Into the Maze

Chapter 20

"How much do you, you know, remember?" I asked quietly, and only after a few moments. He looked to me, and shrugged lightly, clearing his throat.

"Bits and pieces. Hardly anything, but more than I did before. It was, it was before the maze. Before I was sent up." He explained, as I agreed. I had remembered more, but he was right, it was like there were giant holes in the memories, and something was blocking it from being revealed. "What about you, what do you remember?"

"Uh, well, like you said. Before you were sent up. But I remember being angry with the people who sent you, and I know I did something, and I can almost remember something else. But I can't." I looked to him, as he nodded, his gaze flicking to the door. Where Gally was still inside.

"I should talk to him." Newt said, watching my face as I nodded. Something had shifted, and I didn't just find him cute anymore. It was like, how do I explain it. It was like I knew we both were exposed to a new feeling when we kissed.

"Yeah, yeah." I nodded, running a hand through my hair and shaking my head. "Tell him something. Anything. And see what he saw. And if he didn't see much, I don't know, say I kissed you."

"Why?"

"Because, you're technically in charge. And he's starting to rebel. I wouldn't put it past him if he started his own little Gally gang. You need all the upper hands." I tried to explain, as he watched me, almost looking a little hurt.

"You want me to say that I didn't want to kiss you..." He slowly said, as I nodded quickly. We needed the upper hand. "You want me to lie?"

A small smile broke across my face, as I pressed my lips together and nodded again, grinning now.

"Yeah. Lie, stretch the truth. You've done it before." I knew he had, everyone had. I mean, everyone lies. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, looking off, like he was agreeing.

"Right then." He half smiled, looking down at me. I think the reality of what had just happened, us kissing, was finally setting in. And we were acting like a bunch of, well, teenagers.

I laughed, shaking my head and turning, walking away. I glanced back, and he did too, as we both grinned, looking away.

I couldn't believe it, and I was beaming like a little kid. My face was no doubt a bright pink. I bit my lip and wandered over to Thomas, where Teresa was still sitting.

"Yeah, but I remember. It-" She had started to say as I walked over. Well, I guess we were all remembering things. She shut up, like she didn't want me to know. But I didn't pry.

"Hey, Parker." Thomas greeted me, as I nodded. He looked back to Teresa, and then to me, almost hinting that they were in the middle of something.

"Okay then, I'll leave." I put my hands up, smiling to myself. They both nodded gratefully, as I shook my head, wandering over to my hammock.

I sat down. I had been planning on waiting up for Newt to finish, but the second I sat down, my eyes shut fast. My body was practically knocking me out, yelling at me to fall asleep. And I stopped fighting.

I sat up a few hours later, to the start of the maze shifting. I rubbed my eyes and looked over, where Thomas and Minho were standing, ready to enter.

I jumped up, nearly falling over, and sprinted to them. They looked back at me, and I could have sworn I saw Minho smile slightly.

"You sure I can't just run in with you guys?" I asked, almost teasing. Thomas adjusted his harness, which I had noticed had been Ben's, and shrugged.

"Don't worry, I'll describe what it's like in perfect details." He grinned, as I shook my head. I was a lot less salty about it, now that I had slept.