Nepenthe (TMR FF) UNDER EDITING

Chapter 4

Edited: 21/08/2018

"I'm gonna kill you, Newt!" I shouted, running after the boy with my fists clenched. Other Gladers laughed and chose sides, either cheering me, or Newt, on, this being the only sense of entertainment they've had in a while. It's been a month since I've been in the Glade, and yet Newtie still doesn't understand that I'm faster than him. Poor ignorant, British Boy.

Despite his head start, I quickly caught up to him, tackling him to the ground. I let out a squeak as we rolled at least five times, until eventually, we stopped. I glared up at Newt, who was currently pinning me to the ground, his head merely inches from mine.

"Calm down, love. You don't want to hurt yourself." He whispered into my ear, the feeling of his breath on my skin making me shiver. Despite the warmth that started to fill my body, I growled, trying to push my annoying emotions away.

"No, you shank, I want to hurt you." I spat, struggling to get out of his grasp. He threw his head back in laughter. In that moment, I couldn't help but let a grin come to my face. I loved his laugh so much. And his stupid smile. And his stupid fac -

"See, you can't stay mad at me. You love me too much!" He exclaimed, giving me a kiss on the cheek, complete with an exaggerated smooching sound. I rolled my eyes, wiping the wetness off of my face.

This past month, Newt and I had gotten closer than ever, possibly even closer than him and Minho were, although I would never try to shake the brotherly bond that they had. Newt and I had gotten a sort of 'frenemies' like reputation. Everyone in the glade saw how close we were, and they loved watching in on our little arguments like these.

Speaking of the other Gladers, Newt wasn't the only one I was getting close with. Gally – despite our previous differences – and Minho, were also pretty close friends of mine. Gally was like a stern older brother, someone I loved to hate but at the same time, would stick by my side without hesitation. Minho on the other hand, was Minho. His cheeky grins and flirtations made the other Gladers smirk when they saw us together, but in my opinion, that's just Minho. I'm the only girl in the Glade, who else is he, or any of the other Gladers going to do about it.

Alby on the other hand, the 'leader' of the Glade, had been acting strange since I lived through a night in the maze. When he saw my shoulder wound, he forced me to explain what had happened – how one of the Grievers stabbed me with one of its metal prods – and then after careful inspection, refused to talk about the situation again, and banned me from talking about it to the other Gladers. For the first day, it sort of seemed like I was under a type of quarantine, like something was supposed to happen, but when nothing did, Alby let me resume my life as normal. I guess he didn't want the other Gladers going into the maze as I did, just because they thought someone could survive, so when someone asked me about my experience, I said nothing, as I assume was expected.

I didn't even tell Newt, who was currently still leaning over me, going in for another sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"Ew, you're disgusting! Never do that again." I groaned, giving him a shove. He laughed, falling beside me and onto the grass.

"You know it's true, love. No girl can resist this accent." He bragged, watching as I sat up. I turned my head away, pretending to look uninterested. Really, I was just hiding the fact that my face was turning as red as a tomato.

"I'm the only girl here, Newt." I told him, gesturing to the other boys who were staring. They smirked at us in a knowing way. Even Gally gave me the thumbs up. Although we're friends now, he's still kind of mad at me from the Maze incident, and I think, mad at himself for not being able to stop me. For days after the incident he wouldn't even look me in the eye, until I managed to sit him down and explain that it wasn't his fault. I guess he also upset over the fact that I'm a Runner now. Newt doesn't like it either apparently, but as far as I'm concerned, it's my choice, not anyone else's.