ASUNDER (I) : tmr newt

10: I'm Surprised

What?

When I look around, I notice Minho has disappeared into the ground. Right from beneath me, he is gone. A few boys shift away around me, and I can't help but feel myself stiffen.

"This is a load of klunk." I shout out. "I'm not a porcelain doll."

Alby stares me down. "No exceptions."

It's not a challenge, it is an order. It feels ridiculous though. There is no way I am going to sit around and be told what to do by a boy who doesn't even know me. I am not fragile, and certainly not delicate either. If he is worried about someone breaking me, or something else, he's got it all wrong.

I march off away from the crowd, back towards the Homestead. There's no reasoning to this. It is ridiculous at best, and dangerous at worst.

By the time I reach the door, I rip it open, slamming it behind me. My feet run up the stairs, and make their way up to a bedroom. That door gets slammed too, as I collapse on to the unmade bed of whoever slept in here before me.

I've never been upstairs in this place before. Didn't even realise people slept in here. Who knows, maybe this is Alby's bed and he'll have to banish himself for getting this close to me.

"You ran out of there pretty quick," Newt remarks.

I get up, spinning around to see him. He hangs off the doorframe, but doesn't step in the room.

"What, too bloody afraid to come in?" I ask, throwing a pillow at him.

He ducks out of the way. "No."

"Afraid since I am a girl, and I am in a bed you are about to get banished?" I demand, sitting up as the blankets lift up around me.

"I am not going to get banished." He answers, and this time he moves into the room. "You have to understand-"

"That you are trying to compress us?" I stand up, and the bed creaks as I get off of it. "'Cause suddenly girls show up, and none of you can keep it in your pants? Just 'cause I am a girl, doesn't mean I am about to-"

"Alby is only trying to do what is best." Newt looks at me.

I don't see how that is relevant at all. Not even slightly, honestly. Because the thing is, it doesn't matter if he is doing what he think is right. What matters is him not wanting me to touch anyone else. As if I am somehow poisonous. I am not Michelle.

"The shuck has that got to do with this?" I ask. "That doesn't bloody matter. I am not a contagious disease."

"You aren't, no." Newt continues, moving closer to me. "It isn't to protect the boys from you, or even that ginger. It's to protect you from them."

"I am not a bloody flower!" My voice tears down the walls as I stare Newt down.

He doesn't back off. "Of course you aren't, but do you realise how complicated this situation is now? We live on the constant verge of death, and one blink and we are on the wrong side. With you four in the picture, we have to consider a whole new picture."

"Just because we are girls-"

"Just, here me out." He raises his hands in defense, and I realise I am still heaving. My breath hasn't seized to break out of me in violent waves, and there is nothing I can do to stop it.

"Fine."

He sighs, limping over on to the bed. He sits down, and stares at me.

I move next to him, fiddling with my hair as I wait for him to talk. Today, I decide upon putting two high buns in my hair, above both of my ears. Everyday I've managed a new style. Seems pointless, but it seems to be the only thing I can control about my own body with Alby rampaging.