Dangerously Close (Aris x Reader)

56) Gossip Sessions

“Gossip, stories, drama, tell me all of it.”

“Afternoon to you too,”I sighed, shaking my head as I took a spot beside Thomas.

“Yeah yeah. I need updates.”

“Well, you aren't exactly chatting on about you and Brenda,”I pointed out.

“I’m saving the best for last. Now talk,”He urged, with a concerning amount of excitement.

“There really isn't much to say. I ended up at the bonfire, and it just wasn't that fun of a night. That's all there is to it,”I insisted.

“But I’m missing something. You don't look so tense around Abby, Aris went from dead silent to sarcastic and kind of annoying in a day-”
“Can you not insult my boyfriend?”I suggested.

“He’s my friend.”

“Yes. And if you think he's annoying that means I have annoying tastes,”I pointed out.

“And?”He drew out, gesturing for me to continue.

“And what? He’s just not annoying so there's no need to add that in.”

“Well, he’s sarcastic as hell, and it’s probably your fault.”

“I know he is. I live with him,”I deadpanned.

“Can you just stop stalling and tell me what went down?”He groaned.

“You shouldn't even notice anything went down anyway. Nobody else did.”

“Of course I noticed. WCKD didn't pick me for nothing.”

Immediately choking on the damn stew I was just supposed to be eating in sort of peace, I coughed so that I wouldn't die in front of just Thomas since he wanted to drop that on me?!

“WCKD?”I echoed.

“Oh, you didn't know that part.”

“What do ya’ mean ‘oh, you didn't know that part?’ ‘Course I didn't know that part. You ain't ever told me that part,”I snapped.

“I knew I recognized something when you spoke sometimes. Just had to get you riled up-”
“Thomas,”I snapped.

“Alright, alright. I forget you didn't know. It's just a part of life for me,”He said in a way that made me put my food to the side as I recognized that I was in for a story. Probably not an enjoyable one, but a story nevertheless.

“I didn't know when I came up in the box. I thought I was just like them. Things started to go wrong though. The Maze wouldn't close, there was a note in the box one day, and things just weren't right. So I half restored my memories. And when I did I remembered me. Me and WCKD. Me and Ava Paige. They said they saw something in me. I was supposed to be a protege. Someone who would finish what Teresa Agnes never got the chance to do.”

“Isn't that just the girl who sold out Right Arm?”I questioned, admittedly leaning closer as a dark curiosity overtook me. By now he was looking straight ahead as he spoke with an almost sigh. His lips firmly pressed together for a moment, putting us in an eternity of silence before he did or maybe figured out the answer.

“No. She was the smartest one they ever had. She took in everything around her. She dedicated her entire life to the cure, even as a child. She was really close too. It was apparently right in her palms.”

“And what happened?”

“Nobody actually knows. When she was still in her teens she just disappeared. Some people thought she went crazy with guilt from the experiments, some with memories of her mom. Some think she's dead somewhere. And some people think she just couldn't take it and left. Abandoned it. Abandoned everything for a chance at something normal.”