Afflicted↠ Newt [1]

Chapter 11.

The sun was only just beginning to rise when I woke up the next morning. My whole body ached with fatigue, my muscles screaming in protest as I climbed out of bed. Minho and Newt were still fast asleep, both snoring softly. I quietly slipped on my shoes, careful not to wake the sleeping boys, and exited the room.
The Homestead was quiet, other than the snores coming from the dozen boys. I was almost sure I was the only one awake, except for maybe Frypan and his cooks. I liked it this way. It was quiet. Peaceful. Almost as if we weren't living in hell.
"Emily!"
I turned around to see Minho jogging up to me. His hair ruffled, his eyes still glazed over by sleep. He had just woken up.
"What are you doing up?" I asked as he caught up to me.
"I should be asking you the same thing." He ran a hand through his hair- which, might I add, still seemed to be on-point, despite just waking up.
"I couldn't sleep," I said, my tone flat.
"And the noise you were making made everyone else unable to sleep," Minho said with a chuckle. "Now that we're up, we might as well go see if Frypan has anything good to eat."

The kitchen was empty when Minho and I entered. The distant clanking on pans in the back told us that Frypan was the only one in there. I knew how much the cook hated having his kitchen raided, and I felt slightly bad for him. A fresh plate of bacon sat on the counter, steam still rising off the food. My mouth watered as the aroma filled the air. My stomach grumbling, I no longer felt guilty for taking the food as I followed Minho towards the plate.
Frypan's back was to us as he cracked an egg in a pan, quietly humming to himself. I was sure that the cook could hear my stomach rumbling from where he stood- as Minho always said the guy had ears like a hawt- but he showed no signs of knowing we were there.
Minho grabbed a slice of bacon, stuffing it into his mouth before handing me a piece of my own. He grabbed two more for each of us before turning around to leave. I went to follow him, but we didn't get to move an inch before an angry voice called out from behind us.
"Minho!"
I turned around slowly, a piece of bacon hanging slightly from my open mouth. Frypan stood by the plate of bacon- which was now almost empty- his arms crossed, his face scrunched in annoyance.
"Hey, Fry," Minho said in a sing-song voice as he munched on the bacon. The cook glared at him, tapping his foot on the ground.
"Minho, we arrived here together. You should know how much I hate this."
"I know, buddy," Minho walked up to him and patted him on the back."But hey, we're friends right?"
Frypan shrugged, "Yeah."
"Then let me take this bacon. You know, as a gift from a friend." Minho glanced at me, a small smirk on his face.
"What about the Newbie here?" Frypan looked at me. I smiled and stuffed another piece of bacon in my mouth, waiting for Minho to answer for me.
"Hey, she's your friend, too. Right?"
It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me, but then I nodded quickly.
Frypan sighed, rolling his eyes and he grabbed the nearly empty plate of bacon. "You might as well take the whole shuck plate."

+

Newt led me towards the Homestead, where the Builders were currently working on expanding it. I had the total honor of training with the Builders; lucky me. Note the sarcasm. I already knew that building wasn't the right job for me. I wasn't strong, and I sure as hell knew I didn't wanna spend my days here building. It just didn't seem fun. For me, anyway.
I followed Newt towards the Keeper of the Builders, Gally. I had yet to meet the boy, though ever since he stuck up for me at the Gathering, he's been on my good side. I just hoped it'd stay that way.
"You can call me Captain Gally, Newbie," he said with a smirk. He held a toolbox in his hand, filled with hammers and nails and all sorts of tools. For a moment, I wondered how they got such supplies, if they were limited to only wood. But then I remembered the Box.
I started off nailing up a wall- a simple task, to Gally, but to me, it was probably the most difficult thing in the world. Okay, maybe I was overreacting, but it was pretty hard. I couldn't hit the nail more than twice in a row; I always ended smashing my finger. Newt watched from a distance, leaning against a tree, smirking at every time I would hurt myself.
He ended up coming over once, showing me how to properly hold a hammer. The way he wrapped his hands around mine made me remember the events of the day before, with George. Though this was different. I didn't feel uncomfortable when Newt did it, quite the opposite, actually. Every time he touched me- even if it was as simple as his shoulder brushing against mine- goosebumps would rise on my skin and shivers would run up my spine.Not that I was complaining or anything, I just didn't know what was wrong with me.