| chapter 12: gathering |

DAWN

The morning sun tickled my skin, forcing me to open my eyes. I sighed deeply as everything from last night came rushing back to me. I didn't want to think about him, about any of it. He told me to leave him alone, so that was exactly what I was going to do. If anything, this was good, now I could better concentrate on the plan I made with Lisa.

Suddenly the door was thrown open.
I gasped and looked startled at Lisa who stood there with a huge smile on her beautiful face. 

'So, how was your little date with blondie?' She chirped as she jumped down on my bed.

A weird glowing feeling spread itself from my belly to my cheeks, I was blushing furiously.

Lisa's smirk became wider and more satisfied upon seeing my reaction.

'That wasn't a date!' I finally managed to stutter.

She rolled her eyes. 'Sure and the Maze is a shopping mall.'

I groaned and threw my pillow at her. 'Not funny.'

All she did was grinning while she threw the pillow back. But all of a sudden her grin faded and made way for a frown.

'What?' I asked, feeling suddenly sick.

She coughed before she answered. 'They called a Gathering for today.'

I raised my eyebrows. 'A Gathering?'
The sick feeling became worser and I had to pull everything together so I wouldn't vomit all over the place.

Lisa nodded with a furious look on her face. 'It's completely ridiculous! They have to judge two people who put their own lives in danger and saved two other Gladers! And not just two Gladers but our brave leader and his handsome knight.' By that last line she rolled her eyes and now it was my turn to smirk.

'Handsome?'

Her cheeks seemed to turn a little bit more pink. Then she coughed and it was gone. 'You should get ready.' Then she stood up and left the room.

I sighed while making my way out of the bed. Alby had told us a bit about the Gathering. All the Keepers of the Glade were called together to judge someone who did something wrong. And I really didn't feel like sitting in front of all those boys. I only realised then...Newt was second in command, meaning he'd be there as well. Great.

Half an hour later Lisa and I were making our way down the stais to the Gathering Hall, which was on the ground floor of the Homestead. This time I was fully dressed, but I had decided to skip breakfast. I surely would vomit then, without being able to hold it in. I might have survived the Changing but I was still feeling sick.

Faster than I wanted to we reached the Gathering hall. My stomach was twisting and turning inside me as I stood in front of the door.

'At least you won't be alone, Thomas will be there too,' Lisa said, and she sounded genuinly worried.

I nodded slowly. Then took a deep breath, pushed the door open and walked inside.

There were twelve boys waiting for me, I scanned them quickly and recognised Leon in one of the chairs. He hadn't told me he was Keeper of the Slobbers. He gave me a small wave and I offered him a smile in return.

Thomas sat alone with an empty chair standing next to him, facing the other eleven boys, who were sitting in a semicircle around him.

'Finally,' someone groaned, but I couldn't figure out who.

'Sit down shank, you're bloody late,' Newt commanded, without even looking at me.

I bit my lip and decided to ignore the blond boy. Lisa gave me a slight push to get me walking before closing the door behind me, taking her out of sight. Taking a shaky breath I walked up to Thomas who gave me weak smile. I sat down, facing the Keepers, my hands nervously folded on my lap.

'In place of our leader, sick in bed, I declare this Gathering begun,' Newt said, with a subtle roll of his eyes. 'As you all know, the last few days have been bloody crazy, and quite a bit seems centered around our Greenbeans, Tommy and Dawn, seated before us.'

'They are not Greenies anymore,' a huge guy with broad shoulders spoke. He had such a scrachty voice that it was almost funny. 'They are just rule breakers now.'

Everyone started whispering and mumbling. My eyes scanned the room. Half of the boys here didn't even know me. Which made this whole situation even more ridiculous. Who could judge someone without even knowing their intentions?

'Gally,' Newt said. 'try to keep some buggin' order here. If you're gonna blabber your shuck mouth every time I say something, you can go ahead and bloody leave, because I am not in a very cheerful mood.'

Gally, folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, the scowl on his face so forced that I almost snorted.

Newt gave Gally a hard glare before he continued. 'Glad we got that out of the way.' He rolled his eyes again. 'Reason we're here is because almost every lovin' kid in the Glade has come up to me in the last or two boohooing about Thomas or beggin' for Dawn to marry him. We need to decide what we are going to do with them.'

I chewed on my lip, feeling like Newt was making this only extra hard for me making by making me look ridiculious. But I wouldn't give him any satisfaction of knowing it got to me, so I didn't even look at him.

Gally leaned forward but Newt cut him off. 'You'll have your chance, Gally. One at the time. And Tommy, Dawn, you are not allowed to say a buggin' thing until we ask you to. Good that?'

I scowled at him, already disliking the way things were going. I almost opened my mouth but then decided that it wouldn't matter anyway. So I nodded. Thomas did the same.

'Alright, Zart the Fart you start.'

A few snickers sounded through the room. Zart, a quiet big boy who, Lisa told me, watched over the Gardens, shifted in his seat. He didn't seem that comfortable around here. 'Well,' he finally said. 'I don't know. They broke one of our most important rules. We can't just let people think that's okay.' He looked at his hands.

I held my breath, scared for what would come next.

'But then again, they...changed things. Now we know we can survive out there, and that we can beat the Grievers.'

Relief washed over me and I breathed out. That was one person on our side.

'Oh, give me a break,' Gally spurted. 'I bet Minho's the one who actually got rid of the stupid things.'

'Gally shut your hole!' Newt yelled, standing up for the effect. 'I'm the bloody Chair right now, if I hear one more buggin' word out of turn from you, I'll be arrangin' another Banishing for your sorry butt.' He certainly wasn't in a cheerful mood. Was it because of what happened yesterday? I hoped so, because he was still keeping secrets from me and the fact that it was bothering him so much made me feel satisfied.

'Please,' Gally whispered sarcastically, but he did shut up.

Newt sat down and montioned to Zart. 'Is that it? Any official recommendations?'

Zart shook his head and I felt a little more relaxed. Maybe this wouldn't turn out so bad.

'Okay. You're next, Frypan.'

The cook smiled through his beard and sat up straighter. 'Shanks has got more guts than I've fried up from every pig and cow in the last year.'

I wasn't sure if that was suppose to be compliment.

'How stupid is this, they save Alby's life, kill a couple of Grievers, and we're sitting here yappin' about what to do with them. As Chuck would say, this is a pile of klunk.'

'So what're ya recommendin'?' Newt asked. 

'Put Thomas on the freaking Council and have him train us everything he did out there. Make sure that Dawn gets Runner training.'

I gasped and felt my stomach fill with excitement. If I was a Runner I could help find a way out of here. Then I frowned, I had heard from guys the training was hard and I didn't know if I could physically handle it, but it would be worth a shot.

Voices came from every direction and it took Newt a while to calm everyone down. 'All right, writin' it down,' Newt said and he wrote it on a notepad. 'Now everyone keep their bloody mouths shut, I mean it. You know the rules, no idea's unacceptable and you'll all have your say when we vote on it.' He finished writing and pointed to the next boy, Winston, the Keeper of the Blood House.

'I think they should be punished. No offense, Greenies, but Newt, you're the one always harping about order. If we don't punish them, we'll set a bad example. They broke our Number One Rule,' the Glader spoke.

'Okay,' Newt said, writing it down. 'So you're recommendin' punishment. What kind?'

I shifted nervously in my chair.

'I think they should be put in the Slammer for one week with only water and bread and we need to make sure everyone knows about it so they don't get any ideas.'

Gally clapped, earning a scowl from Newt. I didn't know what the Slammer was, but it didn't sound nice.

Two more keepers spoke, one agreed with Frypan and the other with Winston.

Then it was Newt's turn. I took a deep breath and looked anywhere but at him.

'I agree with the lot of ya. They should be punished, but then we need to figure out a way to use them. I'm reservin' my recommendation until I hear everyone out. Next.'

It was Leon's turn. His brown eyes landed on me before looking away quickly and he coughed briefly. 'What they did was stupid, think we can all agree on that but it worked out. We know we stand a chance against these things now. So, I agree with Frypan, let's use their skills.'

I offered the Slobber a greatful smile which he returned as Newt wrote it down. 'Alright, next.'

Down the line it went. Some keepers thought that we should be punished but others agreed with Frypan's idea. I was growing more and more nervous as time went on, not sure which idea would come out on top.

Finally only Gally and Minho were left. That last one hadn't spoken a single word yet. He just sat there, drooped in his chair, looking like he hadn't slept a week.

Gally went first. 'I think I've made my opinion very clear.'

'Good that,' Newt said with yet another roll of his eyes. 'Go on then, Minho.'

'No!' Gally yelled. 'I still wanna say something.'

'Then bloody say it,' Newt replied.

I couldn't help it to look at him, it was like my eyes had their own will and were drawn to him no matter what I tried. His blond hair was messy and he looked very tired. An angry frown was drawn on his face. Suddenly, like he felt my eyes on him, he looked back at me.

Immediatly I looked away and didn't dare to look at him again.

'Just think about it,' Gally began. 'Those slintheads are coming up in the Box, acting all confused and scared. A few days later, they are running around the Maze with Grievers, acting like they own the place.'

I breathed in and out, trying to stay calm. What was this guy shucking problem? What did we ever do to him? I had never even seen him before today.

He continued his rant. 'I think it was all an act. How could they have done what they did out there after just a few days? I ain't buyin' it.'

'What are you tryin' to say, Gally?' Newt asked. 'How 'bout havin' a bloody point?'

I bit my lip, waiting for the answer.

'I think they are spies from the people who put us here.'

Those words made another uproar explode in the room. I sighed deeply and my memories replayed themselves before my eyes. It kinda did make sense what he was saying. What if was true? Lisa and I watching those screens, it definitely meant something or else I wouldn't have remembered it. What if we did work together with the people who put us here? It would make this situation very difficult...But then on the other hand I remembered Thomas and I had betrayed a certain group of people. Did that mean we used to work for those people but then turned on them? It just didn't make sense and thinking about it made my head ache.

Newt finally managed to calm everyone down but Gally wasn't finished. 'We can't trust those shanks. Day after he shows up, three psycho girl showing up, poutin' off that things are gonna change, clutching that freaky note. We find a dead Griever. Thomas and one of the psycho girls conventiently find themselves in the Maze for a night, then try to convince everyone they are heroes. Well neither Minho nor anyone else actually saw them doing those things in the vines. How do we know it were the Greenies who tied Alby up there?'

I felt so confused by all of this. How could someone actually believe this? It wasn't like I stung myself on purpose...

'There's too many weird things going on, and it all started when those shuck-face Greenies showed up. And they just happen to be the first person to survive a night in the Maze.
Something ain't right, and until we figure it out, I offically recommend that we lock their butts in the Slammer, for a month, and then have another review.'

More mumblings broke the silence and Newt wrote something on his pad, shaking his head the whole time. 'Finished Captain Gally?' He asked.

'Quit being such a smart ass, Newt,' Gally spat, his face turning red. 'I am dead serious. How can we trust those shanks after less than a week? Quit voting me down before you even think about what I'm saying.'

I narrowed, Gally did have a point there. Lisa had told me he had been really nice to her when she worked with the Builders and I didn't understand the sudden change in attitude.

'Fine, Gally,' Newt said. 'I'm sorry. We heard you, and we'll all consider your bloody recommendation. Are you done?'

'Yes, I am done. And I am right.'

With no more words for Gally, Newt turned to Minho. 'And then last but not least.'

I sat up a little straighter, wondering what he had to say.

Minho stood quickly, taking us all off guard. 'I was out there, I saw what those shanks did, they stayed strong while I turned into a panty wearin' chicken. No blabbin' on and on like Gally. I want to say my recommendation and be done with it.'

'Good that,' Newt said. 'Tell us, then.'

Minho looked at us. 'I nominate the shanks; Thomas or Dawn to replace me as Keeper of the Runners.'