"Can you tell me your name?" Ava asked the girl.
"Teresa. My name is Teresa." She replied.
"What do you think this means?" She asks, looking down at the paper that read in all caps, 'SHE'S THE LAST ONE, EVER!'
"I don't know. But I do know that I remember you. I don't know how, but I do." Ava smiled slightly, before hearing Minho calling for her at the entrance to the maze.
"I have to go. If you don't feel safe or you have a question, you go to Newt okay. He'll tell you what you need to know." Teresa nodded as she watched Ava get up and rush towards Minho.
"Ready, Green-bean?" Minho smirked.
"Ah, ah, ah, you can't call me that no more. I'm not the newbie now, am I."
"You say that like actually care." They both laughed a little before Minho thought it best to bring up something they were both avoiding. "Are you okay? After yesterday?"
"Fine." She sighs. "I don't wanna talk or think about it."
"Ava, you can't just-"
"Can we just go?"
-----
While the runners were in the maze, meaning Ava wasn't around to keep her company, Teresa wondered why she kept mentioning one name in particular. She wondered what was going on between the two of them, because there was obviously something. She tried to keep mostly to herself, but it gave her too much time to learn how loud her thoughts actually could get. She decided she would get up and maybe take Ava's advice, but also it was time for answers. She didn't exactly know who she was looking for, but she had a name and that was a good start. She didn't really know who it would be best to ask. Then again, everyone seemed to know everyone around here, so it shouldn't be that hard to track him down.
"Excuse me." Teresa spoke, gently tapping the boy's shoulder.
"What do you want, newbie?" Gally seethed, obviously mad he had been disturbed from his work.
"Umm, I was just wondering if you could point me in the direction of, uh, Newt?" She replied.
"Yeah, he's over there. Now don't bother me again." She looked to where he was pointing at, and luckily there was just him on his own. She walked over, and he immediately saw her coming.
"You're Newt?" She asked.
"Yeah. Did you need something?" He said, kinda hoping she would just leave.
"Just, Ava said to come to you if I feel unsafe or have any questions and you'll tell me what I need to know." Teresa noticed him tense at the mention on Ava's name, and added that to her long list of questions.
"She said that?" She nodded. "I didn't think she would." He sighed.
"What's going on with you two?"
"I don't think she'd want me to talk about it with anyone."
"She talks about you a lot. She wouldn't tell me what went down, but she did say that her brother caused a lot of trouble between you."
"I did what I had to do. This way, I'm not gonna hurt her."
"What's the worst that could happen to a girl that's already hurt." He looked at her. "Talk to her."
-----
That evening, Ava had missed dinner as she was still in the maze. People were getting worried she wasn't gonna make it before the walls closed and had gathered around the exit.
"Why isn't she back yet?" Chuck worried.
"She will be." Thomas said, though it sounded more like he was reassuring himself.
"But what if she's not?" They all fell quiet and that's when they heard it. The clunking and clattering that told them the walls were closing.
"Thomas-" Newt started, only to be cut off.
"She'll be here." He snapped. "Come on, Ava." He added, under his breath.
"Look, look, there she is." Teresa pointed out. They looked out to Ava, who hadn't realised the walls were closing until she saw them. She started to spirt towards the quickly closing doors as people beckoned her to be quicker. She hears something clatter on the floor and stops, seeing the crystal had dropped out of her pocket.
"What are you doing?" Minho shouted, watching her stop to pick it up, meaning she had less time to get to through the walls. This made her run as fast as her legs would take her. She had to squeeze through the gap as it was still compressing her, and managed to escape with her life, throwing herself to the floor as the loud boom echoed through her ears. She was helped up and she let out a breath of relief. "You almost died, what happened?"
"I dropped something, I didn't wanna leave it." She replied.
"What was so important it was worth risking your life for?" Gally asked, unimpressed.
"I don't see what that has to do with you, Gally." She said, hiding her hand behind her back.
"Let me take a look." He demanded, but Ava shook her head. "Now, Ava!"
"Gally!" Alby snapped, before turning to Ava. "Could I get a look? You don't have to give it to me, just let me see it." She sighed, briefly meeting Newt's eyes before holding it out. Alby seemingly knew where it'd come from because he then said, "alright, everyone go to bed. It's late." Ava was about to walk off when Newt pulled her back. She couldn't even look him in the eyes so she continued to stare at the floor.
"Ava-"
"I know what you're gonna say, Newt."
"No, you don't know what I'm gonna say." He says and she goes quiet. "That was stupid. You should've left it."
"I couldn't just leave it out there."
"You could've been locked out there. You could've been hurt."
"Well I'm already hurt, Newt. You hurt me. That was your fault. All I've been thinking all day is maybe it's me. Maybe it was something I did."
"You know that's not true, Ava. Thomas didn't approve of us being together."
"If I really meant that much to you, that wouldn't've mattered." She shrugged him off and walked away.
