Different | The Maze Runner / Newt ¹ ✓

{3.5}

Disclaimer:

Me on a date: So, what do you think of Thomas in The Maze Runner?

Date: To me he was just really annoying and I hated him. The book would've been better with someone else as the main character.

Me, shoving breadsticks into my purse: Oh would you look at the time I suddenly have to leave right now immediately

-✼-

Theo brought me terrible news that night to add to the day's chaos.

"The shucking walls didn't close."

As soon as the words left his mouth, my jaw fell slack. My hands raked through my hair, a nervous habit I'd accumulated over my time there. Now his appearance made sense— hair unkempt, dark eyes wide with terror, and voice slightly trembling. 

I had been in the Homestead, cleaning things up a bit, and I hadn't even bothered to look out a window. But as I did then, I grew even more apprehensive at the screaming Gladers running around like headless chickens.

The sky had sent us into enough of a tremor. Now this?

"Thank you for finding me, Theo," I said, voice breathy as I dropped the curtain. The room was immediately cast in a musty luminescence that seemed thoroughly appropriate for the situation.

Theo, who had been peeking over my shoulder to view the world outside, straightened himself up when I turned around. His lips pulled into a thin line and he nodded somberly, eyes cast to the floor.

I put a hand on his muscular arm, causing him to look up at me. Seeing him look as troubled as he did made a weight settle into my heart. It was such a contrast to how he usually was— somewhat equivalent to sunshine and Frypan's cupcakes.

"We're gonna figure this out, just like we always do, okay?" I assured, voice gentle. Theo nodded again, though he didn't look very convinced. I patted his bicep before walking around him and starting down the hallway. "Find Chuck, all right? Bring him to Thomas and me."

With those words, I darted down the steps and out the door, eyes shifting around. I saw countless boys not caring how scared they looked as they darted around, while others were more controlled and only paced. A few were rocking back and forth on the ground. Seeing them only made me more afraid— these Gladers had been through a lot, and if that was scaring them as badly as it was, I knew I had every right to be just as unsettled as they were.

But I had to hide it. For Chuck's sake. For Thomas, who was probably klunking his pants by now. For Alby, who hadn't believed in me since the start. For Minho, since his reliance toward me was waning. Teresa had only seen my friendly side. And Newt, well, he could probably see right through me.

I couldn't find anyone. Not my brother. None of the friends I had made while in the Glade. Heck, I couldn't even find Frypan!

Maybe it was because the Glade was spinning, people blending into each other and the sky mixing into the ground until everything was a blur of color. Sounds tuned in and out, some loud and others unintelligible. I stumbled, my hands flying up to hold my head. I lost my balance and fell to the ground, blinking in confusion up at the blending sky.

It felt like someone was sitting on my chest. I knew I was breathing - I could feel the unsteady rise and fall of my chest — but the panic that had settled into my lungs tricked my brain into thinking I was suffocating. My hands went from my head to my collarbones. Weak, strangled coughs sputtered out of my lips.