Silence

Chapter 3

I woke before the first light, I always did. I would rise from my hammock before adjusting my tank top. I slept in a tank top since it was so hot in the Glade. I got out of my hammock, searching for my shirt.

I had a few, and new ones had come up in the box with the boys. I walked over to one of the boxes with the "girl stuff" in them and started searching. I found a thin white shirt with 3/4 long sleeves that hung below one of my shoulders.

I draped it over my head and looked down. It hung a little past my waist, and you could see the dark blue tank top through it. I dug further into the box and fished up a small mirror. I looked at my reflection in it, trying to brush away some of the dirt on my forehead.

Apart from the dirt, I actually looked alright. I had a light brown hair colour, with long hair draped over one of my shoulders, falling down like small waves. I had a few shorter strands of hair that was just long enough for me to tuck behind my ears.

I had blue eyes, that Alby would compare to the sky. Alby likes to joke about me stealing a piece of the sky for my eyes, and the sky in return stealing my voice. I often smiled and hit his shoulder. I also had a few freckles on my cheeks, and to them Alby referred to the stars. I swear, he's got an answer to everything. My nose and my mouth was quite small, and my lips had the same colour as raspberries. Again, Alby's words, not mine.

Once the dirt on my forehead had been wiped off, I walked up to one of the doors in the wall. The sky was a red colour, and the doors would soon open. I couldn't get the creature from last night out of my head, yet I still yearned to go beyond the walls. I gave the closed doors one last glance before I started running.

I always ran at the morning, never getting tired of it. Normally, I would do five times around the Glade before Alby shouted at me to eat something before getting ready to work. Today, I had more energy to get rid off, and ran double the amount that I usually did.

During my ninth time, I noticed that the three greenies had gotten up and where heading for the kitchen with Alby guiding them. As I ran passed them, I held up one finger to Alby. "Got it!" He yelled after me. The three greenies had just looked confused. I finished my last round and went over to the kitchen.

"Good morning" Alby greeted as he handed me an apple and a bowl of berries. He would always prepare it for me. I mouthed a "good morning" and sat down between Minho and Newt, taking a bite of my apple. "You got some speed" Minho said as I chewed my apple. I smiled at him and gave a thumbs-up, as a "thank you".

"Care to see who runs quickest?" I looked at Minho and raised an eyebrows. "You don't wanna race?" Minho said, pretending to be hurt. "Oh she does" Alby said. "If there's one thing Emily likes, it's to race". "Then why did she raise her eyebrow?" Minho asked. I showed him what I had written on my chalkboard. Because you think that you can win.

Minho and I stood next to each other, a rope in front of our feet marking the start and finish line. We would run around the Glade once, and whoever ran the quickest would be known further on as the fastest runner. Minho looked over at my focused face and smirked. "You ready?"

The only answer he got was me positioning myself to get as good of a start as possible. "On my command!" Alby yelled. "And remember, no cheating!" Minho and I looked at each other, and for the first time I smiled. He didn't know what he was getting himself into. "Three, two, one, GO!"

I was a little bit quicker at the start than Minho was, and started to gain more and more speed. Minho's breathing got further and further away, and as I had ran halfway, I peaked back. Minho was behind me, hanging on better than I had expected. I continued to run, and stopped about one step away from the finishing line. I turned around and saw Minho running in the distance, coming closer and closer.

I clapped my hands together to cheer at him, and when he was so close that I could almost touch him, I stepped over the finish line.

Minho stopped and doubled over, putting his hands on his knees and breathing hard. "I told you" Alby said, handing me and Minho each a water bottle. I poured some of the cold water into my hand and gently let it drip onto Minho's forehead. He looked up at me, a bit shocked by the gesture. I took some more water and let it drip down my face, closing my eyes.

"Thanks girly" Minho said and stood up straight. He drank some more water before he held out his hand. "A worthy win" he grinned at me. I smiled back and shook his hand.

*******

Later that day, I was working by the gardens. I was planting some lettuce and picking raspberries. I wiped the sweat of my forehead and continued. Gally had come over three times telling me to take a break, but I needed this to get done. The bowl with raspberries grew larger, the pile of lettuce turned smaller and the sun traveled further down the sky.

An arm brushed gently against my back and I turned around. Newt sat down next to me. "Still working?" He asked. I shrugged my shoulders and continued picking raspberries.

"Emily". I continued. "Emily, stop". But I still kept going. "Emily, stop it!" Newt grabbed my hands and sat my palms against his chest. "This is not healthy, it's not good for you. You can't sit here in the sun, working without any breaks, okay?" I looked down at the dirt. Newt held both of my hands with one of his and used the other to lift my chin up, forcing me to look at him.

"Emily, please" Newt leaned closer and placed his forehead against mine. "I care about you" He said as he looked into my eyes. I let my head fall onto his shoulder as he pulled me closer, gently rubbing his free hand over my back while still holding onto mine. I knew I hadn't known Newt for that long, but I knew I liked him.

Newt pulled out of the embrace and opened a water bottle. He then took a cloth from his pocket and soaked it in water. "May I?" He asked as he stroked a strand of hair away from my forehead. I nodded. He then placed the soaking wet cloth onto my forehead, cooling me down. I sighed  and closed my eyes. I felt Newt dab it onto my forehead, then my cheeks and gently over my eyelids.

"Hey Newt! You getting Emily before I eat her food?" I opened my eyes and Newts hand fell from my face as Minho shouted. "Bloody hell" Newt murmured without thinking I heard it. "Coming!" He yelled back at Minho before rising of the ground. "Let's go" he said, offering his outstretched hand to pull me up. He took the bowl of raspberries and slowly pushed me forward going in front of him.

When we got to the kitchen, Gally smiled as he saw the raspberries. "Awesome!" He said and stuffed some in his mouth. "Mm" he exclaimed and licked his lips. I had to bite myself in the lip to not laugh, because the face Gally made was hilarious. Minho carried over my food to me on a tray and sat down across from me. "I hope you like food a la Minho" he said with a smirk.

I just rolled my eyes at him and took a bite. It wasn't that bad, but the taste was so far from what I had imagined that I spit it out all over the table. My hand flew over my mouth and I didn't know what to do. Then they all started to laugh. Newt lay face down on the table, his whole body shaking. Gally knocked over the raspberry bowl, making raspberries and Minho fall to the floor where he rolled around laughing.

*******

Later that night, Newt and I lay talking in our hammocks. Obviously I didn't talk but Newt talked and I listened. I looked at him as he talked, somehow feeling amazed by this boy. It was something about him, though I couldn't put my finger on it. I just knew  I liked him very much and I felt myself starting to become more and more nervous around him. I knew I had only known him for a day, but there was this connection.

"Hey Emily?" I was brought out of my thoughts and looked over at Newt. I nodded at him to show that I was listening. "Thank you for everything" he said and grabbed my hand. I didn't know what he meant, as I hadn't done anything. But I smiled at him and squeezed his hand just a bit. "We should get some sleep" He said, ready to turn. But I didn't want to let go. So I held on to Newt's hand, and as he looked at me, I shook my head.

He chuckled and lay himself in a comfortable position. "Goodnight Emily" he said, squeezing my hand a bit. I squeezed back as a way of saying goodnight, and that's how we fell asleep. Facing each other, hand in hand.