𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐎𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 - TMR, Gally

003 - Day Off

A/N: Forgot to mention this in the information, but I am aware of the fact the Gladers/Builders would never be this disrespectful or rude. It's all part of the plot!

~

Everyone was supposed to remember one thing; their name. I did remember mine, Valerie, but the strange thing was, I remembered another name. Luke.

So many nights I had searched around my mind to find a clue of who Luke was, but I never succeeded. I couldn't break through the thick, stone wall that blocked all my memories.

I only had a few guesses. Luke was either someone related to me, like a sibling or other family member. Maybe a boyfriend, but I couldn't imagine having a boyfriend and someone loving me for who I was. So most of the time I crossed that idea off the list. And the other guess was a friend. A very good one... but what could've been so special about this Luke that made me remember his name? Was I supposed to remember him?

I hadn't told anyone else about it. Not even Newt. It wasn't that I didn't trust Newt, but... somewhere, deep in my heart, I doubt if he loved me as much as I loved him. Sounded weird, yet I really thought that. Because why would he love me? What did I ever do for him? Nothing.

The days soon went on and it was nothing but to get teased by the Builders, talk to Newt, hope to convince Minho to make me a Runner, and get patched up by the Med-Jacks now and then. It was almost time for the new Greenie too.

And I felt different than normally. My happiness ebbed away slowly. My sleep got less, my motivation to work got less... all ruined by just some comments. Maybe the worst thing was I actually believed them for what they said. I was the only girl, I wasn't good at Building or anything else, and no one seemed very happy to have me in the Glade either. Newt was my best friend, but I was sure he could easily live without me.

At some point, I started to think a few Builders dropped logs on me on purpose or sabotage my tools, but then I realized I was being crazy again. Or they were just mean, but I doubted that. They weren't that bad. Most of the time...

"Good morning." Mike greeted me at breakfast. I mumbled a morning and sat down across from Gally and next to Mike and some others. The urge to sit with different people was big, but only imagining what specific name I would be called for that was enough for me to not do it.

"Wanna know what day it is today?"

I felt like screaming at them. Snapping I didn't care. Yelling I didn't want to work with them.
"Sure." Eventually, that was all that came out of my mouth.

"Day Off. Ya know what that means?"

"A literal day off work," I muttered. "I'm not dumb."

"You don't seem so happy. Would you rather work in the kitchen and-."

"I'd rather have you to shut up, Carl. Thank you." I snapped. They whistled, as usual. It always happened when I spoke up for myself.

I already woke up with a bad feeling, now they were making it worse by starting to make more comments about Newt, Sloppers, and me.

I kept my head down, not wanting to show how much they hurt me. Not wanting to show how my heart broke a little more every single time.

"David," Gally warned when names flowed out their mouths. Horrible names.

When I felt tears burn in my eyes, I blinked them away, yet they kept coming. Just like the comments.

"Can you guys stop?" It wasn't much louder than a whisper.

"Stop what?" One chuckled.

"Those comments," I said quietly. I still looked at the ground, too scared to speak up again.