Clara's POV
The sun was bright behind my eyes and it took me a moment to force them open. I could hear a few guys talking from not too far away although I couldn't tell if they were in the same room or not.
"That's fine but will she be okay? She should be awake by now!"
I immediately recognized Newt's voice and strained to hear the conversation.
"She should be. I don't know what happened but there was a very big gash on the back of her head. I'd like to think she wasn't put in here without a fight." A voice replied.
"When will she wake up?" Newt asked.
"It's up to her. I don't really know, I'm sorry." The voice replied.
I could hear footsteps moving closer so I opened my eyes towards the sound.
"Hey, glad to see you're awake." Newt said, walking over to me. "Are you feeling okay?" He spoke gently and I could see the kindness in his eyes.
I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. My eyes closed in frustration before I shook my head slightly.
"It's okay, you should be able to speak again soon. Don't worry about it." Newt told me, patting my hand lightly.
I opened my eyes again and met his brown ones. He smiled and his eyes changed to a honey color that nearly matched his hair. I easily returned the smile which caused his smile to widen. "Do you think you can sit up?" He asked, his accent making my heart skip a beat. He stretched his hand out to me and I grabbed it, grateful that he would help me. He pulled me up and I realized the pain had subsided tremendously. I still grasped his hand as I rolled my neck slightly, hearing a few pops. He grinned when the pops made me smile. "Feels better doesn't it?"
I nodded at him and looked down at the ground.
"Do you want to try standing?" He asked, taking a step closer.
I nodded in reply and my grip on his hand tightened as I climbed down from the table.
"There you go, just take it slow." He murmured, one hand gripping mine and his other lay lightly on my back.
I smiled lightly at him finally able to stand on my own. I breathed out a sigh of relief and let go of his hand, looking around the room we were in.
"Do you know your name yet love?"
I felt the heat in my cheeks and shook my head, thankful that his hand still supported me from behind since my body seemed to still be weak from the days I spent unconscious. I didn't know how but I knew it was a few days.
"That's alright, you'll know soon enough." He gently started guiding me towards the door.
The walk was slow and took a lot of effort but I was thankful to be out of that room. I stumbled slightly over the threshold, suddenly lightheaded. Newt quickly gripped my elbow to help me stay standing. "You alright?" He asked, concern showing very clearly in his gaze.
I smiled lightly and nodded, letting him guide me towards the building we were walking to. We crossed the threshold and I felt his grip tighten on me as he helped me sit in a nearby chair. He smiled before rushing into a different room and quickly returning with a glass of water.
I gratefully took it and drank nearly the whole glass. "Thank you." I murmured handing it back to him.
He smiled and went to refill it before sitting beside me. "So, you can speak again then?"
I cleared my throat to try again. "I think so." I blushed as the words came out of my sore throat.
He nodded in encouragement. "Just keep trying, it will be easier the more you speak."
"Where am I?" I managed to get out.
"It's called the glade and we're all gladers. Before you ask we don't know who sent us here or why we're here and none of us remembered anything when we got here either."
I nodded staring down at the water in my hands. "Am I the only girl?"
"Yes. There's never been a girl sent here. We aren't entirely sure why they sent you now either."
I met his gaze and frowned. "What do I need to know about this place?" My voice was coming out as a whisper now.
He smiled and offered me his hand again. "It's a lot easier to show you than try to explain it. Think you're up for a walk?"
I nodded and put the water down, grasping his hand tightly. He walked me, very slowly, outside towards the middle of the glade and paused. "Okay, the building we just came from is called the homestead. Most of us sleep there and you will as well being the only girl and all. The building next to it is the medihut, where you were unconscious for nearly three days." He paused to watch my mouth drop. "That building is the kitchen and that one is the bloodhouse." He pointed to all of the buildings scattered around and my eyes landed on one in the middle. "And the one you're focused on is council hall. That's where all the meetings happen and such. The showers are over there." He pointed towards the far west wall.
"Why are there walls keeping us here?"
He smiled apologetically at me. "I'm sorry love, I don't have an answer to that."
I nodded as I took in the place. "How long have you been here?" My voice was finally gaining strength and Newt seemed to like that.
"Just about three years now, I was the second one here. Alby, the one that was with me when you first arrived, was the first one here. He's our leader. I'm second in command."
I nodded and looked at all the boys who were all actively doing something. "What's everyone doing?"
"Their jobs, we all have jobs around here to keep the place running smooth. It's one of our rules, our first rule, that everyone does their part." He paused before continuing. "The second is that no one shall harm another glader and the last one is that no one can leave the glade." He gestured to one of the walls which appeared to have a large door in it. "There's a maze beyond the walls. A very dangerous maze and no one aside from the runners can go out there."
"Runners?" I arched an eyebrow at him in confusion.
"They run through the maze every day searching for a way out. You'll see them coming and going but it's far too dangerous for others to go out there."
I nodded and looked down at my body. "What happened to me?"
"The medjacks, Jeff and Clint, determined you had a very bad concussion caused by a large gash in the back of your head but they don't know how it got there." He frowned. "They think you should be able to make a full recovery though."
I smiled up at him and nodded once more. "Thank you Newt."
He smiled. "My pleasure love."
"How's she doing?" Alby asked, walking towards us.
"I'm okay, thank you." I replied since I finally had my voice back in all this.
He smiled and extended his hand to me. "It's nice to officially meet you."
"Nice to meet you too. Thank you for everything." I told him with a small smile.
"Anytime." He returned it and nodded. "How's the tour going? Do you have any questions for me?"
I shrugged and took a quick look around. "Not really. Newt's answered everything so far."
Alby nodded. "Well, we're going to have a bonfire tonight, we always do for the greenies. Usually it's on the day they come but we wanted to wait until you could join us."
"Thank you." I told him with a sheepish smile. My stomach rumbled and my hand went to it as a reflex.
"Oh bloody hell I didn't even think about you being hungry! I'm so sorry love, let's get you something to eat."
"That would be great, thank you." I told him, following him towards the kitchen with Alby behind us.
"Fry pan! Can you get something going for the greenie here?" Newt asked, walking into the small area they used as a kitchen. I entered the room with a small smile.
The boy behind the counter smiled at me in greeting. "Sure thing, Newt. Greenie, know your name yet?"
I shook my head in reply and he smiled wider. "Well, I'm Fry Pan. You let me know your name when you know it, deal?"
I smiled at him. "Deal."
"Alright, I'm going to help the builders work on the lookout. I'll see you both later. Nice to meet you greenie!" Alby called out as he walked back outside.
I looked after him but didn't reply as he had already distanced himself pretty far. Newt patted my shoulder lightly. "When you finish eating come find me, I'll be over by the gardens."
I smiled at him and watched him walk out before looking back at Fry Pan. He looked to be about a head taller than me, roughly the same height as Newt. His dark skin equaled Alby's but he had some hair versus Alby's bald head. And he had a very friendly smile.
"So, greenie how's it goin' so far?" He grinned as he prepared a plate of food for me.
"Good so far I guess." I shrugged after I finished speaking which made him grin wider.
"Aside from being knocked out the first three days right?"
I let out a short laugh before I could stop it. "Yeah that sounds about right."
"You know how to cook?"
I watched him hold up a few of his cooking utensils and cocked my head to the side a little. "I'm sorry, I don't remember."
"Don't apologize, no one remembered anything coming out at first. It'll slowly come back to you."
"Thanks, I hope it comes back soon." I mumbled quietly, staring at the food in the pot intently.
"It's almost ready, no worries." He winked at me before pulling out a bowl and an odd shaped spoon.
"How long have you been here Fry Pan?"
"Two years. It's not as bad as some folks make it out to be." He smiled as he spooned some soup into the bowl. "Here you go cupcake, enjoy." He nodded and returned to what he was doing before I came in.
"Thanks." I eagerly accepted the bowl and nearly slurped it all down within minutes. "That was really good." I told him, walking around the counter to the sink. I washed the dish out and tossed in the spoon he had given me.
"No one has ever washed their own dish out before." He murmured, looking at me with an arched eyebrow. "Thanks greenbean."
I smiled and nodded. "Thanks for the food Fry Pan." I turned and walked out searching for Newt.
"If you're looking for Newt, he's over there." A boy that appeared to be about twelve said, pointing towards the gardens.
I smiled lightly at him. "Thanks."
"I'm Chuck." He told me with bright red cheeks.
"Well, hi Chuck. I don't know my name yet."
He smiled. "It will come back to you soon. Until then everyone just calls you greenie. I was the greenie before you got here."
I felt my smile widen. This kid was absolutely adorable. He had curly brown hair and was a bit on the chubby side but cute none the less. "Well, in that case I'm happy to take your place as the newbie." I told him with a wink.
His eyes widened and the red in his cheeks deepened. "Bye!" He yelled before sprinting off in the other direction.
"I would be careful with who you flirt with around here."
I smiled before turning towards the British accent. "He's cute."
"Yeah, he's the youngest we've ever had here." Newt frowned slightly. "It's hard having a kid here sometimes though."
I nodded, looking around at the tall stone walls once more. "I can imagine it is." I turned until my eyes met his. "What jobs are there here?"
"Already interested in working? You don't waste any time greenie." He smiled brightly and nodded his head towards the gardens. "Follow me."
We walked towards the garden in silence and that made it easier to look around and see all the boys that were here. Some were short, most were tall. Some were bigger, while some were really skinny. Some were scrawny but most were muscular. And that led me back to analyzing Newt. I couldn't place how I knew him but he felt unbelievably familiar. He truly was beautiful. He was tall and thin but the muscles in his arms proved that he wasn't scrawny. His accent only amplified the beautiful sound of his voice, like melting honey, the same color of his hair. He wore a white, dirty white, hooded shirt and had the sleeves rolled up to above his elbows. His brown pants fit him perfectly and were cropped right above the ankles. His skin had been tanned from all the time spent in the sun and he...was stopping. I looked up and met his eyes, widening my own. Had he noticed that I was outright staring at him?
"What are you looking at?" His perfect golden brown eyebrow arched and a grin tugged at his mouth. And his mouth... I shrugged with a small smile hoping my cheeks weren't ten shades of red. "Just looking around at people." I muttered.
When he smiled I breathed out a sigh of relief, maybe I had gotten lucky.
"Well, maybe you should start looking around at other people then?" He grinned and turned back towards the gardens and I let my head drop back in embarrassment.
He stopped suddenly and I collided with him, causing a chuckle to escape his lips. His perfect lips. I let out a small humph when the air left my lungs and looked around him to see why he had stopped so suddenly. He grinned back at me. "We're here greenie. It's not much but the gardens grown quite a bit over the past few years."
I looked over the rows of assorted plants that stretched all the way back to the wall. There looked to be corn, tomatoes and all kinds of other plants growing. "Looks like a lot to me." I replied quietly.
A tall blonde boy started towards us and I knew I hadn't seen him yet. He had short cropped blonde hair and a really big nose.
"Zart, this is the greenie. Greenie, this is Zart. He's the keeper of the gardens." Newt gestured between us and I smiled and shook Zart's outreached hand.
"Going to be spending time with me today?" Zart asked Newt.
Newt nodded in reply. "Yeah, she's already wanting to work."
I smiled back. "I hate not having things to do."
Zart's smile widened. "We're going to get along just fine."
"We'll be having dinner soon and then the bonfire so you won't get too much done but at least you can get familiar with some of the tools." Newt stated before he smiled at me and returned to his own gardening duties, leaving me with Zart.
"Okay greenie, do you know how to pull weeds?"
I nodded, looking down at some of the plants we were by.
"That's all I'll have you do before supper. Here's a digger tool for you." He handed me the tool. "And if you need anything I'll be right over there. Or you can just ask Newt here." He smiled before walking towards the row of corn near the wall.
I gripped the tool in my hand and immediately started working. While I worked I gave my body a quick once over to see what I looked like. I was wearing a black tank top with thicker straps. My pants I recognized as blue jeans and they seemed to fit a bit snug on my small waist. I wore black tennis shoes and no jewelry and would just need to wait to wash my hands before I could play with my hair. I looked up to see Newt grinning at me.
"What?" I asked him.
"Nothing. I'm assuming you're trying to figure out what you look like?" His eyebrow arched as he spoke.
I blushed and nodded and his grin turned to a smile.
"For the record, you have long curly brown hair and blue eyes. If that helps." He grinned again as he spoke and continued working. He didn't even look up to tell me what color my eyes are.
I smiled at knowing the knowledge. "Thanks. It's weird to think I don't know what I look like."
"I understand. I wouldn't know myself if Alby hadn't told me when I first got here. Brown eyes, blonde hair, that's really all we need to know I suppose." He shrugged his shoulder lightly.
"Your eyes aren't always brown. They were more of a golden honey color when I first saw you." The words slipped out before I even realized it. I looked up at him and his eyes were trained on me. The corner of his lips quirked up before he looked back down at the plant he was tending to.
"Thank you, I haven't ever had anyone tell me that."
I blushed when I noticed his cheeks redden.
There was a rumbling noise coming from the far wall and I paused what I was doing to look up. The doors had started closing.
"They close every night at this time." Newt said, gesturing to doors.
"I guess I didn't realize they closed." I replied, panic building in my chest that we would be trapped inside the glade.
"They're there to protect us from what's in the maze at night."
I looked up at him and he had a solemn expression that told me he had personally seen what the maze had to offer. I looked back at the walls which were now sealed shut and noticed my hands had started shaking. I took a deep breath to try to steady myself but it hadn't worked.
"You okay greenie?"
I kept my eyes trained on the walls and tried to focus on slowing my heart beat. I barely registered the approaching footsteps until Newt was right beside me.
"Just breathe." He said in my ear as he leaned down next to me. "Hey, you're okay just breathe."
I frantically met his gaze until the edges of my vision started to blur. He grabbed my arms with his hands and held me so I wouldn't fall backwards. "Watch me, hey, come on breathe with me." He took in a deep breath and I did the same. He slowly released it and I watched his lips part as the air rushed out. Mine did the same. My eyes went back to his as we took in another breath. I tried not to but my eyes went right back to his lips and watched him breathe out once more. "There we go, better?"
I nodded, thankful that I was feeling like I could breathe again. He smiled and released my arms, patting me on my shoulder before returning to his work. Oh my God what had just happened. It felt so familiar, as if he'd calmed me down before.
"Don't sweat it, a lot of greenies panic much worse than you have or they cry for days before they're able to function like you are." Newt told me, trying to regain my attention from where he had gone back to work.
I cleared my throat and finally turned to him. "Thank you." I whispered, smiling lightly before returning back to the plant I was working on. His lips. His lips were what had calmed me down. I felt my cheeks heat up and shook my head. I was acting ridiculous, I just met this man and I was already reacting to how his lips parted. I rolled my eyes at myself feeling foolish but could also feel my heart speed back up when I thought about his lips. Oh my. This wasn't good.
A/N: The chapters will most likely start getting much longer from here on out although there may be a few shorter ones thrown in. Please tell me what you all think! :)