It's been three days since I've talked to Minho. He keeps avoiding me. There's a small part of me that is worried that he won't show up if I have another dream. What worries me even more is the thought of never talking to him again. Newt and I don't sit with them for meals anymore since I can't be around Zart very much and Minho refuses to talk to me. Some supplies came up today. I got that guitar I made a request for last week. It's been 2 weeks since the kid came up and he still has no friends. I feel like it's my fault that he never made friends. I should have helped him fit in more, but instead I deserted him. I wonder what he thinks of me. Does he think I am an awful person? A coward? Or maybe he is just confused and doesn't know what to think.
"Hello! Earth to Echo!" Newt says while waving a hand in my face.
"What?" I ask stupidly.
He rolls his eyes. "Did you hear any of that?"
"No..." I say sheepishly.
He sighs. "Still feeling guilty that you wont talk to them?"
I nod. "What were you saying?"
"Nothing important." He looks down at my untouched plate of food. "Are you going to eat?"
"Yeah."
"Well hurry it up then. We can't just stay up all night. You have to sleep eventually."
"Then you go to bed. I will go when I am done."
"No. I'm not leaving you alone out here. You might do something stupid."
I roll my eyes. "You faith me in is so comforting."
"I wasn't trying to comfort you. I was just letting you know that I'm not leaving you alone."
"Well thank you Newt." I say as I look down at my food. "I changed my mind. I'm not hungry. See you in the morning." I say as I stand up to walk to the Homestead. Before I can get there I hear someone call my name. I turn around to see Chuck walking towards me. I freeze up and can't move a muscle as he comes closer. When he get to me he smiles.
"Hey Echo." He says. All I can manage is a small nod. "Do you think that you could sing another song for us? Like the one you sang on my First day here." He asks me.
"Umm..." I choke our, still feeling frozen in place. A song... That's it! That's what I need! A song will help me calm down and be less stiff. "Sure." I finally tell him.
His smile gets even wider and he runs back to the rest of the the Gladers. "Hey everyone!" He yells excitedly. "Echo's gonna sing us a song!"
I run into the Homestead to grab my guitar and by the time I am back outside almost everyone is in a big circle. As I walk into the center of it I get nervous. I stop in the center and tune the guitar quickly, already knowing with song I want to play. Once I am done I play the first few notes and start singing.
""Oh don't you dare look back.
Just keep your eyes on me."
I said, "You're holding back, "
She said, "Shut up and dance with me!"
This woman is my destiny
She said, "Ooh-ooh-hoo,
Shut up and dance with me..."
As I sing and play I watch my friends dancing and laughing and having fun. Before long I can feel myself starting to relax. Newt walks over to stand next to me. During the chorus when everyone else is singing along I take a break to talk to Newt.
"You gonna dance?" I ask him.
"Can't." He replies, gesturing to his bad leg.
"Then sing." I tell him before I start singing again. I raise my eyebrows at him and he rolls his eyes. After a few encouraging nudges from me, he finally starts singing along. I smile and watch everyone dancing around me. I find Minho sitting in the back of the crowd. We make eye contact and he frowns before standing up and walking away. When the song is over Chuck walks up to me.
"Can you sing another one?" The Greenie asks.
"Sorry kid. Not tonight. I'm too tired." I say without looking at him. Before he can say something else I turn and walk back to the Homestead. I lay down on my bed and force myself to calm down before reluctantly falling asleep.