"GREG, ARE YOU SERIOUSLY TELLING ME that you've been here a year, and you still can't build a shucking fire?" Alex asked with raised eyebrows, watching the boy struggle at assembling the stack of firewood. He had tried three times to get them all to stand up, but each time, they had a tumbled down, creating a stack below them. 

After dinner, she had made her way over to the spot where they had always built the welcoming bonfire for the Greenies. All around her, people were cutting wood and Builders were hauling logs over for them to sit on during the party. Gally, who was missing, was most likely off brewing his special drink that made. It was probably the most disgusting thing Alex had ever tasted, and that included Frypan's cooking, but for some reason, they all drank it anyway.

Greg, one of the Runners, rolled his eyes. "You know, Alex, since you have such a big problem with it, you could stop complaining and come help."

"I am perfectly content just standing here and watching you fail," she replied with a smirk. "Thank you for offering, though." 

The boy glared at her as she walked away toward Newt, who was overseeing everything to make sure no one cut off their finger or someone else's head. When he saw her approaching, he smiled, "Hey, Alex."

"Hello, Newt," she greeted before getting to what she really wanted to talk about. "Where's the Greenie? I haven't seen much of him. Usually they're so curious when they first come up."

"Alby's talking to him right now — trying to get him to come out. The little bugger's really shy. Won't talk to anyone except Alby and sometimes me," Newt informed her. 

Alex nodded, "Yeah, Minho asked him if he could borrow some salt at dinner, and the poor shank looked like he might pass out."

"Sounds about right," Newt said with a small chuckle. "We might skip you and the Slicers tomorrow — maybe even the Builders. He doesn't seem like the weapons type." When she let out a sigh, he ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry."

"It's fine." 

All of the Keepers gathered around the pile of sticks, each with a spear that had fire on the end. This was probably Alex's favorite part of the night. The counted down before throwing the spear into the middle of the stack. It burst into flames, and they all cheered, excited to start the party.

Alby had obviously convinced the Greenie to join them that night, for the boy was sitting on one of the logs, smiling as people danced around the fire in front of him. Since she had nothing else to do, Alex decided that it was a good idea to introduce herself and welcome him to the Glade.

"Hey, Greenie," she greeted with a grin as she sat down next to him. His face went pale — paler than usual — as he stared back at her. She chuckled. "Calm down. I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Sorry," he mumbled, looking down at the ground, and his cheeks went red.

Feeling bad that she was scaring him so bad, she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, but that only seemed to frighten him more because he tensed up at her touch. She removed her hand and ran a hand through her hair. "It's fine. I just wanted to see how your first day in the Glade was."

"Oh, um, well, it was kind of scary, to tell you the truth," he replied honestly, finally getting the courage to look her in the eye.

"Well, I have some advice for you to make your life that much easier," she told him, leaning toward his ear to whisper in it. "Steer clear of that guy over there." 

The young boy followed where her finger was pointing, and his eyes went wide when he saw Gally push someone out of the a circle of boys with a mean smirk on his face. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea."

"Told you," she nodded with a small laugh. Suddenly, the Greenie's face fell into one of realization, and Alex looked to him in concern. "What? Is everything okay?"

"I just remembered my name. It's Chuck," he informed her, his frown twisting into a smile that Alex mirrored before reaching out her hand to shake his.

"It's nice to meet you, Chuck. Welcome to the Glade."

《 ✢ 》

"CAN I OFFER YOU A DRINK?" questioned a voice from above Alex, and she looked up to see Gally standing next to her with two jars in his hand, presumably full of his mystery concoction. 

She had been sitting alone, watching as the Gladers partied happily. Every time they had a bonfire, she always made sure to take a step back and take it all in. The fact that they could find moments to be happy in such a miserable place really told you a lot about their character.

"Sure," she responded, scooting over on the log that she was sitting on to give him some room to sit down next to her. He handed her the drink as she asked curiously, "Did you win all your fights?"

Gally had created this game a few months after Alex arrived, at their very first bonfire. Basically, all of the Gladers gathered in a circle, and two boys would fight and try to push each other out of the circle. The Builder boy was their undefeated champion at the moment, and he sometimes let it get to his head.

He stared back at her with his mouth agape and a look that told her the answer was obvious, and she fought the urge to roll her eyes at his confidence. "Of course, I did."

"Don't get too cocky. Minho and I have a bet on which one of us will take you down first," she informed him with a smile, leaning back on one of her hands to support herself. Sitting on those logs all the time really gave her some back problems.

He chuckled out, "Is that right?"

"Yep," she replied before taking a swig of the drink in her hand, and she made a disgusted face. She thought she had gotten used to it, but every single time she tried it again, she was proved wrong. "Oh, my God. I'm pretty sure this drink gets worse and worse every time. What the hell do you put in it?"

"Trade secret. I'll never tell," he answered, making the motion of zipping his lips. That wasn't suspicious at all. If anything, that made her believe that he was slipping something into the drinks even more.

She looked at the drink through the jar with furrowed eyebrows, examining it closely for anything suspicious that could be potentially deadly or harming. She did this almost every time she had his signature drink just to make sure that he wasn't up to no good. "As far as we know, you could be drugging all of us."

"Thanks for the idea," he told her, a grin coming to his face as she laughed. 

"You're welcome," she responded with a nod, and she glanced at the ground quickly before looking back up at him. She then groaned as a familiar but unpleasant sound reached her ears, and she fought the urge to cover her ears to protect her from losing her hearing. "As a reward, maybe you could go over there and shut that slinthead up."

She gestured over to where Jeff was standing by the fire and singing loudly and off-key. He was clearly drunk because that was the only reason he would try to serenade them. Someone from the crowd shouted, "Slim it!" Chuckles spread throughout the Gladers, and Alex and Gally fell silent for a moment.

"Do you wanna dance?" she quizzed after the moment of silence, looking up at him in question. It was so out of the blue that it surprised even herself.

He looked at her in shock and raised his eyebrows at her in confusion. "When have you ever seen me dance?"

"Sometimes when you're drunk enough," she answered.

He nodded at her like she just got a question correct on a test. She didn't expect him to say yes, but what harm could asking do? "And there's your answer."

"Suit yourself," she shrugged as she stood up, downed the rest of her drink, and brushed the dirt off her pants. She handed the jar back to Gally who watched her as she walked over to the fire. "Minho, come dance with me!"

The Runner followed orders and came up to her so that they could dance, and Alex got the feeling that she only got once a month on this day — happiness.