“Newt, Ember, you're late.”
Alby gave me a glare as I ran to my chair, and I giggled as I sat down. Rudy was standing in the centre of the room, and the other 5 boys were standing behind him.
“Keepers. This is Rudy, and we need to decide his absolute place in this Glade. He will be given 6 days to go through the job wheel. Suggestions?”
The room was dead silent. I felt terrible, but I didn’t want Rudy as a MedJack. He was slightly… clumsy. I didn’t want to claim him, but I wanted to keep the awkward silence away.
“Look Alby, we just have to test him. Nothing more.”
Alby nodded, and moved on to Rikky. I watched as each boy was claimed, and I spoke up at Ray, because he had the looks of a medic. But he still had to go through the other trainings.
“Listen Greenbeans, we have four rules here.
1. No slackers. We have no time for you.
2. Never harm another Glader. Our community is built on trust, no matter how broken it is.
3. Stay inside these walls. It is for our safety, and unless you have permission from the two runners we have.
4. See Ember? The only girl in the Glade? Yeah, no dating her.”
Newt and I glanced at each other and thought 20 minutes before this Gathering. His ears turned red, and I blushed. Gally saw this, and raised one of the stupid eyebrows on his face. I glared at him and he shrugged. Newt chuckled and leaned back on the post he was, and I focused my gaze on Alby again. I waited until he gave out first stations, and I got Ray. I smiled at him, and he followed me to the MedJack house.
“So, Ray.”
“So, Ember.”
“Right now, no one is hurt, so I have to clean. Help m-”
I stopped mid-sentence as Newt came in. His leg was a mess, and it was extremely bloody.
“Oh my god, Newt.”
I sprang into action, asking Ray to fill a bowl with water. I sat him on the bed that was in the room.
“Take your pants off.”
Ray turned around and stared at me with disbelief and Newt looked amusingly at me with his eyebrows raised.
“My, pants?”
“Not like that, ya shank. You can’t roll up those jeans, so take the damn pants off!”
He laughed, and stood up. I turned away, and listened as he pulled his jeans off. When I turned around, he had his leg propped up on the pillow, and had his arms crossed. The bowl was next to me with a rag in it. He grinned lazily at me, and I had to shut my eyes when I realized that he was in boxers. I grabbed the rag and started cleaning the wound. I motioned for Ray to give me a bandage, and wrapped it. All of a sudden, Alby walked in.
“Hey Ember, how’s Ray do- What is this?”
I looked up at him guiltily, even though I wasn’t doing anything wrong. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Newt. He raised his hands and shrugged.
“Hey man, I can’t roll up those jeans. I tore up my leg tripping over a tree root. She is doing her job. I can’t, and won’t, break the freaking rule. She is Ember, for gods sake.”
I nodded, and smiled.
“I’m done, anyway. Put the pants back on, shank.”
He slid his pants on and walked out. Alby rolled his eyes and motioned towards Ray.
“Is he any good?”
“Yup! Not squeamish, either.”
Alby walked out, and left us alone.
“How about that cleaning?”
{NEWT WITH HIS PANTS OFF I WANT}
