My Boy // Aris Jones x Reader (Rachel)

Chapter 2: Aris

Rachel POV

A Few Days Later...

Sonya seemed annoyed as she took me to the boy. The boy. The flawless boy I'd seen half-dead in a coma just a few days before. I was told that now, however, he was awake and well- just as well as the rest of them.

"Here she is, Harriet," Sonya said, her voice surprisingly calm considering the annoyance on her face. The boy's gray eyes stared at me, making me feel uneasy. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach as his gaze swept over me.

"Hey, my name is-"

Aris. Somehow, I seemed to know his name before the words escaped his perfect lips.

"H-Hi. I'm Rachel," I replied, staring at him. I had to force my gaze downwards so as not to weird him out. Harriet cleared her throat and I looked up at her. 

"This stick has been saying your name in his sleep," Harriet explained, not looking too happy, "What do you know about him?"
Aris sat there watching as I stood nervously. I couldn't tell her- tell anyone that I had somehow known the boy's name before he even said a word. They'd throw me into the Maze and never let me come back for all I knew.

"Nothing."

The lie slipped from my lips before I could think of anything else to say. I caught myself glancing back over at Aris who had a blank expression on his face. As a matter of fact, he looked almost concentrated.

"You sure? Because the boy seemed to know your name. It's not every day we have some boy come up in the Box with a note saying he's the last one ever and then he starts muttering the Blondie's name in his finch sleep!" Harriet demanded, looking out of breath once she'd finished.

"Yes. I'm sure," I responded, knowing I probably looked scared out of my wits.

Rachel. Can you hear me?

I jumped, looking around for the source of the voice I'd heard. It was almost like... Aris. That had been his voice. Clearly, though, he hadn't muttered a word. Was I really going crazy? Crazy with this newfound "love at first sight" klank, even?

"You look like you've just seen a ghost," the group's leader accused, noticing my odd behavior. Finch, I thought, finding it so odd how easily the people of the Glen's language seemed to come. 

"Sorry, just having... flashbacks. Of the Box. That's all," I said slowly. I was such an awful liar. Harriet went with it, anyway, though.

Aris? I thought, stupidly wondering if we had some magical mind-reading nonsense going on here. No response. Pfft, what was I thinking anyways? I scolded myself. I was just going crazy after only a few days with these other girls. It was then that I realized how much the new boy had already affected me- without him, I likely wouldn't have much of a reason to stay in the Glen. And with that being the case...

I shook the thought from my head. As shaken as I had been during my first three days, I almost surely would've run into the Maze without a thought of all the dangers of it. This seemed to be the beginning of a great... friendship. Yes. Friendship.