𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐄𝐓¹ - THOMAS

00. worth living

tw: mentions of attempted suicide.

PROLOGUE

IT HAD TURNED DARK AND GLOOMY by now, the moon's radiance having been covered up by the dark clouds above. The other Gladers had all gone to bed, all except them.

They sat there in complete silence, none of them uttering a word as they listened to the mild howl of the wind, and the gentle sizzle coming from the fire's flames.

The young boy felt ashamed, embarrassed, perhaps slightly mortified. But only because he wasn't aware she held no judgment towards him, or that she knew exactly how he felt.

She opened her mouth to speak, but found herself struggling to vocalize what she wanted to declare. She knew there wasn't anything she tell him that would magically make his perspective on life change, but she knew she could try and make him understand there was always something worth living for.

"Newt," The blonde's head snapped up and away from his fingers at the sudden voice of the girl sat across from him. His eyebrows raised instinctively in question as he waited for her to speak, expecting some sort of lecture or chiding, but he got neither of those things.

"I was the first person to ever come up in the box," Newt's face took an expression of surprise at her confession, not having heard the information before.

"I was confused, disoriented, scared, and alone. I had no idea what was going on and it made me terrified." She looked away from him and towards her home as she recalled her time in the glade all alone.

"I spent weeks in the glade alone, doing each and every task of survival by myself, and it drained me. But in the long run it was a good thing, cause the fatigue at least made me fall asleep at night.

"After awhile though, the exhaustion wasn't my biggest problem anymore. I started feeling isolated, lonely...depressed. Even when Alby and the other boys showed up, I just couldn't do it anymore," she shrugged, turning back towards the boy.

"At first I tried slitting my wrists," She cleared her throat at the uncomfortable and hard topic at hand, Newt  watching in astonishment as she told him her story.

"But I couldn't do it. Like my body wouldn't physically let me, so I did what you did. I went to tall ground...that tree over there," the boy followed her pointer finger to the tallest tree in the galde.

"I tied some rope around one of the thick branches, climbed it, and just as I was about to jump, Minho spotted me." She didn't bother mentioning that the boy had been in the map room the whole day, not wanting Newt to ask about it.

"He sat down underneath the branch and just waited for me to change my mind. He didn't say anything, he didn't need too. He was just there, waiting.

"We fell asleep under the tree that night, him holding me as I cried." She reached out a hand and grabbed a hold of his, squeezing as her tear filled eyes met his.

"I know there isn't anything I can say that will-" she was cut of when Newt lunged at her—despite his broken leg—wrapping his arms around her midsection.

She exhaled a heavy breath when she heard him hiccup, and her arms tightened around his frame, holding the back of his head as he cried.

"Thank you, Andie."

Juniper speaking!
Be aware of loads of changes if you already started reading this book! I just wasn't a fan but I liked the overall idea, so im rewriting. However, not everything is rewritten like key points, but I'd recommend rereading just so you don't miss anything!
I'll be posting a new chapter everyday, so stay tuned!
Also, I know this chapter is super short, but it's just the prologue so who cares🥱