Newt forced me to sit next to him, which I gladly agreed to. At least someone wanted to talk to me voluntarily. I decided I liked Chuck too. He was a funny kid. Minho, I wasn't so sure about that. He hated me for kicking him and after he pushed me, I kind of hated him too.
"So we're trapped here?" I asked Newt. We leaned our backs against a tree trunk and watched the bonfire in front of us. It was nice. Some boys were dancing or making music and others were talking.
"For the moment," Newt replied.
"How long have you been here?"
"Three years."
Shocked I stared at Newt. He had been here three years? That long? Was I going to get old in this hellhole?
"How do we get out?" I asked as Newt took a sip of a weird-looking liquid, which was in a jar.
"Through the maze," Newt explained. "We-."
"Hold on. Maze?" I repeated. No one mentioned something about a maze.
"They didn't tell you?" Newt muttered. "It's there." He motioned at the closed gap I looked at earlier. "The only way out."
"Can I go in there?" I asked out of curiosity. It seemed pretty cool to me. What could go wrong in the maze? You could get trapped, but that wouldn't be such a problem.
"I don't think you want that, Greenie." Newt chuckled. "Here." He handed me one of the jars. "Try it."
"What is it?" I question, inspecting the drink.
"Gally's recipe." Newt turned his head and pointed at someone. It was two boys fighting each other in a ring. "Gally wears the brown shirt," Newt added. I nodded and watched the boy, Gally, fight. He had very short buzzed hair and seemed quite strong. The boy kicked the poor other boy multiple times until someone shouted Gally won.
"It's a trade secret." Newt turned around again. "I don't know what is in it, but sure a lot of alcohol. Now try it."
I took a big sip of the drink. It tasted bitter and left a burning feeling in my throat, but it tasted quite good too. "Do people go in the maze?" I asked.
Newt stared at me confused. "How did you not vomit by drinking that? It's your first time!"
"It's not that bad. Girls aren't as weak as you think they are." I commented with a chuckle, making it obvious I was joking. Newt wanted to argue, but I stopped him. "Do people go in the maze?" I repeated.
"A few. The Runners."
I realized Chuck had mentioned that job.
"They wake up early every morning and go in there. Explore and search for a way out."
"And they haven't found one in three years?" I wondered. How hard could it be?
"It's not as easy as it sounds," Newt replied, seeming a bit offended. "You hear that?" He held up a finger. My eyebrows furrowed as I listened. I heard some noises, like stone moving over stone.
"It's the maze. Changing." Newt explained. "It changes every night." He sighed and turned his head. "Over there." He pointed at a certain group of boys. "Those are the Runners. Minho is the Keeper."
I almost gasped. Minho? Was he the Keeper of the Runners? "I don't like him." I blurted out.
"Just get to know him better. The slinthead is nice, just a bit sassy." Newt chuckled.
"Why can only Runners go in the maze?" I wondered. Now I had the chance to ask all my questions to Newt, who answered them amazingly.
"Because it's dangerous." Newt simply said.
"Why-."
"There are other things in there." Newt paused. "We call 'em Grievers. Weird creatures. No one has ever seen one and lived to tell about it. They always come out at night."
I was a bit shocked by Newt's explanation. Grievers? No one lived to tell about it?
Be a Runner.
My eyes opened wide at the sudden voice. It wasn't a male or female saying it. More like a robot. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Newt laughed, not seeming to take me seriously.
"Never mind," I mumbled.
"Alright, that's it." Newt got up. "You're the Greenie. We organized this bonfire for you, now come. You're the guest of honor." Newt pulled me up.
A bit embarrassed I followed Newt around the Bonfire. "Over there we have the Builders." Newt motioned at some boys fighting. "Clint and Jeff. The Med-Jacks."
"Hey, Newt." A dark-skinned boy greeted.
"And the Runners."
"Can I be a-."
I got interrupted by someone stumbling into me, causing me and Newt to fall on top of each other. Great. I hit my head on something, causing me to be taken back for a few seconds.
Newt lay on top of me and stared me in the eyes. I could feel his breath on my face and my heart started beating faster.
"I remember my name," I whispered, my eyes going wide at the sudden contact. "It's Jane."
Newt blinked a few times and averted his eyes from mine. "That's a nice name. Uhm.. I'll get off you now." He laughed it off and got up, pulling me with him. "Sorry."
We turned around to see who bumped into us. The boy I recognized as Gally.
"What do you say Greenie? Wanna see if you can beat me?" Gally looked at me triumphantly.
"Uhm.." I stammered, not knowing what to say. I would never win from Gally or literally anyone else in the Glade.
"I'll go easy on you," Gally added with a grin.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Newt interrupted, grabbing my arm. "Jane, come on."
I smiled lightly at the boy calling me by my name instead of Greenie.
"Aah, you got a name now?" Gally chuckled. "Come on, shank."
I sighed and gave Newt a small nod before walking into the fighting ring. "The rules are simple. Try to stay in the circle." Gally explained. "Ready?"
I took a deep breath just when Gally pushed me onto the sand. I realized it was a bad idea to join him. Quickly I crawled on my feet again and wiped some dirt off my clothes.
Move to the right.
The same robot voice said. Confused I looked at Gally, who didn't seem to hear anything. Eventually, I did as the robot said and moved to the right just when Gally was about to attack. The boy fell onto the ground, with his face in the sand. A few boys cheered, and others said some things. Surprised by my action and the voice, I watched Gally.
With an angry expression on his face, Gally got up and looked at me. He slowly moved closer to me, almost threatening. Suddenly he jumped over to me and wrapped his arms around my stomach, trying to push me down on the ground. I fought back but didn't know what I was doing and guessed it looked ridiculous.
When I accidentally elbowed Gally on the nose, he grunted and let go of me. Madly he rubbed his nose.
"Alright. I think that's it." Newt grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the circle. "Good job." He whispered to just me.
I chuckled lightly before going with Newt again, away from the cheering and screaming boys. "So, where do I sleep?" I wondered.
"Uhm." Newt rubbed the back of his head. "Haven't thought of that part yet, have we?"
"She can sleep with me!" Chuck got up from his seat and ran over to us.
Newt gave the kid an offended glance, raised his eyebrows, and started making weird movements with his hands.
"Huh? Oh... Oh! Uhm, right." Chuck slowly nodded, watching Newt weirdly communicate with him. "Next to me. I meant she could sleep next to me. Not with me." Chuck quickly corrected, while the red on his face started to form.
I chuckled lightly at the two boys. "Are you sure?" Newt turned to me. "We could easily get you another place to sleep. I don't know if sleeping outside is good for you and you never know what kind of boys-"
"I have a place where no one else comes. They find it weird." Chuck cheerfully interrupted. "And I'm not that kind of boy... you know."
Both of the boys waited for me to respond. "I'll go with Chuck."
"Okay!" Chuck smiled and grabbed my arm. I gave Newt a quick smile as a goodbye before Chuck really took over. He kept dragging me toward a corner of the Glade. "Right here. You can use the ivy as a blanket or pillow. Whatever you want. Most boys sleep in the Homestead, but I don't like it in there. It's cold, dusty, and stinks like sweaty shanks. Everyone in here stinks. Minho stinks most of the time, but that's okay. He runs all day, so he can stink. Newt smells nice, though. He's the only one who smells nice. I'm suspecting he asked the Box for a vanilla-extracted perfume or shampoo. You should smell it sometime. We could prank Newt by changing his shampoo with animal pee? Or Griever slime? Whatever you want. Both is also an option." Chuck blurted out as he lay down on the ground. "I always wanted a friend to sleep next to me, so this is perfect!"