Hi guys! I hope you like this story! I'm wondering what I'm going to write next for this... Do you think I should make Anna a runner or a medjack? Oh and Newt doesn't have his limp because 'that event' hasn't happened... all though I am wondering if I should put that in here, what do you think? Thanks- GraceKerr-author4life
The next morning we are awakened by Alby. "Come on! New day! Let's get up!" He shouts. I sit up and nudge Anna. She sits up. Everybody puts his sleeping bag and pillows away. Anna follows me.
"I'll be right back." She says as we all head down to breakfast. I see her go off into the woods. I'm about to follow her when Minho appears at my side.
"Let her go. She'll be back." We walk into the mess hall. As we all get our food and start eating Anna walks through the door. All eyes are on her and what she's doing. She's brushing her long hair out with a makeshift comb. None of us comb our hair anymore; we don't have time for it.
"What?" She says looking at everybody.
"Why are you doing that?" A boy asks from the back of the room.
"Brushing out my hair? It keeps your hair cleaner." She says matter-of-factly. "Don't tell me you guys don't brush your hair?" She asks pulling the comb out of her hair. We all shake our heads.
"Okay, that's it. After breakfast before you walk out of here I'm going to brush your hair. I will not take no for an answer." She says putting her hands on her hips. Many boys get up and go over to her. She brushes out people's hair, one after another. Soon the only boys left are Minho, Alby, and I. Anna brushes out Minho's hair and spikes it up at the front.
"What are you doing?" He asks trying to look at his hair.
"Making it neat. Don't worry, I'm leaving the spikes." She says. "And there you go. Have a good run and be safe." She tells him. Minho kisses her cheek and runs off to join the other runners. Anna and Alby look at one another.
"Alby, can I talk to you later?" Anna breaks the uneasy silence. Alby nods and runs off.
"Guess that leaves me." I say shuffling over to her. She laughs and makes me sit down on a bench at the table. She starts brushing my hair from the back.
"What are you going to talk to Alby about?" I ask.
"I want to know if I can you know be someone who watches out for everyone here. I mean you all don't remember having someone care for you, right? If I can do that maybe I could help you guys be happier. And you all won't be complete pigs!" She says sighing heavily, then chuckling. Putting down her comb on the table she puts her arms around my neck. I lean against her putting my head on her shoulder.
"Newt, what if he says no?" She asks me in a quiet voice. She's changed in these few days. Going from the scared, scary girl to this nice, caring person.
"Alby's pretty reasonable. You'll be taking some of his work off of his shoulders. He's not the most openly kind guy so if you could do that, I bet he'd appreciate that." I say trying to ignore how right it feels to be in her arms. I can feel Anna nodding.
"I won't be taking your place right?" She asks a little guilt in her voice.
"Nah. It's okay anyways, I think you could do more then I could." I say smiling at her. She looks down at me and smiles.
"Well I should go ask him and you should go running." She says kissing my temple. I sit up and watch her run across the Glade to where Alby stands. I get up and walk slowly to the Maze doors. Grabbing a backpack I glance one last time at Anna and Alby. Anna is putting her hand on his arm. A big improvement for Alby, he doesn't like the touchy-feely kind of things. I can see Alby nod. They go off walking and talking. I'm hoping Anna got her job. I set off to the Maze. It's about dinner when Minho, the other runners, and I come back. Minho comes over to me as I catch my breath.
"What's wrong?" I say standing up. He coughs into his fist and tells me nothing changed in the maze, nothing at all.
"Nothing happened in my section. None of the walls changed." I say standing up my breath back. Suddenly I feel someone jumping on my back. Staggering, I instantly loop my hands under her thighs. She laughs.
"Anna!" I say surprised.
"Hey Newt, Minho. How was running? You guys are all sweaty." She says hanging onto me.
"Well, we were running!" Minho runs over to the map room.
"Yo, Newt. You can stay. The others can to. Nothing happened!" Minho disappears into the map room. "
Hey, what did Alby say?" I ask. I start walking towards the stream so I can clean my face.
"He said yes! I'm like a...like a..." She looks for the right word. "A mother hen?" I suggest.
"I am not a mother hen! I'm not a mother figure! Just a caregiver I guess." She says as I put her down.
Splashing water on my face I state, "Well, I'm pretty sure a lot of boys here think you're like their mother." I glance at her. She looks a little crest-fallen.
"How do you see me?" She asks looking away. I brush water onto my arms and stomach.
"I think you're my friend," What I want to say is maybe a little more one day. I let the comment hang in the air as if saying 'or something more'. She nods. The dinner bell sounds. I stand up. Anna jumps on my back and we run to the mess hall. She laughs the whole way. I do to.
"Don't fall!" She shrieks as we come to a stop in the doorway. I let her down and we all sit down to eat. Minho, Alby, Anna, and I sit down nearest to the door. We eat, laugh, talk, and have fun. At the end of dinner we all go off to bed, it's too early to go to bed but we're all exhausted. No one wants to go to sleep, though.
"All right you guys. New announcement." Alby and I stand up. I wink at Anna as Alby keeps talking.
"Anna is going to be checking in with you all everyday, making sure everything is going well, and she'll be helping new greenies come into the maze. She'll be like a..." Alby glances at me.
"Either a mother hen or a therapist." I say smirking in Anna's direction. She shoots daggers at me.
"If you need something big come to me, something little go to Newt, something physical go to the Medjacks, and if you need something mental go to Anna." Alby says. Everyone starts talking at once. Then we all lapse into bored silence.
"What now? I'm not tired." A few boys mumble. Anna is next to me resting her head in her hands.
"Everything okay?" I ask sitting besides her, our thighs touching.
"Yeah, just a bit sleepy. I don't know why though." She leans her head onto my shoulder.
"Anna, do you remember any stories or have any stories? You know like your song last night?" Someone asks quietly from the back. Anna's head shoots up.
"Yeah. Tell us a story or sing a song." A few other boys chorus in. Anna looks at me. I'm about to speak up when she calls for quiet.
"Okay. Sit down in your sleeping bags and gather around. I'm going to tell you a story of the haunted island." She moves in front of me and leans against my chest. I put my arms around her as she starts talking. She tells us all about these seven boys stranded on an island. A monster is chasing them and killing them off one by one.
"As the last boy stood in the dark, alone, the monster attacked him from behind. Screaming he took his last breath. Ah! He died and the monster lived on his island haunting whoever came near for the rest of its life." She finishes the story making everybody jump. We all jump when she screamed. Then laughed as she ended the story.
"It's time for bed now." She says happily. Starting to sing we all get to our places and drift to sleep. Anna falls asleep at the end of the song and sleeps on my chest.
I fall asleep enjoying her warmth.