𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓-𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙨

II-A BIT OF RECOGNITION

I crouched down beside the girl, moving her hair out of her face. For some reason doing that seemed normal. Jeff left the hut, saying something about Clint. "So is Thomas a Runner?"

"No."

"But you said-"

"I know. Thomas is...I don't want to say exempt to the rules, because he's not. But he's different."

"Is that why you didn't stop him?"

"Maybe." We were quite for a second. "Do you recognize her?" His voice was desperate. All he wanted was answers. Answers that I'm guess not everyone had.

"Kind of. There's this feeling like...I'd known her before. But I can't really put my finger on it."

"Maybe you guys are related."

I frowned. "What makes you say that?"

"You guys look alike. But you have lighter hair and freckles. And you're smaller." Could we actually be sisters? That must be the connection I feel, and why I know her name.

"I guess you're right." My stomach growled. I blushed. "You guys have any food here, by any chance?"

He smiled. "Yeah, come one. There's someone I want you to meet."

We walked through the Glade, Newt's head turning side to side, scanning the glade. His hand shielded his eyes from the sun. "Who exactly are we looking for?" I asked after a while.

"A little chubby, curly haired boy, goes by the name Chuck."

"Did you call me?" A young voice said from behind us. I jumped and turned around, the boy newt described now standing in front of me. "You're the new greenie. We'll one out of two of the new greenie."

"Hey, Chuckie, how bout you take her to Frypan and fill her up, yeah?"

Chuck nodded, smiling. "Of course." He grabbed my hand pulling me away from Newt.

• • •

"The Glades not all that bad once you get used to it. I've been here for two months. After me was Thomas. He was only been here for three days, can you believe it? Everyone else got one whole month."

"Wait Thomas is new?"

"Yeah. He's technically still just a green bean." We got to a small kitchen set up, a dark boy in an apron stood behind the counter. "Hey Frypan, can greenie get a sandwich?"

"It's almost dinner time."

"But she's hungry." My stomach growled to prove his point.

Frypan sighed. "Fine. But just this once."

"Thank you." I said as the boy went behind the small wall, presumably preparing my sandwich. I turned and noticed some boys staring at me. "Hey Chuck, why do some boys look like they hate me?"

"They don't hate you. They're just not used to you coming up. First you came like three weeks too early and you're a girl so...they're just gonna have to get used to it." He shrugged. "Oh and the other girl too." Frypan came around the wall, handing me my plate and a cup of water. "Thanks Fry."

Chuck led me to a tree that provided a lot of shade. "So how's your first hour here?" He asked as soon as I took a bite.

I chewed and thought. How was it so far? Well aside all the ugly looks, it had been fine. My wrist still kind of stung but I payed it no mind. Newt, Minho, Thomas, and Chuck were nice, though I wish I could have talked to Thomas more. But it had only been an hour, and who knew how long we would have here. Chuck was still waiting for my answer. I swallowed. "It's as good as it's gonna get."

He seemed satisfied with that answer. "Do you remember your name?"

"It's Aesara."

He frowned. "How do you even spell that?"

"With letters. Duh."

"Har har har. You're so funny." He rolled his eyes.

"Thanks Chuckles." I ruffled his hair.

"Hey!"

We sat in silence for a second just looking around the Glade. "You should be trying out jobs tomorrow." Chuck informed breaking the silence. "Oh and since you know your name, I should take you to the name wall. Usually Alby takes the newbies, but he got stung so he's not feeling well."

"Alby?"

"Oh he's the leader. But he's in the med hut."

"He's the one tied down right?"

"Yea."

"Is he allergic to bees?"

"No. I don't think so."

"You said he got stung, I figured he was having an allergic reaction."

Chuck stared at the floor but then his eyes widened. "I forgot you don't know! Never mind what I said."

I furrowed my brows. "Why? What did he get stung by?" He didn't answer and no matter how much I pestered him, he didn't say anything. After not being able to stay silent for one second, he finally plays silent treatment. "Fine then. I didn't even want to know." Then I remembered what else he said about Alby. "Wait, Newt's not the leader?"

"Nope. He's second in command."

Well explained why he held authority, but Gally and Thomas didn't really listen to him. "Huh." Loud voices from behind us made me turn my head. I stood up, looking at where a crowd of boys gathered at the bottom of the watch tower. I took off to the crowd, not bothering to check if Chuck was following.

"Wait." Chuck grabbed my hand, stopping me, just a hundred feet from the rest. He was puffing and his cheeks were red. "You run fast for a shank." He huffed out.

I stayed by Chucks side but tuned into all of the voices. One was higher than the others. Stuff was flying off the top platform, hitting the boys below. "Is that the other girl up there?"

"Sounds like it."

"Chuck what's going on?" Minho and Thomas joined us.

"Girls are awesome." He pointed at the tower, laughing. The boys ran away, going to the tower. "Why didn't you do that Aesara?" The comment kind of hurt. And I didn't know why.