𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓻𝓾𝓲𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓻𝓸𝓴𝓮𝓷 - [EDITING]

Chapter Eight - Addy

Tommy and I walk back to the Homestead and Chuck meets us as soon as he sees us, apologizing profusely for letting us out of his sight. "Are you hurt?" Chuck asks. His thoughtfulness is so sweet and endearing.

"We'll be alright, thanks Chuckie. Just a little scratched and shaken up." In truth, my back hurts and tiny dots of blood trickle down my back, but I don't want to go to the Med-jacks to get it bandaged. I definitely don't want to take my shirt off in front of any guys, even nice ones like Clint and Jeff. "Why don't you take Tommy somewhere to rest?" I suggest. Tommy hasn't said a word since Ben.

I'm about to find Newt, thank him for helping us, but a loud booming sound startles me. Then a horrible, grinding and crunching sound followed. Thomas jumped and stumbled to the ground. "What is happening?" I scream.

"Calm down, Greenie!" Chuck yells. "It's just the walls."

Sure enough, the giant openings in the walls close, a wall sliding against the ground and sealing the only exit, sparks flying from the friction. The ground rumbles beneath my feet. "Does this happen every night?" I ask Chuck over the noise. How could I have slept through this?

"Yep!" Chuck replies. "But this ain't nothing, as Alby would say. You kind of get used to it after a while.

When it finally stops, the boys proceed to find a place to sleep and I go searching for Newt.

I find him and Alby in a heated conversation inside the Homestead. They're arguing about Ben. Alby sees me first and says to Newt, "We'll talk about this later. Have a Gathering in the morning after Minho and I check out the dead Griever." He stomps off.

Newt sighs and does his cute, exasperated jaw swipe. "You alright, Addy?" He asks me.

"I- yes, thank you." Why am I so flustered? "I just wanted to thank you helping me and Tommy. And, uh, where am I supposed to sleep tonight?"

"Yeah, it's no problem. Ben totally went crazy on you. The Griever venom does strange things to people." Newt's brown eyes are full of sadness. "Anyway, I had the Builders finish your hut. I'll take you to it."

Newt leads me outside of the Homestead to a small building nearby. "It's not much," he says, "but I hope it's alright."

The entire building is two rooms, a main area with a bed and a bathroom. Everything is made of wood planks from the Box, but I'm pleasantly surprised at the good workmanship.

"It's perfect. Thank you." I smile and find myself blushing. How did I not notice what a handsome face he has earlier?

Newt clears his throat and nods sharply once. "Er, good that." He turns to go but something possesses me to call for him to stop. He does and looks back at me. Crap. Now I have to say something.

Awkwardly, I say, "Do you remember anything? About your life before the Maze?" I perch myself on the edge of the bed and wait for him to form a reply.

Newt takes this as a gesture to stay and seats himself on the other side of my bed. "Not really," he begins. "For the other boys, the only way to remember is to get Stung and go through that Changing. I'm not exactly eager for that." He chuckles but clearly doesn't find it funny. "I haven't told anyone this, but sometimes, I have dreams. I'm not sure if it's real, but it feels real."

"What do you dream about?" I ask, intrigued.

Newt looks embarrassed. "It's not very clear, but it's always in some facility, a hospital maybe. I'm not sure exactly. A lot of times I'm sneaking out with some friends to go see this girl. I can't make out faces though." His face twitches when he says he can't make out faces, which leads me to believe he's lying about that part. I shove down the twinge of jealousy when he says he's sneaking out to see a girl. "Why do you ask?"

He turns the conversation back towards me and I shift uncomfortably. I had planned to tell all of them about what I saw tomorrow, but I feel different around Newt and tell him right there. "Well, I- uh, had some sort of vision thing today. It sounds crazy, I know. I was just watching Gally and my head hurt. Then I saw it. Tommy, Minho, Chuck, Gally, and us were in some closet, I think. We were fighting with Gally. Minho said something that made me think we were trying to escape, that whatever place we were at was some of prison."

Newt is quiet for a minute. "Is that why you disappeared earlier?"

"Yeah," I say, trying to refrain from smiling at his concern too much. "It felt... weird. I didn't want the whole Glade to see me like that." I don't tell him about the panic attack that came with it.

"You freaked us out for a minute there. Tommy especially. I wouldn't have found Ben if you hadn't been missing, actually," Newt says casually. "A few minutes after we told off the shuck Greenie for coming up there, everything goes to buggin' chaos! Whole Glade saying you were missing. Gave me a bloody heart attack. Thought you'd gone in the Maze and got yourself killed."

My heart swells when he confesses his worry for me.

"...don't know what got into Ben. No one's gone that crazy after the Changing. Before the Changing, yeah, but after? He was nearly better. He shouldn't have flipped out like that. Bloody lost his mind. What was he going on about Tommy's shuck sister?" Newt says.

I remember that I've never told Newt about mine and Tommy's telepathy. Only Chuck knows. But then, how did Ben know?

"Addy?" Newt says and I realize that I've zoned out. I love the way he says my name. Almost want to stay silent so he'll say it again. I mentally shake myself. No! You cannot think things like that!

"Sorry, I was just thinking. Tommy is my brother. We-" I almost tell Newt about the telepathy, but I don't want him to think I'm more crazy than I've already shown. "I don't know how we know, but we do."

"What the shuck?" Newt says. "Well ain't that a plot twist. Everything's starting to go bloody crazy."

"Yeah," I whisper.

"Well," Newt says standing. "I'd better go and let you get some rest. I'll be back bright and early to show you and Tommy the Grievers."

I want to tell him not to go but I have no excuse this time. "Alright," I say in disappointment. "Goodnight."

Newt leaves and I sigh, falling back on the pillow. I'm exhausted, mentally and physically, but my mind whirs with all of the content of the past two days. How did I get myself into this mess? I wonder. My guard drops and I want to cry, but have no tears left. I want to go home, are my last thoughts before drifting off to sleep. I don't even know where home is.