I Promise | The Maze Runner

Chapter 1: A Boy ✔️

A beep from my watch alerts me. I press the button on the side, "Go ahead."

"Spencer, you should come back." Sonya says through the watch.

"Why? What's wrong?" I ask, slowing my run to a slow jog, my running partner, Prim, doing the same.

"It's the new kid." 

"What about her?" I ask, slowing to a complete stop.

"It's a him, not a her." 

I look over at Prim and she gives me a shrug. "We'll be back as soon as possible." I say before starting back towards The Cove. The huge maze walls tower over us as we continue running.

We get to the edge of the maze where it extends into an open area in the shape of a square where half of it is an island and the other side is water, kinda like an island. I lead Prim to the middle of the island where all the other girls are gathered in a circle. 

"Spencer!" Sonya yells, seeing me. I continue running till I get to the group.

"First: What do you mean 'him' and second: What do you mean 'new kid'?" I ask, looking at her.

"Just come on." Sonya says, grabbing my hand and leading to me to one of the huts our builders made.

The leader of us girls, Kathrine, or more usually called 'Kat', is standing in the middle of the hut with a few more girls. She looks up when I walk in with Sonya, Prim, and a few more girls.

I realise a boy, probably about 16 years old, with short light brown hair, and bright blue eyes is sitting in the middle of the room on a chair. He looks around the room of girls, looking uncomfortable.

"Finally, somebody decided to show up." Kat says, glancing at me.

"Well, sorry that I'm trying to find a way outta here." I exclaim, sitting down on a chair.

"I've been here almost 3 years and only girls have come up in The Box." One of the girls, Harriet, says, standing up. "Why would they send a boy?"

"And what's with today?" Sonya speaks up. "Usually they send in a new kid every month, Rachel was sent us three days ago." Sonya glances to the newest girl to the Cove, Rachel.

"What if they sent a spy?" Juliet, another girl, asks.

"Why would they send in a spy? They already have those beetles with cameras!" Another girl, Elizabeth who we call 'Liz', says before looking at me. "Reid found out about that a year ago."

"Maybe something's changing?" I ask, glancing around the room. "Maybe The Creators want us out of here already." All the girls go quiet. "Think about it. Usually we have a girl come up. Usually we have them come up once a month. The list can go on."

"What if this is just a test?" Prim asks, looking around.

"I still don't trust him." Another girl, Beth, says looking at the boy. All the girls start yelling at each other, fighting about multiple things, all concerning the boy.

"QUIET!"

Everybody goes quiet and looks at me as I stand up. I sigh and look over to the only person being quiet this entire meeting. "Toby, what do you think? Have you read him yet?" Toby has this magical power to be able to read minds, and nobody can lie to the mind.

"He doesn't know anything. If he is a spy, he doesn't know. His memory was wiped too." Toby says, looking at the boy before over at me. "I trust him."

The hut stays quiet for a few seconds before I speak up again. "So does everybody agree now?"

"Spencer, get him set up." Kat says before leaving the hut, followed by more girls until it's just the boy and myself.

"You remember your name yet?" I ask, walking towards him.

He shakes his head. "I can't remember anything."

"Well, in a few days you'll remember your name, that's about it." I say as he stands up. "Come on, I'll show you-"

I get cut off by the door to the hut thrown open and the youngest of the girls in the Cove, Pippi or 'Pip' runs into the room. "Spencer! Spencer! What happened?!" The girl, about 12, asks, looking at me before spotting the boy. "Oh my god a boy." She mumbles.

"Come on, you stick." I say, pushing her out of the room before following with the boy following me. "Welcome to The Cove." I say, starting to walk backwards so I can look at the boy. "Your new home."

-----

With the boy now set up with a hammock and the sun about to go down, I get up from my hammock and walking over to his where he's looking out towards the water. He doesn't see me so I take the hammock and roll it. He falls to the ground, hitting his head on a rock as he lands.

He grabs his head as I kneel down. "I didn't mean-" I started, but was cut off by him.

"Aris."

I pause, looking at him confused. "What?"

"Aris!" He says, sitting up. "My name's Aris!"

"Well, look. You did something use full for once." I look up as Kat walks up with a small smile. "I'm Kat, and you already know Spencer." She says, looking down at Aris.

"Kat!" Sonya comes running over. "Spencer!"

"What?" Kat asks, confused as Sonya gets to us. "A Shade! It's in the Cove!"

I grab the knife I always keep attached to my leg by a strap and stand up. "But the doors are already closed! How'd it get in?!" I yell, starting to follow Sonya towards the beach where a few girls are already trying to attack the beast.