"i'm sorry," he said. "it's my fault this is happening to you."
"We'll find a way," she repeated.
When Thomas falls in love with an immune, will he be able to let her go and send her up to Group A?
All rights go to the brilliant author James Dashn...
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she stood behind the counter while frypan poured the soup into bowls and handed them out to the boys. she glanced nervously at the first one to try it while he took a sip. his eyes went wide and he got up, walking back to her and frypan.
"oh no," she groaned as he neared them. "i knew i screwed up."
"everything good, jeff?" frypan asked.
"i just wanted to say.." he began.
Oh god oh god oh god, he thinks it's horrible. So horrible that he can't even pretend to like it. she put her face in her hands, trying to hide her humiliation.
"this soup is amazing," jeff finished. she peered through her fingers at him.
did he really just say that? i didn't ruin it?
she looked around at the other gladers and noticed they were already almost done their bowls and they didn't have the look of disgust she thought they would have. a couple of them even looked over at her and gave her a thumbs up.
"good job, greenie," frypan patted her on the back. "much better than thomas. he didn't know what he was doing. cut his finger while chopping onions. kitchen was a mess."
her happiness was cut short at the mention of thomas's name and she was left with an empty feeling in her stomach. she didn't see him during supper, which could only mean that he was still hurt or angry by what she said. she vowed to find him later to apologize.
alby approached them and handed in his empty bowl. "good work, hayley."
"thank you," she replied but the relief in her voice was gone, and just to her luck she noticed gally approaching.
gally tossed his bowl on the table and the soup splashed, drenching her in it.
"what the shuck, gally?" frypan yelled and handed her a towel. she took it gratefully and began to wipe away the soup from her clothes and all over her arms, then trying to towel dry her hair.
"i didn't like it," gally replied lifting his shoulders in a shrug.
"gally, whether you like it or not hayley is one of us now," alby ordered, his voice powerful. "she's staying."
gally rolled his eyes and walked away. she hadn't realized there were tears in her eyes until now. she wiped them away with the back of my hand and gave frypan his towel back.
"thank you, frypan," she said and walked away.
she was halfway to the trees when she ran into a boy, just a kid. she stumbled back and immediately began to apologize. "i'm so sorry, i wasn't paying attention to where i was going."
"don't worry about it," the boy smiled and held out his hand. "my name's chuck."
"chuck..." she breathed, feeling something inside her head begin to pound. it was an odd feeling; one she couldn't really place. she shook his hand. "i'm hayley."
"i know," he said. "the whole glade knows who you are. wait a second, were you crying?"
she knew she probably looked like a lunatic with her puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks but for some reason she didn't feel the need to hide that from him. "yeah," she sighed. "guess i finally let gally get to me."
"gally hates everyone," said chuck and he glanced at the ground.
hayley could tell that chuck was thinking about his own bad past experiences with gally and she felt her blood boil just thinking of anyone treating this kid with anything but kindness. it made her hate gally a lot more, if that was even possible. she could tell he didn't want to talk about it so she changed the subject.
"is there anywhere i can wash this soup off my arms? like a water pump or something? i can't seem to remember where it was."
"over there," chuck pointed. "but i have to warn you, the water is cold."
"thanks, chuck," she smiled and started to make her way to the water pump.
"i'm glad you weren't banished," chuck said.
she stopped and turned around. the boy reminded her of someone, someone she couldn't remember but was still very much alive in her thoughts. she tried to remember, but like every other time she's tried, there was nothing. nothing but blank space.
"i appreciate that," she said.
chuck grinned and walked away, towards the hammocks. she watched him walk for a few seconds before making her own way towards the water pump.
