Bound | Newt Love Story

3 | Star Gazing

I walk out of the Homestead, my shoes hitting the grass. I'm surprised, to say the least, when I walk out and it's dark. The day seemed to almost speed by. The moon shown brightly over the Glade, casting a ghostly light upon everything. Multiple torches are lit, giving the place a slightly glow. A big bonfire is lit in the middle of the Glade as well. I walk over to where a large line filled with boys stand, holding trays, awaiting their food. The line slowly moves and I get handed a tray. I watch as each of the boys get served a bowl of some pretty gross looking stew. I finally make it to the front of the line and meet a dark-skinned boy who looked to be around sixteen, which is what everyone here looks like...with the exception of Chuck.

"You must be the new Greenie." The boy smiles friendlily.

"And you must be..?" I trail off.

"Frypan." He answers, wiping his hands on his pants and offering me a hand to shake. 

I smile brightly. "Nice to meet you Frypan...I don't really know my name yet, but I'll get back to you when I do." 

He laughs loudly. "Your funny. I think we'll make pretty good friends."

"I agree." I laugh with him. 

"So how are you liking the Glade so far?" Frypan asks, dipping a large spoon into the pot in front of him.

"It's okay, I guess. I'm still kind of confused about everything."

Frypan dips the spoon into my bowl, serving me some stew. "You'll get used to it pretty quickly." He smiles.

"Thanks." I say, staring at the stew. 

"You're welcome, Greenie." Frypan goes to serve the next person in line. 

I turn, tray in hand, and look at all the picnic tables full of boys. Most of their eyes are on me, but most of them are trying to make it discreet. I look around, worried about where to sit. 

"Hey Greenie!" A familiar voice comes from one of the last picnic tables. "Come sit over here." 

I follow the voice and see Newt sitting with Chuck and Alby. I smile, my eyes immediately falling on Newt. For some reason ever since I climbed out of that box I've felt some sort of connection to him. I plop down right next to Newt, watching as Chuck devoirs his stew. 

"Thanks for letting me sit with you guys." I smile, stirring my soup with my spoon. 

"You make it sound like we obliged." Newt smirks. "We wanted you to sit with us." 

"Well good." I laugh, taking a bite of the soup. It was very very salty and very strong. I try my best to not make a face as I swallow it, but Newt notices. 

"It's Frypan's famous soup." Newt laughs. "We have it once a week and needless to say, everyone bloody hates it." 

I laugh. "I can see why." I glance over at the door of the Maze and see three guys run in, dripping with sweat and breathing hard. Just as they run past the picnic tables the Maze starts making a groaning sound. And then with a lot of clangs and whirs, the doors begin shutting. They slam together with a BANG, something that's slightly intimidating and shows, for just a brief moment, what it would feel like to be on the other side when they close. 

I watch as the Runners run over to a little hut by the Gardens and strip themselves of a backpack-type thing and drain down bottles of water. An asian guy, clearly the leader, has his head tipped back as he drinks his water, some drops of water falling from his mouth as he hurries. He has short black hair and strong muscular arms. 

"That's Minho." Alby says as he catches my gaze. "He's the Keeper of the Runners."

I look over at Alby and ask, "So they run out there all day? Without stopping?"

"Without stopping." Alby confirms. "They only stop for lunch."

I abandon my stew, placing my spoon back on the tray and see Newt cleaning up his supper. He stands from the table and walks over to where Frypan stands, still serving and cleans off his tray, handing it back to one of the Cooks. I watch as Newt turns and begins heading for the Deadheads. I never stop watching him as I stand up and grab my tray, walking over and cleaning it off. I follow Newt into the night, not sure of what I'm about to get myself into, but I feel this tug. Like someone has a rope and is pulling me towards Newt. I have to talk to him. I have to try and remember. I watch the blondish reddish head of hair as he continues walking straight for the woods. My feet in the same rhythmic pattern as his. My heart tugging in my chest as I watch the muscles in his back contract as he walks. Then something hits me...nerves. I'm nervous. Something I haven't been since I got here. My walking slightly stops as I become hesitant. But then I think screw it and continue walking after him. 

I lose him once his head dips under the multiple branches of the trees, engulfing himself in darkness as there's not any torches out in the Deadheads. I approach the Deadheads, my right foot stepping into the dirt, a brief change from the soft grass I was just walking on. I push back some branches and pull myself into the woods. I squint my eyes, searching desperately for Newt. 

And then I see it. The hair. The blonde giving off just enough difference of light in the darkness for me to be able to see. I push my feet forward, walking silently over to him...until my left foot steps on a twig, sending a cracking noise through the woods. Newt's head twists around and his body tenses up. 

"Who's there?" He demands.

"It's me." I answer. 

"Oh," Newt sighs lightly. "Greenie."

I walk over to him and sit next to him. He's leaning up against a very large tree trunk, his head tilted back, looking at the stars that are twinkling through the tree branches.

"They're beautiful." I gaze, the sparkling reflecting off of my eyes. 

"They're the only things that keep me sane now a days." Newt answers, his adams apple bobbing up and down as he does. 

"How do you do it?" I ask. 

Newt's gaze changes from the sky over to me, his eyebrows furrowed. "Do what?"

"How have you stayed in this place for over two years and not gone insane? I've only been here for not even 24 hours and I feel like dying would be better than this."

Newt's eyes drop, "Hope." He sighs out loudly and looks back up at the sky. "Hoping that there's a way out of here and that what's behind this maze is something better for us. Somewhere we're meant to be." He swallows deeply. "Hoping that once we're out, we'll see that we were all put here for a reason."

"Do you think we were all put here for a reason?" I ask.

"I don't know, Greenie." 

"Brooke." 

"What?" Newt looks at me confusingly. 

A smile creeps on my face, "My name is Brooke."