Count On Me ➵ Newt [1]

FIFTEEN | thomas

▬A month passed. Chuck became like a little brother to me and whenever the other Gladers teased or bullied him, I would defend the poor kid, though he didn't seemed to care. He hung around me whenever I had free time and would chat my ears off. I didn't mind - it got less lonely with Chuck here.

One day, as I was walking around the Glade with him, a loud ringing interrupted our conversation as it echoed throughout the Glade - the sound was all too familiar. I jogged over to the Box, where the metal doors were trembling slightly, and waited with the other boys for our newcomer.

"Rose!" A pipsqueak voice said.

I glanced behind me to see Chuck squeezing through the crowd to me, an ecstatic grin on his face.

"I'm not a Greenie anymore!" He celebrated, jumping up and down by my side excitedly. "I'm not a Greenie anymore!"

"You sure aren't, Chuckie," I laughed.

"I wonder what the new Greenie's gonna look like," Chuck said as he came to a stop by my side, observing the doors with his wide, warm eyes. 

As Alby and Gally pulled open the doors, the other boys pushed forward to peer inside at the new boy.

"Look at that shank."

"How old is he?"

"Looks like a klunk in a T-shirt."

"You're the klunk, shuck-face."

"Dude, it smells like feet down there!"

"Hope you enjoyed the one-way trip, Greenie."

"Ain't no ticket back, bro."

I peered into the Box myself and saw a brown-haired boy of about sixteen-years old staring up at us in terror and confusion. His shirt had faded away so that I could see every dirt mark on the fabric, and there wered dusty tear streaks on his face. He looked disorientated as he glanced up at our smirking, laughing faces in a mixture of confusion and fear.

Alby dropped down into the Box next to the boy.

"Nice to meet ya, shank," he said. "Welcome to the Glade."