"So when did you- you know- fall in love with her?" Thomas smirked, knowing he had him right where I wanted him, with his head in Fionaland.
"Woah," Newt defeated with his hands up, "What?"
"I may be slow to getting to know things around here, but...
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Thomas and Chuck suddenly both sat up straighter. Gally came over and plopped down next to me, trying to swipe a piece of my bacon before I slapped his hand away. "Don't you dare."
"Come on!" He begged but I still shook my head. He looked around the table, slightly glaring at Thomas before turning back to me. "What got you up so early?"
"Tommy had to put his name on the wall," I said in between bites.
"Tommy?" Gally repeated.
"It's a nickname, Gally, don't get your panties twisted." That made him grimace, I knew he hated the word 'panties' so I took every opportunity to use it. "Go get food before it runs out."
He rolled his eyes, he hated being told what to do but he knew that I was right, "Okay, okay, I'll see you around." He sat back and observed Thomas for a second before getting up to get in line with the rest of the builders.
"He'll get more bearable with time." I tried to convince Thomas but he didn't seem sold on the idea. "He's just overprotective of me. It's how he shows he cares"
"Legend says one of the boys broke her heart." Chuck narrated to Thomas like it was a spooky tale.
"I'm right here, Klunkhead." I fired at Chuck who just laughed. This kid knew he was invincible now because of his cute freckled face, and he was starting to learn how to use it to his advantage.
"Rumor has it that he hasn't been seen since." Chuck continued, even after I kicked his shin under the table. "I think Gally did it but I wouldn't be mind blown if we discovered it was Fi herself."
I set my fork down, "And who has been filling your head with all these tales?"
"No one," Chuck claimed, starting to shove food in his mouth.
"No, don't be shy, tell me." My voice was teetering between calm and irritated. Chuck took his bacon to go and started running. "Shuck!"
--
Gally came to the maproom. He leaned against my doorframe and just watched me as I paced back and forth.
"Are you going to just stand there and look at me all day?"
"I brought you lunch." He answered, setting food down on the table for me. He inspected me deeply, trying to read my mind. He walked to me for the sole reason of annoyingly poking me in the head. I rolled my eyes, setting my notebook down to glare at him. "What's going on upstairs? You're left to your own devices in the map rooms all day. I wouldn't be surprised if you got yourself into some trouble."
"I'm fine. Gally." I assured him.
"Okay, All right." He told me but his voice didn't sound convinced. I smiled, knowing Gally knew nothing about the female brain or a soft bone in his body. But his intentions were good.
"Listen. I'm not gonna sit here and pour my heart out to you. I know it, you know it. So you can report to Newt that fine without his ass and that the Princess isn't looking for any knights in shining armor." It came off my tongue with the perfect amount of honesty laced with sass.
At one point in my life, this was my place. For only me. No one bothered and it could work without interruptions.
He looked flustered, shaking his head quickly, "Who said anything about Newt? Is it possible that I'm the one that's worried about you?"
"No, Gally. You don't have emotions." I harassed him, making him laugh. He knew it was a joke, if anything Gally was more emotional than me, he just covered it all with a blanket of anger. He was complex but not impossible. He showed how he felt more in actions than in words.
"Fine, fine." He dropped the topic, turning to the wall to look at all the notes that I had pinned up. "What's the latest?"
"I've been thinking about it scientifically a lot lately. If they just wanted us to solve the maze, Then boom, we won." I explain motioning over the entire map. "We can rule out that option. But what if the grievers are just trying to survive like us? Every night they take shelter like us. The maze is their territory to defend. It's basic animal instinct." I continued, fanning out everything that had been bouncing around my brain. "This whole time we have been viewing the grievers as enemies when they might just be the key to everything."
"If you're about to say, 'An enemy of my enemy is my friend', I'm gonna punch you." Gally deadpanned.
I flipped through my notebook, showing him the pyramid I grew. On the top layer were the experiment coordinators, the ultimate controllers. The second layer was the second strongest below them are the grievers. And then last, at the bottom was us. "Definitely not friends, but they are pawns in this experiment too."
"How does that make a difference? It's not like we can talk to be the grievers and have a nice tea party about it." He poked holes in my theory, leaning against the table.
"Well, actually I was aiming for more of a brunch," I commented sarcastically with an innocent demeanor, before smacking him in the back of the head. "The grievers disappear every morning. They can't just disappear into thin air. They leave the maze. They know how to get out."
"How are we supposed to find it?"
That was the million-dollar question, "I don't know. But we would be stupid to not try. I feel like we've explored all other options. I can talk to Minho when he gets back, maybe he can send me out with someone tomorrow. There's something we're missing." I ran my finger across my lip, staring at the maze for the millionth time today.
"Be sure to take a runner's vest and don't do anything stupid." He advised.
I confidently shook my head, "I couldn't, I'm leaving all the stupid here with you."
"Good one!" He made a dramatically humored face, "Eat something. You're mouthy when you're hungry. More than usual."
He exited then, probably heading back to his duties for the day. And I was left alone with my friends, in peace and quiet.
--
To the two people reading this, you're forever in my heart.
