Michelle 51

"You are late," Gally notes as I walk into the Homestead.

The room we were working on had a person fall through the roof. Again. Construction has been halted on top of the building while we rip open the walls. If people jumping on the floor above causes it to rip out from beneath them, we need a better support system.

"I am exactly on time," I tell him, even though I am an hour late. "I see you finally cleaned up the mess."

Yesterday's job was to remove the floor above us, and rip down the walls. The door and the window were good to stay, which makes me somewhat okay with the situation at hand. It feels less like we are starting from scratch. Reinforcing the interior shouldn't take more than the day. It'll take another to drywall it and paint it. As far as I can tell, we will be doing it for the rest of the week. Which is fine with me; the longer I put off building this room, the farther I can be away from Leo and Dawn.

I mean, I haven't talked to Leo in awhile, but Dawn seems okay now. Or at least, not okay but okay for me to talk to. I think she gets it.

"No thanks to you," he grabs my arm, dragging me away from the crowd of boys sticking up the wall. One of which is David, who only looks at me through the door frame. His blue eyes stare me down as I am ripped out of sight.

His eyes are the same colour as mine.

"What were you doing yesterday?" He demands. "I have half a mind to report you."

"I was with Dawn," I mutter, once again ripping myself from his grip and backing against the wall. He is so demanding. Where was I, and what did I do, and why wasn't I here? I have half a mind to deck him, although I think we are on the same team. "Newt sent me looking for her. Some shank beat the crap out of her."

Gally looks taken aback, stepping away from me. "You're serious?"

I nod carefully. "It was bad. She won't say who, but she's pretty mangled."

"They're going to launch an investigation." He tells me. "They'll think you did something."

I didn't, and he and I both know it. Dawn wouldn't rat me out either. If she would've, I'd already be in the Slammer again. All I have to do is keep my head down and pretend I don't know anything. Realistically, I don't know who did it. All I know now is that Dawn and I are somewhat talking to each other now.

"What's your cover story?" He asks me.

"I saw her climbing the Walls," she begins. "She said she was fine so I left."

He glances at me with a weird glint, but before I can explain, the door shuts behind Alby. I don't flinch at the sound, by I look up to stare at him. He crosses his arms over his chest, before looking at Gally.

"I see news travels fast," he steps closer to us, swinging his arms forward so he can crack his back.

"I wanted to know where Michelle was yesterday," Gally tells Alby, staring him down. "She wasn't here after all. I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me when you were talking my Gladers for personal errands."

"It wasn't personal," he tells Gally, before looking at me. "You saw her climbing the Walls last night?"

How much of this conversation did he overhear? "Yes."

He nods, before crossing his arms over his chest. He doesn't believe me, but he has no proof against me. I'm only corroborating what he has already heard from Dawn.

"Any explanation as to how she got in the Slammer?"

I shake my head. "No."

"She was bloody and beaten up and left there, but I'm sure you've heard that by now."

"She was climbing near the Slammer," I should give myself more credit when I'm lying. I'm not actually terrible at it. Even if I was, I'm good at getting away with this. Although there isn't really anything to get away with. "She must've fallen."

"Alby, if you aren't having the Med-jacks look at her knuckles, which I can assure you aren't bruised, and you aren't having the Baggers arrest her, I think we are done here. Don't you?"

Alby nods, backing away slowly. "If you know anything else Dawn, feel free to come find me."

The door shuts behind him. "What kind of lie was that? They'll see through it immediately."

I hate how he thinks I'm an idiot. I'm not an idiot, nor am I some ridiculous incompetent fool. I get how things work, and Dawn and I agreed on a story. Forgive me if I am sticking with it.

"I'm in her circle now, so if I were you I'd leave me to my business," I tell him.

The hallway clatters with noise, as boys push their way down and around me and Gally. For a second, I lose him in the sea of boys.

"Shuck," I hear Gally mutter. "Lunch, and we already are hours behind schedule."

When aren't we?

As the boy's finish pushing through us, I notice Gally is gone. How is it the only time I am actually trying to talk to Gally he disappears? I have a bad habit of almost always seeing him. Unfortunately, he and I are connected at the hip. There are few things I know that he doesn't.

"Hey," of course David stumbles into the hallway. I can't avoid him.

"Shouldn't you be in the Kitchens?" I spit. "Aren't they understaffed since Dawn hasn't been there."

He cracks his knuckles, looking at me. "I'm supposed to go back after lunch. I told Fry that Gally needed me. Since, you know, the building collapsed."

"Sure," he recoils at my use of sarcasm. What does he want me to say? He has been trying to speak to me for days, and I've been ignoring him. Can't he take a hint?

"Mich-"

I knock his hand away when it reaches for me. He doesn't get to talk to me, or reach for me, or anything. "David, you can't just expect me not to be mad at you."

"I was right."

"About what?" I demand, staring him down. My cheeks begin to heat with anger, and the only thing I know to do is explode. I want to hit him. Every inch of me wishes to have my fist collide into him, because that's the only way I know to get him to stop. "About what were you right? That people like me? That I'm afraid? I think you missed that I'm being accused of another crime."

"Tell me you don't like me."

I sputter at his words, looking away from him at the ceiling. Who does he think he is? Asking me to tell him the truth isn't going to do anything.

"What the shuck do you mean by that?" I demand. "Are you really that slintheaded? You think I have feelings for you?"

"Tell me you don't consider us friends, and I will leave you alone." He says it earnestly.

I can't see him for who he actually is. The David I know is hidden beneath baggy eyes, and a straight lip. Normally he cracks a smile, but isn't loud and happy. Normally he looks at me out of the corners of his eye, and normally he'll tell Gally off every once in awhile.

A David in pain is not a David I know.

"Aren't we friends?"

"I don't like you," I tell him. "Not in the way you asked me to in the closet."

He presses his lips together, trying to tie together a sentence into a beautiful little bow. There is no beauty; there is only a fight. "I was way out of line. I shouldn't have done that. Doesn't change the fact that we are friends."

"Why are you so bent on us being shucking friends?" I cross my arms over each other. "We work together. We don't socialize, we don't talk, we don't drink together."

"Mich, I just-"

"Don't Mich me," I tell him. "You don't get to Mich me. I don't even know you Dave, and you don't know the first thing about you."

He stops talking, before pushing past me.

"We aren't finished!" I call out after him, grabbing hold of his arm.

He rips himself out of my grip, before turning to stare at me with a straight look on his face. He glares down at me through his beady eyes, as he waits for me to speak.

"Yes. We. Are." He punctuates every word in a way that makes me regret everything I have said to him up until this point. All the anger washes away, and suddenly I am left to wonder who I am behind the bitterness.

I am a blank canvas.

"We are friends." I tell him, and wait to see how he reacts.

His brow furrows, as he slows down. Stopping still, time stands in the room with us. It is just him and I, and no one else.

"We are friends, David," I tell him, and I'm not sure why. "We've been friends since we were drywalling all that while ago. I don't know you, nor do you know me, but we are friends."

He seems to relax, as his breathing calms down. The Glade pauses as David tries to catch up with the conversation we are having. With all that is going on, David waits to catch up.

"Thank you," he begins. "Thank you, Michelle."

~~~~~~

The ships are strong in this one. Are you team Gally or team Dave? I literally and in love with them both and everything is frustrating.

I'll see you soon in Ella and a shameful plot dump