Sam POV

I walked in for dinner to find almost everyone crowded around one of the tables.

"Look, I'm making an effort!" I heard Newt call out. "But if anyone else wants to give it a go, I'll step down!"

I pushed through, ignoring the grumbling I got as I moved to the front. Newt was sitting at a table with Alby and Henry. All three of them (and everyone else) were huddled around what looked like a hunk of metal and a mess of tools. I tapped Newt on the shoulder and he looked up at me.

"Glad to see you've joined us, love." He said in greeting.

"W-What is th-that?" I asked quietly.

"It's a radio. We think." Henry answered. "But no one can get it to work."

"W-where'd you f-find it?" I managed. I could feel a number of the others watching me. I bit my lip and focused on the radio.

"Newt found it in one of those crates we got but it ain't workin." Alby told me. "So unless you know how to fix it princess...you listening to me?"

I nodded, but sat down next Newt and leaned towards him and looked at the radio. Alby looked over, suspicious.

"What're you on about, shank?" He questioned. Again, the feeling that I was being stared at by everyone in existence was practically swallowing me. I glanced up, then almost immediately looked back at the radio again. Yup, everyone's looking. Thomas, who despite being the Greenie had gotten himself near the front, gave me a reassuring look. I pushed the switch from AM to FM.

Alby looked at me cautiously, then leaned forward and flipped the switch to turn the radio on. Nothing happened. I rolled my eyes and turned the volume dial. Music came from the radio. Tinny and staticky, but it was working.

An upbeat orchestra of violins flooded from the tinny speakers. Silence fell over the room. Then a cheer went up from the surrounding Gladers. I frowned. The tune sounded familiar, but I couldn't name it. Newt and Henry looked at me curiously, an expression vastly different from the one on Alby's face.

"How'd you know to do that?" Henry asked. Then everyone stopped as words started flowing with the music.

Come on Eileen

Oh, I swear what he means

Aah, come on let's

Take off everything

Another cheer went up. Yeah it had words, but it might only play this one song. We'd all get sick of it eventually. Then again, they might've been cheering because the song sounded like it was about sex. They were teenage boys, after all.

That pretty red dress

Eileen (tell him yes)

Aah, come on let's

Aah, come on Eileen

I glanced back at Thomas. He seemed to be in a trance, like he had totally checked out or something. I made a mental note to ask him about it later. And now that I was hearing the lyrics that went with the song it seemed even more familiar.

That pretty red dress

Eileen (tell him yes)

Aah, come on let's

Aah, come on Eileen

"Sam." Alby said sharply. I blinked, then looked back at him. The scowl dominating his features made me wish I hadn't made eye contact. I bit my lip and looked away and into the slowly dispersing crowd. Thomas had snapped out of it and was giving me a funny look. I frowned at him, confused.

"How did you know how to fix it?" Alby demanded. I looked back to Alby. Uncomfortable, I shrugged. I flipped a switch. Clearly they had taken what they thought was the manly approach, by trying and failing to reverse engineer the thing. Newt seeing I was nervous, took my hand.

"She made it work, Alby." He defended. "That's a right lot more than we managed."

Only because you didn't have a strategy when you started taking things apart.

Come on Eileen, too-loo-rye-aye

Come on Eileen, too-loo-rye-aye

Now you're full grown

Now you have shown

Oh, Eileen

Henry shifted, clearly uncomfortable with standing between the three of us. Most of the others had lined up for their meal, the initial excitement having worn off. It was obvious they were still eager at the prospect of having the music, but they were also starving teenagers. Henry edged out of his seat and got in the line for dinner.

"I'm just asking her a question." Alby maintained.

"I-I...I j-just..." I attempted. Newt glared at him.

Say, come on Eileen

These things they are real and I know

How you feel

Now I must say more than ever

Things round here have changed

"If she doesn't know, she doesn't know." Newt told him. He squeezed my shoulders. "Come on love, why don't we get you some dinner?"


Newt POV

Sam ate quietly. Same as usual truthfully, but I've been trying to help her talk more. Since she doesn't like the way she sounds, I thought practicing would help. It hasn't. Not to mention Alby put her on edge. I love the bloke, but he's not always what I'd call...approachable.

Thomas glanced over at the radio. A new song was playing, the lyrics blasting. After we realized it played more than one song, the volume had been turned up so everyone could hear the music over the clanking and clattering of dinner.

'Cause it was the heat of the moment

Telling me what your heart meant

The heat of the moment shone in your eyes…

"Do you think the songs'll start repeating? Eventually?" Thomas asked. He watched the radio suspiciously.

"It's a radio, Tommy." I chuckled. "I think we're safe."

"Newt's right." Sam agreed. She was still working on her voice and she was in the middle of chewing. "I mean, what-"

"Is that your sign for Newt?" Thomas asked. Sam froze. I looked over at her, concerned. Thomas looked confused, then he grinned. Before, Sam had made signs for names so she didn't have to keep spelling them out, the first letter with another word. Minho was M-run. I wanted it to be M-shank, but she didn't know the word for it. Or, rather, she wouldn't do it. No matter how much I tried to convince her.

"Is it?" Thomas grinned. Sam looked glanced between me and Thomas.

"Um..." She cringed. I raised an eyebrow. I didn't know the word she'd put after my name. I hadn't bothered to ask what it was, but now I was curious. Thomas laughed.

"Awwww." He smirked. "That's adorable."

"What? Why? What is it?" I asked. They ignored me.

"Sh-shut up." She scowled at him. Sam looked away and stabbed her dinner with her fork.

"Anyway..." I glanced at Sam suspiciously; she was blushing and hadn't looked up from her dinner. "It's good music, I don't think we need to be looking for some kind of catch in every little thing. I'm sure it's fine."