A Way Back - The Maze Runner (♡Newt) UNDER EDITING/REWRITE

Chapter 19

Cally cheered along with the rest of the crowd as Gally pushed Brandon out of the circle within seconds of their battle starting. Everyone knew Brandon didn't stand a change against Gally, the Glade's self proclaimed 'King of the Circle'. Everyone except for Brandon, that is. And well, Cally. Seeing that Gally had been laying in the Med-room during the last campfire. She hadn't even been interested at first, but now? She watched him absolutely destroy anyone who entered the circle with him it had become undeniably clear who the ruling champion was. None of the four boys had made a real impact, turns out beating the Keeper of the Builders with brute strength had proven to be a worthy challenge. If not impossible.
     Although she had cheered when he got knocked out, Cally did make her way to the very disappointing looking Brandon and helped him back on his feet. "Not bad, Shank! You've got more guts than I do. I didn't challenge him my second day in here." The girl's words were meant as a genuine compliment, only the boy did not seem to take them as such.
     "I feel more stupid than brave." Brandon mumbled, rubbing at the ache in his lower back he'd gotten as a direct result from his landing.
     Cally laughed, waving his comment away. "Brave, stupid, what's the difference?"
     "Hey, Newbie!" Both Brandon and Cally's heads automatically turned to Gally's harsh voice. "Ready for another round or are you too scared now I kicked your ass?" The crowd laughed with Gally, while Cally saw Brandon clench his jaw, nervously looking around at the surrounding Gladers.
     "Back off, Gally, you've had your fun with the Greenie." The brunette called back at the guy, hoping her tone of voice sounded as playful as she intended to sound, in contrary to the annoyance she felt.
     "OOooh, I see! If you wanted to have your ass kicked instead Cally, you just had to say so."
     Excited murmurs sounded from the Gladers surrounding them, but Cally just let out a bit of a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, no thanks, man! I'll pass."
     The dark haired boy in the middle of the circle faked a confused expression, "Why not? You wanted to play hero telling me to stop messing with the Greenie, but you don't wanne take his place? What? You don't like a challenge? Or is our newest Runner scared of entering a contest she knows she can't win?"
     The twitch of her eye went mostly unnoticed. Still she took a bit of a breath to calm herself. "No, I'm just not gonna fall for-"
     "Or is it because you're a girl?"
     Before Cally could finish saying 'fall for your cheap and childish attempt at provoking me' his next words entered her brain and snapped her attention in the form of a sharp stare and crossed arms. "Excuse you? What is that supposed to mean?"
     "Come on, Cally! We all know girls are weaker then boys, it's genetics! You couldn't beat me even if you tried."
     "Ha! You really believe that?" Of course Cally knew that genetically, men tended to have more muscle mass then women, but that did not mean she was about to let any of those comments slide. "The only reason I don't wanne fight you is because I don't wanne crack that fragile male ego of yours!" The crowd of boys gave a wave of 'OOW's hyping her up. Cally would be lying if she said their enthusiasm did not stroke her ego a bit.
     Gally's eyes narrowed, but yet he shrugged, "If you're so sure ya can beat me-"
     "More then sure."
     "Than proof it!"
     The crowd exploded then, striking Cally with realization. 
     Ooooh, fuck me... Before she could back out, the boys closest to her pushed her over the line in the sand and gathering around them, cheering and yelling. Some calling her name to show their support, but most of the voices clearly called out to their reigning champion. Not that she could blame them for that, she probably would have done the same in their shoes.
     She watched Gally smirk at her from the other side of the circle. He knew exactly what he'd done, and she knew she'd fallen for it. But how couldn't she? As the only girl in the Glade - hell, the only girl all of those idiots remember meeting- she really could not let them believe they were better then her or any other girl just because they were boys. She did not care if Gally had meant his words or if he'd just used them to get her to fight him. She wouldn't back down now. Even if it meant getting her ass kicked by the likes of Gally...
     The big, dark haired boy bend his knees slightly, readying his hands in front of his face. "Ready to loose, Newbie?"
     "Good question, are you?" Another wave of excitement from the crowd while embarrassment washed over Cally. Sure, her years of living with an annoying twin brother had helped her honing her comeback skills, but she'd never played this game before. And definitely not against someone build like Gally. Against someone as Brandon or Fred she would have had a bit more confidence. You wouldn't immediately be able to tell but Cally had built up enough muscle to easily pull up her own body weight, which was a must for doing parkour, but she was a runner first and foremost. Stamina and speed was where she exceeded, not brute force.
     Her thoughts got interrupted when Gally charged at her without warning. The boy advanced shoulder first, much like a bull aiming his horns.
     Almost on instinct Cally jumped out of his way.
     So lets use that speed... Cally thought, a bit of confidence building inside of her.
     It didn't take Gally longer then a second to regain himself, turning to face the girl only to find her now running at him. An amused huff came with an upward twitch of the corner of his mouth, Gally didn't feel impressed per sé, but he did respect the girl's approach.
     Right before Cally thought he would do as she'd done and jump aside, giving her a little bit more insight into his dominant leg and overall reflexes, he squared up. Tensing his muscles. Too late to change curse, Cally ran into him only to be shot back, falling on her butt in the middle of the circle while Gally only had to take about half a step back to keep balance.
     The guy laughed, his arrogance all but radiating off of him. "Is that really all you've got? I expected more after that show during your test."
     Cally didn't say anything, she just got back up her feet, glaring at the boy in front of her with a dangerous amount of determination.
     Gally raised an eyebrow at her, "What? Nothing left to say? Are you gonna give up already?"
     Cally responded by loosely bending through her knees like she had watch him do at the start, her hands half in front of her face. "You wish."
     "If you're sure." The boy said with a shrug and some amusement sounding through, right before dashing straight at her again, shoulder first.
     Trying to keep calm, Cally took a few steps back, glancing over her shoulder to see how much further she could go without crossing the line.
     A split second before Gally would hit her, She jumped aside again. Not having learned from the first time, or maybe thinking she wouldn't pull the same move twice, Gally could barely keep himself from falling. And while he was still in the process of regaining his balance, Cally pushed against his back. Literally giving him the last push he needed to loose his balance, and fall to his knees outside of the circle.
     The whole group around them exploded in cheers. Suddenly, Cally did not feel as confident in being the center of attention. Still she did her best to smile, followed by a bit of an awkward laugh as she picked up both sides of an imaginary dress and gave a little bow. Turning to Gally afterwards, offering him her hand to help him up. "That was fun-"
     Gally slammed her hand away, breaking off her sentence. "That was luck, Newbie." He growled, face red, eyes glaring at her as he stood up, squaring his shoulders to tower over her. "I want a rematch."
     Cally glared back at the guy, not intimidated by his size at all, she might have been, if he hadn't just slammed her hand away and demanded a rematch. A petty part of her wanted to decline, make him simmer in his defeat. But the even pettier and overconfident part of her knew having lost to her twice would make it even more satisfying to watch. That particular part of her won.
     With a little smirk, she shrugged her shoulders. "If you insist."
     Walking back to her 'corner' of the circle, the brunette tied her hair back into a ponytail to keep it out of her face before getting back in the starting position. Gally did the same. The confidence from before replaced with something that could not quite be described as anger, more like seething. He clearly did not plan on loosing again. Ever.
     However, both of the them weren't planning on loosing this fight. The two circled each other, silently challenging the other by feinting attacks or trying to bait each other into attacking. Cally never understood the metaphor of a fight being like a dance, but now as she twirled around Gally, avoiding his attack, she started to get it.
     Without missing a heartbeat, Cally dropped to the ground, trying to sweep Gally's feet away from under him as she'd seen done in movies so many times before. But when her leg made contact with the calf of her opponent a wave of pain shot through her while Gally barely budged.
     Shit.
     She tried to jump back and up, creating more distance between her and him. Only before she got far, Gally turned too, kicking her in the back of her knees, making her buckle over. The black haired boy didn't let her fall to the ground however, he stuck out his arm and took a hold of her. Immediately starting to half carry half drag her towards the edge. "That what you were trying to do, Slinthead?"
     Cally didn't answer out loud, hating that he was right.
     Not feeling like being thrown over the edge like a rag doll, Cally did the opposit of what her instincts told her to do. She grabbed a hold on Gally's arm and dropped herself fully to the ground. She'd seen some self defense videos where women would drop down, rolled back, dragging their attacker with them, putting their feet under the attackers body and launched them overhead. But she did not feel like failing at another attempt at being bad-ass. So instead, she pulled him off balance, forcing him to let go of her and as she got up bashed her shoulder into his rip cage right underneath his armpit. He fell to the ground, just not close enough to the edge to assure Cally another win.
     In the moment she had gotten back on her feet, the crowd cheered and among all the other voices, she heard a familiar British accent. "Nice one, Calls!"
     She wasn't sure why, but Newt's voice drew her attention to the group of people around them. Only now noticing how much the circle of Gladers had grown. Among them she also spotted Newt, Minho and Alby, somehow they'd managed to walk up to the front row.
     The moment Cally had realized her mistake. It was already too late.
     The second her attention had drawn away from Gally, he'd gotten back on his feet. Wasting absolutely no time on the opening that had presented itself.
     Cally's head snapped back towards Gally, just in time to see a flash of black hair before he collided his shoulder against her upper leg. In that moment she knew exactly how that one rugby player she saw being tackled to the ground that one time she watched a match with her father must have felt as she too got thrown to the ground, landing on her back outside of the circle.
     A loud wave of woops from the crowd, but Cally barely recognized the sound, sucking in a deep breath at the pain of the collision, lying on her back the cloud of sand around her made her cough.
     Before she knew it, both Newt and Brandon stood with her, helping her to her feet. "That's a bloody shame," Newt spoke, dusting some sand off her back. "For a moment there I thought ya had him."
     "You sure had him the first time, though." Brandon chimed in. "Pretty good if you ask me."
     Sure, Cally thought. But she wasn't going for pretty good. Besides he only won because she got distracted. Not because of his own skill, but as she looked at him now, absolutely relishing in his victory as if he hadn't gotten lucky, she felt the adrenaline built. She wasn't going to let that slide.
     "Hey Gally!" She called out over the voices of the other Gladers, pulling away from the two boys who'd been helping her, making her way towards the guy in the middle of the circle. "I want a rematch."
     Gally barely gave her a glance as he answered, turning his back to her at the same time. "You had your chance."
     "What? That's not fair. I gave you a rematch, now I want mine!"
     "Well you're not getting it, Newbie." He basically snarled at her before turning towards the crowd again.
     Realizing reasoning with Gally was as much a lost cause as getting her little brother Darren to eat his tomatoes, Cally decided on another tactic. "Oh, I see." She started, her voice a little louder again to make sure the others could hear her too. "Now you know I can beat you, you don't want to risk loosing again. It's smart, really. Stopping while we're even."
     The muscles in the back of the guy physically tensed. "What? That's not-"
     She didn't let him finish. "No, don't worry, I get it. You're scared to lose to a girl again. But you can't lose if you don't play, so-"
     That did it. Gally snapped around, facing Cally fully again. "I'm not scared of you."
     A little smirk tugged on the young women's lips, "Then prove it."
     The surrounding Gladers, that had quieted down noticing what was happening between the two, now started buzzing with energy again, one guy shouted for a rematch. Then another chimed in. And another until the only thing heard within the four walls of the Glade were the group of boys chanting "Rematch!" Over and over.
     The smile on Cally's face grew as she saw the scowl on Gally's grow, knowing he could not decline now without also admitting defeat.
     "Okay fine!" Gally yelled over the noise. "You wanne bugging lose again, Newbie? Fine! Let's get it over with!"
     Happy with her small victory, Cally made a little excited jump. "Winner takes all!" The girl called out, pulling another excited wave from their onlookers. Although she didn't really know what 'winner takes all' would mean in this case, but high on adrenaline she just really wanted to call out something and that came to mind first. It seemed kind of appropriate, kinda best of three, just sounding less rock, paper, scissors and more gambling match. Not that it mattered ones the both of them stood on their sides of the circle, the crowd forgotten.
     Gally didn't lose a heartbeat before attacking this time, but Cally quickly moved out of the way. Not wanting to give her a moment to recover he tried again and again. Getting more frustrated with every missed opportunity. He'd started to sweat, breathing heavier. Cally could see his stamina started to run almost thinner then his patience. Sure, Cally also felt her energy levels falter after the last two matches and having to be literally quick on her feet for this one. Some sweat sticking the hairs at the back of her neck to her skin. Still, as long as she concentrated, she felt the table tipping in her favor.
     So when Gally attacked again, Cally stepped towards the edge, jumping out of his way, hoping to pull of the same thing as before. Only even Gally apparently didn't fall for the same trick trice. He anticipated, stopped himself before he would hit her, moving into the same direction Cally jumped.
     Realizing he had started to recognize her pattern, she started moving to the left. Gally immediately did the same, which is what the girl had expected. At the last moment she moved to the right instead, dropped down and while turning in a half circle, hit Gally in the back of his knees.
     Already being half in motion, Cally's impact threw him off balance, his knees involuntary bending before she swiped them from underneath him. With a loud thud and a cloud of dry sand, Gally fell out of the circle. The crowd, went, wild.
     "Thanks for the tip," Cally spoke, leaning over Gally with her hand outstretched towards him, no one else able to hear her words over the cheering from their onlookers. "That's exactly what I was trying to do."
     Gally glared at her and her outstretched hand. "Don't worry, I don't bite." The boy's death glare switched from her hand to her face. This time, however, he did not slam it away but begrudgingly took it.
     She had barely pulled him back on his feet or she found herself surrounded by her friends. Minho grabbed her wrist, pulling it into the air. "A round of applause for our new King of the Circle!" The other Gladers happily obliged, except for Gally, who stomped off, a big scowl on his red face.
     Laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, Cally freed herself from Minho's grip and playfully hit him on the arm. "Bitch please, I'm the Queen." As she spoke, she tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. Not that anyone but Minho could hear her over everything.
     However the commotion did not last long and soon everyone went back to their own friends, conversations and games. On her turn, Cally had gotten her hands on a cup of Frypan's brew together with Brandon, and as they made their way back outside they got greeted by a good humored Minho. "Well, well, well, if it isn't our new Queen of the Circle." As he spoke, he lay his arm around Cally's shoulders, leading her past groups of Gladers. completely ignoring Brandon, who awkwardly trailed after the two.
     "Good to hear you're learning, your Queen is pleased."
     This earned her a side eye from the Keeper of the Runners. "Good to see it isn't going to your head."
     "It's way too late for that, peasant." The girl laughed, not able to take herself serious.
     Minho shook his head, a hint of a smile on his lips. "At least you're enjoying yourself- but wait," The boy stopped them in their tracks, "didn't you say that this wasn't your 'definition of fun'?" He teased, putting quotation marks on the last three words before starting them on their way towards Alby and Newt.
     "Yes, I did. And it still isn't. Buuut I am enjoying myself tonight." She took a sip from her drink the moment she finished her sentence. Only then noticing Brandon had stopped following them and awkwardly stood in the middle of it all. Feeling for the guy, Cally called out to him. "Hey Brandon! You coming or what?" She ignored Minho's protest at inviting over the Greenie, smiling at the way Brandon's face lit up as he quickly followed them.
     "You really had to do that?" The Asian Runner asked in an annoyed, almost whining, whisper.
     The girl shrugged, "I don't want him to feel left out." Her words earning her a extravagant eyerol, making her glare at the guy. "Don't be so dramatic, you'll survive."
     "Congrats Cally," Alby started ones all of them stood together. "A new King of the Circle."
     "Thanks, Alby, but-"
     Before she could finish her sentence Minho took it upon himself to interrupt with a very, very fake offended voice. "She's a Queen, Alby. For God's sake, the Shank's a girl."
     The brunette turned her head to raise an eyebrow at him as best as she could with his arm still draped around her shoulders. "You're such a hypocrite, with the whole 'Applause for the King of the Circle' things."
     "And you corrected me, now I'm correcting him. A little more gratitude would be appreciated."
     Cally rolled her eyes, moving her free hand to push at Minho's arm. "I will be grateful ones you stop leaning on me."
     Instead of moving his arm away, however, he pulled her closer, forcing her into a headlock so quickly she spilled half her drink over her arm. "Minho!" She bit at him while he rubbed his knuckles over the top of her head. "Oh my Goood, Minho! Let me go!"
     "What was that, Newbie?" The boy asked, effortlessly continuing to harass her hair, pulling strings out of her ponytail while tightening others.
     "You heard me! Let me gooooo!"
     "What? I don't understand what you're saying, Shank."
     "Minho!" The snarl in her voice did very little to impress or persuade her Keeper to let her go.
     "Say please." Oh how she hated the smug smile she could hear through his voice.
     "No way."
     Minho shrugged. "Then suffer."
     Feeling the painful way her ponytail snagged on parts of her hair she decided to throw her pride out of the window. "Okay fine! Please."
     "Please, what?"
     "Please let me go."
     "Ohh, let go. You should've just said so." With that, he let go of her head, a big grin on his face, not bothered in the slightest by the death glare being shot at him.
     Annoyed Cally slammed her cup with whatever was still left of her drink on the standing table in the middle of the group of Gladers. She shook the drink off her hand, ignoring the snickers and laughs from the boys around her.
     Quickly she whipped her hand on Minho's shirt, who shot away the moment he felt the liquid. "What-"
     "Oh slim it, Pretty boy." The girl snapped back before she freed her hair from the ponytail and combed it back into place with her hands. Pulling out some knots and sour spots he had created in such a short time. "Uhg... Look what you did, It's a freaking mess."
     "It already was a mess, I just redecorated." his smirk never faltered, nor did his confidence, or Cally's death glare.
     "Has anyone ever told you that you are the absolute worst?"
     "Many times, but only out of jealousy."
     "You keep telling yourself that."
     "So..." Brandon decided to speak up, a curiosity in his eyes as they switched between the Runner and her Keeper. "Are you two like, a couple or...?"
     Immediately after the question landed the group of friends started to laugh. A little confused and uncomfortable, the Newbie continued. "I guess that's a no...?" The sentence sounded more like a question than a statement.
     "No," Minho gave Cally a pat on the back. "No, we're not."
     "We're friends, that's all." Cally added, the irritation from before entirely gone. If she was being honest, Minho felt a lot more like one of her brothers at this point, but she definitely wasn't going to admit that.
     "Hold up," Minho started, "who says we're friends? Did it ever occur to you that I hate your guts?"
     "I just did, Slinthead." Again Cally hit the guy on the arm, "Don't pretend like you don't enjoy my company when you keep looking me up while there are about fifty other Shanks trapped in here. You ain't fooling anyone, Pretty boy."
     "No comment." Minho shrugged, earning a bit of a chuckle from his friends. Almost as quickly the Asian Runner's smirk found its way back to his face, a mischievous look in his eyes that did not escape Newt as he glanced at their second-in-command before turning his attention back to Cally. "But now we're on the topic. Cally, do you like anyone in the Glade?"
     "Of course I do." Without missing a heartbeat, Cally responded so matter of factly that she earned a few surprised looks from the surrounding boys. "I like you. And Newt, Alby, Clint, Jeff, Fred, Gideon, Mickey, Bark of course, even Gally in some weird way. Even though I don't think he likes me very much." Then, as if only realizing he stood beside her, Cally turned to Brandon. "Even you, although I don't really know you yet, but up until now you seem pretty chill."
     "That's not what I meant."
     Of course it's not. Cally thought, ignoring the annoyance in Minho's statement, determined to act as clueless as possible. "Oh, then what did you mean?" She blinked at him with big eyes through her eyelashes, hoping he would get embarrassed to have to explain the question and just drop it. Unfortunately she was not that lucky.
   "Do you have a crush on someone in the Glade?" Minho specified.
     Realizing there was no avoiding it, Cally signed. "It depends."
     "On what?" Newt asked, eyebrows knitted, seeming  either genuinely confused or curious.
     "On if you're going to take my word for it when I say no, or if you're just going to make up your own answer no matter what I say."
     "So, the answer is no?" Minho tried to conclude with a question.
    "Yeah, my answer is no."
     Alby shot a quick look in Newt's direction, an eyebrow raised, not entirely believing that after what he'd seen that afternoon. "Are you sure?"
     The girl let out an exasperated sign, mumbling, "See? This is what I mean." Before turning towards their leader. "Yes, I'm sure."
    "If you say so." Brandon chimed in, earning an eye roll from Cally.
     "Seriously? You too?"
     The Newbie defensively held up his hands in the air. "What? I only said if you say so."
     "Yeah, but in that 'I don't believe you but I'm just going to agree with you' way." Not able to miss the young women's irritation all Brandon could do was sent her a sheepish smile, mumbling a half-hearted 'sorry'.
     Noticing the looks being exchanged between the boys, Cally put her hands on her hips. "Com'n guys, really? You're just not gonna believe me?"
     "I believe ya." Newt broke the silence, quickly continuing before Minho or any of the others could comment something back. "Now lets drop the topic, it's gettin' bloody childish."
     "Thank you." Relieve could clearly be heard in Cally's voice. "See? That's a good friend, right there." Taking a swing from her cup and finishing the last few sips of her drink she turned to the boys. "I'm gonna get more, does any of you want some?"

~.~.~