Before Her

Jane 7

Jane
'Jane, Jane,' a familiar voice whispers my name, gently nudging my shoulder.
'Are you going to be my permanent alarm clock now?' I ask, eyes closed.
'I wasn't planning on that, but then after what happened last night, Newt has made me your official alarm,' I didn't know whether to feel relieved or embarrassed.
'Oh, um sorry,' I say as I push myself up to see Dan standing on the edge of the bed.
He laughs, 'That's okay, it saves me from working.'

I follow Dan out the room and down the stairs, out of the homestead, until I meet Alby.
'So, for the next few days, you'll be working at a different job, then when you've done most of them, the keepers decide what you're best at, and they pick you. You don't complain or whine about your job. Today, you start with the track-hoes.'

Alby led me over to the gardens and introduced me to a boy named Charlie who was the keeper of the track-hoes. I noticed the boy from last night working a few metres away from me. He had bandage wrapped around his head. He kept a good distance away, which was fine with me.

All day, I pick at weeds and water the plants, by the time the runners ran through the openings, my back ached and my muscles were sore. But other than that, I was fairly good at it. One by one I watched as another runner ran through, not slowing down till he reached the map room and disappear into it. I watched as Newt walked out with the same boy he had handed the ropes to when I first came up the metal box. They were teasing each other, the boy was laughing and Newt was turning pink.

They walked up closer and closer to me, as they walked closer, I could see the boy clearer. He was almost as tall as Newt. He had small eyes that disappeared when he smiled, and dimples that made me want to reach out and grab his cheeks like aunties and grandmas would. His jet black hair was cut perfectly. His skin was tanned under the sleeves that had been rolled up, showing off his big biceps.

'Hey,' Newt says with a smile, 'this is Minho, he's also a runner. Minho this is Jane.'
'Nice to meet you, Newt's told me a lot about you,' at this statement both Newt and I turn pink. 'You guys are so cute together.' He says with a smile, which causes his dimples to show.
'Oh, umm we're not, ummm,' Newt stutters as he scratches the back of his head.
Realisation hits Minho and he looks genuinely surprised, 'But I thought, since the way you two were acting yesterday...'
'Oh, we were just doing that so no one would bother her anymore,' Newt mumbles.
Minho looks disappointed, just for a second, before he covers it up with a cheeky grin, dimples and all.
'Well, in that case...' In one swift motion, Minho swings his arm over my shoulders.
'Hey, the whole point of the show yesterday was so no one would touch her.'
Minho grins cheekily, then releases the hold on me and flings his arm around Newt instead, 'I was just having a little fun,' he laughs.

We wait in line and joke around with Frypan, earning a bowl of pumpkin soup and a quarter of a loaf of bread each, and yet again, both Newt and Minho seemed to have more food than me.

We joked around and sat on the grass the way Newt and I had done yesterday, but today I didn't freak out as much. After the sun had set, we finished our food and went to the showers. Alby didn't have anymore spare clothes, so Newt ended up letting me borrow his clothes. I didn't mind. They all smelt the same, the jumper, the bed, his clothes. They smelt like him, like Newt.

I hopped into the shower, with Newt's silhouette outside. I showered quickly and pulled his clothes on. His shirt was soft and lose, his pants were the same, but they were better than what I had worn yesterday.

Drying my hair, was my excuse to waiting for Newt. My blonde hair, a little darker than Newt's, was around ten centimetres below my shoulders. It was always wet after my shower, unlike the boys, who had short hair that would be half dry by the time they put their clothes on.

After Newt was done, he walked me to his room and then claimed he would try to get a sleeping bag from Alby tonight, since he wasn't used to sleeping on the grass. I told him that he could have his bed back, which led to a long argument on who should have his bed. Then after we were told off by Minho to just decide already, Newt walked off before I could.