Before Thomas {A Maze Runner Fanfiction}

S1-Ep10: Don't Call Me Liz

Chris was bored. Nothing exciting ever happened around the Glade. It had already been a month since he'd arrived, and the Box had come and gone, leaving behind the newest Greenbean, Clint. He was a scrawny kid with big ears and a bad stutter. Chris was glad that he had replaced Ric as Gally's roommate, otherwise he'd be stuck with Clint as his roomie. Gally didn't like him much, but Gally didn't like anybody. At least he didn't whine like Chris did.

Chris chuckled to himself. He wondered how old everybody was around here. Most seemed to be in their late teens, but a few of them, like Will, Doug and now Clint, seemed to be a bit younger than the rest of them. He was thankful that he'd been able to retain memory of his age as well as his name. It would have been awkward had he not been able to remember that. It would bear a problem later in life if he ever needed to know that crucial information. Unfortunately he didn't know his birthday.

Gally remembered his age, too. So it was safe to say that the rest of them did, as well. Chris had made a guessing game at the table, and every time everyone was gathered around eating food, he would try to guess another Glader's age. He kept a piece of paper and kept the information on it pinned up in his room with a rusty nail. He only had a couple of people left to guess.

"Why do you care about how old we are, anyway?" Will asked one night.

Chris had shrugged in response, "I'm just trying to have some fun. Why, you don't like this game?"

"It's not a game, you klunk," Dave added. "Nobody agreed to play."

Chris 'hrumphed.' "What's your problem? Can't a guy have some fun around here? I'm just trying to pass the time."

"Can I read it?" Will asked, gesturing towards the slip of paper in Chris's hand. Chris held it up.

"What, this? Be my guest." He passed the paper to Will who read over it with interest.

"I guess we never talked about our age before," he said. "Wow, is Alby really that old?"

"Hey, watch your mouth, ya dirty shank!" Alby shouted from his place at the table. Will just rolled his eyes and gave Chris his sheet back. "You spelled a bunch of our names wrong," he pointed out.

"What the shuck do you know, ya little punk?" Chris looked down at it for a moment, rereading his notes, but he didn't find any mistakes. Before he could decide which name he'd apparently spelled wrong, Ben ripped it from his hands.

"What the klunk? You even spelled your own name wrong!" Doug, who was sitting beside Ben started laughing.

"Is 'Nut' supposed to be Newt?"

"WHAT! Let me see that!" Newt leaned over from the other side and the piece of paper suddenly started making its rounds around the table.

"What the--and why is there a question mark next to my age?" Newt asked.

Chris shrugged: "Because, when I asked, you asked back. You said, and I quote: 'I am...twenty-two?' It sounded like you weren't sure."

"At least he spelled P.F's name right!" Zart said, taking the note from Newt and passing it down. "All you need now is Clint and Liz's ages."

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth spoke up for the first time. Her eyebrows furrowed. "What did you call me?"

"Right here," Zart said, reaching his arm across Newt to show her. "He put you down as 'Liz.'"

Elizabeth glared at Chris, "You can't call me Liz!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Chris said, grinning at her. "Is that nickname reserved for Newt?"