"It was you. You've been spying on me."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Gally said, his tone adopting his usual angry tone.

He had been behaving like a normal, functioning human being only a few minutes before, but he was soon back behind his normal brooding farçade. But Eleanor now knew that was all it was, an act.

He used that voice that made Eleanor want to turn around and leave. She knew that's what he wanted her to do. He wanted her to be scared of him so she would leave him alone, so he wouldn't have to hear what she had to say.

She forced herself to stand her ground.

"Yes. Yes, you do."

"Why would I spy on you?"

He was full on glaring at her then and, even though she knew he was just trying to intimidate her, she was finding it harder to return his stare.

"You tell me," Eleanor forced herself to reply, feeling less and less brave with each passing second. "'cause that's what you were doing."

"Oh, really? Have any proof?"

The taller boy looked almost mocking. Eleanor was starting to feel a familiar knot forming in her throat.

She closed her eyes, willing herself to be strong, to be brave... for once.

"I know it was you." She said accusingly. "I just want to know why."

"There's no reason because it did not happen. I don't care what you do."

He took a step towards Eleanor, towering over her.

It took all in her not to flinch at the new proximity.

"I don't care about you."

Eleanor felt like an air-knocking punch had hit her stomach.

Then, she was irritated.

He didn't get to have the power to make her feel that way, not anymore, not after everything he'd done to her.

She was so sure it had been him following her around the Dead-heads. She was not about to let him make her doubt herself.

"If you didn't care, you wouldn't have pushed that boy away." She stated, her angry tone now matching his. "I don't know why you keep acting like you don't care but you don't fool me, not this time."

"I don't care about you."

"Then stop acting like you do!" She yelled, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

She turned around before they could, quickly walking away before he saw her tears. She cursed herself for being so volatile.

Useless, she thought, why can't you ever stand your ground?

She had soon reached her sleeping spot.

With nothing else to do but try to sleep, she laid down on her sleeping bag and watched the night pass through her open lids and a knot in her stomach.

After a few weeks, Eleanor wished she could say she had gotten over her altercation with Gally.

Life in the Glade resumed back to normal for Eleanor, with the addition of the new Green-bean who gave her someone to talk to at lunch time- Well, more like someone to listen to. Boy! Could the Shank talk!

Chuck had been assigned to be a Slopper which did not seem to discourage the boy, he was as cherry as ever.

His determination to fit in and be accepted was admirable. Eleanor did not share it, but she could appreciate it.

She tried to always be as nice as she could to the curly haired kid, not because she felt sorry for him, which despite herself, she did; but because she actually liked him. He deserved such niceness.

Still, Eleanor felt kind of bad for the kid. She knew it couldn't be easy but he pulled through, better than anyone she knew.

She was aware she had been extremely lucky with her job. Zart was not the best boss in her book but, at least, she didn't have to clean the toilets. Eleanor shuddered at the thought.

She wasn't sure why she had been chosen to be a Track-hoe. She hadn't been very good at it at the beginning, and each Keeper was the one supposed to choose the new worker. It seemed unlikely that Zart had willingly chosen her to work with him but she guessed Minho and Gally had had something to do with it back then. Hell! Maybe even Newt. Sometimes the Second-in-command seemed to be on her side.

Speak of the devil, she thought as she spotted the tall boy aproaching.

She flipped her considerably longer hair out of her face as she resumed her job whilst waiting for the Second-in-command to reach her side.

The light had drained out partially, indicating the day was reaching its end.

Eleanor cursed Zart for making her work so late. Although, without her daily runs, it wasn't like she had anything else to do. Quitting them had been more of a subconcious decision than a rational one.

It wasn't like she expected Gally to spy on her again. She was more than certain the Builder wouldn't be approaching her anytime soon. But still it felt wrong and she didn't really want to think about her former friend.

She still ran sometimes, to not jeopardice how far she'd come, but it wasn't very often.

"Hey." Said the blonde as he reached her.

"Hi, Newt."

He watched her work for a few seconds before he spoke.

"You don't have to do that, you know? We can finish it up tomorrow."

"That's okay, I'm almost done." Eleanor replied, not stopping her actions. "It gives me something to do until dinner."

She had no idea what the boy wanted but experience told Eleanor he had to want something. The taller boy rarely paid her any mind just because he felt like it.

"You mean until Minho comes back." He stated.

One look at him showed her his raised brows.

Eleanor would have been annoyed if that statement had come from any of the other Gladers. After all, with nothing out of the ordinary happening, her late night shenanigans with Minho hadn't really been forgotten by the rest of the Gladers. But this was Newt, and she knew the older boy meant no harm by it. So, she simply scoffed.

"Am I that transparent?" Resuming her work, she added. "It's not just Minho though. I happen to like the Runners."

She could feel him nodding from the corner of her eye as she redirected her attention back to the task at hand. She sensed as he got to work besides her.

"You could always hang out with me, you know?" He said, his hands busy as he helped her pull roots from the ground.

Eleanor lifted her gaze and, as she observed him, a soft smile invaded her lips.

"Thank you." She said sincerely.

A comfortable silence settled between them as they worked. At least, Eleanor thought it was comfortable, until she heard Newt breathe in and speak again.

"You know, Gally told us what happened a few weeks ago." He said as he regarded her.

He did not stop his movements, but she did upon hearing his words.

"What'd'you mean?"She asked slightly panicked, standing upright.

"I mean-" He started, raising up to his full height too, the roots forgotten. "I mean what Will tried to do."

She was taken aback, expecting a different answer. Eleanor thought his eyes looked concerned and a little bit angry.

She took a second to gather her thoughts, wondering what her reponse should be.

She hadn't really forgotten about it. As if she could forget someone stealing her first kiss because of a dare... But, she didn't want down that road with Newt.

"Well, nothing happened, so..."

"I know," He quickly replied, noting how awkward it was making her feel. "Still... Alby and I had a talk with the Builders."

Eleanor frowned slightly at that.

He resumed, "They won't be bothering you anymore."

The young girl scoffed and nearly glared at him. She tried to control her emotions. It didn't work.

"Great!" She exclaimed. "You know? I don't really need you to defend me."

She watched, raised brows, as he shook his head.

"I know you feel that way, but you can't really blame me for worrying." He said. "Specially when I had to find out from someone else what happened. How am I suppossed to help if you don't come to me about it?"

Newt hadn't raised his voice even a little yet Eleanor could tell he was fairly angry. She wasn't far behind.

"Well, maybe I don't need your help."

He stared down at her, and his gaze almost made her take her words back.

Then, he spoke again. "Well, it's not just about you. It's about order."

Eleanor nearly snorted at that, even if she found nothing funny in that situation.

"Of course." She said, more to herself.

"Which reminds me..." If he had heard her comment he didn't show it. "Alby wanted to be the one to tell you this but I volunteered. I know how he can be when it comes to you sometimes..."

Eleanor stared at him in disbelief.

You can hang out with me, he had just said.

Liar, she thought.

Of course he would not just come to see her because he wanted to. It had to be because of his stupid job. Because himand Alby haddecided someone should talk to her.

"Well, spit it out then." She said, completely aware that she was full on glaring at him.

"Umm," He seemed a bit taken aback, "There's been rumors going around about you and a certain Glader..."

Eleanor couldn't have stopped the gasp that escaped her even if she had tried. She didn't let him finish.

"I can't believe this is what it is about!" She almost yelled, "It's Minho, you can say his name. And I seem to recall I was the one who told you about it. And I'm pretty sure I also clarified how untrue the rumors were."

He seemed to ignore that last part. "Yes, well, Minho-"

"Minho and I. Yes, Minho and I happen to be friends."

"Well, friends or not, you can't..."

"I can't what?!"

"You can't spend a night in a Glader's room, Eleanor." He replied, still speaking infuriatingly calmly in response to her anger.

Eleanor couldn't believe her ears. She would have expected this from any other Glader, but not from Newt.

She could feel the anger and embarrassment pulsing through her as she took one step closer to him, tapping his chest with her finger.

"Let's get one thing straight," She said. She didn't even bother with yelling anymore, she mocked his calm edge. "I can do whatever the fuck I want."

Newt recoiled a little bit, but stood his ground. "There are rules."

"Yes, and as far as I'm concerned I follow those rules." She said. "I do my job, I do not harm anybody, even when I really should, and I have never stepped a foot outside of those doors."

"Don't be difficult, Eleanor."

Said girl shook her head. She hadn't even realized how close they were to each other. She could feel Newt's body heat warming her, like it always did whenever he was close to her.

She tried to ignore those pointless thoughts as she replied.

"How am I being difficult?"

Why was it so hard for him to understand?

"If my crime is spending time with my friends then of course I'm going to complain. What if I had fallen asleep in your room instead of Minho's, huh?"

It didn't escape her the way his cheeks tainted upon hearing her comment. She took a deep breath, trying to be calm and get her point across.

"I just don't get why it has to be so different just because I'm a girl."

Newt regarded her for a moment and then he slightly smiled.

He was opening his mouth to say something when loud voices broke the silence.

They both turned their heads towards the commotion and noticed that a few Gladers had gathered near the Easter entrance to the Maze.

Eleanor frowned and Newt simply muttered a "We'll speak later" and took off towards the growing group of boys.

Eleanor was considering ignoring the boys, but then, the screaming started. She couldn't follow the Second-in-command fast enough.

All Eleanor could remember thinking was,"not Minho, please, not Minho!".

It echoed in her head, like a prayer. Maybe at some point, she had even repeated the words outloud.

The time it took for her to reach the crowd of boys felt like an eternity, different scenarios playing themselves in her mind; visions of the Runner, bloodied and mangled, giant mechanical spiders looming over him.

Eleanor knew something might happen to her friend eventually, that was what came with his job. She never expressed those fears to him, however. She knew he was doing something important, far more important than anything she could ever do. She admired him for that.

When she reached a running Newt, he was already crossing the circle of boys making his way towards Alby, who was in the centre yelling orders.

Eleanor couldn't dechiper what he was saying, all she could hear was "not Minho, not Minho, not Minho..."

She finally spotted the Runner and her relived sigh got caught in her troat.

Minho was staring down, eyes narrowed, his hands moving over ripped sheds of cloth; cloth covering something red. Minho's hands were getting tangled in it, the red invading everything in her line of vision.

She returned her gaze to his face and she realized he was shouting something.

She didn't understand.

Then, he looked down and she suddenly comprehended what her best friend was yelling for. Just like that, the sound came back to her like an elastic band returning to its original place.

"JEFF! CLINT!"

Eleanor stood there, staring down at the boy on the floor.

She hadn't considered an option worse than Minho being attacked. But what she hadn't thought of was that there were other options that were equally as bad.

Ben.

Sweet, charming, Ben lying unconcious; blood coming out of horrible looking wounds, a round hole in his stomach, the size of a tennis ball. Or maybe it just looked bigger in her mind, since it was the only thing she could see. A hole she had only seen once in her life, in another blonde boy she cared for.

The force of what was happening nearly knocked her down to her knees. At least, it would have if she had the ability to move at all.

And then he was being moved away.

She was confused. She felt like she was inside a bubble, like she was underwater and everything besides her own body was muffled and in slow motion. The rational part of her brain told her it was necessary. They needed to help him.

Eleanor observed as Minho fell to the ground, bloodied hands now staining his head, pulling at his hair. For a moment, she had the ridiculous thought that she had never seen him with messy hair before.

Then she took a step forward, heart clenched, and then another.

Without knowing when or how, she was on her knees with her arms around Minho, blood now invading her own dark locks. And the one single thought that stood out from all the noise in her head was...

Not again.