Once again I found myself in an awkward position when I woke up the next morning. Some time in the night both me and Newt had rolled over so we were facing each other and I had my hands on his chest with my head resting in the crook of his neck and Newt had an arm wrapped around my shoulders with our legs were intertwined together. I would be lying if I said I wasn't comfortable in this positon because Newt was surprisingly comfortable despite the hardness of his chest, but I had to move because I knew Newt wouldn't be able to look me in the eye if he knew this is how we had slept that night.
Luckily Minho didn't come into the room to wake us up that day so I didn't have to endure his teasing although he would have been a huge help while I was prying Newt's arms off of me. Eventually I was able to wiggle out of the bed and left Newt sleeping in the bed while I went down to the kitchen for breakfast.
Frypan told me that the runners had already gone to the maze so I knew I wouldn't be trying out for that job anytime that day so while I took my breakfast to an empty picnic I pondered about what job I could be trying out for. Apparently I was supposed to try out one job every day and spend the day doing that job but everyone had decided that I only needed a small taste of each job to know what I should do. I still had no say in the matter but I was okay with whatever job I got as long as it wasn't a slicer because that job didn't appeal to me at all and I was sure that I would throw up if I did have to do that job everyday.
Newt and Chuck joined me at breakfast while I was just finishing off what little food I had left on my plate and as more gladers started waking up I noticed a lot of them kept on staring at me and I became self conscious because of the bruises I had on my face and on my body even though most of them weren't visible.
My bottom lip had a cut on one side and was slightly swollen still but that didn't make a difference with my speech and only stung a little when I ran my tongue over it. A large percentage of my stomach was purple from bruises and I had a few on my arms and more on my legs. Luckily I had gotten off quite well in the fight because when I saw Gally walk in for breakfast I noticed a limp that he was obviously trying to hide and his face was bruised in some areas although I hadn't actually punched him or done any harm to his face.
Seeing Gally made me curious about how he had managed to seem more hurt than I did when he had literally gone full force with the punches and I had merely tripped him up a few times. I hadn't tried to cause him too much pain even though it was a fight because I had been conscious of the rules of the Glade when the fight had started but apparently they hadn't mattered to Gally at all when it came down to it.
"Alby had a talk with him after you went to bed last night. Wasn't happy the slint-head had agreed to have the fight with you and threw the first punch." Newt explained when he caught me staring at him
"But it was my fault! I said I would fight the strongest person here, Gally shouldn't be punished for something he wasn't responsible for." I said
"He played dirty and knew he shouldn't have fought you, it was his own fault and he got what was coming to him. Alby would have done it to anyone that had accepted the fight, even if you did win." Newt explained
"Still, I feel bad." I said with a sigh
"Hey, the little shank is annoying as hell and deserved what Alby did to him." Newt said
I only nodded my head and finished my breakfast. While Newt explained the jobs I would be doing for the day. Apparently I was working with the Med-jacks and Gardeners for the day which meant I would see Newt for some part of the day since he helped in the gardens even though he didn't need to.
After I had finished my breakfast I went back up to the homestead to do something with my hair which was still in a braid from the previous day and gave Frypan my plate on the way out. Once I got to the room I shared with Newt I swiftly undid the braid and let my hair fall down my back while I grabbed the hair brush from the box which I had put under the bed. While I was sorting through all of the things in the box and grabbing hair bobbles and the brush, Newt had walked into the room and was leaning against the doorframe when I looked up.
"Everything okay?" I asked when I caught him staring
"Uh yeah I was just wondering if you were okay after the fight and everything. How are you feeling?" He asked
I shrugged and stood up from where I had been kneeling on the floor while I grabbed the hair things.
"I'm alright I guess, my stomach hurts a bit but other than that I'm pretty okay." I said
"Thats good. Clint is waiting for you downstairs by the way." He said
I nodded my head while I brushed my hair and then pulled it into a tight pony tail so I would be out of my face while I worked for the rest of the day. As soon as I was done I packed all of my things away and walked with Newt down the stairs of the homestead and into the room I had bee in the previous day when Jeff had checked me for any injuries.
"Skylar, how you feeling today my little feisty friend?" Jeff greeted as soon as I walked in to the room.
"Alright Jeffy and how are you today my huge gossiping friend?" I asked, high-fiving him as I walked in
"A lot better now your here cupcake!" He joked
We kept on flirting back and forth for a while until Newt cleared his throat and interrupted us. When I turned to look at him he had his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes were narrowed as he stared at the two of us.
"You'll shift jobs after lunch Skylar and please get some bloody work done today." He said and then he walked out of the room.
"What's his problem?" I asked
"Me thinks little Newty was a wittle bit jealous." Jeff said as he moved to grab something from a cabinet on the other side of the room.
"Why would Newt be jealous?" I asked
"You really are blind aren't you cupcake." Jeff said while he grabbed things out of a draw from the cabinet
"Come on Jeffy put me out of my misery and tell me why Newt would be jealous." I said
"He likes you genius." He said
I scoffed and moved over to where he was gathering things and putting them on an empty bed.
"We've already talked about this Jeff, Newt does not like me." I said
It was Jeff's turn to scoff while I rummaged through the items on the bed I recognised most of them as simple medical stuff and I could actually remember how to use some of the more complex but I couldn't recall if it had been me that they had to be used on or me using them on someone else. It was very frustrating to only know half of the story when the other half was locked away somewhere completely out of my reach.
"Alright shank I'll take it from here." Clint said as he walked into the room
"Have fun cupcake!" Jeff called as he walked out of the room
"I'll try Jeffy!" I called back
Clint wasn't as friendly as Jeff was while he told me what each item was but once we had finished and I fully understood everything he became more laid back and I was able to talk to him more easily. Every few minutes we would throw jokes at each other to pass time while nothing else was being done but then some people did start showing up with injuries but none of them were too bad.
Gally was the first person to show up and he had a huge gash on his arm which added to the already growing amount of injuries he had. He didn't say anything as he walked into the room and instead he just sat on one of the empty bed holding his arm with his other hand.
"Why don't you take this one Greenie." Clint said
I nodded my head once and walked over to where Gally sat, holding out my hand for him to put his arm into so that I could inspect the wound.
"You'll need stitches." I said after examining the cut
He just nodded once but didn't say anything so I went over to the cabinet where we had put everything away. I threaded a needle and started stitching up his arm which took less than twenty minutes. Gally didn't make a sound while I worked on his arm so I didn't either, finding it awkward to be helping the person that had wanted to beat me senseless less than twenty-four hours ago.
"Alby shouldn't have punched you last night, I'm sorry." I said after a while because the awkwardness felt too much.
"I deserved it." He shrugged
Gally left shortly after that and I didn't complain about it either. Only two other boys came into the homestead after Gally and they didn't need that much medical attention aside from bandaging. After a few hours it was finally lunch and I was able to leave the cramped homestead and get some fresh air.
Instead of going straight to the kitchens I decided to take a walk in the deadheads for a while because something about the area made me feel calmer and more at ease with the weird situation I was in. I didn't pay much attention to where I was walking as I made my way through the thick over growth of trees and soon I got tired of walking and jumped into a tree to sit for a while. As soon as I sat down on a branch with my back on the trunk of the tree, a sudden fatigue took over my body and I could barely fight to keep my eyes open. It didn't take long for me to give up on a losing battle and so I let myself drift into unconsciousness.
***Dream***
"Do you think they'll ever let us leave?" I asked the blonde boy sitting next to me
It was Newt but he looked a few years younger than he was now and much cleaner. We were both dressed in white scrubs but we looked neat, nothing like we did now.
"Where would we go?" He asked me, his voice was different too. Slightly more high pitched.
"Anywhere is better than here. We're their little guinea pigs, their using us for experiments like we're freaks Newt!"
"Hey, I promise you that we will get out of here eventually." He said, taking my hand in his and running his thumb over the back of my hand.
"People keep disappearing though." I whispered
"I know, I heard that they're taking me next." He mumbled
"No! Newt they can't take you. Please don't let them take you away." I begged
"Sky I won't have a choice, they got Alby in the middle of the nighr." Newt said
"They can't do this! They already took Caleb and I haven't seen him in years, they can't take you too Newt." I started sobbing and held my head in my hands.
"Sky look at me," Newt said softly "Whatever they do to me and wherever they take me, I will always remember you okay. I will never stop looking for you and I will never stop loving you."
I started saying something but my words were drowned out by a buzzing and it became difficult to focus on anything. It wasn't long before a new scene replayed in my mind.
"Stop! You can't do this to him. Please, wait! Newt!" I screamed
My throat felt raw like I had been screaming for hours and every part of my body ached but somehow I continued to resist against the armed men as they pulled me back from the room where I had witnessed them dragging Newt's unconscious body. As soon as the doors closed and I heard the alarm lock snap into place, the fight in me died and I knew I wouldn't see Newt again.
Everywhere was swallowed into darkness so the armed men easily dragged me away back to the room I was imprisoned in almost every hour of every day. I couldn't fight them even if I had wanted to but it was clear to everyone that worked in WICKED that I wouldn't be the same without Newt.
The scene drifted off and moulded into another one so without my permission I was forced to relive another painful memory, because that was what they were. Memories. My memories that I was remembering.
"Skylar , come say goodbye to your brother!" Mother shouted from inside the house
I walked into the building from where I had been sitting in a large garden and through the many hallways until I was at the front door where my father and mother were standing with my older brother standing in front of them. Everything around me looked huge, the doors to the random rooms seemed never ending and the tables where ginormous. It didn't take a genius to figure out that I was significantly younger in this memory which I had mixed feelings about.
I didn't say a word to my parents as I walked past them, a feeling of complete anger consumed me when I thought about what they were doing to our family. They were tearing me and my brother a part so that the government would give us some type of cure in return. He was older than me so he was more valuable to whoever wanted him.
"Hey, squirt your going to be okay, mother will take care of you while father works and I'll be helping everyone. Don't be scared." Caleb whispered as he crouched in front of me.
There was only a two hear age difference between us but he looked older than he was. His brown hair was the same colour as my own and I had always been told that our eyes were the same shade of green, you could tell we were related from a mile away.
"Will you be okay though Caleb? Can you double pinky promise that those people aren't going to hurt you?" I whispered
He held out both of his hands and stuck his pinky fingers out for me to loop my smaller pinkies around which I did.
"I double pinky promise that I will be alright." He whispered, looking into my eyes and giving me a soft smile.
He let go of my fingers and a man I hadn't noticed before grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him backwards, making him stumble a bit in the process. Our parents didn't say anything as the man dragged him away but my mother did clamp a firm hold on my own shoulder when I made a move to follow the man and Caleb to the black mini-van they dragged him into.
As soon as the mini-van drove off I pushed my mothers hand off of my shoulder and ran through the house and back to the garden, to the very back where a large oak tree stood tall and proud its branches reaching the sky. I jumped onto one of the branches of the tree and continued to climb until I felt I was far enough from my parents as was possible.
I sat alone and silently cried for my brother, already knowing I would never see my brother again. Not too long after my crying had subsided did the tree I was in start to shake but I wasn't scared or alerted, knowing it was only my best friend coming to see me. Newt climbed onto the branch I was in but didn't say anything when he saw the tear streets on my face.
He was much younger in this memory, his face was chubbier and his hair was longer. He had freckles dotted along his nose but his eyes were the same. There was so much kindness in them and it was impossible not to love this boy. He had always been there for me, despite my parents hatred for him.
"They took him." I whispered
"At least he's safe now, right?" Newt said, his voice was much squeaker than in the last memory.
I nodded my head and then the dream faded out.
"Sky! Skylar bloody hell where are you?" Someone shouted
I stirred slightly, the dreams were over but the voice was so familiar. It was Newt. I jumped from the tree and landed a few feet away from him while he continued to call my name.
A swarm of questions were already filling my head about the dreams I had just experienced. I was overwhelmed about remembering things from my previous life but also saddened by what I had discovered. I had a brother, someone I was clearly close with, and he had been taken away from me. And then Newt was stolen from me later on in my life and I had been very close to him.
We had been best friends when I was younger and then we had loved each other when I was slightly older. I didn't know if we loved each other as friends or more than that, but just knowing that I had known Newt before the Glade and the maze was something I was thrilled about.
I didn't know if I should tell him or not about the dreams. They didn't have any real significance and wouldn't help us at all while we were trapped here but somehow I knew I had to tell him. Just not yet.
What do you guys think of Skylar's decision not to tell Newt? Leave a comment and vote if you like ❣