Part III
The Plan

"I'm Adley!"

Like a maniac, I ran through the Glade the next morning, at what I imagined would have been around ten o'clock. My sole pursuit was Thomas, for I wanted to share the good news: I knew my name!

Other gladers I ran by cheered, shouting "She's Adley!" before going back to work. I flashed a smile at all of them as I ran stupidly amid the calmness, wondering where on earth Thomas could be.

I soon came upon Newt as he tended the gardens, and without thought, I threw my arms around him as he stood up from bending over.

"I'm Adley!" I exclaimed, giggling. "I know my name!"

"Excellent!" Newt shouted, returning my embrace politely. "But I may still call ya Greenie."

"What's all the commotion?"

Out of nowhere Thomas appeared, wiping dirt from his fingers with an equally dirty rag. Apparently, he had been working somewhere in the garden, but it was doubtful he'd miss my shouts.

"You really don't know what it's about, Tommy?" Newt said jokingly, kneeling down toward the ground again. "Our girl is Adley now. She remembers."

Thomas nodded, smiling. "Congradualtions... Adley."

Immediately my cheeks flushed. The way my name rolled perfectly off his tongue; the way small smudges of dirt lay across his cheeks and how the sun hit his eyes... I began to feel something I had never felt for anyone, before.

Though I wanted to hug him as I had hugged Newt, I simply held out my hand, refraining again. Thomas raised an eyebrow as he considered my gesture.

"Just shake it," I said. "Before I feel stupid."

Thomas wrapped his large fingers around mine, and shook my hand gently. His palm was warm, and I sensed a fair amount of unused strength. His hand lingered around mine, until a sudden shout made him drop it.

"Gally's trial is about to begin!" a glader shouted as he jogged passed various groups. "Alby wants all gladers to go to the meeting hall!"

I looked away from the messager and met Thomas's eyes, which held a slight bit of the danger I'd once seen in them before he attacked Gally.

"Come on Adley, let's go."

After the trial, in which Gally was sentenced to spend a week in the dirt jail, Thomas and I left the meeting hall with the other gladers. The trial had been even more uncomfortable than the meeting Alby called about setting the rules regarding me and the other gladers, but now that it was over, I was pleased some justice had been given. Also, every glader now knew my name.

I wasn't sure exactly where we were going, but Thomas seemed to walk with a destination in mind, so I followed him without question. He led me to a part of the Glade where few gladers hung around, and no huts had been built. Without warning he plopped down on the grass, his legs crossed and his elbows resting on his knees.

Immediately I followed suit and stared at him, wondering what was going on in his mind.

"Are you satsified?" I asked him gently.

Thomas turned his head a little and looked at me. "Are you?"

I shrugged. "I suppose I am, though I don't think he saw anything. I was already down in the water and that white soapy stuff covered the top of it."

Thomas snorted. "I told him you were in there, and the jerk went ahead and peaked at you. More should have been done to him than a week in the dirt jail."

Suddenly I furrowed my eyebrows. "Wasn't he a main supporter of the rules Alby made about me? I seem to remember him standing up and agreeing with them a few days ago."

"That's one of the annoying things about him. He likes to act like he's part of the authority around here, but when it comes to following the rules, or even acting decent, he does what he wants."

Sighing, I put my hands in the grass behind me and leaned back. From where Thomas and I sat, we were facing one of the many giant walls that kept us from leaving.

"Who put us here, Thomas?" I said thoughtfully, twirling a blade of grass. "And what is beyond these walls? I've noticed the doors that open in the morning and close at night, though I can't seem to imagine anything hopeful lays beyond them. My first day here, I heard someone mention something about a maze."

Thomas sighed. His eyes were fixed on the wall. "We don't know exactly who put us here, and beyond the doors is a maze. Few of us have ever been inside it because Alby only allows a certain few-the Runners-to go in every day and map it out. But I... well, I'd like to go inside some time and figure things out for myself."

"Why don't you?"

"Because no one survives a night in the maze, or at least that's what they all say."

"No one survives?" I repeated, my eyes widening. "What's out there?"

"Creatures, man killers," he replied. "They're called Grievers."

I watched as Thomas's eyes fell away from the wall and moved up and down my outstretched legs. Although I experienced a moment of satisfaction, I blurted: "I suppose if they only kill men, I can go in and figure things out for you."

He shook his head. "Promise me you'll never go in there."

"Why?" I said, playfully defensive as I shoved his shoulder. "You don't think I'm tough?"

"You might be tough, but the creatures are deadly."

Not having a come-back, I fell silent, thinking. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Thomas watching me, curious perhaps, but he may have just been gazing at my legs again.

"What if we explored it together?" I asked him suddenly, quietly. "What if when no one was looking... we went inside, and tried to find some answers?"

The expression on Thomas's face I couldn't understand fully, for it seemed to be a mix of many thoughts and emotions. Absently he stared at the ground and pulled out some blades of grass, while I remained silent.

"Are you sure it's something you'd really want to do?" he said at last, bringing his eyes to mine.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Tommy!"

At the same time our bodies twisted around to see Newt distantly, waving and beckoning Thomas to return to the gardens. "We need your help, mate!"

"I'm coming Newt!" he called, and afterward rose to his feet, an action I mimicked.

"Think they'll give me a job around here?" I said quickly, not wanting to be parted from him quite yet.

Thomas shrugged. "I doubt it. Might make some of them feel awkward to order you around."

I smiled. "So it's a plan, then? We're going into the maze?"

Concern flickered across Thomas's face, but he nodded. "Yeah, but we'll need to wait until I have a day off from my duties, otherwise, they'll wonder where I am. Let me talk to Newt, and I'll let you know."

Nodding, I watched as Thomas then turned from me and hastily made his way to Newt, who leaned on a garden hoe waiting for him. Though I secretly loved Thomas's concern for me, a great desire to know what lay beyond the walls was beginning to grow in my heart, a desire I assumed had already planted itself firmly inside of Thomas.

Author's Note: Hmm, a lot of takers and no givers. I've decided not to update this story until I get some love in the white box below. I see tons of people are reading this, so I know you like it. Be part of the review revolution.