Minho led me into the shack that the Gatherings were held in. It was a symmetrical yet crudely built building compared to the rest, consisting mostly of sticks and logs found around the glade. The room was built like an arena with different levels going into the Earth. It was dark, the only light coming from a few torches on the walls around the room. The room had a musky scent similar to the Homesteads but mixed with the salty smell of sweat, most likely coming from the boys. As soon as I stepped through the doorway I felt 50 pairs of eyes bearing down on me. I remained calm with a serious face, and looked around the room for some familiar faces. Alby, Newt and the keepers stood towards the back of the room on the lowest level. The rest of the Gladers filled the staggered levels opposite of them, mingling between themselves loudly. It was easy to tell they were all talking about me from their lingering eyes. "Dani." Minho spoke to me softly, putting out his hand for me. I grabbed it and let him take me towards the rest of the keepers. I said my hellos to them, Winston, Zart and Fry in particular. I spoke quickly with Clint, who came over to check on how I was feeling. Gally was leaning against one of the foundation posts glaring at me, but I gave him a small smile anyways. Newt and Alby came over to us next, Newt staring down at my hand which was still intertwined with Minho's. I took my hand back rather quickly, not wanting anyone to get the wrong idea. Even though I should have felt awkward about the prolonged contact with Minho, I actually didn't think twice about it. I actually had forgotten all about it. Minho stood next to me calm and stoic as ever just going wherever I went. He caught me looking at him and gave me a big grin.
"Something I can help you with Girly?" he raised his eyebrow at me. I crossed my arms and shook my head stubbornly before taking a step away from him.
"Are you ready?" Alby asked quietly giving me a reassuring smile.
"Yeah." I replied. "I think everything will be okay."
"You better bloody hope so…" Newt mumbled before walking away. I watched him move to grab a large wooden chair and carry it back to me. "Here, you get the hot seat tonight." He spoke with a flatness that made me frown.
"Newt…Are you okay?" I whispered to him taking a step towards him.
"Just cheeky." He replied without looking towards me before taking his place next to Alby. I sighed and sat down in the chair, which was rather oversized. I tucked one leg under my butt and left the other bent up on the seat of the chair before wrapping my arm around my knee. I was surprised at how little this position hurt my injured side. The boys did a really good job with it.
"Man, I have always wanted to be in the hot seat!" Winston joked coming over to lean against the top behind me.
"No you haven't." Zart shook his head at him following. "Only trouble makers get to sit there, like her." he smiled down at me, joking. I gasped and acted hurt from his comment. "And just so you know the outcome usually isn't good." He said in a sing song voice.
"But you have to admit, you shucks haven't seen the hot seat look so good before!" I heard Ben's voice ring out. He was sprawled out on the first set of seats, right in the front row with a bold grin on his face. I rolled my eyes at him. Winston and Zart groaned and grumbled something about gross pickup lines making me laugh. I scanned the rest of the room before my eyes fell on a familiar mop of curly hair in the corner.
"Hi Chuck." I mouthed and smiled at him. The young boy seemed surprised at my acknowledgement of him but still waved back enthusiastically.
"Alright quiet down!" Alby commanded suddenly. The room became silent instantaneously and boys took their seats or spots against the back wall. Winston and Zart both left from behind the chair making me feel particularly alone. I did now feel awkward that everyone was looking at me. I took a deep breath and put my head on my knee, turning to look at Alby. Maybe if I pretended they weren't there I would feel better. "We all know what this Gathering is about so there is no use going over everything." Alby started. "This is Dani. She is our new Glader. And yes she is a girl." Alby stated plainly.
"Prove it!" a boy shouted from the crowd making the others laugh. I shrugged and unfolded my legs, half thinking about flashing the boys to show them. Hadn't the little show I accidently put on earlier been enough for them?
"Don't." Newt's voice cooed to me from behind the chair. I froze, partially because I didn't know he was there and because he probably knew what I was thinking. I smirked and looked back at him over my shoulder expecting to see him smiling, only to see he had a harsh face with his eyes fixed on the crowd. He had his head up high, and would glance between the boys faces then to Alby. I can see why Alby made him second in command now.
"Dani was found by Minho and Ben last evening….In the Maze." Alby said strongly but the boys erupted into conversation over him.
"Are you serious?" Gally asked standing up from the pole. "No wonder she seems so dangerous. She could be a monster just like the Grievers! She could be a challenge sent from the creators! And you just let her waltz in? She could be a test! Are you out of your shuckin mind?" He yelled at Alby.
"I'm a girl not a monster or robot…" I growled under my breath.
"She was severely injured. She would have died if we hadn't let her in." Alby's sturdy voice once again quieted down the Gladers. He put his hand up towards Gally face down as if to tell him to calm down, Gally looked at me again and then leaned back against the pole. "Clint and Jeff saved her life."
"What happened this morning? She straight out made Gally look like a stupid shuck face." Another boy yelled from the crowd. Gally glared at him. I pressed my lips and looked to Alby, feeling bad about the situation again.
"She passed out the night before from her injuries. She had just woken up. She was scared and she panicked. Fight or flight. It's just a human instinct so slim it." Newt explained evenly. He looked intimidating, something I really had not seen from Newt.
"She has apologized for her actions and she now knows the rules. She knows all about the glade and how we run things. She will be a great asset to us." Alby looked to me and nodded.
"For what? Reproduction?" A voice yelled out from the back of the room, making the gladers laugh again. I snarled my lip making a disgusted and moved to sit Indian style. But I stopped and looked at the ground. I remembered something, a memory almost. It was a quick flash, but I got the point. I was younger, sitting on a metal table with blonde woman in front of me. She was showing me graphs of my body. I laughed and smiled to myself and shook my head.
"That's enough!" Alby spoke sternly. "Dani is just another Glader. You will all treat her accordingly. If you don't well, I pretty sure she can handle herself. And I will turn my head to anything that happens to you." I looked over at Alby shocked. I mean rules are rules, right? He didn't seem the type to be lenient.
"We have decided that it would be best for Dani's health if she works as a med jack until she regains her strength. Then she will go through the rest of the jobs like everyone else." This was news to me, but I was okay with it. I mean the career did seem to suit me well. Although I did still hope to avoid trying out being a slicer, bagger, and a builder because of the blatant dislike on Gally's face as he was staring at me.
"Is there any more questions or topics needing discussion?" Alby asked the room. Everyone was silent so Alby nodded his head, seeing satisfied. "Alright. Get to bed." I still sat in my chair as everyone funneled out of the room.
"You did well." Minho said plopping down on one of the arms of the chair.
"Well? I didn't do anything!" I spoke extremely confused.
"Exactly." He shrugged. "You did your jobs by just sitting there and looking like a pretty little Greenie and being quiet." I glared at him. "Despite what I heard you whispering to yourself." He smirked.
"I'm not really one to hold my tongue. Sorry." I spat quietly back at him.
"Dani, I'm sure you are ready to go to bed. It's been quite an eventful day." Alby said moving towards us with Newt. "You can't sleep out with the rest of the boys, it's not proper and I don't want to make you uncomfortable. So until further arrangements have been made, you can barrow Newt's room." I nodded and stood up.
"Thank you." I said to Newt.
"Yeah." He said running his hands threw his hair. "Come on, I'll take you there." He spoke before moving towards the door.
"Bye Alby." I said before moving to the dark haired boy who was now slumped in the chair. "Good night Minho. Will I be seeing you tomorrow too?" I asked.
"No. I go back to running the maze tomorrow. Maybe if you're lucky I'll say hi on my next day off." Minho smirked at me. I rolled my eyes and walked to the sandy blonde waiting by the door.
I matched his pace as we set out across the Glade. The sun had set and the Gladers were all getting settled in hammocks or on the ground for the night. Newt keep giving me side glances but always looked away when I tried to catch him. "I can't believe you even thought about taking your clothes off… in front of all the gladers… again…." He grumbled and rolled his eyes slightly.
"I don't like people being suspicious of me. If they have questions I will give them answers." I explained and shook my head. "How could you have possibly even known that was what I was considering? Please tell me!" I asked laughing. I guess Newt knew me too well already. I was met with silence and Newt's serious demeanor remained making me fall quiet as well. He stopped and moved in front of me suddenly, making me come to a halt rather close to him.
"You…remembered something during that didn't you? Or you thought of something…I don't know… I could tell by your body language and your face….It made you smile and laugh." He spoke quietly to me. I was taken back a little. How did he notice that?
"Uhhh… yeah actually." I put my hand over my mouth, unsure of how to tell him what I remembered. He raised an eyebrow at me expectantly. I opened my mouth and just laughed a little again, feeling some heat come to my face. "When that guy said reproduction. I uh… I remembered that I don't …..have periods. And I kind of can't have kids…." I bit my lip and tried not to laugh at the shock and confused look on Newt's face. His cheeks began to turn slightly pink and he took a step back.
"Ugh, ew. No. No. Please. I don't want to bloody hear about that." He groaned as he turned away and began walking again. I couldn't help but smile at him being such a typical guy, he seemed to be turning back into the Newt I liked, not the angry Newt that hardly talked to me and kept avoiding me. But he stopped again. "Oh no. Wait, I'm sorry. If you ever wanted to have children…. I'm sorry Dani. I wasn't thinking." He looked at me sincerely. I frowned, I never had really thought about that.
"It's fine Newt. Really. Who knows how long we will be in here anyways. What kind of person would want to raise a kid in this place? " I motioned to the walls surrounding us. " I mean I need to worry about my survival. If I am a mistake and I'm not supposed to be here who knows what the creators or whoever will do about it…" I trailed off finally saying what had been bugging me. Newts face dropped, so I tried to change the subject. "Plus I'm only….. I'm actually not sure how old I am…." I turned my head and looked to Newt.
"Ummmm well…." He stopped and put his hand to his chin. He looked me up and down, making a weird thinking face. "I'm no expert but I'd say you are about 18? But I could be off one year either way..." He shrugged. "I don't know girls are weird." Newt whined.
"Hey. Thanks!" I said before I started walking again. "So how old are you?" I asked looking at him now. He was rather toned, not like how Minho was though. Newt was lean, Minho was muscular. Newt was taller though, like a head taller than me. His hair was grown out and it had the perfectly messy look. There was a bit of stubble on his chin.
"19. We think." He said. " I think Alby's the oldest. He has to be 20 at least. But it makes sense he has been here the longest."
"And I'm going to guess Chuck is the youngest…" I said thinking about all of the boys I had seen around during the day.
"Yeah…I think he's about 13…" Newt frowned looking at the ground. I felt a pang of hurt for the poor boy. He was too young to be stuck in this place.
"That is just so unfair. He shouldn't be growing up in a place like this. He should be playing and having fun. Like a normal kid." My voice rose in anger. I shook my head and took a calming breath.
"Don't worry, Chuck gets plenty of time to play. He has taken a habit to playing different pranks on the other gladers. They're quite fun as long as you're not the victim." Newt smiled. "Gally is the most popular victim." I know he was just trying to make light of the situation but I was troubled. "Hey," Newt stopped again, putting his hands on my shoulders to make me face him. "Chuck maybe young, and he may have to work like the rest of us, but he seems pretty happy." He tried to reassure me.
"A boy that young needs a family Newt. He needs a mom and a dad to look up to and to care for him." I pulled back and crossed my arms.
"I'm sorry Dani, but were doing the best we bloody can." Newt put his hands up unsure of what to do or say. I started walking again, Newt following quietly behind me. After a small window of silence Newt cleared his throat. I glanced over at him. "You know you could always be the little shanks mommy." He raised his eyebrows at me. I laughed out loud making some of the gladers glare at us from their sleeping areas.
"Seriously?" I chuckled. "Oh I see! Just because I'm the girl I have to be the mom?" I asked putting my hand to my chest pretending to be hurt.
"Oh no! I didn't mean it like that!" Newt tried to backtrack. I just smirked at him.
"Fine. If I have to be the mom who gets to be the dad?" I turned my head towards him. Newt furrowed his eyebrows, acting stumped. "Ah. Got it! How aboouuutt-" he started but was interrupted.
"Hey Dani!" Ben called out. He was standing by the front door to the homestead. I paused a few feet away, Newt standing close behind my shoulder. "I wanted to know if you were ready for that walk?" he asked walking forward. I bit my lip and looked over at Newt. His face was unreadable, but his hands were clenched at his sides.
"Oh. Right." I said putting my hand behind my head. "I'm sorry Ben but I'm just really tired from today. Newt was actually taking me up to my room right now. I'm afraid I wouldn't be any fun. I would just fall asleep on you!" I tried to joke with him a little to get out of it. I felt bad being kind of mean to him but I really didn't want to.
"Don't worry. I would catch you." Ben winked at me. "I guess I'll let you get some sleep. Next time?" He asked.
"Yeah. Sure. Good night Ben." I said before moving to the door. Newt followed me in and walked up to his room without saying a word. I sat on the bed and looked at him, but he started it again. Refusing to look at me. "Where will you sleep?" I asked him stopping him from leaving.
"Either outside with everyone else or I'll sleep on the floor in Alby's room. Whatever works." He said staring at the ground.
"I'm sorry I took your room Newt." I tried to apologize. Newt just shrugged. We were both quiet for another minute. Newt sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
"Good night Dani." He spoke finally and started to head for the door.
"Good night Newt." I said taking off his long sleeve shirt he lent me so I was just in a tank top. Newt's eyes got a little bigger, like he was shocked I started to undress in front of him. I couldn't help but smile a little at his innocence. "Sweet dreams." I laid down pulling the sheet around me. Newt grabbed the handle and then looked back at me.
"Dani?" He asked in a whisper. I propped my head up with my hand. "Don't…..Just be careful around Ben. Okay? And the rest of the Gladers…"
"Newt, I'm fine." I smiled at him. "I promise." He just nodded. "Hey, if anyone gives me trouble I'll just rough them up a bit. Then I'll come tell you so you can have a turn." I tried to get him to laugh.
"Sounds fair." His lips curled up in one corner, giving the hint of a smile before he shut the door behind him. I rolled on my back carefully, not wanting to agitate my side and sighed. My brain was on overload but I didn't realize how tired my body was until I actually stopped moving and got in bed. I found myself longing for company though. I felt the overwhelming need to talk to someone. The stress and shock of the past two days finally set in. I'm a glader. This is my life now. And yet I found myself happy and comfortable in my new life. I closed my eyes and slowly but surely drifted off, a smile still lingering on my face.
I was in a room. A bright room with white and chrome details. I squinted and waited for my eyes to adjust. I was facing a small twin bed with white cotton sheets. The bed was unmade, and there was a dark shirt thrown on the floor by it. A weird contrast to the spotless room. "Come on Dani, one more round!" a familiar voice beckoned to me. I turned around to see a dark haired boy bouncing up and down, his hands up in an athletic position. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of dark pants. Sweat was collecting on his face, but his smile was so contagious, you could see it in his eyes.
"There is no use Thomas!" I felt myself say the words but I had no clue why I did. It's like I had no control. "I'm never going to catch on. Besides, I don't need to learn how to fight. And they're going to wipe your training from your memory anyways! And who knows what could happen if they found out you were teaching me!" I sat down on the bed and crossed my arms angrily.
"Because, as I have told you so many times before. You need to be ready. Just in case." The boy stopped moving. He moved so he was standing directly in front of me. "Besides, you're my favorite sparring partner!" He put his hand on my shoulder. My eyes scanned his strong upper body for a second before going to the ground.
"Why don't you just go practice with Teresa? You and I both know that she really enjoys he time with you…" I trailed off. "I mean you guys are going to be working with each other for the next however many years. Here and in the trials… while I'm stuck in this place…" I put my head in my hands.
"Now. Danielle." I cringed hearing someone say my full name. No one called me Danielle. "You and I both know how I feel about Teresa. Why do you keep bringing it up? This is all business. We have jobs to do. People to save. You know, all that typical superhero type stuff." He tried to joke but I kept my scowl locked on the door. Thomas sighed and kneeled down in front of me. He put his hand on my face, making sure I was looking him in the eyes. "I care about you. I just want to keep you safe, even after I'm gone. Okay?" The boy had such a look of concern in his eyes I had to look away. Gone? What did he mean gone?
"Okay…" I mumbled back. I put my hand over his hand and closed my eyes, soaking up the feeling. I couldn't help but love the contact with him. "Tommy?" I whispered softly. I opened my eyes to find him leaning in closer to me. I smirked and took the chance to tackle the unsuspecting boy to the ground. Since I caught him off guard pinning him was rather easy.
"What the-" Thomas started but I put all of my weight on him. He struggled a bit before glaring up at me. "That was cheating." He yelled out. I laughed and bent my head down to him.
"Don't ever, ever call me Danielle again." I whispered again close to his ear. I heard him growl, and was quickly tossed off of him. We began wrestling, laughing and smiling the whole time. A knock at the door, made both of us stop though. I glanced towards the boy feeling my heart rate increase dramatically. Thomas rushed to grab his shirt as I rushed towards his bathroom. He put his finger to his lips, silencing me and moved to the door, opening it.
Authors Note: Hellooooo! I'm sorry this chapter is a little short but I really wanted to end it by introducing Thomas and Dani's relationship a little bit more. I had to add a little more about Ben's obvious interest in Dani to help with the story line later on as well. Let me know what you think and if you have any advice I'm all for hearing from you guys! Also comment who you would think Dani should end up with in the end! I would love to hear your input before I start drafting more of the story! Thanks for reading guys! It means a lot!