Secrets | TMR | One

3:4

It has been a total of four weeks since Adeline last spoke with Nick.

A lot has happened since their quarrel.

For instance, Adeline's bed is no longer positioned in the middle of the room next to the leaders. In fact, it has not been slept in at all.

Gally has built her a new one in his room.

It has not been the best of set ups for the girl. Gally may do well in terms of helping keep the Glade neat and tidy, but his room is a different story entirely.

Various boxes, tools and clothing are constantly strewn across the bedroom floor. So much to the point where young Adeline quite often finds herself tripping over the builders discarded boxers, shirts and trousers.

Still though, the girl does not complain.

I'm tired after a long day of building is what he usually hits her with when she questions  his cleanliness. So she has discovered that it is best not to bring it up at all.

Out in the Glade, however, she barely sees him.

Of course, at each meal, Adeline will sit with the builders, rather than the two leaders. But Gally does not tend to utter more than two words to her during these times.

He does not even stick up for her when Dan, and the other builders tease her. Making fun of her height, weight and gender are the three main topics of their choosing. Gally merely laughs along with their taunts each time one of those areas are mentioned.

But again, she does not complain.

It is not like she has many other options in terms of friends. Adeline realises now that, because she had spent so much of her time here with either Nick, Alby or George, that she does not really have many friends.

That fiesty personality she once had has now been extinguished, along with a big chunk of her confidence. The girl feels as though her only purpose in the Glade now is to be the brunt of the builders jokes.

But that is what she gets for hanging out with the bullies, right?

At least she still has her runners. Or at least, she still runs with them.

Leon is still harbouring a lot of hatred towards the girl, which he does not even attempt to mask with kindness. Newt and Minho tend to steer clear of the girl where possible. The new runner, Ben, will not even speak to her.

There is, after all, and unspoken rule that the runners and the builders do not like each other.

Adeline had thought that this would not apply to her, much like it does with Henry who has all manner of friends within the Glade.

But, as it turns out, the young girl has found that if you hang with the bullies, you get labelled as one yourself.

She is sure that if the rest of the Glade knew the reasoning behind her sudden switch of cliques, that they would understand. However, Nick has not mentioned a word to anyone else, and neither has Alby.

I suppose I should be happy, she thinks to herself, sat at one of the tables in the kitchen, surrounded by builders.

With both elbows planted firmly against the wooden surface, and her head rested on the curve of her palms, Adeline sits, bored out of her mind. Her eyes dotting to every builder when they speak up, her mind trying to ignore how her stomach screams for more than just a few puney grapes for breakfast.

Over at the other end of the kitchen, Nick sits in the same position as her, doing everything he can to keep his own eyes away from the girl while listening to Alby ramble on about - well, whatever he is rambling on about.