Next thing I knew, was that Newt pushed me down on a chair in the Gathering Room.

At least ten other chairs were in front of me, two of them big compared to the others. Alby sat on one of them and Newt on the next one. Remaining were all the Keepers.

"Okay. Gathering starts." Alby got up from his seat.

Panic rose in my chest. "What? Why am I here? What's going on? Why-."

"Valerie, you're not allowed to speak or leave until we say so." The leader gave me a sharp glance before looking at the others. "This morning I got three Builders on—."

Shit.

"—my roof." He stated. "They accused Valerie from beatin' 'em up. I sent them to the Med-jacks. Clint can confirm that's true. Apparently, Peter's nose is broken, Hank's nose is bruised, and they all got some pretty bruises and scratches. There's definitely been a fight."

He paused and looked around, sharing looks with all the boys before continuing.

"Today we are here to discuss what happened. I will explain their story, Valerie will explain hers, and the Keepers will tell their opinions and ideas for punishments. Got that?"

Alby waited, receiving a few nods and mumbles.

"Nice. As I said, this morning those three came knockin' at my door. Peter, Hank, and Carl, to be exact. Explained how last night, just a while after midnight, they were walkin' around the Glade a bit, until Valerie approached them. Accordin' to them, she trapped them to go into the woods, just to get hit on the head, causing all three of 'em to faint."

Gally spoke, "No offense, but how is a small girl like Valerie supposed to knock out three guys at once?"

"They said it was unexpected. Out of nothing. Once they woke up, they found themselves tied by the wrists and feet. She accused them for certain things, called them stuff I'd rather not repeat, and beat 'em up. Explains the noses, ya know?"

I had a hard time not speaking up. Everything they said was a lie. I never did that! I would-

"Valerie." Newt looked at me. "You may speak now. Tell us your point of view on what happened. Do not defend yourself yet. Just explain."

I nodded fast. Explain, explain, explain. Not explode. "Last night, I was in the kitchen with Frypan, Ben, and Minho." I motioned at the two Keepers, and they nodded. "We were chatting and everything. A while after midnight, we were done and I was on my way to my hut. I couldn't even reach it before my head got hit by something and I blacked out."

Everyone was silent, so I could easily continue. Most faces were blank, unreadable.

"When I woke up, I found myself in the Deadheads, surrounded by Carl, Hank, and Peter. They..." Do not burst out. "They said some things. I got angry, told them to leave me alone and let me walk away, but they didn't let me. That's when I punched Peter in the nose. Hank jumped on top of me, but I elbowed him in the face too. I was defending myself and it soon ended into a fight, until I ran away."

Billy, the Keeper of the Baggers if I remembered it well enough, tilted his head. "One, you have a limp. How can you run? Two, 'they said some things' does not prove anything. Three, this is bullshit."

"Shut up, please." Newt mocked. Alby gave both Billy and Newt a warning glance.

"Valerie, okay. Thanks for explainin'. We will need some better context on what they said."

I swallowed, hard. "Oh."

My eyes met Gally's. His face was blank. I couldn't see anything behind his eyes or face. He just stared back, until at some point, I broke the contact.

"Do I have to?" I then wondered.

"If you want to save your butt from getting a punishment, that would be nice."

Sighing, I rubbed my chin, and swallowed again. "They... they said... rude stuff."

"Rude stuff." Alby nearly scoffed. "Did they call you things?"

I shook my head. "No. But they, well- they did say things about you."

He was surprised, I could see it by the way his shoulders tensed and his face twitched. "What did they say?"

I cringed. It was humiliating to say it in front of Alby. "They told me you could've let me be a Cook, but you didn't. You made me Third-in-command just so... to use me. Assault me. B-but of course I don't believe them! I didn't. Never would."

His face darkened at first, but then it turned into stone. He nodded. "Okay. Was that it?"

"No." I muttered. "They said Newt claimed me on my second day. Also to... use me. They were trying to convince me he wanted to get close and try something."

Through my eyelashes, I peeked at Newt. His jaw was tight and eyes close to hurt. I had wished I could yell at them Newt didn't even like girls, but no matter what, I would never break my promise into not telling someone without his permission.

"They told me the reason Ben and Minho were suddenly so friendly is because now I'm weaker. I can't run easily, and they're Runners. They told me they could ran after me easily if I tried to... escape." I continued slowly.

I didn't dare to look at Minho. I couldn't. Instead, Alby clearing his throat caught my attention.

"That is a whole lot different from the story I heard from the Builders. It's gonna be difficult to decide and-."

"I'm not done yet. They said more. About Gally."

The ground was pretty fascinating.

"What did they say?" Alby asked.

"That he was just trying to get close to me, too. That he would enjoy touching me while wrestling in inappropriate ways. His plan all along was to get in my hut, just us, alone. For... other... things than poems."

Tears in my eyes were close to dropping. It hurt. I didn't want to be the only girl. Not anymore. And they even made me doubt. I trusted Gally and everyone else with my life, but it didn't make anything they said less imitating.

They don't care about you, Valerie! No one cares about you. His words. They kept repeating. And I refused to believe.

A grunt came from Gally's mouth. I watched his fists clench. His Adam's apple bobbled and his eyes were getting full of fire.

"Gally, take ahold of yourself." Alby commanded in a sharp voice. Gally's chair nearly fell, but the boy mumbled a not so understandable 'okay'.

"So then I punched them, since they wouldn't stop saying it even when I asked them to." I finished.

"Thank you again, Valerie. Keepers, you may now inform us with your thoughts and opinions. Don't say the punishments yet. Just who you believe and why that is so. Newt, you start."

The Brit took a breath before talking. "I believe Valerie. Not only now the Builders bothered her. They've done it before. The things they say are unbelievably rude, and not true. Don't believe whatever those shuck-faces said."

"Frypan?"

"It's true. Valerie indeed sat with us last night. She just informed us with something super nice. It would be weird if she was randomly planning to beat up some boys after that. The two of us privately talked after that. All I can say is that Valerie is not a person to hurt someone without reason. She's not the problem here." The Cook gave me a warm smile. I smiled back, small and hesitant.

"Thank you, Frypan. Billy?"

He immediately started ranting. "As Frypan said,  she's not a person to hurt people without a reason. I'm pretty sure the Builders made some comments in the past. I say she got her revenge on them. But she got too rough. They never-."

"Just shut up already." Gally threatened, talking in a low tone.

"Gally, let Billy finish."

"She broke our rule. Maybe the most important one. There has to be a punishment, Alby." Billy leaned back against his chair, showing that he was done.

And Gally looked at the Bagger like he wanted to shoot him in the head.

"Thanks, Billy." Alby nodded. "Gally?"

"I believe Valerie. She would never just attack them out of nowhere, no matter what they did in the past. And I'm proud you finally defended yourself."

My stomach made a jump again.
Not the time. Not the time.

"She got too rough, Billy, that is not true. Because even if she did jump them, it's simply what they deserve. What they told her yesterday is disgusting. They're disgusting." He took a breath. "And why the hell would Valerie make all this up?"

"Because she planned it all alo-."

"Shut up." Gally cut Billy off again. He stood straight up. "Alby. They told you she beat 'em up. Valerie says she got into a fight with them."

"Your point?"

"If she got into a fight with them, I'm sure she must be harmed too." His eyes met mine again. They were reassuring, telling me it would be fine. "Val, did you get hurt?"

Almost in a loss of words, I nodded. "Yes." Slowly, I got up from my seat and lifted my shirt up just enough to show the blue bruises. Mutters and gasps were shared before I sat down again.

Billy stood up from his chair. "She could've done that to herself to get attention just like she did b-."

Gally pinned him to the wall, grunting again. "Are you insane?" He spat out. "I will-."

"Gally." Alby warned again. "Billy, let Gally do his story. Gally, don't touch Billy."

Shooting daggers with his look, Gally stared at Billy as he sat back down. "Obviously she got hurt too. That's the proof. We all know her, and we know the Builders. We know what they said in the past and what they did to Valerie. Billy, do not deny you weren't at the last gathering to decide a punishment for the things they did and said. We know Valerie wouldn't just hurt them."

Gally finished talking with a clenched jaw. Alby thanked him and let the others talk. They said comparable things to Gally's speech, though they also mentioned it would be unfair to just punish the Builders, because we would never know who spoke the truth.

"Alright." Alby put his hands on his hips, looking around before speaking again. "All Keepers, tell us what punishments you'd recommend and for who. Newt?"

"Another week in the Slammer for the three Builders. The bare minimum of food."

"Fry?"

"Same as Newt."

"Winston?"

"Same as Newt and Fry, but also a week for Valerie. It has to be fair and we don't know what's true."

He has a point.

"Billy?"

"A week for her."

"Minho?"

"What about banishing?"

"Minho?" Alby repeated, letting the boy know he had to be reasonable.

"Agree with Newt."

"Gally?"

"Same thing, I guess."

"Zart?"

"One week for the Builders, two days for Valerie."

Alby raised his eyebrows, seeming to be impressed. "I like that option. I am, honestly, on Valerie's side, but don't want to make it too unfair or unreasonable. What do we think?"

After all, most people agreed with that punishment. I didn't mock or grumble about it. Too bad I had to sit there for two days, but it was fair. I didn't want to get any more problems.

Slowly everyone wandered off, once it was decided. Alby allowed me to leave, so I rushed away to Gally, having to make an awkward jog.

"Gally!" I tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned around, and again, I saw how big he actually was.

That's what she (or I) said.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." I smiled lightly, the corners of my mouth just a little bit up.

"For what?" He almost spoke like the words were poison on his tongue.

"For defending me." I put my hands behind my back and looked up to meet his eyes again.

And did his eyes change color? Did they change?

Because they looked majestic. Bright blue, but not scary bright. A few grey sprinkles. Maybe a bit green too. Damn.

His gaze softened. A tiny smile formed on his lips. "You're welcome. And, are you alright now? Those bruises looked pretty bad."

I shrugged. "They'll be fine. Maybe I'll visit the Med Hut. I'll see."

He smiled even brighter now, his eyes squinting and teeth revealing. My cheeks turned hot and my stomach flipped again. "You better, Ginger."

"Would you stop calling me that now?" I mocked dramatically.

"Nope."

"Lovely." I sighed.

He smiled again, moving just so the sun shined on his hair. It was growing. The buzz cut disappeared, which I liked. He looked much cuter- uh, better.

His eyes brightened by the sun, skin glowed, and freckles somehow turned better visible. Stunned, I bounced on my heels.

"Will I see you at the bonfire tonight?" Gally asked.

I blinked a few times. "What? What bonfire?"

"There's a new Greenie." He laughed at me. "Arrived this morning. Sean or whatever his name was. He remembered it fast."

"Oh, right." I bit my lip.

"So will I?"

I frowned. "Will you what?"

He chuckled. "Will I see you at the bonfire?"

"What b- oh, yes. Yep, you will."

Grass was pretty beautiful to look at, too.

"Good that." He put a hesitant pat on my shoulder before walking away, leaving me with butterflies everywhere.