THE UNKNOWN VARIABLE ↣ NEWT

↠ chapter three

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Heavy pants filled the air as Bella's feet pounded the floor of The Maze as her arms swung up and down by her sides. Blood pumping through her veins as she could hear the sound of her own pulse deep within her ears.

Pausing for a breath, she glanced up towards the sky and estimated that it was around 3:00. Sighing deeply she turned on her heels and began the sprint to the place agreed upon by Minho and herself to meet up after every run.

Deep down she felt disappointed that they had been unsuccessful in finding a way out, but there was always tomorrow to try again. Turning the corner of one of the long corridors, Bella could make out the black, fluffy hair of Minho.

Coming to a stop besides him, she cocked her head in the direction that they ran to get back to The Glade in which he returned with a nod of his head. Over the time they had spent together, Minho and Bella had developed a friendship unlike any other; they always know what the other was thinking, they could have a conversation through gestures and eye contact and they were each others rock when times were tough. Which was always.

Running behind Minho, they turned to the corridor that lead to the doors. Bella could faintly see the familiar silhouettes of The Gladers and felt a smile spread across her face.

Hearing heavy footsteps approaching her from behind, Bella glanced over her shoulder and saw the smiling face of Ben, another runner, as she returned the smile. Ben ran ahead to catch up to Minho as they exchanged their greetings before they crossed the threshold of The Glade.

"Hey Chuck. New greenie huh? How does it feel to be promoted?" Ben called out to Chuck as he and Minho jogged past him and a new boy. Chuck was a short and plump boy who couldn't have been older than 14 years old. Chuck was, now, the old greenie who Bella came to see as her younger brother.

"Feels great, Ben!" Chuck called after Ben with a goofy smile on his face as he gave a half wave to the male runners. Having heard the footsteps of another person coming up, Chuck twisted his head in her direction and the goofy smile he had on earlier seemed to spread wider and reach ear to ear as he saw Bella. When Chuck first arrived to The Glade last month, he was terrified. He wouldn't stop crying as the others tried to calm him down- it didn't help when Gally screamed at him to calm down- but, for some odd reason, when he saw Bella he instantly calmed down and since then has been her second shadow (when she isn't out in The Maze).

"Hey Bells!" He called out to her as he took of in her direction and threw his arms around her waist when he reached her. Smiling fondly, she reached up to ruffle the young boys hair as she chuckled at his child-like behaviour.

Feeling a second set of eyes on her, she lifted her head to see that the greenie was giving her an odd stare as his mouth was parted slightly in shock at seeing her. She smiled in his direction but, deep down was upset that she had been proving wrong yet again. The new greenie was a boy.

"New greenie, Chuck?" Bella asked as looked back down at Chuck who released her from his bone-crushing hug, and looked up at her nodding.

"Yeah, just finished showing him around" Chuck answered looking back over his shoulder at the new boy who shifted on his feet awkwardly.

"Hey there newbie, I'm Bella. Nice to meet you" Bella shot towards the boy, whose eyes widened when she spoke at him.

"Your a girl" He stated in a quiet voice but was still loud another for Bella to hear. Barking out a laugh she threw her head back as she laughed at his confused expression.

"Good observations" She replied before waving good-bye to Chuck and starting her jog to the hut in the Deadheads, reserved for runners to map out her section from today. While jogging, a thought crossed her ind that made her smirk slightly to herself

This greenie seems amusing. This month should be good.