Abused ≫ Newt [2]

Chapter 6.

Her vision was blurry, her mind a tangle of thoughts as she stared at the boy before her. It took her a moment to recognize him, but when she did, she pulled him into a tight embrace. He flinched at the sudden contact, but soon relaxed and wrapped his arms around her.
"Nice to see you too, Emily," he chuckled.
She pulled away, couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she stared at her best friend. Her head was spinning and she was nauseous, but she didn't exactly care at the moment. She was awake, and now she could see him again.
"Where's Newt?"
For a moment, she could've sworn she saw a flash of panic in Minho's eyes, but it disappeared quickly.
"He's uh- he's busy at the moment." He looked at his hands, picked at his fingernails.
Emily furrowed her eyebrows; she couldn't help but feel hurt at his words. She expected Newt to be by her side when she woke up, to embrace her in a tight hug. Was he even aware she was awake, or was he too busy with other things to even care?
Minho must've noticed this, because he placed a hand on her shoulder and shot her a comforting smile.
"He just needed to clear his head. Trust me, he wants to see you just as much as you want to see him."
She nodded, though she couldn't ignore the small sting of hurt she still felt. No matter how much she liked Minho and enjoyed his company, she couldn't help but wish it were Newt that was by her side when she woke.
"Come on," Minho suddenly pulled her up, not even waiting for her to catch her balance. "I'm sure everyone wants to see you."
He began ushering her up, and quite quickly at that. He held his hand up in front of her face, as if he were blocking her view from something- or someone. She quickly shrugged the suspision off, however, replacing it with excitement at the thought of seeing all her friends after... who know's how long.
Her legs were shaky as Minho guided her down the hallway. She expected them to be, as she was bedridden for over a week- according to him. She was thankful for his help; she didn't think she would've made it that far without his help.
Though some odd energy prickled off her friend, and it made her suspicious. Why was he acting so odd all of a sudden? It made her curious. She wanted to know what was going on- what happened while she was... unconcious, or whatever sort of state she was in.
She couldn't remember every detail of what happened to her. She only remembered her Banishment- the looks of Newt's and Minho's faces as she was droven into the Maze. Newt's screams piercing through the air like a freight train... And the voices.
She knew who he was now, the boy who spoke to her in her mind. It was Thomas- Stephen, whatever his name was now. She talked to him, while she was unconscious- several full conversations. It was as if he were really there, standing right in front of her. He was real, however, she knew it. He was her step brother.
She didn't know the full story of how they became step-siblings. Thomas only told her how his father left him with her mother after they were caught cheating by her father. She didn't know what happened to her father. Thomas refused to tell her anything of that sort, nor did she remember seeing him in any of her dream- memories.
She was pulled back into reality as sunlight hit her eyes. Her hand immediately found it way to her face, shielding her eyes from the blinding whiteness. She expected this to happen, as well. After being out for a week, her eyes got used to the darkness that consumed her for so long.
Emily was taken aback as she felt a sudden force hit her- someone's arms wrapping around her torso and swinging her in the air. She let out a cough, her limbs aching as they flew limply through the air.
"Jeff, I get that you missed me and all- I missed you too- but could you please put me down before you break me in half?" She let out a small laugh, a sound she was no longer used to.
"Sorry, Emily." Jeff suddenly dropped her, causing her to fall on her bottom end on the ground with a huff.
"Easy with her, Jeff." Clint appeared behind the other Med-Jack, smiling at Emily as he spoke. "The girl's probably sore after being in bed for over a week- especially with all the running she did in the Maze that night." He nudged Minho playfully. "She may even be a better Runner than you, Minho, and she's a Med-Jack."
Minho rolled his eyes, a laugh escaping his lips, "To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if Alby wanted to make you a Runner- perhaps even the Keeper."
He nudged her to say that he was only joking, though Emily couldn't help but hear the sincerity in his voice. He couldn't really mean that, could he?
"No, thank you." She said with a huff. None of the boys had offered her a hand to stand up, so she brushed the dirt off of her pants and did it herself.
To be honest, she had enough of that stupid Maze. After spending the night in that place, she wouldn't mind never going back in, even if that meant a safe trip out of here. She didn't understand how Minho and Newt and the other Runners managed to do it on a daily basis. She couldn't even imagine why she wanted to be a Runner in the first place. The place only gave her the creeps now- she no longer felt any curiosity towards it.
Perhaps Newt was right, the Maze really did change people.
Newt. Her mind drifted to the boy once again. She missed him- his hair, his eyes, his smile... his lips. She missed everything about that boy, and she had a sudden longing to see him again. The three boys were deep in a conversation in front of her, and she thought it was a good time to sneak away.
Though her plan failed miserably. Minho- having the eyes and ears of a hawk- grabbed her arm before she even moved any more than an inch. He shot her a look, his eyebrows raised, and shook his head.
"You're sticking with me, Emily," he said sternly, though for some reason, Emily couldn't take him seriously. "I'm serious. You're barely on your feet yet; I'm not letting you wander off on your own yet."
She only rolled her eyes, crossing her arms as she stared at her friend.
"I wanna see Newt."
The three boys all exchanged looks of alarm, which only made her feel only more suspicious. Something was obviously wrong- something that they weren't telling her. Had something bad happened to Newt? What if he was hurt?
"You'll see him..." Minho paused, glancing at Clint and Jeff before continuing. Yep, something was defintely wrong. "Soon, okay? He's out Running. You know, doing his job, like you always used to nag to him about?"
"When can I see him?" She pressed on, ignoring his remark.
"Soon." This time, Clint answered. His voice was stern, and Emily realized that it was best not to pry them any more.
She wanted to believe that. She wanted to believe that Newt was okay. But she just couldn't find herself to do so. Something felt wrong, in the pit of her stomach, as if something terrible happened that she didn't know about.
Instead of arguing any more, she decided to be mature, only lettting out a frustrated sigh before changing the subject.
"Well, come on, then. How am I supposed to get rid of all this energy just standing here? Take me to see my friends, Minho."
Minho let out a chuckle, linking his arms with her and started dragging her back towards the Homestead, where she assumed the majority of the Gladers were, as it was still early morning. She waved a quick goodbye to Clint and Jeff before quickening her pace to match Minho's.
He led her to the kitchen, which was packed with boy's. She almost forgot what it was like to be around so many people, and for a moment, she felt claustrophobic. But she quickly pushed the feeling away. These boys were her friends; she had nothing to worry about.
Or were they?
She killed George. The kid was popular amongst the Gladers, and she knew that some boys were bound to blame her for his death. After all, it was her fault. But what they didn't understand, is that he deserved what he got.
She didn't feel an ounce of regret or sympathy towards the dead boy. It almost scared her, how she felt no feeling what-so-ever about his death. But then she remembered what he did to her. He hurt her, scarred her for life. She would never forget that day- how overpowered she felt, how weak, how broken... It wasn't something she could easily forget, and she knew that it would haunt her for the rest of her life.
Once again, she was snapped out of her daydream as she was bombarded in yet another hug. The smell of bacon and eggs rose off of Frypan as he rocked her back and forth, murmuring something under his breath that she couldn't quite make out.
"Hey, Fry," she laughed and patted his back. He pulled away from her, wiping a tear from his eye. She realized with a jolt that he was crying, though a wide smile spread across his lips as he let out a shaky laugh.
"Sorry," he said quickly. "My emotions just got the best of me. I missed you, Emily."
Any doubt Emily had about her friends hating her had completely disappeared. So far, all of her friends treated her exactly the same, and she greatly appreciated that. The only people she hadn't seen yet were Alby, Gally... and Newt. She hoped they'd all act the same way; she missed all of them deeply.
She felt a sudden rush of panic as she thought of Newt. She always assumed that he would tackle her in a tight embrace the moment he saw her, but what if he felt differently about her? What if he saw her as a monster now?
Her chest tightened at the thought, and she shook her head to clear her mind. She couldn't ponder on that now, it would only worry her to death. For now, she only had to focus on the present, which was currently following Minho as he led her over to the Builder's table.
She met Gally's gaze as she approached the table, and he gave her a small smile. She remembered with a jolt that he was stung as well, went through the Changing just like her. She knew he was going to be different, and she couldn't help but hope he still had the same outgoing, playful personality.
But every ounce of hope for that had vanished as Gally completely turned his back on her, focusing on his plate as he listened on to the other Builder's conversation. She felt a twinge of hurt as he followed Minho away from the table,
"Don't take it personally, Em." he said to her. "He's be different ever since he got stung. He missed you just as much as the rest of us did. Believe it or not, he was happy that you did what you did. Said that George deserved it."
Emily nodded, feeling slightly better. She felt a sudden wave of exhaustion wash over her, and she longed to be back in her bed. She tapped Minho on the shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
"I'm tired," she said, stifling a yawn. "I'm gonna go rest."
Minho hesitated, though eventually nodded, a look of defeat appearing on his face.
"Alright, let's go."
"You don't have to come," she insisted. "I can manage on my own."
Minho linked his arms with hers, flashed her a quick smile before speaking.
"You're gonna need my company, trust me when I say this."
Emily furrowed her eyebrows, though didn't question him. He obviously had a good reason for tagging along, and she enjoyed his company, so she didn't object.
Minho led her through the small Homestead in silence, the sound of their feet tapping against the rickety wooden floors being the only sound that filled the air. Emily bit her lip, stumbling a bit as her legs gave way for a mere second. She quickly regained her balance, flashing Minho an apologetic smile as he shot her a questioning glance.
Outside the room, he hesitated. He glanced at Emily, some sort of emotion was clear in his dark eyes. She could've sworn it was sadness, or something among those lines, though she couldn't be for sure.
"I'm sorry, Emily." His voice was barely more than a whisper, which only made her eyebrows cease together. What could he possibly be sorry for?
He turned back around and sighed before opening the door. He stepped out of her way, letting her enter the room first. She flashed him a quickly smile, which he refused to return. As she passed him, he whispered something, barely audible, but she understood every word of it.
"You won't be smiling after what you see in a moment."
And he was right. As Emily rounded the corner, her heart seemed to fall straight to her feet, a lump the size of a golfball forming in her throat. There, sitting on the bed next to hers, was a boy. His ankle wrapped up, propped against a pillow, his head bandaged. His eyes closed as if he were in a deep state of unconsciousness. She brought her hand over her mouth, a sob racking her shoulders as one single word escaped from her mouth.
"Newt..."

+

PLEASE READ THIS :3
Well, this was just a fine happy chapter to right :(
The next few chapters might or might not be extremely emotional... for me, at least.
I'm sorry to say this, but Emily won't exactly be the same as she was in the previous book. I mean, come on, she just went through the Changing after being stung by multiple Grievers. If Gally changed that much, I think she would, too.
But I didn't want her character to be boring, so she will still have a sort of bubbly personality, just not as much as in the first book. I guess you could just say the Changing affected her in a different way...
Also, I'm not aiming to make Gally a total douche in this story because, well, I love Gally. He's so misunderstood and I hate how a lot of people make him out as a total douche bag in stories. Despite his huge personality change, him and Emily are still gonna have a close brother-sister relationship, NOT ROMANTIC SO DON'T WORRY. He's gonna be extremely protective of her and think of her as a sister... in a way, if you know what I mean. It's gonna be a relationship that was not shown in the first story, so it'll be a little different. BUT NO ROMANCE.
Alright, I think that is all.
Until next time... <3