Newt Imagines (The Maze Runner)

Safe and Sound

You can feel the eyes on you no matter where you look. You haven't been stared at like this in a long time, if ever, and no lack of memory can make up for the fact that this feels terribly, utterly wrong. It's one thing to be the center of attention, but this? This lack of privacy, no, this sudden, terrible attention? This is the worst thing you've ever experienced. It even outweighs waking up in the center of a massive maze with only a couple dozen boys to keep you company.

The boys, however, are precisely the problem right now. You are the only girl to ever show up in their Glade, and they're making their shock quite evident. Wherever you go, you find yourself followed by curious stares and fascinated looks. Even now, just sitting at a bench and wishing the noon break would come to an end, it feels as if every head in the Glade is turned towards you.

It would be one thing if they were just confused by you, but this is different, more malicious. These boys are hungry for someone like you, they stare at your every muscle and bone as if imagining you in their clothes, or in no clothes at all. It's like you're surrounded by a pack of wolves, except instead of bloody jaws all you see are their eyes, constantly watching. No matter where you go, you are never alone long enough to feel safe.

Just when you think that you might go mad from the sheer exhaustion of being witnessed, someone slides into a seat next to you. You look up with a start, but relax when you realize you know the boy beside you. This blond second in command is one of the only guys here that you actually trust, something you learned within your first hour of coming out of the Box and has stayed true even now, a week or two after your arrival.

Newt glances at you briefly, taking in the knot of your brows and the way your hands won't stop twisting together. "They're not getting any better, are they?" He asks, jerking his chin towards the masses of boys surrounding you.

You shake your head. "Not at all. I thought they'd get bored of me, but it doesn't seem like that's the case."

Newt grimaces. "I don't know what's gotten into them. They're normal boys, I swear, it's just that–"

You cut him off, voice soft. "It's just that they don't know how to act around a girl? I mean, I get it, it's certainly weird that there were no girls here at all and then I showed up, but they don't have to be like this."

Newt finishes your thought for you. "They don't have to be like monsters. I wish you could have had a normal entry to the Glade, or as normal as it gets around here. You deserve that much, at least."

A rush of gratitude hits you, all directed towards the boy sitting beside you. You haven't known Newt for long, but compared with the rest of the emptiness that contains your missing memories, it could have been forever. You have no idea why Newt has taken it upon himself to make sure you're alright, but you couldn't be happier that he did.

Newt, after all, is the one person who makes you feel safe. With him beside you, it's as if the rest of the stares start to drop off, none of the boys wanting to be caught being creeps by the second in command. Newt's presence is a silent shield, a buffer of quiet jokes and real smiles against the restless boys.

Soon enough, the workday will start again, the two of you will part ways, and that same feeling of insecurity will wrap itself about you once more. For now, though, you are content to sit here with Newt and pretend that nothing here could ever hurt you.

If you thought it was hard to face all that attention during the day, though, it only worsens once the sun starts to drop beneath the horizon. Even by yourself, your thoughts start to darken with the hour. It's as if a switch flips inside your brain every time the sun sets, reminding you of every terror that could await you out in the Maze and every guilt you carry over not being a perfect Glader due to your recent arrival.