FOREVER. newt

three. i'm here for you, nini.

Left, left, right, left, right, right, left.

As the guards shoved me into my room, I let out a groan. There was a bed attached to a wall, and a row of lockers for my storage on the right. I didn't understand why they didn't let me stay with the rest of the Gladers when I've been with them for a month.

Spotting a mirror near the sinks, I walk over to it. The only times I've seen myself was in those WICKED videos, and I never really got to see myself ever since I entered the Glade.

Tying my hair into pigtails, I examine my appearance at the mirror in the small bunk room. My hair was way longer than I thought it was. I always thought it was straight, but it was surprisingly quite curly, kind of like Teresa's.

Teresa.

Where was she? They said we would share a room, but Teresa was kept away from us ever since the tests.

Being left alone with my thoughts wasn't the best idea. I was used to being with the Gladers all the time, and now that they were gone, questions kept on popping in my mind.

I let out a pathetic sigh. I can't be even left alone without turning into a overthinking mess.

I need to go back.

Taking a step towards the door, I try to open it. Although I knew that it wouldn't work at all especially with how heavy the metal door was, there was no harm in trying.

Left, left, right, left, right, right, left.

"Left, left, right, left, right, right, left." I mumble in realization, looking around the room frantically. Everything was metal, surely there would be air vents somewhere. Maybe I could crawl up to where the boys were shoved in.

The bottom of the bed. Bingo.

Without hesitation, I climb into the small space. It was uncomfortable at first, the tight spaces reminded me awfully a lot of the maze, but I manage to crawl forward and followed the directions I've memorized in my head.

Left, left, right, left, right, right, left.

The small space wasn't helping, with me crawling through the ventilations as fast as I possibly can. Eventually, I reach the last right and was met with an air-vent. This has to be them. I wouldn't want to embarrass myself and crawl into another person's room.

Kicking it open, I crawl out of the vent and land on the floor with a thud. Please be them. Please be them. Please be—

"Nini?"

"Newt." I smile, instantly recognizing the voice. He has a toothbrush on his mouth, and my eyes quickly look around to see that the rest of them were asleep; or at least, pretending to be. Thomas wasn't really fooling anyone with his extremely stiff posture.

"What ya' doing here? Not like it's a bad thing, though. I was just confused cause—"

My thoughts slip out of my mouth before I could even think of it. "I couldn't be left alone. Teresa wasn't there with me and I started to think about stuff and I know I shouldn't be overthinking and now everyone's alseep is when I realize that this is actually a bad idea—"

"No worries." Newt gave me a comforting smile. Even though I hated feeling like this, it calmed me down somehow. "I'm here, Nini."

In hindsight, it was such a silly thing to get so worked up over.

But I had, and in the end, that's all that matters, did it? I'd picked the itch, popped the scab and let loose all the ugly feelings festering beneath the surface. Avoiding all my problems was something I've always done. Bottling up my emotions was a common thing since I had this hindsight that I needed to take care of everyone around me.