Afflicted↠ Newt [1]

Chapter 8.

Quick A/N:
So everyday in English, we have a vocab word. Today, the word was banish. I was asked to give an example sentence and I said, and I quote, "you will probably be banished from the glade after hurting another Glader." and I legitimately sat there smiling like a shuck idiot when everyone just stared at me like I was crazy. I finally got to make a TMR reference in class and yet no one understood me Dx
Anyways, on to the story! xD

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The next morning, I found myself sitting in a chair, sweating anxiously, facing thirteen boys. They were all seated in their own chairs, arranged in a semi-circle around me. I felt extremely awkward under the stares of so many boys, and I longed for the Gathering to start. At least, then, the attention wouldn't be directly on me.
We all sat in the center of a room in the Homestead that I hadn't been in before, Newt had called it the Council Hall. My gaze drifted over to the blonde boy, who sat almost directly across from me, beside Minho. His eyes locked with mine, and I felt myself grow hot under his gaze.
I sucked in a deep breath of air, scrunching my nose as the pungent smell of mildew and dust filled my senses.
Nick suddenly stood up from his seat. His gaze drifting over all of the boys, and me, before speaking. "I declare this Gathering begun."
The boys fell silent, all focusing on their leader. I was thankful that the attention was no longer on me, but I knew that wouldn't last long.
"Word travels fast around here, so I'm sure all of you know why we have called a Gathering. Our Newbie here is the only thing on the schedule."
"She's not just a Newbie," said a voice that I did not recognize. "She's a rule breaker. She almost killed Newt."
The small crowd of boys exchanged glances with each other, some murmuring in agreement.
"I'm aware of that, John." Nick held his hand up to silence the boys. "We'll give each Keeper a chance to state their opinion, then we'll decide what to do with her." he then turned to a blonde boy. Zart, the Keeper of the Track-Hoes. "Zart the Fart, you start."
The boy shifted in his seat, as if he were uncomfortable with speaking his opinion, "Well, she did break a rule. We can't let people think that's okay. But, she only just got here, she barely knows the rules. Half of you shanks have hurt each other before, but you never get punished. So why should we punish the poor girl for something she doesn't quite understand yet?"
There were a few snickers that came from the crowd as Zart looked at his hands. As if he were embarrassed of his opinion. I flashed a grateful smile his way. At least someone was on my side. I made a promise to myself to be extra nice to the Keeper of the Track-Hoes in the future.
Nick motioned towards Zart, "Is that it?"
Zart nodded.
"Okay. You're up, Winston."
The acne-covered Slicer sat up straight, eyeing the crowd as he spoke, "I think she should be punished. I mean, no offence, but we're always yappin' on about keeping order. If we don't punish her, we'll be going against our own words."
"What kind of punishment are you suggesting?" Nick asked. I felt a lump form in my throat as I anxiously waited to hear what Winston had to say.
Though the Keeper only shrugged, as if he weren't expecting the question, "A week in the Slammer."
Nick pursed his lips and quickly jotted the suggestion on to a notepad before nodding towards the next Keeper.
Frypan glanced at me and smiled warmly before addressing the others, "I agree with Zart. We've hurt each other before. Shuck- Gally just beat the mess out of George the other night. He didn't get punished, so why should she? It wouldn't be fair."
Next was Clint, the Med-Jack. He agreed with Winston after a brief hesitation, shooting me an apologetic look in the process. I shrugged it off as if it were no big deal, though on the inside, my heart was pounding in my chest.
It was Gally's turn now. I had yet to properly meet the Builder, though I heard some pretty nasty stuff about him.
"Most of you are expecting me to agree with Winston because, shuck, you all know I love punishment. But that isn't the case here." he gaze traveled across each boy carefully before landing on me, where it stayed as he continued. "Zart and Fry have a point. I only just beat the crap out of George the other night, and I'm not getting punished. I was there to witness it all first hand, and I hate to say it, but it seemed as if Emily was being controlled somehow."
"So, you're saying-?" Nick twirled his pencil in his hand, looking at Gally expectantly.
"Don't punish the shank for something we do ourselves," Gally shrugged as he slumped back into his chair. Rolling his eyes as the Gladers spoke quietly to each other, obviously surprised at his decision.
Nick nodded. His gaze traveled over to Minho, who had stayed completely silent the whole time. He looked at me quickly and smiled slightly before addressing the Gladers.
"You're all probably expect an hour long speech from me, like usual. But Zart and the others spoke the truth, and there's nothing else to say on that matter. It's unfair. Don't punish her."
"It looks as if most of us agree on the same thing- to not punish her," Nick said. "But I'm the leader here, and I make the final decision. I'm sorry to say this, but Winston and Clint have a point." He turnned to me. "One night in the Slammer with no food."
My gaze traveled over to Newt. The boy had kept quiet the whole time, and I was curious to see what his reaction would be. Though he acted as if he hadn't even heard Nick. His gaze was glued to the floor, where his foot was drawing designs in the dirt.
"I want you all to understand something," Nick's voice made me turn my attention back to him. "Emily is one of the us, despite the... differences. You are to treat her like you would anyone else, do you understand?"
A few boys nodded, while the rest murmured things like: "Good that."
"If she asks you to leave her alone, you leave her alone. If she wants to take a shower, you guard that door as if your life depends on it," Nick went on. I furrowed my eyebrows as I looked at the leader of the Glade. Why was he ordering all these nice things towards me all of a sudden?
"And lastly, before I dismiss you all, something was requested by someone, and I agreed on it." his gaze traveled to Newt, who was now looking at him expectantly. "Emily needs an escort."
A series of gasps and shouts filled the room. It was as if a herd of animals had escaped the zoo. Boy talk over boy, some staring at me in shock as if I had grown two heads. And all because Nick said I needed an escort.
But, honestly, I didn't really like the idea either.
"What do I need an escort for?" I spoke up for the first time during this whole ordeal. "I can take care of myself."
"We gotta watch you somehow," Nick answered, a grin plastered on his face. He seemed to be enjoying this, which only made me want to slap him.
"What do you expect me to do? Go on a rampage and kill everyone?"
"Actually, no." Alby stepped forward. Exchanging an amused glance with Nick. "The person who suggested the idea wanted to make sure none of these idiots hurt you."
"Who was it?" I asked. I was angry at whoever suggested the idea. I could take care of myself, though none of these shanks seemed to understand that. And all because I was a girl.
The two boys ignored me, turning so they were facing the boys once more.
"Do we have any volunteers for this job?"
Almost immediately, several hands shot in the air, including Minho's. The Runner stared at me with a smirk on his face, which only made me roll my eyes.
"Minho, are you stupid?" Nick's voice made me turn to him. "You're a Runner- the Keeper, at that. You think we'll let you be her escort? You'll be out in the Maze all day. "
Minho shrugged and lowered his hand slowly, "It was worth a try."
"May I say something?" I asked, and Nick nodded for me to continue. "Since it's going to be my escort, shouldn't I have a say in it as well?"
"Well, who do you suggest, Newbie?"
"Shouldn't the person who suggested the idea be my escort?" I said. My eyes scanning the room for any guilty eyes. I wanted to know who came up the idea, so that I could have a little talk with them.
Nick and Alby exchanged a glance, as if they were speaking telepathically, smirking. Nick then turned to me, "Good idea, Newbie." His gaze scanned over the crowd, until it landed on one certain person. Newt. "Newt, you're Emily's escort."

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Normally, I would've been glad that Newt was my escort, considering the fact that I seemed to be completely infatuated with him. But that wasn't exactly the case. I could only feel anger towards him. He barely knew me, and yet he thought it was okay to arrange me an escort. Like I couldn't take care of myself?
"Emily?"
Speaking of the devil. Newt approached me, where I sat in the Deadheads with my back propped against a tree. I avoided his gaze, focusing on the blades of grass that I was currently shreading to pieces.
"What'd the grass to do you?" He chuckled as he took a seat beside me. "You're tearing this whole place up."
"Oh, it's not the grass that did something wrong," I muttered. "It's a boy with blonde hair and an accent that I still can't pinpoint the origin of."
"What'd I do?" he seemed completely oblivious to the problem, which only made me scoff. "And it's British, our accent."
British. Images- memories- flashed through my mind at the mention of the word, though I couldn't recognize any of them. They vanished far too quickly.
"What'd you do?" I repeated, pushing the thought of my past life to the back of my mind. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe it had to do with something about arranging me a bloody escort."
A small smile crept its way on to Newt's face, "Don't say bloody. That's my word."
"It's not funny, Newt," I said through gritted teeth, though I had a hard time keeping a straight face. "What made you think it was okay to do that?"
"I only wanted to protect you." Newt's eyes fell, and part of me felt guilty for yelling at him.
"You barely know me," I pointed out. "And I'm not weak. I can take care of myself."
"I never said you were weak. I only care about you."
"Why?" I asked. "We've known each other for about a week, if that. Why do you care?"
When Newt didn't answer, I finally decided to look at him. He stared at the ground, drawing designs in the dirt with a twig.
"I'm sorry, okay?" he spoke after a moment of silence, threw the stick down. "But it's too late now. It's over with. I'm your escort."
"That's just great." I rolled my eyes.
"If you didn't want me to be your escort, why suggest that the person who came up with the idea do it?"
"I didn't know you came up with the idea, that's why!" I said, slowly feeling anger boiling up inside of me. "Alby and Nick weren't gonna tell me, and I wanted to know somehow."
"And now that you do, you're not too happy, huh?" Newt looked up at me, and I suddenly found it hard to process any words, any sound hitching in my throat. I suddenly realized the impression he was getting from this. He probably thought that I didn't wanna spend time with him, which wasn't the case at all.
"No, I'm not. But it's not because of you, Newt. I would be mad at anyone who suggested it," I said, my voice growing softer. "I'm just mad because you don't think I can handle myself."
"Yeah, whatever," Newt stood up with a sigh, brushing the debris off his pants in the process. "Sorry for caring. I'll be sure not to next time. I'll see you later, Emily."
I watched as he walked off, suddenly feeling extremely guilty. I hated fighting with Newt. Despite only knowing him for less than a week, it felt horrible fighting with him. It felt wrong. I know that it sounds extremely cliche', but it was true.
Part of me wanted to go and apologize to him, but something held me back. I watched as Newt joined Minho outside the metal building that he had called the "Map Room", feeling an odd surge of anger towards the boy.

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A/N:
This chapter is somewhat short but, oh well. I hope you like :)