Leo 65

"This is all that came up?" I riffle through the box of clothing, staring it down. I'm going to have to move it into our room tonight to let the girls sort through it. It's sort of funny to me that no one slept in the room last night but me. Dawn, I can almost guarantee, was sleeping with Minho.

Jackson nods at me, kicking the box my way. He seems distracted, or as if he has somewhere better to me. I didn't realise he doubled as a Bricknick, since it was he who lied about Michelle beating him up.

"It's all I gave you, isn't it?"

There is very little in here. Four additional pairs of pants, I assume one for each of us girls, and eight shirts. They are colour-coded, coming in only blue, green, red, and purple. I can take a guess which shirts will fit us easily.

I want to roll my eyes at his tone. Obviously this isn't his fault, but I'm just at a lost. "I think I might need to put in another order."

He scoffs at me, rolling his eyes. I see he doesn't award me the same pleasantries as I give him. At least I can be thankful he hasn't stabbed himself and blamed me. "Yeah, right."

Does he have some sort of problem with me? If he does, it doesn't matter. I take the box and simply leave his shed, heading back to the Homestead.

I place the box on the floor in the center of our room, across from the few mattresses that Newt helped me bring up earlier. His limp made it harder for him to walk up the stairs, and I wish I had asked him how it had happened.

Apparently the Bricknicks had lost our mattresses for over a week. Smells a bit like klunk to me, but whatever.

"I thought I'd find you here," Gally walks in, staring me down.

Did he really? Since when does he talk to me "Well, found me you have."

"I need your help." He begins, ashamed to admit it. "Alby threw Michelle in the Slammer last night."

He must know about Ben. Shucking Hell, how did he find out? Why hasn't he said anything yet? What is happening?

"What happened?" I ask.

Gally welcomes himself into my room, sitting on one of the mattresses on the floor. He looks around the space, his eyebrows twitching. I didn't realise he cared much about her more than as a worker. He has saved her life before, when she was nearly banished, so I can't say I'm entirely surprised.

"What can you tell me about Ben?" He sits down across from me, and I pause.

I don't think much about them. "I don't know. Doesn't he work for you?"

I don't think much about him. I sit on the fact that Gally saved Michelle's life. As much as Minho and Newt seem to go on about how much they hate Gally, I think I can tell he means well. He just portrays it differently than them. Like, he obviously cares about the Glade a lot and all the people in it.

If I were in his shoes, I'd be suspicious of us girls too. I can't hate him for that, and I can't hate him for stopping Michelle's banishment even though I get the feeling he hated her.

"Alby thinks she knows something," he tells me.

I don't like that one bit. "That doesn't make any sense."

"It's my fault, anyway," he sighs, breathing out. It seems this is the most apologetic Gally can become. "I really don't like you."

Where is that coming from? "Sorry?"

He cracks his back, lifting himself up back to be standing. The way Gally commands the space is eerie. It's almost as if he was born to be in charge. He looks closer to Ella's age then mine, I'd guess he's about 15 where I guess I am 17. As far as I can tell, Dawn and I are the oldest girls, with Michelle looking around Gally's age. None of us, including Alby, have the aura of command Gally does though.

"I know you girls are up to something," he pauses, glaring at me. "Something I don't like. You aren't quite smart enough to be in leagues with the Creators, never mind that I don't remember you."

"Remember us?" I cut him off to ask.

"I went through the Changing," he tells me, stoic and strong.

I haven't, to my knowledge, met anyone else who has. He remembers?

"That's not the point." He continues, glaring at me. "I don't think you and Dawn know klunk more than the rest of us, but I ain't putting it past you both to be trying to sneak up to the leaders. I know she's shacking Minho, and I know you are shacking Alby."

I almost laugh, but my lungs are frozen inside my chest. I am certainly not shacking Alby. "So, what is it you want?"

"What happened to Ben?" He says it clean and careful. "Do you know?"

I nod, since there is no sense lying to him. "Michelle doesn't know."

He steps closer to me, until our chests are nearly pressed together. "She doesn't get banished, alright? I don't care what happens to you shanks, but she gets banished and you are dead."

"I don't want her to get banished anymore than you do," he doesn't seem to care about what I have to say, but I say it anyway. "She is in the Slammer."

Gally nods, either confused or distracted, I can't tell. "He's holding her there until tomorrow, when he interviews her. I need you to be in that room with her, to make sure she doesn't say klunk that'll get us all in trouble."

I nod carefully. "Agreed."

He reaches his hand forward for me to shake, and I take it firmly in my grasp. In a firm move, he pulls me tightly towards him, whispering in my ear, "if she dies, you die."

"What's going on here?" Newt asks.

I look up to see him standing and waiting in the doorway. He looks both puzzled and confused.

Gally lets go of me, backing away. He shrugs at Newt as he shoves by him, moving out of my room and into the hallway. I hear his footsteps growing softer the further away he moves, and I can't help but be confused.

"What was he going on about?" Newt asks, looking at me. "Why was he here?"

"Michelle is in the Slammer," I gloss over the details, since Gally glossed over them as well. I don't really know what is happening. "Alby knows something about Ben."

Newt takes a second to pause, looking at me funny. "Is that what Gally told you?"

I nod carefully, looking at Newt. There is something, probably many something's actually, that he isn't telling me. A secret hides behind his lips, and I wait for him to continue.

"How long have you known?" He must already have been told she was in the Slammer, since he was second-in-command. Alby would've talked to him by now.

He scratches the back of neck. "I'm sorry Lee."

"How long..." I enunciate every syllable, closing my eyes. "Did you know before you helped me unload the stuff? Or before then?"

He doesn't answer me, which means before. Newt is unfamiliar with a harsh truth, I realise. How could he keep something from me? Something that involved something so important?

"He doesn't think she hurt Ben, I don't think," Newt's voice gets louder, as he steps closer to me. "He heard them arguing."

"Michelle and Ben?" Curiosity gets the best of me.

He shakes his head. "Michelle and Gally. He was about to kiss her, or she him but he couldn't really tell. So he locked her up since nobody would notice. Gally has too important a role to just be able to disappear overnight."

"Did you know when we were hanging out around the bonfire last night?" I'm not surprised Gally tried to kiss Michelle. I'm not surprised they were caught. I am astonished Newt didn't tell me. When he doesn't answer, I realise he knew last night. "Did you know before dinner?"

"He's letting her out for lunch," Newt pleads with me, his voice takes over the space. he's not ashamed anymore. "I didn't think you needed to worry about it."

"Since when do you decide what I do and don't know?"

"Shuck, Lee," he struggles to breathe in, stepping closer to me. "I didn't want you to have another shucking panic attack? I know what stress does to you."

I have to remember he was trying to help me to avoid the nausea that rises in my throat. I think I might throw up. He violated my trust.

"I can't see you hurting, like you do every time someone gets in trouble." He moves closer to me. "It kills me Lee, I can't handle it. I knew Michelle would be fine. She wasn't suppose to be interrogated or anything, so I didn't think I needed to worry you. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," I'm calmer now, although I am still reeling. "It's fine."

"Alby's got no leads," Newt continues to reassure me. "Nobody's said anything, and even Ben wants to just move on. Okay? So no one is going to be banished or hurt or anything, okay?"

I don't know how to nod. I can only see Newt; everything around me is becoming a dark tunnel.

"I just, I didn't want to see you hurt like I did," he begins pausing. He looks almost pained. "Back almost a year ago, actually."

He can't know that everything is okay. I can't really feel anything. "I just, I think, I'm just..."

I feel kind of dizzy.

"Sit down Lee," Newt orders me, his hands finding my waist. "Are you alright?"

My head is pounding, and everything seems king of blurry.

~~~

Sorry I didn't publish this week! I had midterms. I may or may not spam you all now, so I'm sorry about this. Enjoy!

What do you think happened to Leo?

I'll see you soon, in Dawn and Just a Good Ol' Surprise