A/N:
Hey guys! Sorry this update took so long, I had loads of school work. I'll try and get the next one out sooner. This chapter's a bit longer for you though. I know right now not much is happening in the story but I promise I do have a plot and it will start to take place sometime soon, even if you don't realise at first. Hope you guys enjoy!
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CHAPTER NINE
Eleanor
When I woke up the next morning, it was to the sound of snoring. Rubbing my eyes, I looked over and saw Newt lying on the bench fast asleep. He was snoring so loudly that I wondered how it hadn't woken him up already. Half of me wanted to laugh and the other half wanted to roll over and go back to sleep.
Looking at the window I realised it was early morning, about the time I would normally have to get up. Wait. How do I know that? I wondered before shaking the thoughts out of my head, I didn't want them to consume me.
I slowly pushed the covers aside and got out of bed. Yawning, I stretched my arms and stood up. Newt must have slept in. He was lying face down on the bench with one of his arms dangling off. I noticed a wristwatch on his arm and walked over to double check the time. Picking up his arm, I looked at the small machine. It was 8:30 am.
I heard a tired groan and Newt rolled over slightly. I jumped back, hoping I hadn't woken him up.
"Eleanor?" he whispered groggily. I felt myself blush at being caught looking at him, even if it had just been at his watch.
"Oh, um, hi." I stammered. Newt rolled over until he was on his side, facing me.
"What time is it?" he muttered.
"8:30." I told him, while walking over to my box of things and grabbing a clean pair of clothes. Newt groaned again and rolled onto his stomach, his arms covering his face. I chuckled at the sight, before smothering it quickly.
"Newt?" I asked and he made some sort of sound to show he was listening, "Aren't you supposed to be getting up?"
"Just five more minutes." Was his sleepy answer. I sighed before deciding to let him sleep in. I looked over at him, warned him not to look up, and then quickly changed into some fresh clothes. Telling Newt I would see him at breakfast, I left the room.
Newt
Too early. It was way too early. I groaned and rolled over slightly, in that place between being asleep and awake. I didn't know what had woken me but I could faintly make a figure standing opposite me. I scrunched up my eyes from the light.
"Eleanor?" I asked, my voice sounding faint and tired even to my ears.
"Oh, um, hi." She muttered back in response. If I had been fully awake, I would have wondered why she was embarrassed to see that I was, however I didn't.
"What time is it?" I asked her, rolling over so I could properly face her.
"8:30." She told me, while walking over to another part of the room. I groaned and rolled over onto my stomach. 8:30?! That's way too early. Even though I was used to getting up early, there were days when it still sucked. At least, I wasn't a runner anymore. That was a plus side, not having to get up at the crack of dawn every day.
I heard Eleanor stifle a laugh and felt a strange urge to say something witty. Nothing came to mind and I was too tired to say it anyway. I just wanted to drift off into another sleep.
"Newt. Don't look, I'm changing. Ok?" I heard her say. Suddenly, I felt awake. I could feel the warm blush creeping up my neck and covering my cheeks. After I moved my head to let her know I wouldn't look, I heard moving around slightly as she changed her clothes. Thoughts were racing through my mind faster than ever, and I had a strange urge to look up. What do I do? Should I lie still? Do I roll over? Do I look? Can I look? No! You promised her. Then why do I kinda want to. Oh bloody hell, what's going on!
I barely even heard her leave and tell me she would see me at breakfast. When I did sit up, some minutes after, I was no longer tired. I could feel my blush fading and tried to direct my thoughts away from Eleanor. Besides, this was normal right? Happens to everyone? It was probably just an awkward situation. Yes, that's what it was.
Eventually, I shook myself from my thoughts and got up to change and wash my face before I could go join her at breakfast.
Eleanor
I walked out of the homestead and towards the tables. I spotted Minho and Gally sitting at one of them and waved before jogging over to get my food from Frypan. I had a quick chat with him before walking back to the table and sitting down.
"Hey Minho. Hey Gally." I muttered, already digging in.
"Hey Eleanor."
"Hi Greenie." Were their responses. I rolled my eyes at Gally, he was still calling me Greenie?! I didn't feel that much like talking so I let the boys do most of it, occasionally joining in for a laugh or a remark. Eventually, Minho had to leave for the runner's hut so it was just Gally and I. I didn't really know Gally that well but I was a little intimidated by the stern look he seemed to wear all the time, and the fact that since the bonfire he could have something against me. I grimaced at the memory, wondering why I had said that to Gally of all people.
"So, Gally…" I said awkwardly. He looked at me before turning back to his food. I raised my eyebrows, was he being rude or just oblivious?
"What do you do around here?" I asked him, trying again. He looked up at me as if contemplating his response, before sighing and continuing the conversation.
"Geez greenie, you just don't know when to stop do you." The words might have sounded harsh but I could sense he didn't really mean them that way.
"I'm a builder." Gally told me, "I built most of these, along with some of the other shanks." He gestured at the various buildings as he spoke. I nodded along.
"What's in the works now?" I asked, curiously. Maybe if they didn't have anything planned, I could suggest a few things. A private shower and toilet would be nice. Gally raised his eyebrows, sensing that I wanted to suggest something.
"Nothing much at the moment…" he said suspiciously, "Thinking about making another building for the boys to sleep in when this one overflows." He jabbed his thumb in the direction of the homestead and I looked over at it. It did look rather small when you thought about the amount of people who might end up living in it. Dismissing this thought, I turned back to Gally and my suggestion.
"Well, how about a separate shower and toilet for me?" I asked, trying to say it innocently. Gally furrowed his brows, taking a few more bites of his breakfast as he thought it over.
"I suppose…" he muttered cautiously, "It'd have to be discussed and planned out though, and wouldn't be ready for a while." I nodded, satisfied with his answer.
"Well, I look forward to it." I answered confidently, smiling at him. He looked embarrassed. I turned back to my food and, out of the corner of my eye, saw Gally doing the same. Maybe I had judged him too quickly in thinking that he was always rude.
I cringed remembering that that was two people I had misjudged. Gally being a generally rude and mean person and Newt being a creep.
Speaking of, I noticed Newt walking over towards the tables with a bowl of food. He noticed us and headed in our direction. As Newt was walking over, I noticed that something seemed off. He walked over quickly and I didn't have a chance to properly figure out what it was, so I put it aside to figure out later.
Newt smiled slightly at me as he walked around the table and sat down next to me.
"Hey," he greeted, digging in to his food.
"Hi," I replied, "Did you sleep ok?" I teased. He fought back a smile and shook his head.
"I would've if someone hadn't woken me up." He said back. I gave a small gasp, hoping he didn't hear it, and blushed. So he did catch me.
"Well, it was time to get up," I defended, turning back to my food and finishing it off.
Gally got up to leave soon after and I waved at him as he did. He looked surprised and gave a small hand gesture, that looked like a poor attempt at a wave back, in return. Looking over at Newt, I saw him raise his eyebrows at me in an amused way.
"What?" I asked him, holding back a smile. He shook his head and shrugged.
"Just weird to see Gally's friendly side, that's all." He turned back to his food.
"Oh come on," I said indignantly, "He's not that bad. He's nice." I saw a shadow of a look pass over Newt's face before he turned to me. His voice was a little rougher when he spoke this time.
"You don't know him." He said sternly, I wondered what that was all about but decided not to continue the subject.
Newt
As soon as I snapped at her I instantly regretted it. She looked taken aback and quickly looked away from me. I felt guilt burn inside me and cursed myself for being so rash. I didn't even know why I said it like that anyway. I mean, it was true. She didn't know him. But then again, I thought that if anyone else had said it I would have agreed. I always thought there was something more to Gally than just his hard exterior.
But for some reason as soon as Eleanor agreed with me, I found myself wanting to take that thought out of her head. What has gotten into me? I quickly shook the bad feeling out of my head and turned to Eleanor, hoping to repair things.
I didn't know whether I should apologise or not so I just changed the subject. It was getting late anyway.
Eleanor
The rest of breakfast went by quite smoothly but I could tell that Newt felt bad and was trying to make up for it. I tried to put the small incident behind me but my mind kept wondering why he had snapped. Had something happened between Newt and Gally?
I was pulled out of my thoughts by Newt turning to me.
"So today you'll start trying out jobs." He told me.
"Jobs?" I questioned, confused for a second.
"Yeah. You know, like trackhoe, builder, etcetera." I raised my eyebrows at him, trying not to smile.
"Trackhoe?" I questioned. He chuckled.
"It's what we call the gardeners." Newt explained, mimicking my expression. I considered this for a moment, I had completely forgot that I would have to pitch in and do a job around here.
"What are you?" I asked him.
"Ah, I help around a bit everywhere." Newt answered nonchalantly with a wave of his hand.
"Anyway," he continued, "today is your first day of trying out jobs. You'll do different ones for the rest of this week and then at the end the keepers'll decide where to put ya." I nodded along, scraping the bottom of my bowl mindlessly with my spoon.
"So, what are my options?" I questioned. Newt listed of all the options and explained what each of them did. I shuddered at the thought of the slicers and their job, that one certainly didn't appeal to me.
"We'll see who's ready to train you for today." Newt told me, while leading me away from the breakfast tables. It was just my luck that the first keeper we saw was the keeper of the slicers, which I wasn't too pleased about.
"Hey Winston!" Newt yelled, raising one arm in greeting. Winston waved back and began to walk over.
"Hey Newt, hey Greenie." He nodded at me before turning back to Newt.
"I'm guessing it's my turn to take care of little miss greenie." I furrowed my eyebrows and scowled at that. Turning to Newt, I saw he was trying to mask a matching expression. He gritted his teeth and replied,
"Yup. She'll be with you till lunch." I pursed my lips, not looking forward to this job. Newt turned to me and tentatively placed a hand on my arm.
"That is, if you're ok with that." He suddenly looked worried. I sighed internally, I should probably just get the worst over and done with first.
"It's fine Newt," I reassured him. He continued to look at me for a few seconds longer. Suddenly, I felt my insides flip. A strange buzzing sensation filled my stomach and I fought the urge to place my hand on it.
As if Newt had felt it too, he quickly removed his hand from my arm and turned his face to the ground. I looked away, blushing. What was happening to me?
Newt started to stammer but I didn't look up. Instead, I stuttered out a quick, undecipherable response and hurried off after Winston.
Newt
I was looking at her for too long. I knew that but for some reason I didn't look away. Once again, I felt the weird buzzing sensation in my stomach. It was almost…enjoyable?
Eleanor was wearing a weird expression and my eyes widened, snapping me out of my daze. I quickly pulled my hand away from her arm and looked away. My cheeks flushed and I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. Why had I done that? How stupid was I?
I mumbled something awkwardly, not sure what I was trying to say. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Eleanor running off after Winston. Great. Just great. Now what would she think of me.
Eleanor
I tried to take the incident with Newt off of my mind and focus on what Winston was saying. He was explaining what I would have to do today.
As much as I tried to focus, I found my mind kept drifting off to Newt. What had happened back there? Was it bothering him as much as it was bothering me? Or was I just overthinking it?
"Hello? Greenie? You listening?" Winston called out, waving his hand in front of my face. Snapping back to reality, I shook my head to attempt to clear my thoughts.
"Yes sorry, what were you saying?" I asked meekly. Winston sighed and shook his head. Turning around, he grabbed a long metal tool that was leaning against the wall. He tapped the handle against his other hand and faced me again. I gulped, eyes widening.
"This is what we use to kill the pigs. They live over there." He pointed with the knife.
"Will I be doing that today?" I asked, almost frightened to hear the answer. Winston chuckled.
"Ha, no way. We don't let greenies touch the weapons." He sounded so smug that I had to fight off the urge to roll my eyes.
"So, what will I be doing then?" I asked, attempting to keep the sarcasm off my face. From his raised eyebrows, I guessed it didn't work. I stared back at Winston, not breaking the eye contact. It seemed like a challenge and I didn't want to lose.
Eventually, Winston looked away and walked towards the nearest animal pen. I begrudgingly followed. As I got closer, I could see it was the pig pen. Inside was one large pig and three piglets. Winston turned back to me and leant against the side of the pen, with a huge smirk on his face.
"So greenie, today you'll start with cleaning some of the animal pens." My jaw dropped open and I leant forward in shock.
"What?!" I exclaimed. In response, Winston handed me a pan and brush. I took it and glared at him.
"Fine." I muttered, stepping around Winston to enter the enclosure. I didn't know this was what I had signed up for. Kneeling down in one corner of the pen I began to scrape up the dirt and undesirable mess. I heard Winston chuckle behind me but refused to turn around. I was discovering that I could be quite stubborn.
/ / / / /
For the next few hours, I worked for the slicers. After I finished cleaning the pig pen, Winston made me do the chicken coop too. And then collect their eggs. Luckily, the chickens were outside the coop feeding while I had to do it. After cleaning both animal homes my back was aching and my arm was sore. I groaned and stood up, stretching.
I limped out of the chicken coop to see Winston standing there smirking. I pursed my lips; he must have heard me. Ignoring that fact, I walked over to him.
"Is that all?" I asked sarcastically, "Or do you want me to clean the toilets as well?" Unexpectedly, Winston chuckled and shook his head.
"Nah greenie, that's all your cleaning done for this morning." I almost sighed in relief, but stopped because I didn't want him to hear. However, his next words stopped my relief in its tracks.
"Now, I'm going to show you how to kill one of the animals." My eyes widened.
"You're going to what?!" I asked, hoping I had misheard. Winston repeated what he told me the first time and I groaned.
"Do I have to?" I asked him.
"Sorry greenie, it's part of the training." At least, he had the decency not to look smug.
Winston led me over to where a lamb was standing tied up. He proceeded to explain what he was about to do.
When Winston slaughtered the lamb, I had to divert my eyes. However, I could still hear everything. I didn't think I would be able to eat after this.
/ / / / /
Finally, after what felt like much too long a time I was finished with the slicers. Even though my stomach still felt sick after what I had witnessed, I headed over to the lunch tables.
When I got close, I noticed Newt sitting with some others that I hadn't gotten to know. I froze, remembering the awkward moment we had shared earlier. What if he thought it too awkward to speak with me right now? Should I go over or sit somewhere? I looked around for anyone else I could sit with. Minho was out running; Frypan was serving the food and I couldn't see Gally anywhere. I realised that I didn't know anyone else. I should probably get to know more people.
As I was standing there, Newt noticed me and waved. It seemed he wasn't overthinking things as much as I was. Slightly nervous, I walked over.
"Hey Newt." I muttered, sitting down.
"Hi Eleanor. Here, I picked you up some lunch." He pushed a bowl of soup in front of me.
"Thanks," I sighed, "But I don't know if I can eat after what I just saw." Newt chuckled.
"Not a great time with the slicers then?" I glanced at him, meeting his stare, and shook my head.
"Nope." I told him, "Winston made me watch him slaughter a lamb…or at least listen to it." Newt chuckled again, and I grimaced.
"Come on, you need to eat up. It's good." He pushed the bowl closer to me, and took a spoonful of his own to illustrate his point. Looking at my food, I felt my stomach grumble. Maybe I was hungry after all. Ignoring the thoughts of the lamb, and that moment with Newt, I dug into my food.
Eventually Frypan and Gally joined us and everyone started to talk and laugh. I finished my food in a comfortable silence, listening to the conversations around me.
A few times throughout lunch I noticed Newt glancing over at me, but I tried to ignore it. It probably wasn't anything special anyway.
/ / / / /
Newt
After we finished eating, I told Eleanor that she would be working with the builders for the rest of the day. She thanked me and walked off after Gally.
We had barely talked all lunch. Was this about that moment earlier? Did she not want to talk to me? Had I ruined our friendship? I could feel a small pit of despair settling in my stomach. I didn't want to never talk to Eleanor again.
Shaking my head, I tried to keep these thoughts out of my mind. I was probably just overthinking things.
I looked over at Eleanor as she walked after Gally. I would try and talk to her later.
Eleanor
After lunch Newt informed me that I would be working with the builders. I wasn't too upset about this one and followed Gally to the new project they were working on.
"It's an extension on the homestead. We're just starting. It was decided this would be more efficient than starting a whole new building." Gally told me. I wrinkled my nose, remembering our conversation from this morning.
"Why do we need an extension on the homestead? There's plenty of room for the time being." I asked. I had been hoping that they would have started work on my private toilet and shower, even though he had told me it would take more time. Gally looked at me, as if I was dumb.
"Every month a new greenie shows up. We're gonna need more room sometime soon, may as well be proactive." Gally's voice was thick with sarcasm as he glared at me. I raised my arms in mock surrender.
"Ok geez Gals, calm down. I was just asking a question." Gally's head snapped around to face me.
"What did you call me?" he asked, half confused, half angry. I raised one eyebrow with a smirk.
"Just a nickname," I told him. He scowled at me.
"Well don't call me that again." He muttered, turning back to his work. I chuckled softly, it seemed I had hit a sore spot.
Following Gally's lead I picked up some of the wooden planks and brought them over to where the builders were working. They were all crouched down, hammering some planks into the ground.
"So, what can I do?" I asked after watching for a few moments. Gally looked up at me as if just realising that he would actually have to tell me what to do. He sighed and stood up, holding a plank and hammer.
"We have to start by hammering these into the ground so we can build up from there." He gestured with the plank and hammer while talking and then handed them to me.
"Here, you try." I took the objects out of his hands and crouched down next to the other boys who were working. I didn't know any of their names, only having seen some of them around the glade. Tentatively, I pushed the wooden plank into the ground next to the others and began to tap on it with the hammer. I looked around to check if I was doing it right, but Gally had walked over to help some others with what they were working on. I decided to keep going, it seemed to be working.
I drove the wooden plank into the ground with the hammer, continuously hitting it on the top with the hammer. I ended up getting caught up in the rhythm of using the hammer and lost track of what I was doing.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Hey, this is working. Hit. Hit. Hit. What other jobs will I be doing? Thud. Thud. Thud. Will I get to work with Newt? Thump. Thump. Thump. Do I even want to work with Newt? Hit. Hit. Hit. Yeah, I do. He's the closest friend I have around here. Thud. Thud. Thud. I mean, Minho and Frypan are nice and funny and we get along well. Thump. Thump. Thump. And Gally has been pretty nice so far. Hit. Hit. Hit. But I'm closest friends with Newt. Thud. Thud. Thud. Yeah, that's right, friends. Just friends. Thump. Thump. Thump. Friends. Hit. Hit. Hit. Just friends? THUD!
"STOP!" A voice yelled out from behind me, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" A rough hand grabbed my wrist and yanked the hammer out of my grip. I whipped my head around to see a really angry Gally glaring at me. I looked back to the wooden plank I was hammering and widened my eyes.
It was split in half.
"What the hell were you thinking shank?!" Gally said furiously. I gaped, not sure what to say.
"I- I'm not- I don't know." I mumbled out, "Sorry." I hung my head, slightly ashamed of the mistake I made. I had hoped I would be good at this.
"You should be! Now I have to start again. And see, you've knocked the others out of place as well." He gestured angrily towards the rest of the planks, which were leaning slightly. I glared up at him. I had been feeling bad, but not anymore. Couldn't he just stop accusing me?
"Hey!" I said back while standing up, "I'm sorry, ok?!"
"No, not ok!" He yelled back at me, "You shouldn't have done that!"
I felt my blood boil and my heart beat rise. How dare he?!
"Well, you're the one supposed to be teaching me!" I yelled at him, "I don't know how to do this! I CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER ANYTHING! SO GIVE ME A BREAK GALLY!" I screamed the last part at him. He stood still, shocked. I guessed not many people had properly stood up to him before.
I became aware that not many people around us were moving. Instead, they were all staring at us. At me. Suddenly, I became quite self-conscious. I moved my hand to rub the back of my neck, looking at the ground.
Gally must have noticed because he glanced around as well.
"What are you shanks all looking at?" He yelled at them. They all turned away and continued working. I had to admit, that was quite impressive.
Gally then looked back at me. I was still looking at the ground, but out of the corner of my eye I could tell he also felt awkward. I glanced up at him and saw that he looked a bit ashamed. That was unexpected.
"Greenie?" Gally muttered so softly that I wasn't even sure that he actually said it. I looked up at him, slightly confused. We met eyes and Gally looked like he was going to say something more, but then he nodded to me and crouched down. He started to hammer in a new board.
I gave a slight smile and rolled my eyes. I suppose that was the best I was going to get.
I crouched down next to him and for the rest of the afternoon I worked with Gally to put in more boards for the extension. We actually ended up getting a lot done and I turned to be pretty good when I was paying attention, at least in my opinion.
We had been working for about two and a half hours when I decided to bring up the topic of the private stalls.
"Hey Gally?" I asked him, and he stopped working for a moment to look up at me.
"Do you think you'll go ahead with building me a private shower and toilet?" I asked tentatively. He raised an eyebrow at me, thinking over his response.
"I've been thinking about that." He told me, "It'll have to happen and we'll start as soon as possible."
"Really?" I asked, brightening up, "Great! When do you think it'll be done by?" Gally looked at me and chuckled.
"I'll talk it over with the other builders, ok? Patience, greenie." He tried to stop his laughter but I noticed. I rolled my eyes playfully and got back to work. At least I would hopefully get a private shower sometime soon. That was one good thing to look forward to.
/ / / / /
After finishing my work with the builder's, I left to go to dinner. I saw Newt sitting down at a table with Minho who was back from running. I grabbed my plate from Frypan before walking over and sitting down next to Newt, across from Minho.
"Hey guys," I said, getting ready to tuck into my food.
"Hey Greenie." Minho smirked at me.
"Hi. How was working with the builders, Eleanor?" Newt asked me through a mouthful of stew. I chuckled before taking my own heaping of food.
"It was good, thanks for asking." I choked back. Minho snorted into his bowl and Newt rolled his eyes playfully. I smiled, swallowing the hot stew and burning my throat.
"Ugh, hot." I wheezed out. Minho and Newt both chuckled and I glared at them without any force behind it. We all smiled and continued eating.
Once most of us had finished, Alby stood up from one side of the tables and called for everyone's attention.
"Everyone!" He shouted, "I have an announcement to make." Newt nudged me in the side and I glanced at him. I supposed this would be about gathering yesterday.
"The leaders and I have elected to enforce a new rule." This proclamation was met with many whisperings and shouts.
"A new rule?" One boy questioned.
"But we've only ever had these three!" Another one called out.
"Why do we need a new rule!" Someone else cried.
"SILENCE!" Alby yelled over everyone else, "Give me a chance to explain." Quiet fell over the glade as all the boys, and me, turned towards him ready to listen.
"From now one, we will have four rules. Never harm another glader, never leave the glade, everyone does their part and, now, never make an unwanted move on our new greenie." He paused for a moment, "Or anyone else for that matter."
This proclamation was met with silence for a second before the gladers erupted.
"What do you mean?"
"Why not!"
"Hey! That's not fair!"
"OI! SHUT UP YOU SHANKS!" Alby yelled, "This decision is final! No arguments. And, as usual, if you break this rule, I will have no choice but to punish you."
Everyone began to mutter again and Alby sat back down, satisfied with what he'd said.
I could vaguely hear people talking around me but I couldn't bring myself to listen. I was too busy thinking about how the others reacted. Would they even stick to the rule? How would they be punished? Would the threat be enough to stop anyone from trying anything? I didn't even want to think about what would happen if someone did try something. I subconsciously searched the tables and my eyes met Lenny's as he stared at me. I turned my head away and shuddered.
Newt nudged me and cocked his head when I looked at him.
"Want to get out of here?" He asked me, and I nodded thankfully. Together we stood up, deposited our plates and walked off.
Neither of us said anything as we walked in the direction of the homestead, but I didn't mind. It was a comfortable silence and I was glad for the quiet.
As we walked past the shower cubicle, I remembered how hot and sweaty I was from working all day.
"Uh Newt?" I questioned. He looked at me and smiled slightly.
"Yeah?"
"Do you mind keeping guard while I shower?" I asked him. I didn't want to bother him, since he did it yesterday, but I didn't have a choice. I couldn't risk anyone walking in and Newt was the one I trusted most here.
To my relief, he smiled and nodded.
"Yeah sure, no problem." We turned to direct our walking towards the showers.
I stepped inside the cubicle and closed the door. Quickly, I stripped and stepped under the water. I washed my body and hair and then dried off. Then I rinsed my clothes out and brushed my teeth.
It was then that I realised my mistake. I had forgotten to bring any clothes with me. I glanced over at the ones I had been wearing before but they were now all soaking wet. I groaned.
"Newt?" I asked timidly.
"Eleanor?" Came the reply from outside.
"Um…I forgot to bring any clothes." I told him, embarrassed about my mistake. There was a pause from outside.
"What about the ones you were wearing?" He double checked.
"They're all wet." I answered, wishing I hadn't washed them now. I heard Newt groan lightly and then chuckle from outside.
"I'll go get you some." He told me, and I heard footsteps start to head away from me.
"WAIT!" I yelled out.
"Yes?" He called back.
"If you leave, someone might come in." I told him, annoyed at how helpless I felt and sounded. Newt sighed and walked back to the door. It was silent for a moment before I saw something appear over the top of the door.
"Here." Came Newt's voice. It was surprisingly soft and I wondered what he was thinking about.
"Put this on." He told me.
I walked over, reached up and took the bundle out of his hand, which was hanging over the top of the door.
Unfolding it, I found that the bundle was actually Newt's shirt. The one he was wearing all day. I fought back a smile. That was really nice of him.
"Can you hurry up in there please?" Came Newt's voice from outside. I realised that he was probably shirtless and cold. I quickly put his top on over my wet underwear, I wasn't taking chances, and pulled it down. It only came down to just a couple of inches below my waist but that would have to do.
Grabbing my clothes from the corner, I tentatively opened the door to see Newt standing there. We locked eyes, and then without a word we both sprinted towards the homestead. I only noticed a few boys on the way but heard many cat calls. I could hear Newt yelling back at them but chose to ignore everything they said anyway.
Newt was ahead of me and made it to the homestead first. However, instead of heading inside he stopped and waited at the doorway. Holding the door open he ushered me inside, glaring at any of the boys who tried to follow us.
We quickly climbed the stairs and ran into Newt's room, slamming the door behind us. We stood still for a moment, catching our breath and thinking over everything that had just happened.
Then I started laughing and collapsed onto Newt's bed. He chuckled slowly before succumbing and joining in. We laughed for ages but couldn't seem to stop. My stomach hurt and I clutched my side. I couldn't remember laughing like this in… well, forever.
In the post high after the laughter, I looked over at Newt as we both lay on the bed. He had a smile on his face, and it occurred to me that this might be the first time I had seen him properly smile. It looked good on him. I mean, not in a weird way or anything. Just in a normal, platonic, friendship way.
After those feelings past, it occurred to me that I was still only wearing underwear and Newt's shirt.
"Uh Newt?" I asked, not really wanting to break the comfortable silence.
"Yeah?" He answered, turning his head to look at me. I couldn't stop myself from smiling at him, but I still continued talking.
"I'm still in your shirt…and your still in no shirt." I chuckled at him. He blushed, self-consciously.
"Oh, yeah, right." He muttered, sitting up. Newt stretched out, grabbed a shirt and walked to the door, before turning back.
"I'll just, uh, wait outside then." He smiled awkwardly, and then stepped outside.
Quickly, I pulled off Newt's shirt and my wet underclothes and changed into clean ones. I laid out my wet garments on the small window sill to let them dry and then opened the door to let Newt back in.
He was leaning on the frame outside, talking to someone who was just out of view. I couldn't be bothered to deal with anyone else right now so I waited inside, leaving the door slightly open.
Newt soon came back and sat down on the bench, rifling through a box, holding what I presumed was his possessions. I brushed my hair and then put it in a plait to dry while I slept.
As I sat on the bed it occurred to me that the past few nights Newt had been sleeping on the hard, wooden bench. That can't have been very comfortable. I felt bad, since this was his room and I was the one who didn't have one yet.
"Newt? Don't you want to sleep on the bed?" I asked him. He looked over at me, surprised.
"I- no, I'm fine here." He tried to assure me.
"Are you sure? Because I'm ok with sleeping on the bench." Newt gave me a small smile.
"Eleanor, go to bed. I'm fine. Besides, it's not that uncomfortable anyway." I could tell he was lying from the way he looked around the room and subconsciously moved to stretch his back. I had half a mind to argue and insist that he took back his bed, but I could tell that Newt wasn't going to budge on his decision. At least, not tonight.
So, I lay down on his bed, pulling the covers over myself, while Newt did the same on the bench. I realised how tired I was from working all day, and soon I found myself falling asleep.