Scorched | Newt

Chapter Three: Introductions

The next day started out just like any other: get up, take a shower, go grab breakfast and take it back to the bunks. Things only started going to shit when the boy who had yelled yesterday- Aris told me his name was Thomas- got up and tried to follow the chosen kids at dinner.

I whipped around to look at his friends, thinking that maybe they could give away something about what the hell he was trying to do, but they all looked just as confused as I felt. I turned back around to see Aris looking completely calm about the entire situation. "Aris!" I hissed. "What the hell is going on?"

He shrugged in response, playing with his food. I huffed, annoyed. By now Thomas' friends had realized he wasn't going to back down, and were trying to drag him away from where he had gotten into a physical fight with one of the guards. I shook my head, but Aris gave a tiny smile.

"Okay, what did you have to do with this?" I asked, and Aris' smile dropped.

He shook his head. "Not here. Too many people, someone could overhear."

I studied his facial expressions for a moment before determining that he was genuinely worried, and not just trying to get out of a conversation he didn't want to have. "Fine. But we will be talking about this."

He nodded, and I went back to my meal. We had been eating silently for a few minutes when I started to feel like I was being watched. I turned around to see one of Thomas' friends staring at me as he spoke to a dark haired boy next to him. The dark haired boy saw me looking first, and hit the lighter haired boy on the arm repeatedly until he noticed me. I gave a little wave, feeling more than a little bit awkward.

The carmel haired boy looked away quickly, but his friend just smirked and waved back at me. I turned back around and finished my meal, not thinking much of it.

As the day came to end, I laid in bed, wide awake due to the low hum of machinery all around me. It had always been so quiet in the maze at night,and now I couldn't fall asleep with any kind of background noise.

I could hear Lizzie's soft snores coming from above me as she slept peacefully. I let out a quiet breath as I turned onto my side, hoping to find a more comfortable position.

All thoughts of sleep were dismissed when the vent on the floor across from me began to move. I sat up as quickly as I could without waking Lizzie, but I wasn't all that worried. The kid could sleep through anything.

"Aris I swear to god if that's you-" I hissed, cutting myself off when I realized I didn't know what I'd do. Which I found to be a bit problematic when Aris' head popped into the room. "Are you serious?"

He ignored me, opening the vent up wider and motioning for me to follow him. I opened my mouth to question him when he shifted a bit and his face was illuminated by the soft lighting from the bathroom. He looked... abnormally serious. Not that he wasn't usually pretty serious, but now there was a hint of fear in his eyes. So I closed my mouth and followed him without question like the good friend I am.

We weren't in the vents for long, thank god. When we stopped, I could hear voices coming through the vent above us. Aris climbed up quickly, and I followed, wondering what the hell I was getting myself into.

The first thing I noticed when I entered the room was the number of people in it. When We had escaped the maze, there were only five of us, and two of my best friends didn't make it to the building. We were used to being a small group, and we were used to only girls-besides Aris. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw at least 6 boys staring at me.

The second thing I noticed was the boy who had been staring at me in the mess hall, and his dark haired friend.

The room was silent for a few moments as everyone observed me, before the carmel haired boy began to speak.

"Hey Thomas," said Aris, seemingly oblivious to all of the confused stares he was getting. "You got it, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Let's go." This came from the boy I had to assume was Thomas.

I grabbed Aris by the arm before he could head back into the vents with Thomas in tow. "Aris!" I hissed. "What the hell are you doing?"

Aris just shook me off and re entered the vent. "I don't have time right now, Alex. I'll tell you later, I promise. Oh- and you're staying here, by the way." with that, he motioned for Thomas to follow him, and Aris was gone.

The vent cover swung shut behind Thomas, and the room was silent again momentarily. The adrenaline I was feeling from the new situation was starting to wear off, and I was getting really tired all of a sudden.

"Sorry," I said through a yawn. "But do you mind if I lay down? It's getting really late, and I didn't sleep well last night,"

The boys were all silent, just staring at me, so I shrugged and jumped onto the nearest unused bed in a sitting position.

"Staring is rude y'know," it was getting a little unnerving at this point.

My statement seemed to snap the carmel haired boy out of whatever trance he was in. He shifted on his feet, crossing his arms. "Sorry, who are you again? And why did your friend leave you here? And where the bloody hell are they going?"

God I could listen to that accent all day. No. focus, Alex. He asked you a question, now you have to answer it. That's how conversation works.

"Um, okay. First question. Hi, I'm Alex, I was in the maze with Aris -and Lizzie but she isn't here right now- uh, that's it. I have no idea why he left me here, so you're on your own for that one, and I also have no idea where they're going, because Aris never tells me fucking anything, dammit!"

"Okay, calm down Alex, we're on the same side here," this came from the dark haired boy. "I'm Minho, and this is Newt," he gestured to the carmel haired boy with the accent.

"I am calm. And nice to meet you, I guess," I replied. I was already wondering when Aris would be back.

Word Count: 1105