The Girl

Chapter Twenty Five

  An angered yell wakes me from my sleep. My eyes shoot open, and I can see Newt, awake and alert, beside me.

"Shuck, did we do something?" I push myself up from the cot. He shakes his head.

"What could we have done? Except not going to the hammocks."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time, we didn't wanna wake anyone up!" I whisper shout to him, getting off the cot awkwardly and stumbling to find my footing from just waking up and trying to figure out covers.

"What's the story?" I ask Newt, pulling his hoodie off and tossing it to him. I mess up the things sitting on the desk to try and make it look like I was doing something with them. Newt gives me an awkward and unsure look while I sigh aggravated and tug a hand through my hair.

"What about I hurt my ankle and needed help? Something like that?" He tries to help. I nod and pull supplies out from under the cot.

"Why would they be mad we didn't go to the hammocks? I don't know-"

"Well we left for a while before that and no one saw us, that might be something but maybe we missed something," Newt tries to tell me while I shove things around. He walks up behind me. "Beth, it's okay, it's-"

"No, I messed up, what if someone's hurt and I wasn't here to help them?" I tell him nervously, wringing a shirt in my hands. Newt tries to comfort me but I shake my head, making him sigh.

"Beth, no one was in the tent when we came in and if they couldn't find you they'd get Clint. It's okay, I'm second in command, we'll be okay," He tries to calm me down but I can't stop thinking that I messed up. I feel guilt creep inside my chest. I see Newt looking down at me, reaching for my arm.

"Aren't you supposed to be running today? They'd find Clint. You didn't do anything wrong, Beth," He tilts my head to look up at him. He never mentions me being in the maze willingly. He must be trying to help me calm down. I nod and he pulls me into a hug, tight enough for me to feel safe.

I hear feet outside and grip Newt's arm.

"I think we missed the wake up," He says, pulling me further away from the entrance of the tent and standing in front of me.

"How long has it been?" I ask him.

"A while," He says, though he doesn't seem sure. The gladers are awake and working outside, the rustling of tools and shouts between them not difficult to hear from inside the thin tent.

"What should we do?" I ask, not being sure of the best choice.

"Just wait, they'll come find us when they need us," He tells me, comfortingly.

"Minho is going to lose his shucking mind," I bite my lip. As if on cue, I hear someone shouting my name.

"Beth! Where the shuck is she?" I grimace at his tone.

"Quick! Lie down!" I push Newt back onto a cot. "Look in pain!"

Someone pushes the tent open.

"Damnit, Beth! I've been looking for you all morning! Where the shuck have you been! We were supposed to leave an hour ago!" He shouts at me.

"I'm sorry! Last night on the way back from the deadheads Newt tripped and hurt his bad ankle so I've been here all night making sure he's okay," I lie. It must be convincing though because Minho loosens up. I mean, he should. If his best friend is in pain he should be glad it's being taken care of.

"Next time a little heads up would be nice," He says somewhat sarcastically.

"I'm sorry," I look down, upset that I've disappointed him.

"Just don't do it again. Now come on, we've got a maze to run," He says and pulls me out.

"Call Clint if you need anything!" I shout to Newt as Minho drags me out of the tent.

In less than five minutes we're already deep into the maze. I'm pretty good at running. My breaths are level and coordinate with the movements of my legs. I can run quickly too, after all I don't have much to carry.

"So Beth," Minho speaks up after quite a while of running in silence.

"So Minho," I reply, not slowing my pace.

"It looks like today might be your last day of running," He says. I falter a bit. I don't love running and I can't wait to get back to being a full time medjack but running with Minho has been a lot of fun. I'm not sure I want to give it up just yet.

"Oh, that's great! I'm glad Ben is feeling better, I haven't talked to him in awhile," I say. He seems to sense my unhappy tone.

"You know the maze is too dangerous for someone as valuable as you, Beth. We need you to get back to being a medjack as soon as possible," He huffs.

"I know, I know. It's just... I've been having a lot of fun here. With you," I tell him.

"Um, Beth I don't think-"

"Not like that! You're my best friend here. You've had my back quite a few times and I like spending time with you. It's fun," I smile. Not much is fun in the Glade. This was something special.

"I guess running with you is better than running with Ben," Minho admits. I can feel blood rushing to my cheeks.

"Thanks, shank." I zip up ahead of him.