27 Michelle

My skin sticks, compressed from hours of sleep, as I peel myself off the concrete. Shirt drenched in sweat, hair dirty with blood; I've never craved for anything like I crave a shower right now. I'm beginning to officially smell like a Glader, and normally I wouldn't care but I'm currently surrounded by my stench and only my stench.

The door creaks open, and I stand up, backing away and into the wall behind me. In steps the boy that I can't seem to escape. Everywhere I go he is only steps behind me and waiting. I don't want, nor do I need his help. Especially not when he grimaces at the sight of me, the foul taste of my skin reaching his tongue.

He runs a hand through his dark hair, and it stands up on end as he scratches his head. Why do all the boys here do that when they don't know what to say? It's fine just to be silent, in fact it's encouraged before doing weird things like that. At least Gally has the common decency just to stare at me like an old buffoon. This boy doesn't know the first thing about making a casual conversation, and I can tell simply by how he stands in his shoes.

They tap off the floor as he debates what to say. I don't know why he is here. He came to talk to me, obviously. Probably just another stuck up Glader who bribes those shanks that call themselves the police of the Glade. I've got no respect for the Baggers, and I don't have any respect for people who bribe them either.

"Alby is going to be here in an hour," he begins the conversation with a bit lip and a furrowed brow. The soft flesh scabs over from being chewed on to hard, over too many years. I wonder how long he has been awake.

I don't care, I barely know the boy.

At least that's what I tell myself. Unfortunately he has been nothing but helpful towards me. Heroically dashing in front of crashing buildings, and lying to save my skin. I may not know his name, but I know for some reason he has put his neck out for me.

My only question is why.

I doubt he will tell me though, he can barely speak.

"Why?" I prompt him further, unsure why he can't manage to speak. He came to me. I'm not obligated to say anything at all. If he wants to speak, then he had better get started.

"They found out the Baggers faked the bruise." He tells me, finally managing to make eye contact. "They know what they did is total klunk."

"Now they know?" I demand, surprised. "If anyone had the decency to ask me, they would've known days ago."

"The Baggers are in trouble," he tells me. "The one who faked it is being demoted to Slopper after all. Don't think they are going unpunished."

Yeah, sure they are being punished. One of them is being demoted. I was locked away for days on end, and I did nothing wrong. Except being here and being a girl. The other girls aren't getting in trouble because they are sleeping their ways to the top. At least I have some shape or form of integrity. All they have are tight shirts and pretty faces.

"So?"

"So you are being released today." He lets me know.

I scoff, running my tongue along my teeth before I look back at him. "Is that why you came here?"

"I wanted to make sure you were doing alright," the boy begins, looking around at the blood on the walls. "I know that it's hard to be locked up in here after all. You don't seem to be doing ok."

I don't need his pity, so instead of listening to him talk I turn my back. His footsteps echo off the concrete walls that surround us.

"Why are you always so distant?"

I spin around on my heels to see his startled face leaning back away from me. "Excuse me?"

His face begins to beat red. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Why am I so distant?" I demand, stepping closer to him. It's his turn to back away from me. "Maybe it's because you and your Builder friends stare at me every day while I'm just doing my job. Perhaps I'm mad because I've been locked up for days for something I didn't do, and boys like you keep showing up unannounced to bother me.

"Or maybe my being upset has nothing to do with you. After all, I barely know you. In fact, I don't even know your name despite having been told it multiple times. You know why? It's because I do not care about you, or your Glade, or your stupid games.

He stands back, before a smile breaks out on his face. It's fluster and confused, but it's still there.

"You think I'm funny?" I demand, stepping even closer to him.

"No," he shakes his head quickly.

"Then what?"

He shrugs, before he nods at me. "I think it's because you are right."

Right? It's my turn to recoil from him. He thinks that I am reasonable.

"I am not right." I snap back as rapidly as my lips will allow. "It's just how I see it, and it's probably wrong anyway. Quit smiling."

He shakes his head. "I'm David."

He sticks out his hand, but I don't take it. Holding it there for a few seconds, he shrugs before he relaxes it.

"You're actually right." He continues, even though I am trying my best to ignore him. "I'm just a shank who tried to help you out. You don't owe me anything, or any of the boys in this shucking place anyway. Especially, since you've been arrested what, twice now?"

I don't correct him. All I can do is stare at his face, and the slight smirk on his cheek. He can't help but let it consume him, as he backs away.

"It's David," he repeats, "in case you had already forgotten."

Believe me, I hadn't.

The door clangs shut as Alby walks in. He stands up straight, with his arms planted on his hips.

"I figured I'd say sorry," he begins.

I cock an eyebrow at him from where I sit on the floor. Now he is sorry. He doesn't get to just be sorry after he locked me away for a day on baseless grounds. It was me versus a bunch of shanks, and for some reason he didn't even bother to hear me out.

David was right. I owe him nothing.

"We know that they were lying." He tells me, squatting down onto my level. "Don't worry, the guy is in serious trouble."

"Will he be banished?" My voice is harsh and hard. I hope the glass that spouts out my mouth hits him in the face. I hope it cuts open his skin and makes him bleed on to the ground.

He flinches, but his skin doesn't break open. What a pity. I was wishing it wouldn't be just my blood all over the walls of this prison.

"I didn't want to banish you." He tells me, staring me down. "My recommendation was a week in the Slammer. I didn't want you to die, but I couldn't change nothing."

"You're the guy in charge of the damn Glade." I argue, crinkling my nose at him. "Klunk to that."

He smirks, as if my suggestion was odd. "Klunk to that?"

"You aren't in a position to be mocking me." It's a threat but he doesn't notice it.

"No, I like it." He looks up at the ceiling as he repeats the phrase under his breath. "It's true. Klunk to this. I should've listened to you before I passed judgement. I rushed to action, and didn't listen. As first in command, it's my job to make sure every Glader is heard. Especially you, Greenbean."

"My name is Michelle." I spit it off my tongue like the dart it is.

Funny, when I first met Alby, I didn't care to learn his name, and I didn't want him to know mine. Now, I realise how much power both of our names yield. At first it was all I had, so I held it back and kept it as mine. Overtime, I've come to see that giving him my name forces him to respect me. I will be damned if he doesn't, so I am happy when he nods.

"Michelle," it's simple and sweet, but it makes me feel relieved to hear him say it.

He stands up, and I follow him onto my feet. "If you want, I can get you off the Builders. I'll make the Bricknicks or the Trackhoes take you, since Zart's girl is gone."

"What happened to the pipsqueak?" I demand, stepping closer to him.

Alby shrugs before looking at me. "She's been in and out the past couple of days. Two seizures. We found her in the middle of the night coughing up blood in the Deadheads. It ain't looking good for her."

I should've payed more attention when Leo tried to explain what was going on to me. Like with names, the longer I am here the longer I realise I am wrong. While I don't sympathise with Alby, nor even remotely like or trust him, I am willing to take what he says with a grain of salt. An improvement on just a week ago, when his words meant less than nothing to me. After all, why shouldn't I trust him when he is the target of a conspiracy? I think he has bigger things to worry about then trusting me.

Leo is different. She is part of the problem, so I absolutely shouldn't trust her. If anything she is the mastermind behind it all.

He moves towards the door, and I follow him out into the midday sun. Everybody is too busy working to bother to take the time to stare at me. I feel the grass tickling at the bit of my ankles exposed between my cuffed pants and my boots. The sun is bright and it blares down onto my skin. It hurts my head, but it is so very worth it.

I didn't think the Glade would ever feel like freedom, but here and now it does.

"You never answered me." Alby steps up beside me.

I shrug, waiting for him to continue. I don't have a single clue as to what he is talking about.

"Do you want to be moved crew?"

I look over at the Builders. From here I can see David hammering a nail into a board. Gally too, is bent over the structure in front of him, knocking on the wood to see if it's sturdy.

I quickly shake my head. "I think I am more than fine where I am."

~~~~~~~

Don't you love computer short-circuits? Sorry, but I'm making up for it.