Why Can't I Hate You?

~3~

The bonfire was a tradition here in the glade. Every month, when a new Greenie arrived, we would throw a bonfire to celebrate. It was probably my favourite time in the glade. Frypan always cooks up lots of food to eat, and Gally brings out his secret recipe moonshine. The bonfire is huge, blazing with orange flames, dancing in the darkness, spreading its warmth. Everyone is talking, laughing, and having the best time. It almost makes us forget that we're trapped here.

I sat by the flames, glass of moonshine in han,  and some delicious bacon in the other. I observed the red, sparking embers floating into the air, being carried away in the light breeze. After I ate all my bacon, I grabbed my notebook and pencil and began sketching the flames.

A while ago, I sent a message to the creators. We do this a lot, writing down a request on apiecee of paper and leaving it in the box so when it goes back down, the creators get it. I asked them for a notebook with a blank page  and some pencils. The month after, it came up with the new Greenie and supplies.

I like sketching because it clears my min  and helps me relax. One day, if we ever escape this place, I'll still have the sketches to remind me of the good memories I made here.

I dragged my pencil across the page, forming shapes, when a shadow cast over the page. The Greenie was stood infront of me. "Hi, sorry, did I disturb you?"

"No, no,  it's ok."

He smiled and sat down next to me, looking over to see what I was doing. "You drew that? That's pretty damn good."

"This? It's just a sketch, nothing amazing."

He held his hand out.  "Can I?"

I handed the book over to him, fiddling with my pencil while I watched him flick through the pages.

"These are seriously good Y/n, really."

"You thought about what job you wanna do?" I changed the topic.

"Well... it kinda sounds a bit stupid, but... ever since I've been here, I've felt so drawn towards the maze. I think I wanna be a runner." He paused for a second. Then, I held up the book so I could see, pointing to the drawing. "What's this?"

For a moment, I contemplated not telling him. He seemed like a nice guy, and I didn't want to scare him, but he was most likely going to find out one way or another.

"That's a griever. They come out in the maze at night, I've never seen one, but Minho described what they looked like to me, and according to him, my representation was pretty accurate."

"What do they do." He handed the notebook back to me, eager to know more.

"Trust me, you don't wanna be near one of them things. If they sting you, you're pretty much dead, so I'd reconsider wanting to be a runner. You have to get chosen anyway."

We sat in silence for a few moments while he took in everything I'd told him.

"I think we should lighten the mood a bit." I heaved myself up from the floor and held my hand out to pull him up. "We should dance."

"Dance?"

"Yeah, we asked the creators to send up a radio so we can play some music."

We walked through and around people as we talked.

"You can ask them to send things up to you? Why don't you just ask for things to help you get out?" He asked.

"We've tried that, certain things they won't let us have. It's just the luck of the draw."

I switched on the radio, and music started playing. Some of the boys cheered and got up to dance. I grabbed Greenie's hands and pulled him into the middle to dance.

"You having fun, Greenie!" I shouted over the top of the noise.

"Thomas!" He hollered.

"What?"

"My name! It's Thomas!"

Everyone bellowed, whistled, and yelled his name. Thomas was officially one of us now. He twirled me around, and we laughed, feeling our worries melt away.