Before Her

Jane 25

Jane
We hit the showers after we clean up the mess, finding an old piece of fabric which we used to clean up the mess. By the time the floor was clean, we had managed to somehow get most of it on ourselves than the cloth. Newt had it on the sleeves of his shirt, I had it in my hair, and we had both managed to get it on our pants.

I stood outside Newt's stall, drying my annoyingly long hair. Most boys now knew not to bother me, since they were afraid of the fact that Newt would probably beat the klunk out of them, while Minho went all sass while helping Newt beat the klunk out of them and that Alby would probably send them to clean up the klunk and blood in the blood house for a month.

The curtains drew back and Newt stepped out, barefoot, hair still wet. Steam seemed to pour out from his stall, as he stepped out and greeted me with a smile.
'Hey.'
'Hey.'
Darkness hit us as we walked out. The stars and moon, glittering in the night sky.
Most gladers were already sleeping in the glade.
Carefully we somehow managed to get through the sea of sleeping gladers. Silently, we walked into the homestead, past the kitchen, to the back where the stairs to the upper floors were.

Our room was pitch black when we entered it, luckily, it was a small room.

'Who do you think should be the new runner?'
'I don't know. I think the choice is all your's.'
'But I don't know, I think they'd both make good runners.'
'I don't know... Hey, when do you think the greenie's gonna come?'
'The creators normally send them up around this time, but we have had a few who were really late,' he paused as he let out a chuckle, 'Minho had a massive panic attack the first time that happened.'
'Hey, Newt?'
'Yeah?'
'Nothing never mind, goodnight Newt.'
'Goodnight Jane.'

~~~

Once again, lunch break. I walked over to the map room where Newt was, with a half eaten sandwich. Alby was next to him, the runners-in-training lined up opposite of them.
'... over the past few days, you've all been really good. All of you have done really well in training. Unfortunately, I can't take all of you, only one. So, with the help of Minho and Alby, we have decided that Tony, will be the new runner.'
I'm not sure what kind of reaction I had been expecting from the runners-in-training, there wasn't actually much of a reaction. They just nodded and clapped Tony on the back.

Tony had a mixed expression on his face, torn between happiness and horror. I didn't blame him, what he was going through was probably really nerve racking right now it's like, "Mom I got the part to this new movie that is guaranteed to make me famous, out of all the other people out there in the world the directors picked me! The only downside is that it's an animal action movie, which means I'll have to ride a lion, which means I could potentially get eaten alive on camera, on the upside, I get a permanent seat next to the other superstars and more food".

After a while, I go back to infirmary. Once again, the room was a complete mess, I don't know why I keep expecting change, although Andrew had started to clean his station a little. When I first started at the infirmary, and first met the med-jacks, they had all smelt the same to me, like antiseptic and other chemicals, now I had grown used to the smell and it didn't bother me as much. I talked to the gladers and cleaned their wounds all day until dinner. I watched them all wrinkle their noses when I pulled out a bottle of antiseptic, obviously hating the smell.

I packed up everything and cleaned everyone's stations before heading out to find the stars were out and another bonfire in the middle of the glade, cheers and whoops echoing through the glade.

Some gladers sat around the fire, others sang songs off tune, some where doing flips that I'm sure could have broken their spines, but all managed to get up and keep doing them. A small crowd, mostly the runners, were crowding around something. I managed to push through to find them all congratulating Tony, who had Minho and Newt on either side of him. Tony had adapted, he was already laughing and shouting at them in order to be heard.

I moved away, giving them some space while I made my way over Frypan, who had set up a stall and was handing out platters full of snacks.
'Hey Frypan.'
'Hi Jane, how was your day?'
'Pretty good, nobody told me we were having a celebration.'
'Oh, well now you know.' I frown at him and poke out my tongue, he lets out a low laugh. He grabs a piece of bacon from a platter and lefts it up to his mouth. Before he could put it in, I reach out and snatch it off him, popping it into my mouth and chew. The explosion of of salty meat led me to groan, because I had never tasted anything that good (not that I know of) and because I had been spending way too much time with Minho.
Frypan laughs again and picks up another piece.
'You gotta admit, it's good,' he says with a smirk. I ignore him and stuff another piece into my mouth.

Soon, the laughter died down and everyone sat around the fire, talking to each other. I walked over to the runners, who were all sitting around still laughing and shouting. I walk over to find Newt and Tony, sitting together on a log. I sit down next to Newt.
'Hey,' Newt says when he says me, placing an arm around my shoulders, sending warmth through my body. We still kept the act sometimes, because occasionally, boys would start flirting with me again.
'Hello,' I say with a smile nodding to both him and Tony. I lean over and smile at Tony, 'Congratulations on being a runner.'
'Thanks, people have been saying that all day,' he smiles back.
'Yeah, I saw.'
I guess he started to get uncomfortable around me and Newt, since Newt had his arm over my shoulder, he made an excuse and went off to join the other runners,
Then, just at the moment that he left. Minho decided to join in on the fun, he flopped down next to me, 'Move over, my butts gonna fall of this log in a few seconds.'
'I don't know Jane, maybe we should let him fall off,' Newt says.
'Is that a challenge?' Minho asks raising an eyebrow. Shuck, I really hated it when those two had challenges, especially when I was in between them. Minho always did something crazy... and then suddenly, I felt my insides turn to mashed potatoes as I was suddenly pushed up against Newt, who was thrown off balance as Minho's weight and mine was thrown onto him.
'Shuck Minho, you did not just go there.'
'I believe I just did,' and then I was squished to death between two muscular boys, who kept trash talking each other and trying to push each other off the log, I couldn't even try to move because I was squashed so tight between them. It seemed like a pretty even fight, though I wasn't paying much attention since I couldn't even breathe at this point.
'Guys... I can't... breathe!' Immediately both boys stopped and scooted over to give me some space. I coughed a few times and tried to catch my breathe, Newt had concern and worry written all over his face while Minho was mildly concerned and kept staring at Newt. Newt handed me his water bottle, which I gladly took a few sips from.
'I am NEVER sitting in the middle of you two again! Next time you do something like this at least give me a warning,' I declare. I moved and sat on the floor, facing them. 'You may continue.'

Even though I almost died, I still wanted to see them try to push each other off the edge of the log, it was kind of entertaining. Newt looked like he was about to protest when Minho immediately continued trying to push him off. It took Newt a few seconds to regain his balance before pushing Minho.

We decided it was a tie.

How was this chapter? What do you guys think of Tony being the new runner? And I know the ending was horrible but at least it's not a cliffhanger right?
Pls comment feedback or suggestions, vote and share!!!
Love you all,
Tess