Lost in a Maze

Chapter 25: Dead girl.

The next few weeks passed slowly. Rick stayed in the pit, and I began to feel better. Slowly but surely, I was comfortable around Newt again, a still skittish in rooms at night by myself, but otherwise okay. I stopped hurting myself, and things were getting better. The usual Glade banter went on, with the boys doing stupid things, and Emily and I playing hilarious little pranks. We'd even acquired a few more tattoos, Emily having allowed me do flowers under her collarbone, and I allowed her to do a star on the back of my neck. It was practically in my hair though, so very much coverable. Newt tattooed a beautiful bunch of flowers under my right boob, on my ribs.
Things were looking up.

Three weeks after the boys decided Rick should stay in the pit, he went missing. They searched the Glade for days, until eventually it was presumed he ran into the Maze and sacrificed himself. No one questioned it after a few days, and I began to feel comfortable, and safer in the Glade.

The snow had thawed, and our weather was back to being as hot and unbearable as ever, still strange, for January.
Gally had opened up to me more about what was really going on inside his head, and I did the same for him. Because of that, we became very close, and proceeded to bully everyone in the Glade. And of course, our handshake topped it off.
The Glade was as thrilling and happy as before, a comforting place we all happily called home. Of course, we all still dreamed of our last lives, and created these fantasies in which each persons life was better than the last. It becomes very competitive, when the boys get into it.

Newt had taken me on a few dates, whether we ate lunch together as a picnic in the overgrown meadows, formed a flat circle on the grass whilst the wildflowers towered over us, or whether we painted together.
He played me guitar most nights, teaching me a few things here and there. One time, we even took out the paints and painted on eachother, which ended up with us both covered in paint, kissing in a puddle of different colours. Alby wasn't thrilled about it.
But I didn't care. Because the one thing that stayed strong the whole time, was the apparent love for eachother Newt and I shared. And I know it sounds cheesy, but I couldn't find a single flaw with him. I felt so strongly about him, and by the sweet whispers he gave at night, the way he cared for me and carefully handled me, I knew it was mutual.

Everything, was perfect. Everyone was happy again. Well, as happy as you can be, in a Maze with monsters. As happy as you can be, when you've had friends that passed and you've buried.

***

I won't lie, Newt and I had taken off to his hut in the middle of the day, when the alarms rang. I was half dressed on the bed, we both jumped slightly when they went off, blaring across the Glade. He looked up at me and sighed, slipping his hand into mine and pulling me up as he himself, stood up.
"Here," He handed me back whatever clothing wasn't on, and pulled his shirt on. "Bit early for a new Greenie though, don't you think?"

"Yeah," I groaned, pulling his jumper over my head. "Whatever, let's just go see what's up."

He smirked and kissed my forehead, then took my hand and we went outside, covering our eyes with one hand to shield them from the hot sun rays. The box hadn't came up yet, it usually took a while, but the alarms didn't stop going off until it did, so it was a joy kill.

Bemused looking Gladers began to gather around the box, scratching their heads, rubbing dirt off their hands onto their stained trousers. Gally and I just looked at eachother, Newt a little pissed off about the timing. We grinned and I slipped out of Newt's grip, to join Gally in our infamous dance. We only did one rendition however, as we got many unpleasant remarks from the tired Gladers around us.

Newt wrapped his arms around my neck from behind, pulling me back against his chest as he rested his chin on the top of my head.

"Why's this coming up so early?!" Alby shouted, marching across the Glade, as if we had done something to cause it.