Author stuff: I love this girl. I had completely forgotten. She's great. She's fabulous. Y'all, you're going to like her.


Chapter 22

In Which No One Knows What To Make Of The New Greenie

Somehow, Nick had forced Gally away from Flossy – sent him on some task or another, a feat in and of itself – and allowed Archie to watch over the Greenie and the Girlie. In his mind, he couldn't think of the Greenie as a Girlie, although that was what she was. She just didn't seem like a Girlie, like Flossy did. It didn't suit her.

He wasn't sure what to make of the Greenie. She was a strange one, that was for certain.

She and Flossy walked out of the showers chatting amicably. It was a rather odd turnaround from their initial introduction. From somewhere, Flossy had pulled out a hair tie and given it to the Greenie. Maybe that had caused them to bond.

"...very well," Flossy said as they reached him.

"Yeah, well," the Greenie said, stuffing her hands in her pockets. She scuffed her toes on the ground. The only thing they hadn't been able to get her was a pair of new shoes, so she was forced to wear the pair of blood-stained ones that had been sent up with her. It did look, however, that an attempt to wipe away the blood had been made.

He noted, with her hair pulled back, that there was a silver chain around her neck. Whatever was on the heavy end was tucked under her borrowed shirt. From what he could tell, it was circular and hard.

"Archie, what do you think?"

"Uh," he said. "I, uh, I didn't hear the beginning of the conversation."

"Do you think Nick will let her sleep in my room?" Flossy said. "I mean, it'd make sense, having the two Girlies together, wouldn't it?"

"He might think I'm a bad influence on you," the Greenie said, flashing a spectacular smirk.

"We should go find him and ask."

The two headed off, and he was forced to follow. He took that time to observe the Greenie.

Her eyes were too big for her face, but they were pretty to look at. She had a dark complexion, which made her freckles all the stranger. He didn't think anyone that dark could have freckles. Everything about her frame and face screamed delicate and fragile, but the way she carried herself contradicted that. And she was tall – taller than him or Alby or many of the other Gladers. Newt's trousers fit her fine in length, but Flossy had had to procure a belt for her to wear. She didn't mention who she'd stolen it from. He wasn't sure whose shirt they got for her, but it made her appear more boyish and lanky than before.

She looked like she could be a Runner, although he didn't voice that out loud.

They found Nick taking inventory with the Keepers near the Box. They waited until the group dispersed to approach him. Just like he knew he would, Gally hung back with Nick. They both gave the Greenie a once over, taking in everything he already thought about her.

"Well," Nick said, "glad to see you actually look like a human and you're not some shucking Griever."

The Greenie arched her brow upwards, but she didn't question 'shuck' or 'Griever'. That was odd. Every Greenie since they had come up – well, just Harry and Ben – had questioned the weird words. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Good to know that I meet the lowest of your expectations of me," she said, clasping her hands in front of her as she squared her shoulders. "Flossy has been telling me a bit about the Glade. I must say that I'm impressed by how you have managed so far."

Nick gave Flossy a look. Archie didn't see what she did in return, but he could tell Nick didn't like it. And it amused Gally, by the look on his face. He quickly neutralized his features, his eyes going back to the Greenie.

"Good that," Nick said. "I won't be able to give you a full tour of the Glade today, but we can save that for tomorrow."

"Whatever works the best for you," the Greenie said.

Nick made a sound of agreement and nodded.

"Right," he said. "Gally, go check on the Builders. Flossy, Zart was looking for you. He needed help with something. I think it might be the garden for Clint and Jeff. Archie, keep an eye on the Greenie, good that?"

"Uh, yeah," Archie said, eyebrows shooting up. Well, that was a surprise. "Good that."

Flossy waved farewell to him and the Greenie, Nick following her. Gally took a moment to glare at the Greenie before going on his way.

"Who are Clint and Jeff?" the Greenie said. "And who's Zart? Also, what kind of name is Zart?"

"Clint and Jeff are our Med-jacks," he said. "Healers, I guess is what people outside the Glade might call them. Zart's the Keeper of the Track-hoes, our farmers and gardeners. Flossy's a Track-hoe. And I can't answer that last one, because I don't know the answer."

"I thought Flossy might have the day off, spend it with another girl and not a bunch of boys."

"She and Zart are trying to get a small medicinal garden going for Clint and Jeff. They just barely convinced Nick and the other Keepers that it'll be a necessity two days ago. Thankfully, the Creators sent up most of what they'd requested to get it started."

"Who are the Creators?"

"Whoever sends up all of our supplies."

"W.I.C.K.E.D.," she said, as if it was obvious.

"Huh?"

"W.I.C.K.E.D. It's on all of the boxes and stuff that came up with me. Can't any of y'all read around here?"

"Clint and Jeff can read, they have a bunch of medicinal books. Flossy can, too. And Nick, Newt, and other Gladers. I've never tried." He shrugged. "And how were you able to read anything when you were coming up in the Box? It was too dark and disorientating for me."

She shrugged. He wasn't sure if it was because she couldn't give him a good answer or because she just didn't want to tell him. He wanted to believe it was the former. He didn't think it was, though.

"So, W.I.C.K.E.D. That's an unfortunate name," he said. "Do you think it means something?"

"Probably," she said. "I mean, a name like that has to mean something. Now, what do you do around here for fun?"


Like the Gladers has been with Flossy, they were curious about the Greenie. She didn't seem to mind the attention in the least. He wouldn't quite say she revelled in it, but she wasn't opposed to it.

He already knew she was tall – just a few inches short of Gally – but her tightly curled mane of hair made her the tallest one there. He knew that he wasn't the only one feeling inferior about that.

She could keep up with the retorts thrown her way, snapping back with just as offensive words. The poor Gladers didn't know what to say to be in retaliation. They were so used to Flossy that they couldn't imagine a Girlie being any other way.

"All girls are different from one another," Flossy said to Chris – the Greenie's most recent victim. "Just like all you boys are. If we were all the same, we'd be boring."

"Yeah, but," Chris said, "she doesn't have to… to be so… shuck-faced about it."

"She's a bit of a shank, isn't she?" Archie saw her give her fellow Track-hoe a small grin. He returned it.

"Thanks, Girlie." He bumped his shoulders with hers, a small show of affection.

Chris would later challenge the Greenie to a wrestling match – which he lost. No one was surprised by that. And no one was surprised by how quickly the match ended, either. Poor Chris didn't stand a chance.

Despite everything, she couldn't hold her liquor. Gally's brew, after one and a half jars, was more than enough for her. She would feel it in the morning.

Archie was glad when Nick called it a night after that. Just from being around her for a couple of hours, he was exhausted. He was glad of Graham's company as they headed to their hammocks, leaving Alby, Newt, and Flossy to get the Greenie to a place to sleep.

"Don't know if I like the Greenie," Graham said.

"Yeah," Archie said, "a lot of Gladers have been saying that. She's too different from what they're used to."

"They were spoiled by Flossy, you mean. Girlie's exactly what they expect every female to be, and here comes along this other shank who is the exact opposite."

"Yep."

"It's going to take some getting used to."

"Can't disagree with you there."

They walked in silence for a moment before Graham spoke again. When he did, Archie was surprised by what he said.

"Shank's kind of cute though."


Author stuff cont'd.: Poor Chris. The shank didn't know what was coming.