Sanction -Minho-

Chapter 7

A week had gone by, and Grace was falling into a new routine. During the day, she spent time with Jeff, Clint, Zart, Brandon, Ben, and Newt, but at night she ventured away from her group and towards a specific spot under a tree on the edge of the Glade. Minho joined her every night, or more so, she joined him, considering it was his spot. They spent quite a significant amount of time together.

It was nice to sit and relax after a long day. Minho usually spoke about his day in the Maze, which was always uneventful. Grace would tell him about all the injured Gladers they didn't have. The only people who came into the hut were Slicers and a Builder on the off chance. Recently they hadn't been getting as hurt. Which meant there wasn't much to do.

Grace enjoyed having free time, but it could be boring. Jeff and Clint were great company, but even they grew tired of nothing to do. "Well," Jeff threw a towel on the floor. "It's time to eat. I'm starving."

"I don't know how you're starving considering you raided the kitchen after lunch," Clint muttered.

"Hey," Jeff pointed at him. "That was not me."

"I saw you-"

"Wasn't me," he cut him off.

Grace rolled her eyes, gently nudging them towards the door. "I can't believe Alby makes me work with children."

Clint laughed as they walked out the door. "With how much you watch over us, I'm sure he'll strip me of my Keeper position and give it to you."

"Our She-Bean, Keeper of the Med-Jacks."

"More like Keeper of the Peace," Grace corrected. "Because that's pretty much my second job."

"Keeper of the Peace," a new voice cut into the conversation. "I thought that was Alby's job?"

"Hey," Grace greeted Minho with a bright smile. He and Ben appeared to be waiting outside. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Waiting for you," Ben winked at her. "Thought you were missing out on dinner."

"Jeff and Clint were having a contest," she laughed. "They wanted to see who could balance the most boxes on their head."

"I won," Jeff smirked. "Obviously."

"Obviously," Minho and Grace said at the same time.

"Hey, guys," Aaron eagerly waved at them. Grace waved back, but her mood wasn't nearly as cheerful. Aaron was a nice guy, but something about him didn't sit right with her. Grace tried to brush off her distrust, but it kept coming back. "What are you guys talking about?" Although, by his tone, it was clear he didn't care.

Jeff huffed, "we were-"

"You won't believe what happened today. New Greenie's trying out being a Builder and takes down the entire tool table. Gally was furious. He also-" Grace tried to hide her laugh as Jeff dramatically slumped back into Clint. Luckily the curly-haired boy managed to catch him.

Minho nudged Grace's shoulder, gently pulling her away from Aaron, who was still talking. "That Shank talks a lot."

"Tell me about it," she laughed. "I've heard more Builder stories than I've heard stories ever." Aaron appeared to be older, but Grace wasn't sure if it was that or his forehead that wrinkled every time he spoke. Since meeting him, she realized that Builders got bad reputations for being meatheads because of people like him. Gally was Builder, but he was brilliant. He designed different tools and huts in the Galde. Aaron talked too much and contradicted himself constantly. Jeff thought he had a crush on her, but Grace wasn't so sure. Being the only girl meant that boys liked her, but not because she was pretty or anything. She was truly the only option. It was easy to figure out who liked her most of the time. "I can't tell who he's telling them to anymore."