Losing Hope

Three

When the night fell, Newt came knocking at my door. "Hey Greenie, come out. We're having a party in your honor," he said. I walked out and followed him down the stairs. There, Alby greeted me with a smile.

"Had to push those shanks a bit too much for my liking but we finally manage to throw our welcome party," he said, pushing me outside. In the center of the Glade, a huge amount of wood had been gathered to form a pyramid, which was circled by logs big enough to sit at least three people on each of them. A few Gladers were already chatting around the pile of wood, while others were standing outside of the Homestead, apparently waiting for me, torches in hand.

"Come on boys, light it up," Alby said, and the boys left, running happily towards the pyramid. They threw their torches into it and the fire took instantly, turning the pile of wood into a huge bonfire. I smiled widely, hearing the boys cheer and chant for the Greenie.

"They're calling you, Greenie," Newt said, pushing me towards the boys. I walked over shyly, and the boys all cheered when I arrived at the party. Frypan, the one who had been introduced to me as the cook, shoved what looked like a kebab in my hand and I was taken aback, unsure about what it was, since it looked pretty burned. Somebody else shoved a mug filled with dark liquid in my free hand. Some boys gathered around a makeshift fighting circle, while other just stood and chatted, or played music and danced.

Once the attention was off me, I walked over one of the logs and sat facing the fire, setting my drink on the ground as I took a tiny bite of Frypan's food. It tasted good, and I finished it in less than a minute, only then realising how hungry I was. I looked around, trying to spot Frypan around the Glade.

"Someone's hungry," the thick british accent I was becoming familiar with spoke from behind me. Seconds later, Newt was sitting next to me with three more kebabs. I took two from him, biting into the first one. "Hey, there were supposed to be two for me and one for you," he protested, but I bit into the other one too, before smiling at him.

"When was the last time you ate, Green Bean?" He said, and I laughed, before staring into the fire in front of us.

"So, how does this work?" I asked, and he seemed confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Our memories. I feel like I've known the world, and I do know weirdly specific things like... Countries, or pets, but when I try to remember anything related to me, it all seems... blurred. Unreachable. I don't even know when was the last time I ate. Although I know it's there, somewhere. I can feel it," I said, and Newt took another bite of his food.

"So that's what you were doing, hidden in that room. I thought you were just having a hard time coping and crying," he said, and I frowned at him. "Hey, not because you're a girl! Some of us did cry on their first night," he added, and I nodded, taking a bite.

"Did you?" I asked, smirking. He looked offended, as if I was questioning his whole masculinity.

"No, I did not. In fact, I'm one of those who were the quicker to start working," he bragged, and I nodded, doubtful. "And then I became a Runner, but that's a story for another time," he added, then proceeded to tell me his entire journey as the Greenie, up until the moment he remembered his name. I listened to him, amused by how nice and naturally funny he was.

"Did you take a sip of your drink yet?" He suddenly asked me, and I remembered the mug sitting next to me. I took it a took a careful sip, almost spitting it instantly.

"What the hell is that?" I shouted, and he laughed. Some Gladers turned to look at me, but when they saw the drink in my hand, they shrugged it off.

"Gally's recipe. Apparently there's booze in it," Newt said and I rolled my eyes.

"Booze or not, it tastes terrible," I said, taking another sip nevertheless. I winced at the taste again, but it went down smoother this time. It was not good but it definitely wasn't as bad as the first sip. I took a few more sips while finishing my food.

"There she goes. Now you're one of us, Greenie," he said, and I punched his arm, laughing. We chatted a bit, after what I decided to walk over to the fighting ring. Newt followed me, saying something about 'not wanting to leave me alone on my first night'. I didn't argue, after all I did enjoy his company.

The angry looking boy from earlier was standing in the middle of the crowd along with another boy, who looked taller but also skinnier than the other one. Newt leaned closer to me.

"That's Gally. Don't know if you've seen him before. He's... I'm gonna say the best fighter here, but don't tell him I said that," he whispered and I laughed looking up at Gally. My laugh caught his attention and he looked at me.

"Oh hey, Greenie decided to join us. Coming to choose a boyfriend?" He asked, and I scoffed.

"You wish," I said, and some boys burst out laughing. Gally had a smirk.

"We'll see about that. Come on Ben, you ready?" he asked, and the other boy nodded.

Gally ran and jumped onto Ben, who tried to move away but failed. He was thrown on the ground, but quickly got to his feet, standing to face Gally, who was bragging around. He shot me a wink just as Ben was coming for him.

I rolled my eyes. He blocked Ben and sent him on the ground again, before jumping on him. He held him down in what seemed to be a very uncomfortable position, until Ben hit the ground with his hands. Gally got up and bragged around again, as the boys praised him.

"So who's next? Zart? Billy? How about you, Greenie?" He said, stopping in front of me. I noticed Newt took a small step forward, but I spoke before he could.

"I wouldn't want to embarrass you on my first day, Gally. Next time, maybe?" I suggested, and he smirked.

"Make that a date," he said and rolled my eyes, walking away from him. I walked over to where some other boys were chatting. They stopped talking when I arrived and I smiled.

"What, were you guys talking about me?" I asked, smirking. One of the boys looked at me and crossed his arms on his chest.

"Yeah. Mind leaving so we can keep our conversation going?" He replied, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Please, what can you possibly be saying that's too harsh for me to hear?" I asked, playing his game.

"Baby, you don't even know," he answered, and one of the boys whistled.

"You know what, I'll take that as my cue to go. See ya tomorrow, Minho," one of the boys said, and suddenly I was alone with the sassy one. That was promising.