Secrets | TMR | One

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It is much later in the evening by time Nick decides to fetch Adeline, who has been stewing in her room for the majority of the afternoon.

However, rather than facing the furious girl himself, the leader has elected George to retrieve her. In the hopes that the youngest boy would be able to avoid her wrath.

George, however, is not overly fond of the idea.

He has not had the pleasure of meeting the newest member of their family yet - but he has heard all about her... temper.

Of course, he can only go by the information that has been handed to him by the other Gladers - which is not much. Just enough for him to come to the conclusion that she is not the nicest Greenie to arrive here.

Regardless of his opinions, the young boy has accepted the task that was bestowed upon him. It is not like he had any choice on the matter.

George has found that being the youngest member in a large group of boys often comes with the burden of the worst possible jobs. Like trying to free up the toilet pipes after one of the older boys have clogged them up, or having to scrub the skid marks off some of the more... unhygienic Gladers' undergarments.

But as far as unpleasant chores go, the boy would never have thought he would be adding the retrieval of an infuriated girl after every boy succeeded in pissing her off to the list.

That is why, for the best part of thirty minutes, the young boy has found himself pacing back and forth in the hallway just outside the girls door.

Switching his gaze between the floor just above his toes and the barricade that separates him from Adeline, George talks quietly to himself. Trying to hype himself up while also rehearsing his words.

"Hi. I'm George" he says, his voice peppy and his smile brightly facing the wall in front of him. Quickly shaking his head, he scrunches his face up and mumbles a small "no" to himself.

Perking his head back up, the young boy lowers his tone while deepening his voice. "Hi. I'm George."

"No" he groans once more.

On the other side of the door, Adeline lays on her stomach, just on top of her sleeping bag. Her full body is flat out, her arms linked together at the top, creating a perfect space for her cheeks to brush against her blanket while the top side of her head rests on her forearms.

She smiles softly to herself as she listens to the young boy ramble on. Any anger she once felt vanished hours ago, but she has been too stubborn to emerge from the room herself.

Using her arms, Adeline pushes herself up, turning her body to the side and hopping off the bed before taking a few short steps towards the door. Twirling her fingers around the handle, she slowly opens the door and looks ahead for a moment before lowering her eyes down to the boys level.

He is a small boy, Adeline notices, with big brown eyes and soft curly hair that trickles down just below his shoulders.

George freezes on the spot for a moment before using the tips of his toes to swirl around to face her. "H-hi" he stutters out, staring up to the girl wide eyed.

"Hi" is all Adeline says in response, smiling down at him, amused by his nervous state.

"The, uh, uh, Nick wanted me to see if you wanted to come to the bonfire?" the young boy asks, shuffling his feet against the wooden floor.

"Bonfire?"

"Yea" George confirms, "we have one everytime a new Greenie shows up."

"And let me guess" Adeline starts, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning the left side of her body against the doorframe, "Nick sent you here to get me because he was too scared to?"