Run

Chapter 9. Dinner Time

"You'll have to share a room with me."

My stomach dropped. Sharing a room with Newt? I was shocked.

I guess they could see my uneasiness and reacted quickly.

"Dont worry! You'll still have your own privacy, and it's ok if you don't feel comfortable yet. I can sleep of the floor if you want." Newt said the last part a bit quieter.

I exhaled and looked at them. "Those arrangements and fine with me, thank you for making sure I'm safe." I said giving them a small smile.

"Being the only girl, your now one of our top priorities." Alby said shrugging.

A old clock chimed indicating it was now 5:30 and and someone ringing a bell echoed outside.

"Dinners ready!" Newt said jumping up. "Come on, your probably hungry!" He grabbed my hand and started walking me to the door.

Alby put his hand on Newt's shoulder stopping him.

"Huh?" Newt asked, then Alby pointed at out hands touching.

"Newt, are you forgetting what I said?" Alby said raising a eyebrow.

"S-Sorry!" He said pulling his hand away and blushing.

"It's okay, I don't mind." I said my cheeks turning a rosie shade of pink.

"I made a new rule that others can't touch you in a more intimate way without your permission first, even hands." Alby said looking Newt in the eye.

"Alright Alby, I get it, I get it." Newt chuckled.

I don't mind, I thought to myself.

We walked outside as boys were all heading towards the other side of the Homestead. I followed Newt and Alby as we walked until Alby had to go somewhere else.

"I have to go talk to some of the other Gladers, stick with Newt, he'll help you out." Alby said before walking off.

We continued to walk and other boys stared at me. Some were tracing their eyes over my body and others whistled as we passed. I leaned into Newt for a sense of protection. He noticed and shot the boys dirty looks, shutting them up instantly.

We soon arrived to a hut like kitchen in the back of the Homestead. It had pots and pans hanging up, as well as a few animals like bunnies and chickens in the back getting ready to be cooked.

A few boys were cooking inside the hut, sizzling pork in pans and some potatos cooking in a pot. One of them was handing out the food to some boys that were holding plates and forks. He had dark skin with short black hair.

"Here" Newt said handing me a plate and a fork. We waited in line and as we did I looked around. Old wooden tables sat around the area the kitchen was. Other boys sat around and some stared at me, but ignored them the best I could.

We soon got to the front of the line and the man gave us our food. He kinda just looked at me and then at Newt.

"This the new Greenie Newt?" He asked.

"Yep! Eliza, this is Frypan. Frypan, this is Eliza! He's the Keeper of the Cooks." Newt said introducing us to each other.

Frypan smiled and shook my hand, he was really nice. "Nice to meet ya Eliza! I'll see you two later when I'm done with my shift to sit with y'all!"

We both said thank you and went to go find a seat. Newt took me over to a table with some other boys sitting at it including Minho.

"Hey guys, this is Eliza!" Newt said as we sat down.

"The new greenie, eh? Think those creators are jacked in the head to send a girl to an all boys Galde, but I think you'll find we all get along just fine." A boy sitting across from me said. He had tanned skin and black hair. "I'm Winston, Keeper of the Slicers, nice to meet ya Eliza!"

"Hi Winston" I said smiling.

I was introduced to the other Keepers sitting at the table.

Zart- Keeper of the Track-hoes

Jeff- Keeper of the Medjacks, the doctors of the Glade

Clint- A med-jack

It turned out Minho was the Keeper of the Runners and Gally was the Keeper of the Builders.

I looked across the lawn and saw Gally sitting with some other boys, his buddies no doubt.

We all ate and talked and Fry came over and ate with us. Several times I could feel Gally's eyes on me, watching me and I got a bit uncomfortable.

Eventually when we were all done and it was getting dark we put our dishes away and went back to our sleeping arrangements, the doors closing as everyone waked off.