CHAPTER NINE
• the secrets out •

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"DO YOU LIKE me?"

Evony had never felt her heart pick up speed as much as it did just then. "Oh uh-" she tried to find words to answer his question, but her mind drew a blank at any form of response.

What she failed to realize was that Thomas had been in his own world as he spoke. Meaning that his question was more of something he said to himself than actually directed at her. Nonetheless, her heart was still pounding as she thought up the possibilities of an answer.

"I mean, I hope you like me." He continued speaking to...her? "-because I don't think a lot of people here do."

She felt her body relaxed-or partly deflated-as she stared up at the night sky. He was talking about liking as being friends. Not...not the other way around. She wasn't sure why that made her feel a bit dejected.

Evony tapped him on the shoulder, grabbing his attention so that he would be aware when she shifted closer to him. "I think you make great company-anyone who says differently can be locked in the slammer for all I care."

Thomas slightly chuckled next to her. "Thanks, Evs."

She smiled at his words, a foreign feeling overwhelming her body. Suddenly she felt the urge to scoot over more so that their shoulders could touch, but she restrained herself from doing so. Evony wasn't sure if that would be weird, since they had only known each other for about a month and a half.

If it was weird-then why was the feeling of wanting to be close to him so strong?

Honestly it wasn't the first time she had noticed she wanted to be with him. Over the past two weeks-after the incident with Aaron and the greenie not coming up the box-it was clear to the rest of the gladers that the girl was migrating to the new boy. She hadn't realized it herself until Minho made a point of saying he was switching running partners just to rile her up.

Obviously no partners were changed-Evony made sure of that. His pronouncement was purely to prove that she cared for the brunete a lot more than she was letting on.

There were also a couple other things that happened in the past two weeks.

For starters, Thomas acquired the knowledge about the maze, and how every path had already been mapped. She was worried at first that he would be disappointed, but he wasn't. That meant that either he was just really good at hiding his emotions, or maybe he actually didn't care. Whichever one it was, it made telling him a lot easier.

Secondly, the glade was splitting.

Lines were starting to be drawn, and sides were being chosen. Apparently the situation with the box had caused a panic amongst some of the gladers. The select few who immediately pointed their fingers at Thomas consisted of: Jake, Gally, Aaron and a few others.

Poor Thomas didn't know what to make of the whole ordeal. It seemed that his defensive mechanism was to avoid the question all together, or ask another one. The only thing wrong with that was it looked like he was redirecting the attention away from himself. Which in the end only made him more suspicious.

Evony knew that's what he meant when he said not a lot of people like him; it pained her. She saw Thomas as someone who was friendly and caring-not a monster who would try to disrupt the pattern in the glade.

That was why they were together tonight, laying under the stars. The both of them had begun to feel stressed from the tension around the glade and thought it would be best to get away for a little. Evony had offered to show him a spot she liked to go to to relax. Thomas obviously agreed, willing to go anywhere to get away from the bickering boys back at the homestead.

So there they were, laying in silence, surrounded only by the moon and the presence of each other. Besides the couple random spurts of conversation, the two stayed in silence. They didn't need to say anything to comfort the other-it happened almost naturally.

She supposed that was one of the reasons she liked being with him so much.

It was always so easy.

Evony stole a glance to her right, where she saw Thomas staring intently at the night sky. It looked as if he was studying the constellations, watching the black blanket of darkness for any signs of action.

"You like the stars?" she asked him quietly. She wanted him to say yes more than she would like to admit. Him saying yes meant there was something else the two could bond and talk over.

He turned his head toward hers, then looked back up at the sky. After a few seconds he nodded, agreement that he did find some pleasure in looking at the twinkling balls of fire. "I think so," he paused, glancing up once more. "Yeah, yeah I do."

Her smile was almost too big to contain. "What do you like about them?"

Thomas studied her face this time-( of what he could see in the dark )-with a thoughtful expression. With the moon shining, she could make out him running a hand through his already tousled hair until it sat behind his head. "It's kind of weird..." he began, looking to her for approval.

Evony propped herself up on her side, a hand holding up her head. "I'm all ears," she told him, to which he nodded gratefully in return. Even as he was laying on his back, she could see his fingers twirl around with each other.

His nervous habit-he was nervous about telling her.

"I think it has something to do with my old life," he bluntly stated, leaving her mind to spin with questions. However, Thomas continued talking before she was able to get any out.

"It was one of the first things I did when I got here. After the bonfire-before bed-I looked at the stars," he peered at her nervously, and she couldn't help wondering what he was thinking at the moment. Evony only hoped that he didn't think she would repeat any of this information, because she wouldn't.

She gave him a reassuring smile that resulted in him giving a half one back.

"You might've liked stargazing?" she proposed; however, Thomas shook his head.

"That's the thing-I don't remember ever liking it."

Evony chuckled, "Well we don't really remember anything anyways so..." Her words dragged out until they faded back into the silence.

Thomas seemed deep in thought. "But this is different. It's like a feeling, and I feel like I did look at the stars, just not because I wanted to."

He was confusing her.

"I thought you said you liked them?"

His eyes widened at the accusation, "I do! I'm saying I think I enjoyed them for a different reason."

"Oh," she nodded, playing with a piece of her hair, "Maybe you and your parents looked at them together; the feeling you have could be happy memories trying to resurface."

"Maybe," he agreed. His voice lowered so it was barely above a whisper, "Why do you like the stars?"

The sudden change in tone made her feel appreciated. He was listening to her. He actually cared about what she had to say, and it didn't have to do with her being second-in-command.

"They give me comfort," she explained. Her finger pointed to the sky, "Everytime I see them they're in the same spot. I guess I like how stabilized they are." Evony lowered her hand, letting it droop back down to her side.

The next words she spoke were something she had trouble admitting. She had only told one other glader; that was Nick. Before he died, the two had a close relationship with one another. He seemed to be the only one who she could actually sit down with and have the person engagingly listen.

Evony was starting to feel the same kind of trust with Thomas. Even if she only knew him for a little over a month.

"I really don't like change," she admitted, looking to him for any reaction. All she got was a simple head nod; besides that his eyes stayed focused on hers. Sighing, she flopped on her back, "I'm not saying I don't like it like any regular person-cause I know that nobody likes change. I'm saying that change-any change at all-makes me feel like the world is ending or something."

"Like you can't breathe?"

"Yeah," Evony nodded, "Exactly like that."

With the two of them now silent, she was able to fully appreciate the reason they came out there in the first place. It was quiet, calm-steady in a way the rest of the Glade wasn't. She had been going up to the top of the hill since the first week she arrived. Ever since then it had become her own safe haven of sorts, a place where she truly felt shielded.

Then Thomas was tapping the back of her hand, and everything shifted back into perspective. Her head moved first, then her eyes, until she was looking directly through his gaze.

"What?"

He wrapped his arms around his body, "I'm cold."

Two little words and she was already getting ready to stand up. However she was stopped by the frantic grab from Thomas' hand on the back of her shirt. "Where are you going?" he spluttered, eyes wide in fear.

She realized that he must've been worried she was leaving him. "I'll be back, I'm getting you a blanket."

Evony moved to stand up again but he refused to let go of her shirt. "Thomas?"

He released his grasp, eyes searching hers eagerly, "Can I ask you something first?"

Reluctantly sitting back down, she folded her legs criss-cross and awaited his question. His head angled down; once again playing with his fingers. "Uh- this is probably weird-actually maybe not-you don't even have to answer if you don't want to-"

"Thomas," she cut him off, "Of course I'll answer."

His head slowly nodded, "I was wondering if you could tell me what I look like."

For a moment she was utterly perplexed. He didn't know what he looked like? That was supposed to be one of the first things the old greenie told the new one. Evony felt bad about the confused expression that had crossed her face; she felt even worse when his face visibly dropped.

He picked at the grass that was in-between his legs, "Chuck only told me I had brown hair."

"Oh," she paused, picturing the curly haired boy in her mind. The younger boy had always been a bit on the shy side when it came to introductions. He had probably froze up and told Thomas the first thing he saw-his hair color.

"Well it's a bit dark right now.." she started, but nonetheless did her best to make out his features in the pale moonlight. It was proving more difficult than she would've thought.

Thomas shook his head, his eyes still fixed on the blades of green beneath him, "It's fine-"

She cut him off, "You do have brown hair, but not like my color brown, it's a bit darker than that. And it's not exactly curly, yet it still droops down on your forehead most of the time." Evony recalled, doing her best to provide him with a clear picture given the circumstances. She was going off pure memory, and it seemed so far that her memory was quite good.

The brunete reached up and felt the ends of his hair, "Okay, thank y-"

But Evony wasn't finished yet. It was like the words were tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them. "You're not exactly tall- though you're definitely not the shortest guy here. And then your eyes..."

"Newt told me they were brown."

"They are."

She was refraining herself from adding onto her statement. His eyes weren't just brown-like hers. They were a lighter shade that shined almost golden when the sun hit. Not that she paid attention to anything like that-it was simply an observation she made while running one day.

However she would say one more thing that stood out to her. "There's also a lot of little moles all over your face. They're kind of scattered randomly along your jawline."

Thomas reached up and felt the edge of his chin with the tips of his fingers. A smile settled on his face as his attention focused back on her. "Thank you," he said steadily. His eyebrows furrowed ok, like he was deciding whether or not to say his next words. "I guess you already know what you look like."

Evony smiled, nodding ever so slightly. "Curly brown hair and brown eyes," she recalled, standing up and dusting the bit of dirt off her back. "I'm going to go get the blanket, be right back."

Thomas stayed silent as the girl trudged down the hill, his eyes following her every move. Evony on the other hand made her way through the forest and back where her hut was located. Her hut was something she was eternally grateful for. There were multiple reasons, but most of all she appreciated the privacy it allowed her. Being with the boys all day was fun-she wasn't denying that-but sometimes it could become overwhelming, especially since she wasn't one who loved a lot of attention.

And with being the only girl-there was a lot of attention.

She was jogging through the woods when she heard a clatter come from the direction of her hut. Carefully she moved closer-suspecting it was probably a loose animal-and stopped about three feet from her doorway.

The clattering noises had died down, but now were replaced by the sounds of heavy breathing.

Someone was in her hut.

Proceeding with caution, she cracked open the door to see two people lying on her bed, one hovering over the other.

Holy sh-

"EVONY!" One gave a high pitched scream; in an instant she knew it was Minho. That meant Ben had to be the other person with him. She shut the door as quickly as she could, trying to rid herself of the picture that was searing into her mind.

Minho and Ben.

Minho and Ben naked

Minho and Ben naked on her bed.

Minho and Ben naked on her bed making out.

Sounds of scrambling feet came from inside the hut. She knew it was the boys attempting to pull themselves back together, and also probably trying to throw their disregarded clothes back on. Her stomach was lurching with disgust. Even though she wasn't shocked, she was still revolted by the fact they had decided to use her hut to their advantage.

She remembered mentioning to Minho that she was hanging out with Thomas tonight. However she would never have expected for him and Ben to use her personal space to...you know. Honestly she couldn't blame them. It was one of the only private spaces in the glade. She just wished she didn't have to walk directly in on it.

After a few minutes Minho came out shirtless, still fixing the zipper on his pants. His hair was disheveled and sweaty-it looked like he had just come back from running in scorching hot weather. He ran a hand through it, and that's when Evony turned away, unable to face him after what just happened.

"I thought you were with Thomas tonight!" He spoke in a loud whisper.

Evony was still trying to not think about how she would have to sleep in that bed the next night. Even if her whole hut was cleaned, she would still have nightmares from the activities that occured without her watch. "I am!" she snapped back, "I was coming to get a blanket."

"Oh, right," Minho faced back to the entrance of the hut, "Ben, get her a blanket!"

"Hell no," she shook her head disapprovingly, "He will not be touching that blanket with those hands." Evony slipped inside the makeshift building, keeping her eyes locked on the ground as she did. Stepping over the clothing articles on the floor, she grabbed a spare blanket off her stool and quickly rushed back out.

"Hi," Ben waved awkwardly as she left.

Evony didn't answer, she just really wanted out of there. However she could hear footsteps following her as she trudged through the woods. Grumbling out incoherent words, she spun around to meet a red faced Minho.

"It wasn't what it looked like-"

"My hut is not used for sex," she pointed.

"I know, but we didn't have anywhere-"

Evony rolled her eyes, "Whatever, bye Min," but then she stopped, and a smirk crept onto her lips, "But just for measures-I knew it the entire time."

She jogged away from him, leaving the two boys to reflect on their past actions, and also probably have a very awkward encounter. Minho was behind her, shouting to ask how she knew such a thing, but she kept running. Running all the way back up the hill until she could flop back down next to Thomas.

He gave her a befuddled expression, before taking the thin material that she was offering out of her hands. "You okay, Evs?" he asked, seeing the franticness that coated her features made him think something was wrong.

She nodded, unsure of how to gracefully say what she witnessed. "I'm fine, just saw something a little weird." Her eyes strayed to the ground, staying there as she thought through the past signs that had hinted at the two runners' relationship. It was quite obvious-Minho and Ben-she wondered if any of the other gladers had picked up on it too.

"What happened?" Thomas leaned forward, placing the blanket across both of their laps.

"You really want me to tell you? It's kind of gross."

He then repeated the phrase she had told him earlier when he said how he felt about the stars. "I'm all ears."

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The next morning Evony and Thomas arrived at Breakfast to find a curly black haired boy sitting at their usual picnic table. Giving eachother wavering glances, she nodded to let him know that she could take care of it. He pointed to the Cookhouse-where Frypan was dishing out food-and mouthed that he would go get them something to eat. She gave back a 'thank you' and then he began walking away to grab the meal.

She slipped into the bench on the opposite side of the table from the boy-whose name she could recall as Alec-and laid her palms down. The shy boy was startled by the sudden gesture, his eyes growing wide and his face flushing with nervousness.

"Alec, right?" she asked smoothly. Evony felt bad having to ask for a boy's name; she knew that as second-in-command she should know the ins and outs of every person. The boy in front of her was someone who she rarely talked to-seeing he barely talked-so there wasn't much she could do to converse with him. He was also fairly new-having been in the glade for less than a year.

Alec didn't answer her question, instead rushing out a sentence that she figured must've been his rehearsed alibi. "Newt said I could sit here."

She gave a questionably glare-one that happened subconsciously-before realizing it looked like she was judging his past statement. The boy rubbed the side of his face with his knuckles, "Or not! I don't have to sit here at all. In fact I'll just go right now, tell Newt I'm sor-"

"Hey, Alec. It's okay," she reassured with a helpful smile, "You seem like a really nice guy; if Newt asked you to sit with us then of course you're allowed to."

Alec only nodded, the faint blush still coating his cheeks. Then suddenly someone appeared behind him-the blonde they had been referring to-and took a seat next to him. Evony watched as the two exchanged greetings, Newts being a lot more confident than the others meek one. She also noticed the small amount of room that was between them. Taking note of that, she folded her hands in her lap, looking past them to see if Thomas was coming back with the food.

He was still waiting in line, kicking the heel of his foot into the ground over and over again.

Newt coughed, "Evony, I'm sure you know. This is Alec. He's a slicer but currently working in the garden because he took a pretty good cut to his hand."

A sympathetic appearance crossed her face, "What happened?"

Alec shrugged. He pulled his hand from his lap and showed her the bandage around his fingers. "I cut it while chopping up a piece of meat. I must've looked away for like two seconds to talk to someone, because the next thing I knew I had sliced right though the skin."

Not a single stutter.

"Well I hope it gets better," she offered her best form of helpfulness. Alec shyly thanked her back, stealing a glance at the blonde after he did so.

The three continued to talk about random subjects-the usual friendly chatter-until the rest of the group filed into their seats. First was Max, who quite literally fell into his seat. Second was Minho and Ben, the former of the two shooting her a scolding glance before sitting down next to her partner.

Partner. That word had double meanings now.

Finally was Thomas and Frypan. They each took a seat on either side of her. The chef had set out an assortment of fruits and other fixings for the gladers to choose from for breakfast. The food was actually quite good, which was shocking considering their other living conditions.

Thomas slid the plate over to her, letting her pick what she wanted off of it before he went and ate himself. She took a blueberry muffin along with a pear, sent him a thankful smile for getting the food, then slid the plate back to him. He decided on eating a plain bagel along with a banana.

"So, you guys excited for activity day or whatever it's called." Max asked with a cheerful smile. He chomped down on a piece of chicken he-for some reason-persisted on eating.

Evony knew what he was talking about. It was a special event that happened one day a year. Basically "activity day" was a day that was dedicated to purely glader bonding time. Alby was in charge of the whole thing, and every year he depicted what games the group did as a whole. Everybody also got the day off-which was a plus.

A chorus of cheers were heard throughout the group, seven out of the eight celebrating in the yearly tradition. Then there was Thomas, who per usual, was out of the know.

"Activity day?"

"It's a day where we all hang out and do stupid shit." Ben explained with a smirk, "Usually Admiral Alby has everyone pair up so we can compete in games. The winners get a few extra days off."

Thomas opened his mouth to form a small ' o '. "That's cool, what are the games?"

This time Minho jumped in, "Well there's always hide and seek. Sometimes a game we call Grievers vs Humans-"

"The food fight!" Frypan interrupted, "Don't forget that."

"The food fight that ended with everyone in the shower for two hours last year," Newt recalled the memory, sharing it for the new boy. Evony watched Thomas chuckle as stories from the past "activities days" were told; she was glad he was a part of their circle of friends.

However there were a couple of familiar talkers who were slightly less adamant in adding on to the conversation. For starters, Minho and Ben. The two continuously shared nervous looks, almost like they were still thinking back to what happened the previous night.

Evony eyed them during the conversation as well, sending small smirks every time she noticed their hands or shoulders coming in contact. At one point Minho rolled his eyes at her and whispered something in Ben's ear. The boy had laughed and sent a smirk of his own over to her.

Now Evony really wanted to know what the two had been talking about.

The other guy-Alec-was still quite quiet. However it was very clear that he gained a bit more confidence whenever he was able to talk alongside Newt. She even noticed the blonde blush at some point.

Yes. Blush. Something he never did since he claimed it was a sign of weakness for a second-in-command.

So the conversations carried on, the same secretly shared glances, and suggestive comments that were always there when the seven-now eight, though-of them talked. That was until another boy walked around the bench until he was standing at the end, like he was trying to show his dominance by being at the head of the table.

The eight teens looked up in disgust, some of their facial expressions a lot more clear than others. Thomas for example: he was glaring at the male like he wanted him dead. So was Minho, but it wasn't quite as noticeable.

"Get lost, Aaron," Max shooed, waving his hand to send him in the other direction. A piece of bread filled his mouth, so his words came out a lot more mumbled than she bet he hoped.

Aaron studied them all, his eyes roaming for an exceeded amount of time over her until they landed on the curly haired kid. "What is this? Are you guys just letting anybody sit with you now?"

"N-newt invited me," Alec spoke up, but at the glare the builder sent him he shrunk back down in his seat. The blonde must've noticed this too, as he slid himself closer to him in a protective manner.

"That's cute, real cute," Aaron scoffed, his eyes searching the groups once more. He peered past her to where Thomas was sitting. When she turned, a smirk settled on his lips. "If anybody gets to join I think it should be me."

"Slim it," Ben blunted. Aaron grinned again-he seemed to love the defensive nature everyone was taking on.

"Yes, Ben. Now you also surprise me. I mean how did a shank like you end up with the popular kids."

"We're not the popular kids." Evony contradicted. She saw Minho place a hand on Ben's shoulder, instantly making the other boy calm down.

"Oh, but aren't you?" The builder laughed mockingly, "You have both second-in-commands, one of which is the only girl in this entire place. The Keepers of the Cooks and the Runners. And then of course we can't forget about little Tom over here; he's just the talk of the town isn't he."

She felt the bench shift as Thomas went to stand from his seat. Evony grabbed at his wrist, pulling him back down so he would sit. With an irritated sigh he clambered back into his seat, his eyes staying directed on her instead of the builder.

"That's even more adorable," he rolled his eyes, "Who even decided that you got to be here."

Evony glared back at him, "I did." She said firmly, "You know, if you want to be with us so badly then maybe you should try not punching one of the people who sit with us regularly."

She felt Thomas' faint chuckles on the back of her neck.

"Man, where is all this hate coming from? I'm a glader, just like all of you."

All eight of them shared a look, coming to an agreement on the amount of friendship they had with the guy. Max placed a fist on the table-one that held a knife. "Yeah except we don't like you," he said, giving a fake smile, "Now scurry off before we have you thrown in the slammer for verbal violence."

Now Evony was struggling to contain her laugh; she could tell Thomas and Alec were as well.

Aaron then stalked off, muttering unholy curses under his breath as he went. They watched him as he took his own seat at another table-the one where Gally and a few of the other builders liked to sit-and slammed his hands down. The group laughed as a whole-except for Alec, who Evony guessed was struggling from the large social crowd. She had absolutely nothing against that; she knew exactly how he was feeling. Probably not the full extent of it, but she felt she could grab a concept.

"I hate him," Thomas said, though it was much louder than he expected it to be, because his face turned red when everyone turned to him.

"I do too. It's like he thinks he owns the shucking place or something." Minho agreed. "But whatever, let him be an asshole. Nobody likes him anyway."

With everyone in agreement, the circle diverged into different directions. It was roughly eight in the morning now, and that meant it was almost time for the runners. Newt and Alec headed to the gardens, their shoulders brushing as they walked. Frypan went back to his Cookhouse to start preparing the next meal. And the rest of the people there gathered their needed belongings before getting ready to go into the maze.

Evony was tightening the last strap on her harness when Minho came rushing over to her, eyes wide; face pale. He glanced behind her to Thomas, who was presumably shifting his gaze back and forth between the Keeper and Ben. A thoughtful look plastered his face as he examined them, like he was trying to fit two pieces of a puzzle together.

Damn Thomas and his vibrant facial expressions.

She nervously smiled, shrugging her shoulders and hoping Minho wouldn't read too much into it. However that was a failure, because in the next few seconds it was clear that he already knew.

"You told Thomas about last night, didnt you?"

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MAE's FUN NOTES
everyone go and scream
about Minho and Ben here >

okay we good? next
question-I need like ideas
for either funny scenes
between the gladers or like
cute ones with Thomas and
Evony. SO IF U HAVE
ANYTHING PLEASE TELL ME.

also my friend DracosGreenApple2
had a book that she wont write 😬
so please do me a favor and read
the chapter she has out and then
go yell at her in the comments
to keep writing. Thanks guys :)