THE HEARTS » TMR [1]

09. The Girl

Margaret's stomach growled for the hundredth time as she stood in line for Frypan's meal, holding an empty metal plate.

     "Next," she heard Frypan say. He poured what appeared to be soup from an old, rusted kitchen pot onto Chuck's plate.

     Chuck picked up his plate and smelled it. "You're slipping, Fry."

     "Oh, like you think you can do any better?" Frypan retorted wittily. "Next."

     Margaret approached with her plate outstretched. Frypan ladled soup onto her plate with a large scoop. Margaret took a moment to observe her meal, which consisted mostly of potatoes and carrots, with a few green beans thrown in for good measure, all covered in tomato sauce.

     "Thank you," Margaret said, smiling.

     Frypan smiled back, and said, "No problem. Enjoy."

     Margaret then took a metal spoon, walked over to a table where Chuck was sitting and sat down. She scooped up a piece of potato and took a big bite of it.

     Margaret hummed with delight. "This is good."

     Chuck shrugged and reinserted his spoon into his soup. "Frypan can do a lot better."

     "Are you kidding? I could have another plate of this." Margaret took another scoop, this time larger, and guzzled down the vegetables. 

     Chuck raised his eyebrows at Margaret. "That's probably because you haven't eaten in almost a day."

     Margaret ate the vegetables and wiped away the sauce from the corner of her mouth. "Yeah, maybe."

     Margaret had finished her meal when she heard one of the boys shouting from a distance. When she turned around, she noticed a crowd forming in front of the large wooden structure where they could climb the ladders and see the entire Glade.

     All of the boys were shouting and freaking out. What is going on? She shook her head and bolted. As she got closer, she realized why they were acting the way they were. They were shielding themselves from the pebbles, fruits, and vegetables that were being thrown at them. Someone was causing trouble at the very top.

     Margaret came to a halt and stood there, mouth agape. The boys being pelted with pebbles was the funniest thing Margaret had ever seen in the Glade. One of the boys ran back with a pot over his head and collapsed. Others were yelling and being pelted with pebbles. There were boys standing behind Margaret, watching, pointing at the others who were getting hurt, and laughing like lunatics.

     Margaret took a step forward and tapped on a random boy's shoulder. The boy turned around and smiled. "Yeah?"

     "What's going on?" Margaret questioned, holding her breath. The boy smelled like he'd been pooped on by the pigs from the pigpen.

     The boy snickered and said, "The girl's awake."

     Margaret's eyes widened at his response. She then ran faster and closer to the crowd. A few fruits had hit her as she ran, but she had managed to avoid the pebbles and had gotten to the front where Newt, Gally, and Frypan were protecting themselves from the girl's pebbles.

     "Leave me alone!" Margaret overheard the girl yell as she tossed another fruit.

     "Watch your head!" Frypan yelled, covering himself with the kitchen pot.

     "Hey, throw one more of those things—Ow!" Gally didn't have time to finish his threat before a pebble was thrown at him, causing Margaret to laugh.