I slowly felt the notches on my tree, there were so many now, seventy all together. I was almost out of room on this side, I either need to make the notches smaller or move to a new part of the trunk. I look at my raw thumb nail, I had pulled out so many splinters from carving the days into this tree, I guess I thought we'd be leaving sooner than this. Ben is close, but I don't want to pressure him about it anymore. I haven't seen him in a few days... besides at meals. He must be working hard to find the right turn again.
I left the Deadhead and entered the open Glade, Ben should be in the Homestead if he's not working. I walk up to the sleeping rooms and enter quietly, the room is dark and I see some bodies in the hammocks gently rising and falling with their breathing. I don't want to wake anyone up, I'll just see him at dinner. I turn and leave the dark room quickly and nearly run into Gally outside.
"Oh... hey Greenie," he greets me in a gruff voice.
"Hi Gally."
His long eyesbrows drew together, tightening his face. "What were you doing in the there?," he pointed to the sleeping chambers.
"I was looking for Ben."
"He's out in the maze." Gally's voice was dry and it seemed he was irritated.
"Oh, okay. I'll just see him at Dinner then."
"Yeah, yeah no problem," Gally rubbed the back of his neck and smiled. It looked kind of like he had to concentrate on it, like it wasn't natural and he had to think about it while he did it. "Hey, just so you know... uh... Alby and the rest of the Keepers are going to be gathering tonight and you should be there. I think most of the Glade will be there actually..."
"Me? Why?"
Am I in trouble again or something? I haven't done anything!
Gally shrugged," I don't even know why were gathering. You'll have to ask him."
"Yeah. I'll go find him."
"Oh, wait, Greenie," Gally grabbed my hand.
I turned back to him, looking down at his hand on mine he quickly pulled away.
"I... I just wanted to say that I like... I like what you did with your hair," he muttered and then pushed past me, practically bounding into the Homestead and ot of view.
Ooooookaaayyyyy... I stood there for a minute. That was weird. Okay... Why did he-... Oh, nope. Nope. Not now, I'll ask Jackson later. Now: Alby.I found Alby, he was on top of the tower with Newt unfortunately. I sighed, trying to decide what to do next. I need to talk to Alby... but I don't rally want to be near Newt. It still... feels so weird...
As I was trying to decide, Alby saw me and waved to me.
"GREENIE! Hey! Just the girl I was looking for," he waved me to come to him.
"Well that settles it," I grunted to myself and approached the tower, climbing the stairs as I tried to calm my nerves.
Be cool. Just be cool. It's not like you haven't seen him before. It's not weird. It won't be weird.
I got to the top and my heart lurched, Newt was just so handsome in the afternoon glow of the Glade. The raw golden sunshine on his face made him shine like jewel, even when he was squinting in the light.
"Hey, Greenie. How's it going," Alby smiled happily.
"I'm... I'm good," I fought the urge to glance to Newt.
"Glad to hear it. I just wanted to catch you and let you know about a meeting tonight. It'll be in the Gathering hut after dinner."
"Uh... yeah, Gally mentioned something like that," I looked down then back to Alby. "Am I in trouble or something."
"Oh, no. No, of course not. No ones in trouble," he reassured me.
"Then what is it about? Why do I need to be there?"
After I said I realized how harsh it had sounded, it seemed as of late, I was not filtering myself as wonderfully as I should.
"Oh," Alby had not been expecting it either. "We're actually getting together to discuss standards on girls in the glade."
"Girls in the glade? You mean me?"
"Well, yes. You and whoever else gets sent here. I think some new rules are in order."
"Rules?," I was not following.
"Don't worry. I'll explain it all at the meeting."
"Oh.. okay, sure."
"Great. See you there."
I nodded and finally tore my eyes to see Newt, he was staring at me but the quickly looked away once I caught him. Alby turned back to him and they restarted their conversation. I slowly descended the steps, Rules? New rules? But why? That makes no sense.
There I was, sitting in a hot cramped room filled with adolescent boys who reeked of sweat and grim from a hard day or working, while Alby stood in front of us all.
"Good evening everyone. I hoped all enjoyed dinner."
"You better," I heard Siggy shout from his spot which caused a ripple of laughter among the crowd.
Alby chuckled," Yes. Well, the real reason we're all here is to discuss the Glade. As we see, the Glade is changing. Change is good. We need to embrace it, really use it to our advantage. Our girl glader, she has been a vital member of the Glade for the past months, I've only heard good things," Alby smiled to me. "But with this change in our population, we ourselves have to make some changes. And, I know what you're thinking 'Why now?' 'Why two months later?' and all that. I think we've all adjusted and now we can look froward, so we can move forward."
The boys cheered for him, What is he saying? Look forward to move forward? What does that mean?
"So with that being said, we have some changes in the Glade. First, no boys are allowed in the girl sleeping area. The same goes for girls, not allowed in the boys sleeping quarters. It's a privacy thing, we all need to be respected."
No one objected. Dang, Jackson has been in my room a lot. I hope he doesn't get in trouble. Even Ben... and Alby once.
"Second, As we established before, boys need to have showers done before dinner. Anytime after dinner, the showers are for the girls only."
Alby was talking but he never really looked at me, more to the crowd, but it felt like the rules were all pretty basic. The thing that was weird for me, was he kept saying "girls", like there was more than just me. As if half of the Glade was made up of girls and we were taking over or something, but that was not the case, it was just me. It made me feel uncomfortable, I thought I could feel more people glancing my way or turning to me, like it was my idea to have all these new rules established.
"Next on the list, Alone time. Girls and boys are free to be alone whenever they please during daylight. Once night hits, I would appreciate if everyone was in there proper sleeping quarters."
"Alby, what about...," Aidan gestured to himself, Jackson and Billy.
"Yes, except for Baggers on duty," Alby added.
"Where's all this coming from? Hasn't she been here long enough for this to... not be a big deal?" I heard someone ask, but couldn't see who it was.
"This is not about any particular Galder," Alby clarified. "This is about helping set some ground rules."
"For what?," someone else asked.
"For safety in the Glade. It is important that we evolve with the times. New people means we need new rules."
"Just because she's a girl?!"
I ducked my head, Why is the happening? Why me?
"No. We have always done Glade assessments, Tucker. That's all this is."
"So you're saying we can't leave the homestead at night?," Mihno asked.
"No, that's not what I'm saying. W-..."
"We can't be alone with her at night?"
"Tucker!"
I knew that voice, I glanced over and there was Newt. My heart swooned, for whatever reason it felt like he was defending me, but I knew he wasn't. Stop thinking like that. Friends. Friends.
"How often do you really leave the Homestead at night," Alby asked.
"I don't. Not really. But what if I need to use the bathroom."
"No one is stopping you," Mihno interjected.
"Fine," Tucker muttered.
"Any other questions?," Alby asked the room to which there was no response besides a cough. "Next,..."
I tuned him out after that, it all seemed so unnecessary. I mean, what did he think was going to happen? That I was going to fall in love with some guy here, have a baby or something and then it would be this weird generation thing in the Glade. Maybe that is what he thinks... sick. I don;t want a baby. Definitely not here. In this tomb. It would never happen, first I would need to fall in love, which is impossible...
Unexpectedly, I looked up and craned my neck to get a peek at Newt. He was watching Alby, absorbing each word. I looked back in my lap, this place is so weird. Everyone says it just takes time to adapt and then it gets normal... but it always seems just out of reach for me. Why? Why can't I just blend in with this and fall into the routine.
"And that should be all, if you have any questions or concerns, let me know. Have a great night everyone! GLADERS!"
"GLADERS!," the whole crowd bellowed.
I wish I felt like I belonged... a Glader.
