Then She Came

Maya 6

A loud blaring filled my ears, causing me to jump slightly and look away from the patient I was working on. 

I'm going, to be honest with you, I forgot his name. He had come in with a bruise on his arm, which I can't do much about other then dab some ointment onto. 

"What's that?" My voice sounded more nervous than I wanted it to be. The boy smirked. 

"The box." His smirk turned into a big grin and he hopped off the cot, running out the door. I set the rag in my hand down and jogged after him, a slight twinge of pain with every step.

As I burst through the door of the homestead onto the grass beyond it, the sun blinded me momentarily. I held up a hand to block it and saw boys running across the glade towards the box in the middle. 

I decided to join them. Once I reached them, I pushed through the gathering boys until I found Newt. His face was serious and he barely glanced at me. 

"Hey." 

"Hmph." I roll my eyes at his response and the blaring dies down, the whole glade is quiet. 

I am pretty sure the only time it is ever this quiet is when everyone's asleep. These boys are pigs. Actual pigs. It is so quiet you can hear the wind moving through the maze. "Well, open it!" Newt said, his accent coming out even more. Gally and some kid that was friends with Alex rushed forward. The sound of screeching metal fills the air and I wince slightly. I wasn't able to attend the last arrival due to my injuries, the sound surprised me. Newt glanced over at me but looked back towards the box. 

"Pull him out," Alby demanded, finally joining us. "Put your back into it!" I rolled my eyes. "Maya, go over there and boss them around, they'll listen to you." I rolled my eyes again and trudged over to the boys standing around the box. They were all standing there wide-eyed. 

And I saw exactly why when I looked down into the box. A girl who seemed to be my age was unconscious on the floor of the box, blond hair soaked and spread out around her head. "Another girl," I whispered. "I got her," I announced and the people who weren't able to get a look into the box gasped and whispers ran throughout the crowd. 

I jumped down into the box and a sharp pain flew up through my legs as they came in contact with the gray metal, causing me to wince. Suddenly, the girl's eyes snapped open and she looked around, frantic, eyes full of panic. She locked eyes with me and then fear filled her eyes, she quickly scrambled away from me. 

Her eyes were bright blue and it suddenly reminded me of something, like a dream. Or a memory. 

"I'm not going to hurt you, alright?" I ask, slowly walking forwards towards her. "My name is Maya, do you remember yours?" She whispers something, it was so quiet I couldn't hear her. "What was that?" 

"Eleanor." She squeaked, looking up at me, "My name is Eleanor." I nodded and smiled.

"Well, let's get you out of here and I can take you to the infirmary, then we can talk and you can meet everyone." She nodded tentatively and I held out my hand, luckily, she grasped it and I pulled her to her feet. "Rope, please!" I called up and the end of a thick rope dropped down. "Set your feet in the loop," I instructed and Eleanor did as asked. "Now hold on tight, the boys will pull you up." She nodded again, eyes showing how unsure she was about the whole thing before I gave a thumbs up and she was pulled up quickly. 

She squeaked slightly and then she was out of sight, pulled over the edge of the box. The rope didn't come back down but I heard quiet laughter from above. "Ok guys," I said, a smirk on my face. "Drop the rope down." 

"Not until you promise to give me a back rub." A gleeful voice said and I immediately recognized it as Minho. when had he returned? Was it really that late in the day?

"Minho, drop the shucking rope. I'm not giving your back a massage, you have acne." I joked.

"Oh, thanks for spilling my secret." He said dryly, causing everyone to laugh. 

"Alright, drop the rope," Alby said, his voice sounded tired and annoyed. The rope dropped and I grabbed on before being jerked back up to ground level. 

"You all are shucking idiots!" Minho claimed, shaking a finger in front of the boys who pulled me over the edge. "We could have all gotten back massage." 

"Yeah," I said, nodding my head. "You just would have had to give me your desserts every night for three weeks." 

"So not worth it," Minho mumbled. "You give klunkin' back massages anyway," I smirked as he stomped off before I walked over to Eleanor, who was staring wide-eyed at the glade that surrounded us. She didn't even glance at me when I stood next to her. Without saying anything, I motioned for her to follow me and led her to the infirmary. 

Eleanor didn't say anything on the walk over, just followed silently behind me. I have to admit, in a place full of teenage boys who don't stop talking, I kind of enjoyed her silence. It wasn't every day that I met a new girl. Especially in a place that was supposed to be only boys. 

She seemed in love with the infirmary, and when I asked if she would want to help out there, she nodded her head eagerly. 

"You can room with me in my shed thing," I told her that night at dinner. She gave me a confused look and I pointed out to the dark silhouette of my shed. I haven't slept in it since the incident, but now with someone else sleeping there, I would feel safer. "I had a bit of an incident with a boy who no longer is here in that room, but with you, I should feel a whole lot better in there," I explained quickly when she still seemed confused. "Besides, after living with all boys for two months, I could use some girl time." 

Eleanor smiled slightly and I could see why Ben was ogling at her from across the way. Her sun-bleached hair fell around her shoulders in waves, and her blue eyes sparkled and her freckles added character. 

My hair was pin straight brown and I bet my eyes didn't sparkle as hers did. Although there were no mirrors here, I couldn't tell what eye color I really had. It embarrassed me to even think about asking. 

"How do I look?" Eleanor asked suddenly, it was one of the only things she had said to me since being pulled out of the box. "How old do I look?" 

"Well, if I had to guess," I started, taking a long look at her. "You look about my age, so maybe 16?" She nodded, content with that idea. "You're a little shorter than me but not much. I would say maybe 5 foot 6?" She nodded again. "Ben is looking at you." I pointed out, winking at her. She blushed and her hair fell to hide her face. 

They're gonna be a couple, and a cute one. It's like my sixth sense is alerting me now. 

Sooooooooooo

It's been a while. 

What do you think of Eleanor? Is she an obstacle in the game Wicked is throwing at the Gladers? Or just another game piece?

I imagine Eleanor to be played by Anna Sophia Robb.