vents in our minds//aris jones

good night t

  I was in line for the third time today. But honestly it was much better then bloody tests all the time.

This time I was a little more excited because I was going to see Aris. I was going to sit with him this time. He was sitting in the same place he always sat , so after I got my food I walked over to his table , sitting across from him just like I did at lunch.

"Well hello again." Aris said really calmly so I understood he was a bit sleepy.

"Hey." I said smiling and pulling my hand so he could shake it , and he did. "So how was your day?"

"Awful , full of tests." I felt bad for Aris. Ofcourse because he went through the same shit I did. But also because he had no friends left. Everything that I went through would have been 10 times harder if I didn't have the guys and Teresa. Sure we lost some on the way but , some beats none.

"I can relate. But don't worry , Maria's here to save the day." I said as I lifted my right hand in a kind of superhero move.

Aris smiled. I felt that weird warm feeling in my cheeks again. There was something about Aris. Something wrong some might say , and honestly I didn't even know if it was. Anytime our eyes met I felt like I was wrapped in a bubble wrap and nothing could hurt me , not as long as I had him. I wanted to punch myself in the stomach for thinking these things about a boy i litteraly met less than 5 hours ago. I felt stupid. But I just couldn't help but simply smile at his bright blue eyes.

When I realized I had stared at him for too long and it was starting to get suspicious , so I continued.

"What kinds of tests did they do to you?" I asked Aris.He sighed, understanding that we were back to topic now.

"Took loads of blood. And made me run on a treadmill for some reason."                                                 " Were you a runner in your maze?" I asked Aris. "A what?

"A runner. You know? People who run the maze."

"Oh! You mean a mapper?" He said making me furrow my eyebrows. " I guess we had different names for stuff."

I just started at him, still not understanding anything. He smiled and continued.
"What did you guys call your maze?" Aris asked me , trying to help me understand what he was talking about.
"The glade?" I responded.
"Well my maze was called "The Heart"" He said making me smile. Boys are usually dumb with this stuff . I still had no idea why my maze was called "The Glade" . But the heart sounded sweet. Almost like it came from a girl.
"It's weird for a group of boys to pick a name such as that."

"Oh no. There were only two boys in my maze. Rest were girls." Aris said confirming my thoughts.

"Really?" I said. I was curious to know what it could have been like if my maze was like that and we only had one or two boys.
"Yeah. Me and Peter." His face dropped while saying those 3 words. "He died while we were trying to escape the maze. So did Rachel."
I felt so sad for Aris, I thought about how it felt when Chuck died. And also how I would feel if Teresa also died.But I was also a tad bit jealous of how a mention of another girl made him this sad. I didn't know why, I didn't even know the boy, but I just did.I know stupid. I didn't know what the shuck was up with me.

"I'm sorry." I said to him. His eyes were glossy.  "Not your fault." He responded.I smiled at him , so he smiled back." But it's better now. You know to have you save the day." He said softly smiling. I was very happy to hear that . To hear that he was happy to have me. And the warm cheeky feelings were back. I laughed.

I better go or I'll fall asleep right here." Aris said in a sleepy voice. I smiled "Well then. See you tommorow." I said. "Bye Maria." Aris said smiling. He turned around and left the cafeteria.

     Dinner time was finally over. I survived another day.Yay me.

   I went trough a shit tone of corridors and finally found our room. I went to sit on the bed I slept on last night , and with a slight hope that Teresa might come back I left her lamp on for her to close it when she came back. I realized that I had never changed out of my sweatpants. I laughed to myself.

"Good night T." I  said turning off my lamp. I turned to my side again , my back facing the wall. I was trying not to cry again, just like last night. I closed my eyes and just thought about how I should be happy because I was finally safe. I thought about Aris and how disgustingly happy he made me feel. I couldn't help but smile at the thought of him. When I was finally happy enough to go to sleep , I got my blanket and curled up in my bed and fell asleep.

//
I honestly love Teresa tbh. READ THE BOOKS FIRST BEFORE YOU HATE ON MY DEAR TEE-TE! also this chapter is short asf i apologise.