𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙈𝘼𝙕𝙀 𝙍𝙐𝙉𝙉𝙀𝙍 ━ 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘰

𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆

━ CHAPTER ONE

A week had passed since Katherine came up in the box. She has gotten to know the gladers and had actually made friends. Her and Newt had gotten along really well and even though it was still weird for the boys to see a girl roaming around the Glade, they accepted her. They treated her like a Glader. 

Katherine had gotten her own room in Homestead since she was the only girl in a large group of hormonal teenage boys who had never met a girl before. Her room wasn't too big but she wasn't complaining. At least she got to sleep inside rather than outside in an open hammock surrounded by sweaty smelly boys. 

Although she didn't have a shower in her room, Newt always guarded the door so none of the boys would try to get in. She was grateful for her friendship with Newt. They had gotten really close and hung out almost all the time. 

Katherine had gotten a job in the kitchen, she kept stock of the food and water. She loved spending time in the kitchen with Frypan. They were also close and always joked around in the kitchen. Of course, the girl had lots of free time since the stock came in little by little so she spent her free time hanging out with Frypan and helping him cook. 

There was one person she took interest in, who hadn't really taken an interest in her. She wanted to get to know him because he seemed like he was serious all the time but there was sometimes where he would smile and she thought it was absolutely adorable. It was Minho.

The brunette had talked to Minho once, and that was because she accidentally bumped into him and apologized. He said it was fine and moved on. If he had been interested in the girl, he hid it extremely well. Minho and Newt were close and it sometimes bothered her that Minho seemed to never notice her. 

Today was Katherine's day off, so she decided to take the time to wander around the Glade. She wanted to spend time alone, in the forest. She had parted ways with Chuck, her other best friend, and began walking towards the forest. 

It was dim, but sun rays burst through some leaves and seem to hit the ground, leaves and trees just right. She thought it was beautiful. Katherine wandered around some more, following a small stream. 

The girl was dragging her fingertips along the rough bark on a tree as she looked around, unable to see those horrible, ugly gray walls that trapped her and all these kids in the Glade, and she loved it. 

"Hey!" Her moment was interrupted by someone roughly grabbing her shoulders and spinning her around so fast she stumbled back with a yelp. She quickly went from peaceful to fearful in less than a second. "What the shuck are you doing out here?" It was Minho, and he did not look happy. 

"What?" She questioned, confused and annoyed with the boy for one, scaring her, and two, ruining her peaceful moment. 

"You can't be out here, greenie." He said sternly. She furrowed her eyebrows. 

"Why not?" Katherine crossed her arms over her chest. Minho rolled his eyes. He turned her head with his index and middle finger to the left and she saw a small hut. "What is that?" She asked beginning to walk towards it. Minho pulled her back quickly, not letting her arm go. 

"That's the mapping room, you're not allowed in there or around here 'cause you ain't a runner." He raised his eyebrows as if it were obvious. 

"Well, how was I suppose to know that, and I didn't even know that was there." She stuck her arm out in the direction of the mapping room. 

"Well, now you do. Get lost, greenie." Minho huffed. 

"Grumpy are we?" Katherine rolled her eyes. "And my name's not greenie, it's Katherine." This time it was the brunette's turn to raise her eyebrows making it obvious. Minho rolled his eyes, he seemed to do that a lot. 

"Ok, Katherine. Time to go." He pushed her in the opposite direction of the mapping room. Katherine huffed and began walking away. 

She followed the stream once she found it again, making sure to stay away from the mapping room and away from Minho. He seemed extremely moody and rude. 

Katherine finally found a small pond, it looked pretty deep. It was a good thing she was wearing her shorts. The girl sat on the ground and slipped her legs into the water leaning back onto her hands. 

The cool water felt nice against her warm, sweating legs. It was a really hot day out in the Glade and she was glad she didn't have to spend it in the boiling hot kitchen. She felt bad for Frypan. 

Katherine was glad she found out about this pond. It was small but not too small. She could swim in it if she wanted to. The girl decided to head back to the Glade and get a crop top and shorts that she didn't care about getting wet. 

The brunette walked through the Glade, waving at people who waved and greeted her. Most of the boys were nice, but there were some who were creepy. 

She finally made it back to her room and grabbed her clothes and hurried back to the pond. Once she reached the water, she quickly stripped and pulled on her crop top that kind of looked more like a sports bra. She pulled on her shorts and slowly slipped into the pond. It reached just over her shoulders and she let her hair flow behind her in the water. 

The water felt soft and cool against her warm skin. It glistened in the sunlight that hit it just right. She smiled as her hands glided over the top of the water. 

Katherine decided she would come here whenever she had the chance. As the girl floated on her back on the surface of the water, her mind flashed through the dream that she had seen when she slept in the slammer the first day she had arrived. The images flashed through her mind every time she closed her eyes, and she always heard the same phrase being said over and over in her mind, 'WCKED is good'. 

She didn't know what it meant, or what WCKED was for that matter. But she didn't like the sound of it. It gave her chills hearing that phrase, seeing those faces as she suffered underwater. Those images haunted her ever since she saw them. 

Katherine sighed and stood up straight, smoothing her hair out of her face. The girl breathed out, her cheeks puffing out and slowly deflating as she blew the air out of her mouth. She slowly submerged herself under the cool surface of the water. 

The girl opened her eyes and looked up, seeing the sun rays wave through the water as it rippled from the movement of Katherine. She felt utter peace and bliss as her stress and anxiety seemed to completely wash off her body and mind. She closed her eyes and took it all in before going to the surface for air. 

She smoothed her hair out of her face and down her back once again. She looked at the surroundings as she moved her arms back and forth in the water. 

Katherine felt like the only person in the Glade at that moment, and she loved it.