𝐖𝐂𝐊𝐃 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 ᵗᵐʳ ⁻ ˢᵃᶠᵉ ʰᵃᵛᵉⁿ (Novella)

Chapter 4: Roses

Nicholas

Max and I returned our dishes to the kitchen as we made our way to where the bonfire usually is held.

When we arrived there were A LOT of people. I didn't even think there were this many people in the haven.

"See? Not so bad, now is it? No one's even noticed you," She said.

"They probably will soon." We were standing in the corner right now.

"Imma go get us some drinks, don't move," She said before disappearing, leaving me surrounded by a crowd who didn't like me. At least I haven't been noticed. Just stay here in the corner, like she said. Don't move.

Bright hot flames flicker, lighting up the dark world around, its molten core as the embers dance around in the sky above. The pungent smell of smoke coated the air as talking and cheering filled the air.

"Hey," A soft voice said behind me. I turned to see who it was, and surprisingly, I saw the boy from earlier. Newt, I think it was.

"Oh... Uh, Hi," I responded.

"You okay?" He asked. "You seem... alone."

"I'm okay," I said.

"You can hang out with me and my friends if you want?" He asked me. I was about to say something when the sound of Max's voice came up next to me.

"Yo, Nick, I'm back. I see you have a new friend. Not causing trouble, I hope?" She asked, handing me a glass of a yellowish liquid. No, it's not piss, so don't think that.

"I hope I didn't. I'm Newt by the way."

"I'm Max, and you've already met Nick?" She asked.

"Oh, so your name is Nick?" He asked. I forgot I never told him my name. Oops.

"Nicholas," I corrected. "But Nick is fine if you want."

"It's nice to finally know your name. I was just asking him if he wanted to come hang out with me and my friends, you wanna join?" He asked. I'm guessing no one has told him yet. That's a good thing, I guess.

"I'm in if Nick's in," Max said. Max and Newt both looked at me in anticipation.

"It wouldn't hurt, I guess," I said and Newt smiled. He has a pretty smile. I wonder how fast it'll fall when he finds out.

"Well, follow me then," He said. Max and I shared a glance before following him. I could tell she was confused. Why the hell was he being so nice? Was he playing a prank on me? Is he friends with Alex? Fuck, is he?

I kinda walked behind Max and Newt, mostly because I was still overthinking why he was so nice to us. Newt walked up to two boys and two girls. I didn't recognize any of them. I was about to walk closer when I heard the familiar voice of Alex. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw him and his possie of friends sitting near where Newt and his friends were. Max looked back at me, confused as to why I stopped.

If only she knew

I eyed Alex and his friends before shaking off the feeling and walking over to Newt and his friends.

One of the girls had short brown hair and brown eyes. The other one had long, blonde hair with a few side bangs. She had wavy hair and brown eyes. One boy had short, brown hair with brown eyes, he also had a few tiny moles on his face. The other one was an Asian boy with styled, black hair and biceps.

I recognise him... WICKED. Testing. Subject A7. Minho. I recognise them all of course I don't remember all their names but I know them... like really know them. We used to be friends.

He looked at me strangely, like he's trying to place me. Like he remembers what I did.

"Yo, Max. What's up?" Minho yelled at Max.

"The sky." She responded, following behind me.

"Haha." The boy said sarcastically.

"Already met her?" Newt asked the boy.

"Yep, so has Thomas. Met her at hunting." He pointed at the other boy who had the brown hair and moles on his face and it was a little pink tinted.

"Oh, okay. Minho, Thomas, Elle and Brenda, this is Nick and Max. Max and Nick, that's Minho, Thomas, Noelle or Elle and Brenda." He pointed to the others.

"Sit," Noelle  said. "So... were either of you two in a maze?" She asked.

"Uhm... no," Max said. That's true. She was a lab rat at WICKED's headquarters. I never spoke to her or went near her but I knew she was there.

"Ohhh okay... How about you?" She turned to face me.

"Uhm... No, I wasn't in a maze... I-" I was cut off.

"He worked for WICKED." A voice behind me said. I turned around to see Alex.

You gotta be shitting me.

Thomas, Max, Newt, Minho, Brenda and Noelle all looked at me. Max already knew that I wasn't in a maze.

"Yeah..." I muttered.

"He did horrible things to people," Alex said again.

"Alex, I told you already, what happened was the only choice I had. If I didn't do it I would have died."

"Did you know he shot a member of the Right Arm?" He said again. I looked at Max for help.

"Alex. I didn't have a choice. She was gonna shoot me," I argued back.

"Oh, look here everyone, he thinks he can take me on. You gonna shoot me like you shot my sister?" He taunted. The people around us started looking at us. I looked down at Max

"Nick?" Max asked, standing up. "Nick, don't listen to him, alright?" She turned me away from them. "Don't listen to him, okay? He wants a reaction from you," She whispered. I looked down at the others. Some had looks of disbelief and Newt had one of anger but he wasn't looking at me, he was looking at Alex.

Are they mad at me?

Alex scoffed.

"Look here, folks, Mr. It was a mistake needs his friend's help," He shouted to the other members. I heard people laughing.

"What the fuck is your problem, Alex?! Not only did you make everyone hate him but you also made his life a living hell. It was a kill-or-be-killed situation, why can't you and your stupid bitch of friends understand that shit?" Max yelled at him.

More people were surrounding this area. I can't. I need to leave. Now. I turned around and disappeared into the woods. Incan!t be the reason the people around me get hurt, I just can't. Maybe I should just disappear.

-

I was lying when I said that whenever I'm not with Max, I'm on the pier. I actually spend most of my alone time here in the forest. no one knows about this place that I have deep in the forest. When I first explored the forest I came across a small patch of red roses growing. Ever since that day, I've been coming here, watering the flowers and making sure they survive.

I don't know why I had such a fascination with these flowers. Maybe it's because of the flower's thorns. The way even nature needs to fight back sometimes. The way even the prettiest of things has a bad side.

I sit down in front of the red flowers as I look at the wet flower petals. I would say that there are around 10 or so flowers here. I never really counted.

I close my eyes as I take a deep breath in and a deep breath out, trying to calm myself from what happened earlier. What if Alex hurts them? Do they hate me now? What if they don't want to talk to me anymore?

I continued to stare at the flowers, trying to count the petals as the sunset was nowhere to be seen and it was just dark. The sound of the bugs and animals in the forest was loud, but I liked it. It was calming.