The Slammer wasn't exactly the comfiest place to get a full night's rest, and Ben's exhausted expression was proof of that. He was slumped against the wall across from Florence, his tired eyes on her as she sat up from where she was curled next to the wall for warmth.

"How the shuck did you sleep so long?" His voice was heavy with exhaustion, and the girl merely just laughed in reply, unable to give him an answer as she stretched to wake up properly.

It was the morning, and from behind the bars of the Slammer, the start of the working day was partially visible to the locked up pair. Getting up from the floor, Florence dusted herself off and approached the bars to get a better look at everyone moving around the place.

"Have you spoke to Minho yet?" Ben questioned, and the girl stiffened slightly. She recalled her conversation with the boy in question when Ben was busy in the map room, and she didn't really want to have to revisit it.

"Yeah, I spoke to him yesterday. Have you?" He rolled his eyes at her attempt to switch the focus over to him instead of her, and she blushed when she realised she had been caught. Ben ignored her question and pressed her further for information.

"What did he say?" 

It was Florence's turn to roll her eyes, but she chose to sit down beside the boy. She shuffled so one of her legs was stretched out in front of her, and the other was propped up with her arms wrapped around it and her chin resting on her knee.

"He was really disappointed. He said he wanted to run with me."

"Shuck. We kinda messed up huh?" 

The pair laughed, sort of sadly, and Florence hit the boy's arm playfully. The smell of breakfast was wafting towards them and they sat silently, both savouring the scent of bacon hitting them.

"Do you think they'll give us breakfast?"

"No, they're gonna starve us."

They eventually shifted into a position where Florence was leaning against Ben, her cheek pressed against his shoulder. He was chatting away about the most random things, to distract them both from their hunger, but it wasn't working for either of them.

What seemed like hours later - but according to Florence's watch only twenty minutes - Alby was seen approaching the Slammer with two plates of breakfast in his hands.

As soon as Florence saw him, she shot up in her seat and nudged Ben. His eyes widened just as large as hers and they both fell silent, folding their hands in their laps obediently so Alby wouldn't snap at them and impulsively decide to not feed them. He wouldn't be that harsh though, would he?

Alby came into the Slammer to give the pair their food and they took it from him instantly, beginning to wolf it down as though they were fresh-out-of-the-box-Greenies again. Their leader just watched in amusement at the fact they were acting as though they hadn't eaten in days.

"You know," He started as they began to slow their demolishing of their breakfasts. "you two are actually quite lucky. You get to miss a whole day of work. Don't waste it, I say."

And that was all he said before he left.

The girl fell back down with a humph. What were they supposed to do locked up all day? But Alby was right, they were sort of lucky.

"What should we do then?"

The day surprisingly went past in a blur. Ben and Florence did an endless amount of things together; rock-paper-scissors, truth or dare, deciding who was most likely to do things out of everyone in the Glade.

"Gally would definitely shave all of his hair off during a breakdown." 

Ben stated firmly. Florence was left in fits of laughter. She furrowed her eyebrows in disagreement and in disgust of what she pictured he would look like completely bald.

"Yeah but he'd look like an egg."

"He would do it though!"

Their hyper mood was interrupted by a jangling of keys. The Bagger standing guard outside the Slammer was fumbling with the lock on their cell door, mumbling that he was sick of the pair blabbering on, and unlocked it for them. 

They were free. 

The Maze walls were close to closing by now, and the Runners would be returning soon. They had been in the Slammer for almost a full day.

Florence had never felt so glad to step into the Glade before. It was restricting, but it sure felt a lot nicer than being shut away in a small cell. 

The girl jogged across the Glade towards her second-in-command, who was wearing a tired frown. He was scraping his shovel across the dirt of the gardens, only spreading it further rather than digging it.

A frown is his resting face, I'm sure he's not in a bad mood. I just want to make sure he's not angry with me...

"Hey, Newt."

He glanced briefly at her, before going back to where he was working in the gardens with a disapproving shake of his head.

"You should head to Clint and Jeff, I'm sure they need your help Florence." His tone made Florence's heart sink, she really hated the boy being mad at her. The working day was almost over so it was unlikely they needed her, and before she arrived they had lasted that long without her, so it was obvious he just didn't want to speak to her.

"Yeah. Yeah of course. Sorry to bother you." Her voice quietened to a whisper at the thought that she was burdening him, and turned immediately on her heel to go back to the Med room.

She blinked away the tears that threatened to spill, and thought over how everyone but Ben was in an awful mood with her. Why wouldn't they be? She broke the rules, they should hate her. Keeping her head down to hide her crumpling face, Florence couldn't see where she was going, and bumped straight into someone's chest.

"I'm sorry, I'm being such a shuckface today-" She cut herself off as she looked up to meet Alby's eyes. She wanted to jump into a hole right there. She had messed up so badly going into the Maze early, and now she was irritating her friends and bumping into their leader.

"You're not being a shuckface." Alby replied snappily, impatient at her self pitying mood, and she just huffed in disagreement. Rolling his eyes, Alby began walking away and beckoned for her to follow.

He led her straight to the Box, and then she realised what he wanted her to see. The supplies had come up in the Box yesterday, so everything she had asked for would hopefully be there.

"Two things." He begun, in his classic stern tone. They reached the Box where a lone wooden crate laid inside. It was much larger than she expected, after all she didn't ask for much.

"The first, your supplies. We decided to just let you handle that." He cleared his throat pointing to the crate and Florence stifled a laugh at his awkwardness. The boys didn't want to see the 'girly' stuff she had asked for.

She jumped down into the Box and Alby got inside beside her. Trying to conceal her excitement, she lifted up the lid and peered inside.

The first thing she saw was the last thing she expected. Sat inside the crate looking as though it could break any moment, was a gleaming red acoustic guitar. Florence's heart picked up its pace in her excitement.

The Creators actually sent a guitar. 

"Holy shuck." Alby muttered under his breath, mirroring Florence's surprise. Why the Creators would listen to a request like this was beyond the both of them. But she wasn't complaining.

She lifted it from the crate carefully, and somehow she knew exactly how to handle it. It fitted comfortably between her hands, her thumb gently plucking the strings. Her other hand glided up the smooth neck of the guitar, pressing her fingers against the frets experimentally.

The notes echoed around the Box just a tinge out of tune. Florence had no idea how she knew it was out of tune, but she knew it was. It was as if somewhere deep down, she still sort of remembered.

Alby caught the girl's eye after a moment. She had gone into some sort of trance when she picked up the guitar, and her eyes had lit up as if she was a child that had discovered ice cream for the first time.

"Sorry. Uh, you said there was two things?" Alby nodded, and chose to help the girl take her supplies out of the Box before telling her. There was a large number of clothes - comfy, casual clothes, and surprisingly running clothes too - a pair of trainers, sanitary products, sports bras. She dropped them into a sizable cotton bag next to where the guitar laid on the grass.

She lifted herself onto the grass and closed up the Box before turning to Alby attentively, even though she was itching to play her guitar. It was like it was calling out to her, begging her to play it. However, she didn't allow it to distract her from Alby, as she was more desperate to get back into his good books.

"It's something Newt and I discussed before you went in the Maze yesterday. I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but we were talking about you possibly joining the Council. I think as a girl, you have a different perspective on things and that could be useful."

Florence's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, but a smile made its way onto her face. She had no idea why they would even be discussing that, but it was exciting to think that she would have more of a role in the Glade.

But then she remembered another part of his sentence. "You uh- don't think it's a good idea?" Her smile faltered as she questioned Alby self-consciously, but he laughed off her concern. He rested his hand on her shoulder.

"No I think it is, but it's just Newt. He's angry about the Maze. We both thought it was a good idea. And then after... he's hesitant."

She nodded understandingly, but it was so confusing to think that Newt was opposing her now. It was always Alby that was the harsh one, not Newt. Newt was the kind one, the one that stood for the ones that likened to underdogs, and now the roles were switched?

"Yeah, no that makes sense. But also, I would have a different perspective on things. I guess it's my feminine touch." She joked, flicking her hair, and Alby rolled his eyes with a snort of laughter, making Florence's smile disappear instantly.

Wow thanks Alby.

"Anyway, give him some time. He might come around." She agreed and as Alby disappeared off somewhere else, she decided to retreat up to her room with her new things.

Florence got a lot of strange looks walking through the Glade, everyone's focus obviously on the red shining object they had all forgotten about before setting eyes on again. A few boys laughed and a few whispered, but they were all mesmerised and in awe of the fact the Creators would send something so random up for them.

Settling in her room finally, she decided to just play it quickly before going back to the Med room. She sat down on the bed, the curve of the guitar fitting over her knee and her hands settling on it with ease. 

Plucking the strings again, Florence twisted the tuning keys a few times, humming under her breath to get the notes perfect. She couldn't really tell as it was herself, but her voice was good. It was soft and quite quiet momentarily, but she could sing easily in tune and it wasn't harsh on the ears either. Once it was all in tune, she stopped.

Now what?

But it was like another part of her brain connected, and she found herself playing a simple tune, one that she knew somehow but her conscious brain couldn't recognise. She pressed down on the frets lightly with her left fingers, shifting up and down the strings effortlessly as her right thumb strummed them gently.

The music floated through the Homestead, tickling the ears of the Med-jacks in the Med room who were admittedly rather confused, and setting Frypan off to hum along as he cooked dinner for everyone in the Glade.

Not everyone knew about the guitar yet, but no one went in to her room to investigate, instead simply just allowing the music to become background noise as they busied around the Glade for work. It was as though they were missing this simple aspect of life that made everything just a little easier. And they were. 

Florence almost lost herself in playing, but then she remembered she was supposed to be working. Newt's angry expression and words popped up in her mind making her instantly stop what she was doing and leave her room to head into the Med room.

She didn't realise how much she missed Jeff and Clint's random chatter and smiling faces until she saw it all again. They turned to the door at the sound of of her footsteps, surprise flickering across their faces briefly.

"Ah Greenie. Thought you'd never return." Florence rolled her eyes at Jeff's dramatic words but she couldn't stop her grin. And her friends were glad to see her back too. 

"Well I'm here now."

"And you have a guitar, for some reason? Completely forgot they existed before I heard it." 

The Med room was empty for the first time in a while, meaning the three of them were free to sit and talk for a while without distractions. Florence sat down beside Jeff on one of the beds.

"I asked Alby to request one, just to see if they would give us one I guess, and they did. I don't know... It's weird." She chuckled lightly, to diffuse any awkwardness in her words. Jeff shrugged, nudging her shoulder at her attempt to downplay it.

"It's weird, yeah, but it's cool." Pausing, Florence stopped to think about how cool it actually was.

Florence was set off across the Glade giving some towels to the Sloppers to wash when the Runners returned from the Maze that evening. She couldn't avoid catching the eye of the Keeper as he slowed to a stop just inside the safety of the Glade, resting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

Desperate to get back on his good side again, she began to walk over - swiping a water bottle from an unsuspecting Slopper and replacing it with the towels that needed washing, as she knew Minho always ran out of water when coming back from the Maze.

When she was about two feet away, she extended her arm with the water bottle, and paired it with a sweet smile. He took the bottle without a word, a ghost of a smirk passing his lips, and downed all of the water.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

They both fell silent, the only sound being heard was Minho catching back his breath. Florence tapped her foot thinking up something to say but the Keeper beat her to it.

"I'll catch you for dinner or something, I gotta map." He patted her shoulder as she opened her mouth to speak and so she shut it again. She looked back to him once but he was gone in a flash.

He didn't catch her for dinner.

Florence became overly suspicious when Minho crossed the dinner hall to sit beside Winston, instead of with her, Ben, Alby and Newt at their usual table. Ben caught her furious glances to him all throughout the meal but chose not to mention it and ate his food instead.

When it was time for everyone to turn to sleep that night, Florence and Minho didn't exchange a word. Florence settled into the sleeping bag, and Minho in his bed. There was silence - like always - but this time it was different. This time, it was so, so awkward.

"Nicer than the Slammer huh?" Minho finally spoke, his voice husky with tiredness. Florence stopped herself swooning.

"A little." She joked, hearing a small chuckle escape Minho's lips. There was another silence. If possible, even more awkward than the last.

"I really am sorry Minho." She spoke again, her voice soft.

"I know."

More silence.

"Wait a second... I never got to race you." Minho's realisation had Florence's heart racing. Was he suggesting what she thinks he is?

"Should we?" He leant up in bed and she was already up and ready. She met his eyes with an excited grin, and just like that, the awkwardness had dissipated.

Tiptoeing down the hall, the pair struggled to hold in their laughter in attempts to not wake anyone else up. Not everyone was asleep just yet however, and they got some odd looks as they left the Homestead and began walking through the grass.

They knew they had to be fast before Alby or Newt caught them and sent them back to bed. Minho decided where they would start and finish the race, and they took a moment to stretch their legs before settling on the starting line.

Just as they were about to take off, a voice sounded from the Homestead.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?"

Newt.

The pair shared a single glance before taking off at the exact same time. They began to sprint across the Glade, the wind throwing Florence's hair back over her shoulders. With a shout, Newt had taken off after them. And despite his limp; he was pretty fast.

"Get back here you shanks!" 

His playful roar had the pair wanting to collapse in laughter. They yelled back their refusal, only spurring the second-in-command on to catch them up.

The commotion had caught the attention of the other Gladers, who chose to watch the three kids leaping and bounding across the grass, the girl trying to latch onto the Runner's shirt to get herself ahead of him.

Alby also watched. But instead of yelling or snapping, he decided to let them have their fun, their freedom. Because they never really got much time to be kids. The race had apparently finished now, the winner unclear as they only focused on getting away from the persistent Newt.

When they finally stopped running, Florence collapsed into the grass, still full of laughter. Newt slumped down beside her, a small smile on his lips.

"Alright then." He said, as though he was giving in to something. Florence didn't know what.

"Sorry?"

"The Council. You can join." Newt knew it was a good idea. The girl was smart. And she kept them humane, he believed.

"Thank you!" She threw her arms around him in glee. "You won't regret it Newt, I promise!" She was practically squealing, and as Minho walked over to them, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion at her excitement.

"What's going on?" He asked, trying his best to not seem jealous at the fact she was squeezing the life out of Newt in a hug and that they were talking about something unknown to him.

"I'm on the Council!" She announced, giving him jazz hands.

"Hey, it was only a matter of time until these shanks realised you're actually not useless. You'll be great princess." He gave her a cheeky smile and she rolled her eyes.

And from a distance, Alby had heard Newt's agreement. He was glad that the second-in-command had come around. He knew the girl would be useful in getting them out of the Maze, as he believed it couldn't just be a coincidence that she was the first girl.

But what he didn't know, and what Florence had forgotten she heard on her arrival in the Box, was that she wasn't supposed to be there.

So why was she there, and how did she get there?