Boxes [The Maze Runner ~ Newt] [BOOK 1]

Changing

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Marie was the eye in a storm of visions and sounds spinning around her. They were all out of order, out of focus, out of context. She extended her hand into the whirlwind of memories, immediately being pulled in to experience her old life once again. She was seeing it all.

The first memory hit her out of nowhere.

~~~~~

She had to be about 4 years old in the backseat of a rickety truck, feeling the coolness of the vehicle's air conditioner on her hot sticky skin. Marie looked to her left to see a large man hastily driving down the road emerged by green trees. Next to her was a small boy that was about a year or two older than her. He was buckled in right next to her, sweat glistening on his temples as tears burned in his eyes. He looked a lot like the man driving the car; long face, black hair, tan skin, and hazel eyes. For a second, she thought about how their eyes were exactly alike.

Marie looked away from the boy and turned her head to the sky outside the windshield. The calming shade of blue soothed her and she suddenly felt sleepy. What caught her eyes was the array of stars strewn into the night sky and how they actually twinkled.

"We'll be there soon," the man assured her and the boy.

His face had gone pale and his lips had lost their color. Marie couldn't remember where this man was from, but she felt comfortable with him, as if she had known him all her life. The man kept his sunken eyes on the road as he drove faster, making Marie clutch onto her seat belt for dear life. Wherever he was taking Marie and the boy had to be important, and time must have been ticking for them to get there.

~~~~~

She woke up with a jolt and saw bright fluorescent lights hanging above her. Marie stood up from a cold metal floor, finding herself locked in a cage, seeing a blur of faces hurriedly walking on the other side of the chain-links keeping her within the box. She looked down at her clothes, noticing how it was the exact same outfit she wore when she arrived in the Glade.

On the other side of the chain links, she could see a boy and a girl standing alongside each other, holding hands. Their faces and their voices were blurry and muffled just like everyone else, but there was something about the pair despite the fact Marie couldn't see them clearly at all.

There was a sudden shock of pain that went through her head, making her shriek and yell at the top of her lungs. She fell back onto the ground, writhing in pain as the throbbing and aching in her skull continued. A name was taken out of her memory and another fell into her thoughts. But before she could find out what it was, her eyes became lidded, and sleep greeted her like an old friend.

~~~~~

Her eyes fluttered open to see herself standing in front of a mirror. For a moment, she didn't know she was staring at her own reflection and not a different girl. Marie's hair was past her shoulders and she didn't look as mature as she did in her present. Behind her were several other girls in pajamas, some with wet hair and minty breath. They all looked hazy to Marie as she looked into the mirror, as if she was in a photograph that was only focused on her.

As soon as all the other girls left, Marie turned to her bag of toiletries down at her feet. She rummaged through it, finding a pair of scissors she had stolen. From who, she didn't remember. Marie turned back to her reflection, bringing the scissors closer to her hair and, without hesitation, began to cut.

The girl furiously snipped off locks of her long brown hair. As her hair descended towards the ground, she looked down then back up at the mirror. Those long tresses were gone, and so was her past self.

No more expectations, Marie thought to herself.

No more stress.

No more fear.

No more, no more, no more.

~~~~~

Marie felt as if she was swirling around as she found herself falling into a chair, staring at a thin man silhouetted by the sunlight of a window he was looking through. She was sitting in front of a large wooden desk that was held within an office. The deep blue walls were lined with shelves holding old, tattered books- an abundant of them looking as if they were partially burned.

The man slightly turned his head to Marie, not taking his eyes off the view out the window. He murmured something that Marie couldn't hear or even attempt to make out. Instead, she looked down at her lap, seeing a note sticking out of her pocket. She pulled it out and unfolded the lined piece of paper, finding the same curious sentence inked in repeatedly.

I will not wander out of bounds.

She didn't know why she had that strange sheet of paper and had no clue as to why she wrote those words over and over again until the whole page was full, but she placed it on the thin man's desk, catching a glance at the cover of the book he was reading, and left his office without a word.

~~~~~

There was the feeling of a pair of arms wrapped around her, and there was. Marie was being hugged in a dark corridor by arms that she was familiar with. She pulled away from the person she was hugging and saw his face half lit by the small fluorescent ceiling lamp at the end of the hall.

Newt.

They were both younger, Marie was 13 and Newt was 15. His blond hair had been freshly cut and he his complexion looked softer. He had a look of pain on his face, as if he had been kicked in the gut repeatedly and was ordered not to cry. His brown eyes were tearing up but he was trying his best to smile for her. He didn't let go of her even after they had stopped hugging.

"You can handle this," Marie reminded him. "You're so strong."

"I don't feel strong," he admitted through a sob. "I'm scared. I know it's for the greater good, but I just wish I could have more time before I forget everything... before I forget you."

She just stared into his eyes as he held onto her arms. Something came over Marie, making her lean in towards his face, quickly kissing Newt, not giving him a chance to close his eyes first. He looked dazed for a moment, but there was a flash of disappointment as he snapped back into their reality.

"I wanted to do that for a long time," the girl murmured. "I wanted you to be my first."

Marie looked up at him, noticing his face look more disappointed and feeling her heart growing heavy like his.

"I know they would never allow this, and we've always been friends, but, I like you," Marie said in a small voice.

The blond boy hugged her once more, burying his face into her shoulder, letting his warm tears seep into the fabric of his shirt. Marie held him close, wondering if this reaction was good or bad. If it was bad, it was good for her, because in the morning he wouldn't recall that kiss or Marie herself.

"I won't remember this," Newt whispered as his voice cracked. "I won't remember the moment where I found out we both liked each other."

Marie's eyes widened and her heart rate spiked immediately, racing rapidly in her chest as her throat went dry.

"You like me, too?"

"Of course," Newt muttered. "I wish I wouldn't have to enter the first Trial just yet. I wish I could remember you."

"I'll remember you," Marie assured him. "I'll remember your eyes and your smile and your silly accent and everything in between. Besides, at least you had your first kiss."

Newt managed a small laugh before he pulled Marie in to kiss her one last time. "At least."

As their lips connected once more, everything dissolved, and all Marie could see was a black void.