Left Behind -Gally-

Chapter 19

Her laugh could be heard throughout the Glade. It always seemed to be that way. Sometimes, working with her closest friends was a challenge. There were days Emma would get no work done because of Zart or Jack. They would mess around, not taking their work seriously.

Today was one of those days. Emma tried to do her work but failed miserably. Even Newt was struggling to concentrate. Normally, he would yell at them to go back to work, but the last few weeks had been stressful. It was nice to laugh and have fun while working.

But eventually, the work ends. It was too early to eat; Frypan had yet to finish dinner. The girl wandered the Glade for a bit before venturing toward the animals. It's not a place she often visited.

Emma had her arms resting on the fence. She watched the pigs as they walked around the mud. They screeched, huffed, and oinked as they ate. It was hard to be around the animals knowing they would be slaughtered for food. The Glade had to eat, but still, pigs were living animals. It made her feel sort of guilty.

"Hey," a voice said. Having been lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear the person approaching. She jumped, yanking her arms back. Her elbow hit the wood post, causing her to gasp. Gally snorted, shaking his head. "You okay?"

It didn't hurt, luckily. "Fine, you just scared me."

Gally crossed his arms. "What are you doing over here?"

Emma sighed, "don't know, really. Just walked, ended up here." She ended up staying, letting her mind wander as it commonly did. The girl rested her hands on the wood but felt a prick in her palm. "Ow," she whimpered, rubbing her hand. Gally raised an eyebrow at her, not understanding what happened. "Splinter."

That didn't surprise him. "If you could go five minutes without getting hurt, that would be great."

Emma playfully glared at him. "Slim it." There was a pause. "What are you doing over here?"

Again, a pause. "Dinner bell rang." Gally never spoke his entire thought. It was always half of what he was thinking. Emma had started to learn that. When he said, 'dinner bell rang,' he meant, 'dinner started, and you weren't there.'

"It did?" She hadn't heard it. How long had she been in her thoughts? It was darker now, so she assumed her mind had wandered a bit longer than intended. "I didn't hear it. Thanks for coming to get me."

At the same time, they turned away from the pens and walked toward the Kitchen. Gally's actions were unlike himself. Typically, he wouldn't care if a Glader missed dinner. That just meant more food for everyone else. Why did he care if Emma missed? But he knew why. He didn't want her to go to bed hungry. It was important to eat.

They walked the rest of the way in uneasy silence, both caught up in their minds.

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"Why are you staring at Gally?" It was the first words Emma had registered since dinner started.

Her face flushed. "What?" She stuttered nervously. "I'm not."

Newt chuckled. "Really? Because I just saw you." He used his spoon to point at her. "In fact, I've noticed it quite a bit. Always dazing off, glancing at him. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're admiring him."

"Slim it." But her cheeks only darkened. Newt smirked victoriously. "I'm not admiring Gally." The last thing she wanted was for him to hear. Emma was not admiring Gally. It was a ridiculous comment for Newt to make. If Gally heard her, he would be upset.

"Oh, does our Glader Girl have a crush?" Zart sat down in front of her.

She never had a chance to respond. "Emma has a crush?" Jack had overheard the conversation.