The Maze Runner (Terra+Newt)

Chapter Four

    

***

     A big fire blazed near one of the buildings. Everyone was having fun; dancing, drinking, talking and joking, or fighting Gally—he always won.
Newt showed me all of the jobs and introduced me to too many boys to remember the names of.
I felt better than when I first got here. Sure, I was still confused and had questions, but I'd ask them later. For now, I let myself enjoy this. I stuck with Newt, and he seemed to notice I felt more comfortable with him, as he never left my side.
I did meet a couple boys that seemed nice. Thomas and Minho were friendly—Minho was the sarcastic type, which I enjoyed, and attractive—and Frypan was friendly; he was the cook. Chuck was fun. He was about thirteen, a little on the chubby side with dark curly hair.
I decided that I could get used to this. I'd be fine—

"Hey, Greenie! Let's see what ya got," Gally and the other Gladers were looking at me.
"Gally, she's a girl—"

"Okay," I interrupted Newt and walked up to Gally. I could take him. I saw Newt roll his eyes, but a second later he had a slight smile on his face.
"All right Greenie. Rules are simple. Try not to be pushed out of the circle."
I nodded.
Gally came at me and took me by surprise, and I fell out of the circle. I ignored the laughs from the Gladers.
Alright, let's take him by surprise this time, I thought.
I ran at Gally, but at the last second I spun around him and pushed him to the ground from behind. The Gladers yelled in surprise. I noticed that I had caught Minho's attention, and I decided to keep it.
As Gally came to me I ducked low and tripped him—more cheering—but then he tripped me and I fell, landing on my sore arm. I winced. We both quickly got up and I swung at him but he caught my wrist and pulled me closer.
"Nice try Greenie," he said. "You're good, but not that good." Then he swung me around and I stumbled into Newt, who caught me. He smiled.
"No ones been able to push him off his feet since Alby," he said. "I'm impressed."
"Thanks," I said, my face turning red. I looked over at Minho, and as if he could feel my eyes on him, he met my gaze. I looked away, embarrassed. I had meant to impress him by beating Gally but failed.
I turned toward the Glade doors as I heard a distant roar. It sounded hollow, but deep and metallic. It didn't sound quite animal. I looked at Newt with wide eyes.
He was about to say something but Gally came up next to me.
"That, Greenie, is a Griever. In case you were wondering."
I looked back at the walls.
"But your safe here with us," Thomas said behind me.
"All right, I'm out," Alby said. He headed towards one of the buildings.
"Good that," Newt said. He looked at me. "I'll show you where you'll sleep." He headed for a slightly bigger building than Alby's and I followed.
The building was about twenty feet all around, lit with a single lantern. The ceiling had a small window that showed the starlit sky—what if it rained? There were five piles of blankets, two were folded.
"Minho, Gally, and I stay in here," Newt said. "You can either sleep between Gally and Minho or me and the wall. Whatever you want."
Obviously by Newt; I liked Minho, but Gally . . .
Newt sat down on his and watched me as I walked to the blankets next to him and sat against the wall.
"Gally isn't the friendliest guy, yeah?" He asked.
I shook my head.
"You weren't originally going to stay in here, but since you're. . . a girl, I guess, it's probably better if you stay in here." When I didn't say anything he smiled.
"Are you always so bloody quiet?"
I smiled at that. "I'm just trying to take all this in," I said.

"It'll take awhile to get used to."