Chapter Two
"witch"

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Sonya is sitting with them today.

Gally told me I could sit with them, too.

I started hesitating the second he offered, but now that I see the bright blonde hair sticking out, I'm even more uncertain.

Then he sees me. "Adelaide!"

Almost horrified, I take a step back, eyes wide.

I can't do this.

I don't even speak. How am I ever going to properly do this?

Sonya despises me.

The first boy knows I have been watching him lately.

The second boy must know because from what I've seen, he's very close with the first boy.

But before I can stop it, my legs start moving towards them. The longer I wait, the more ridiculous I'll look. And then I sit down, my thoughts tangled all over my mind.

"This is Adelaide. My hammock is next to hers. I met her yesterday. I'm sure y'all have seen her before," Gally says.

I shrink in my skin as they greet me.

Especially Sonya's awkward, "Hi."

I nod, greeting back.

"This is Thomas, the boy I spoke about," Gally motions at the first boy. The first boy at the stone. The one whom's eyes I met.

His hair is brown, and so are his eyes. The tip of his nose curves up. His moles add contrast to his face.

"Wow, Gally mentioned you," the second boy at the stone says. One with Asian features, who's the most muscular out of all. "Was it an honorable mention?"

Gally chuckles lowly below his breath. "Not really. Anyway, this is Minho."

I nod again.

"That's Sonya, but you knew her already, right?"

Another nod. The amount of times I nod makes me realize how often humans actually say 'yes' daily.

"Our other friend is Fry, the cook."

A third nod.

"Were you in Maze B as well?" Thomas asks.

I nod. My eyes are on the ground, cheeks heated with embarrassment. Holding a conversation with multiple people while not even talking is impossible.

"We were in Maze A... but I think Gally informed you about some things already."

I nod.

"So, eh," Thomas scratches the back of his head, "do you... I don't know— like it here?"

He agrees it's awkward because I'm only nodding but he doesn't want to invade my privacy by asking why I don't speak.

Yet I nod again, mixed with a little shrug. Then, helpless, my eyes fall on Gally.

He straightens, clearing his throat. "Eh, Adelaide lost her voice a while ago. Well, not lost, but it's... hoarse, correct?" He looks at me. I nod half-heartedly. It's not completely true, but it's enough. "And it hurts to speak."

"Right." Thomas takes the information in. His shoulder drop, relaxing. "Then we should have paper to write on ready. Does whispering also hurt?"

It feels weird. When I whisper, air makes its way into my throat, and that itches me uncomfortably. So I shrug a little bit. Again.

There isn't a lot I can do to answer their questions. Nod, shake my head, shrug.

My ability to speak is inconsistent, but it's difficult to explain, so that's why I told Gally I'm always able to speak, even though that's not true.

It depends on the situation.

"Why don't you speak? What happened?" The second boy asks. Minho.

Sonya visibly tenses. Thomas frowns. Gally shifts in his seat.

"That's kind of private to ask," mutters Thomas.

"Well, if you've been in a Maze, you're not used to privacy anyway," Minho replies, loud enough for me to hear.

I don't think he likes me—no, he's probably just grieving. He has lost trust in a lot of people on his way to the Safe Haven.

So I force a certain face expression, hoping it tells him that I first of all, don't know how to tell him that, and second of all, don't really want to tell him that.

No one seems to understand.

I know that they'll know very soon. Either Sonya or Harriet will inform them. Anyone who was in Group B could tell them.

I'd like to be there when they find out. Things being talked about behind my back is just... not nice.

On the other side, I don't like it being mentioned in the first place. Gives me the shivers. Reminders. Nightmares.

Sonya shoots me a look. Asking if she has to explain.

My eyes wide in panic at first. Then I frown. And nod, slowly, praying she doesn't share too much.

"She got bitten by a Shade—"

"What's a Shade?" Thomas asks.

"Their version of a Griever," Gally says.

Sonya nods. "So, Adelaide—"

"Does it look the same?" Thomas asks.

The blonde sighs. "Did those Grievers of yours have wings?"

Thomas's eyes wide. "God, no."

"Well, then not. They're kind of like... bats. Gigantic. And their heads look like eagles."

"Oh. Ours were a mix of spiders and scorpions," he says. "The head was like a fly."

"Guess WCKD had a thing for mixing them animals." Sonya shrugs a bit. "Anyway, Adelaide got bitten—"

"Our monsters stung."

Minho palms his forehead. "Thomas, please, shut the hell up."

"Sorry," he mumbles.

"Adelaide got bitten," Sonya says for the millionth time. "It was too late to save her. She attacked Rachel, our latest Greenie. We decided to abandon her into the Maze. It was what we did with the ones we could not save or get under control."

Guilty faces. Poles. Tears. The cold walls beside my body. Crying out until the last second. Watching their faces disappear behind the walls.

"The Shades attacked her. They were supposed to kill her, but they didn't, as you can... well, see."

I know that she doesn't mean it like that, but hearing that I was supposed to be dead is not very nice to hear.

"We thought she was dead, though. There was nothing left of her. We reunited here, in the Safe Haven. We were with Vince, as you know. Adelaide escaped WCKD during our war with them."

Reunited. More like, them staring at me with wide open mouths. That convinced me I was no longer liked by them. I was supposed to be dead. I attacked Rachel—which I barely remember doing.

They didn't speak to me. What other conclusion could I have pulled from that?

"So... how did she survive? She was with WCKD the whole time?"

"Obviously, I don't know that," Sonya states. "I haven't spoken to her since. Sorry about that, by the way. We, eh, we thought you hated us for banishing you."

Oh.

I was thinking the other way around.

Thomas's head snaps towards me. "How did you survive? How did you get cured? Many of our people got stung but we weren't able to save a single one—"

"Except you," Minho points out dryly.

"Yeah, but I don't want to brag about that."

"Did WCKD save you?" Thomas wonders. "No way they did that. Or are you like—" he stops abruptly, his face alarmed, breathing hitched. "Never mind," he murmurs.

Gally slides a paper over to me, followed by a pen. I stare at it, a lump forming my throat. I don't want to discuss this subject.

Yet I write, 'I survived, so they had no choice, I guess.'

"How did you survive?" Minho asks.

'I hid.'

"Behind the ivy?"

I frown. We didn't have ivy. 'No, in the ice.'

Minho's eyes wide. "That's not possible."

'It is.'

"How?" Gally questions, his face just as shocked. Even Sonya is surprised.

'Mammalian dive reflex and air pockets.'

"The what?"

'Reflex that helps conserve oxygen.'

Minho's disbelief is evident. "So you're telling me you hid underwater, below ice, and lived? Impossible."

I chew on the inside of my cheek. 'I know you survived a night, too.'

He stares at the paper as if I wrote the most absurd thing ever. "How?"

'And you don't have to act like you never got taken by WCKD.'

"How do you know that?" He nearly stands up while the words harshly leave his mouth.

I watch his hand twitch, his lips curling. What catches my attention the most is the subtle shifting of his weight. It's a defensive move, like he's preparing for a fight—or rather, attack.

'You don't like it when people bring your emotions and experiences up, but to hide that, you pretend to have an ego. No one will talk about you because you do it yourself. They won't pay attention to the imperfect things like this.'

He stares at me for a moment, his gaze hard, and then he shakes his head. "She's crazy, Sonya."

Thomas speaks up for the first time in a while. Ever since he mentioned a person that's likely dead, he stayed silent. "Can you analyze me, too?" He asks almost excitedly. "This is pretty cool."

I turn the paper around.

'CHUCK, NEWT, TERESA.'

His face falls, yet he remains intrigued.

Minho looks like he's about to rip the paper apart.

"Okay, what about them?" Thomas asks, his voice high.

'You're grieving. Out of everyone, you miss them the most. They were special to you. Something happened between Gally and Chuck. Gally doesn't care about Teresa, but he does think about Newt. Minho pretends he doesn't care but might care most out of all.'

"You're scary," Gally comments.

'Everything about you guys is obvious.'

Minho casts a glance at Sonya. "Has she always been a witch?"

"She's just smart."

Flustered, I drop the pen. I guess I made a first impression—though it might not be a good one.