Emotionless »« Newt

NINE

"Why do you keep it a secret?" Newt's voice is sudden beside Leandra, and while Aris jumps furiously at the sudden sound from where he's walking on her other side, Lee doesn't move. She must've felt his curiosity, he realises. "I mean– Aris knows, right?"

"Aris knows what?" Aris eyes him for a moment, then turns to Leah with wide eyes. "Wait, Andi. He knows?"

"I told you he was my best friend," she shrugs after stuffing her hands in her pockets. Aris stares for a moment, and it takes a second before he gets the hint. Holding his hands up in surrender, he gives a sheepish smile before chasing after Jorge to ask how much longer they'd be walking for. Leandra turns to Newt. "Why do I keep what secret?"

"You know what I'm talking about," he rolls his eyes playfully, lowering his voice a little despite people not being around. "Don't pretend. I mean your emotional empathy. That's what it was called, right?"

Leandra nods, keeping her gaze on the ground in front of her feet, making sure she doesn't trip or something else stupid. "I don't know, in all honesty," she finally admits, kicking at a small rock. "I mean, if it was you and you were surrounded by people that you remember but don't remember you, would you tell them such a strong part of your identity? I don't want them looking at me any differently."

"But you told me," he reminds her.

"Yeah, well..." She smiles a little, eyes clouding over as a memory comes to mind. "You didn't treat me any differently before. I guess I just took it for granted that you wouldn't again."

Sensing his chance, he's quick to ask, "What happened last time?"

His not-so-sly attempt doesn't pass Leah and she looks at him out of the corner of her eye, then rolls her eyes. "Well, we'd known each other for a while, then. A few months? But it felt like we'd known each other for our whole lives. At least, for me. Whenever you came back from a test and felt drained, I was always there for you, like you were there for me. We'd spend every moment we could together. I knew what your family was like, what your favourite food was, what your worst fear was.

"I was terrified to tell you, because I thought you'd think of me different. You'd realise why I approached you for the first time so long ago, because I could feel your terror and grief like it was my own, and I hated you feeling that way.

"But when I told you..." A smile flickers onto her face as she remembers, sad and longing for days long gone, "you were so nice. You hugged me and told me it didn't mean anything different for us, that it made me special. We were only little kids, Newt."

"Then little kid me was insanely clever," Newt can't help but brag a little, and a laugh escapes Leandra's mouth. "Because it's still true. Do you want a hug along with it?"

"Don't go falling in love with me, Newt," Leandra teases, a smirk forming upon her lips. "You'd never get out of it."

"I'd say the same... but I know I'm too irresistible for you to manage." Newt grins wide, breaking into a laugh when she shoves him playfully, scoffing at the audacity. "So, go on. Tell me, how did the others react when you told them?"

She tries to recollect her memories, thinking back to the moment. "Well, you were always closer to them than me. I'd disappear for tests a lot, and when I came back you'd always be with them. I met most of the boys through you, although Aris, Rachel and Harriet, I introduced you to. When I told the boys, they were a bit skeptical at first, stayed away for maybe a week? Then you brought them around to the idea, and we got closer as a group.

"Thomas and Teresa already knew, being raised closer to WICKED and all. You know about how they helped make the Maze, right? So they weren't that shocked, but I wasn't really as close to them, Teresa especially. It's... a little weird being around her now, in all honesty.