perfect memory for it; you would have the entire maze memorized it would be such an asset to the Glade. You do have the endurance because you were a dancer prior to this and you still look incredibly fit, and cute might I add." Minho says and wraps an arm around my waist.
I blush but am still a little unsettled by the news, "You don't think they'll force me into it will they? Please Min I can't do it. You saw how many nightmares I had after watching Gally get stung. Plus I absolutely hate running!" I add the hate running part in the hopes of lightening the mood.
"How do you know you hate running if you've never done it before?" Newt asks.
"Oh I have before the Glade. They forced me to run and do some physical activities and I managed to get out of them all by saying I dance and want to focus on learning as much as possibly because I seemed to be really fascinated with everything there was to learn! I love learning and actually miss it." I say with a sigh missing being in a classroom.
"Wow, you're a bigger nerd than I thought," Minho says with that charming smile of his.
I suddenly get insecure for some reason and look down. Minho leans in close to my ear and whispers, "But you're a very hot nerd. It's a compliment El."
I look to him and smile shyly and he smiles back and pulls me into a side hug.
Newt interrupts, "As cute as that was I think we need to decide what to do about Ellie if you don't want to run and frankly, I don't want her running the Maze if she doesn't want to and I take it Minho you don't want her to run?" Minho shakes his head no.
"It's nothing against you El. I think you're probably the most qualified Glader but I promised to protect you and so did Newt so I can't do that if you are a Runner." Minho explains and I nod.
"I understand. But, if it's what they want then maybe I have to do it. Let's not worry about it now please." I ask not wanting any fights to start and they both agree.
Newt leaves mentioning something about checking in on the Greenie so Minho and I take a walk. Minho leads me deep into the Deadheads past the graves and into the trees.
"Min where are we going? It's dark and I don't particularly like the dark." I whine but continue to follow him. He stops short in front of me and tells me to close my eyes.
"What why?" I ask.
"Please just do it El, actually get on my back first. I'll give you a piggy back ride." Minho says and crouches so I jump on his back and close my eyes.
We walk for a little while more and Minho finally puts me down so I open my eyes and see a field of grass before me. It's hidden behind all the trees of the Deadheads but it's so beautiful.
"It's so peaceful out here! How did you find it?" I ask stunned that I haven't found it before.
"Stumbled upon it early on during my time here," Minho says extending his arms out wide. Just as I'm about to speak a little black bug like thing comes scuttling towards us and I screech.
"What is that?" I yell and jump back on Minho's back without warning. Luckily he's strong and caught me with no issues.
Minho laughs, "Just a shuck Beetleblade. We don't know what they do but we think they might be the Creators way of spying. They have W.I.C.K.E.D. written across the back and it's also in the Maze on the walls so we figured it's connected to the Creators."
The word WICKED sounds very familiar and I feel a pain in my skull as I try to piece it together. I shake off the feeling and turn my attention back to Minho.
"Thanks for showing me your special place."
"Of course," Minho says and brushes a piece of hair behind my ear.
"We don't need to talk about us right? I don't like talking about emotions all that much either," I say and snuggle up against his side.
"No emotion talk here." Minho says and wraps an arm around me. We stay standing cuddling into each other enjoying the silence of the Glade at night.
