Disclaimer: I give James Dashner full credit for the Maze Runner Trilogy. The only character I own is Kelley.

The wheelchair had finally come and I enjoyed the freedom to move around. I didn't ever want to go back to that room. It had almost become like a prison to me.

The stitches got taken out of my leg and Clint told me how I was going to have quite the nasty scar. I was kind of fine with that, it seemed like something cool to have. Something I could show and tell my family about later.

Clint had me start doing some small leg exercises to build back the muscles I once had. He also allowed me to do small work out in the Gardens like shucking corn, peeling potatoes, washing fruit. I was basically in charge of preparing the produce for cooking, so I kind of became Frypan's assistant for the time being.

For the next week and a half, I stayed in that wheelchair. It really worked out my arms. My biceps had become noticeably bigger. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I eventually decided it was better to have as much muscle as I could get rather not gain any at all.

Then just as I got somewhat emotionally attached to my wheelchair, Clint decided that I should upgrade to crutches. I thought of it as a downgrade. I remembered how much I had hated them the first time. They really hurt your armpits after a while and it's super frustrating. He started having me do more work in the Gardens too. It was the doctor's order to start pulling out weeds. But I had to be on my knees and my leg had to be bandaged between two boards just in case I accidentally put pressure on it.

I still had a lot of anxiety about my leg and what it would be like when I would have to start walking again. There was no way for us to tell if my bone had healed or if the tendons had reattached together. It got scarier for me each morning as Clint helped me through my exercises. My imagination kept getting the best of me and eventually I had to tell him I couldn't do it anymore. Clint was very understanding and I owed a lot to him.

Newt had given me more support than anyone else. We've stayed successfully undiscovered by any of the other Gladers, in the sense that no one has asked us if we were a couple. These boys aren't idiots and I'm sure they've pieced things together, but luckily they've decided not to say anything. I was very grateful for that.

The next morning I woke up to sunlight beating down through my window. It reached the perfect angle that it almost blinded me. I squinted and yawned. I felt more exhausted this morning for some reason. I didn't want to get up. I didn't want to work, but I knew Alby would get mad at me if I didn't do something productive today. 

I sat up and rubbed my face to help myself wake up. I could tell today was going to be a long day.

I gently swung my legs over to one side of the bed and opened a drawer in my bedside table to get some clothes. I didn't have a lot of clothes. None of us did, but it was enough. I grabbed some dark cargo pants and a tan shirt. I brushed my hair and put it in a braid. It had grown a little since I had gotten here. Not much, but it was noticeable to me.

There was a knock on my door.

"Who is it?" I asked as I slipped on my shirt.

"Newt. You decent?" He asked.

I reached for my shoe, "Yes."

The door opened and Newt walked in. He saw me trying to get my shoe, then laughed and got it for me.

I snatched it from him, "I almost had it."

"No, you didn't." He chuckled.

I frowned and put the shoe on my good leg. I wasn't allowed to wear a shoe on my other leg so this one was significantly worn out compared to its partner. 

I didn't like how dependent I was on other people. I was ready to walk on my own without crutches. Reach things and do things without Mama Clint telling me I couldn't because my leg was still sensitive.

Newt helped me bandage up my leg tightly between the boards.

"I hate these things," I said.

"You say that every time."

"And I mean it more and more every day. It looks so stupid."

"But it keeps your bone straight and gives it the chance to grow stronger."

"I know, I know. I just can't wait until I can keep the darned things off."

He handed me my crutches. "Come on, I've got something for you after we eat breakfast."

I looked at him confused, "What is it?"

He smiled, "A surprise."

I smiled back at him as I put the crutches under my arms.

"What for?"

He shrugged, "Just for you being you."

I blushed, "That was shucking cheesy."

"But it made you smile," He kissed me on the cheek.

Even after all this time, I still felt giggly around him. It was like I had become a seven-year-old girl on the inside.

We walked out of my room and down the stairs. We got our breakfast and walked out to our tree as usual. I wasn't sure what the heck the surprise was. The suspense was starting to gnaw away at me. Newt could tell and he found it quite amusing. That little shank.

He set down our food and helped me sit against the trunk of the tree. It hurt a little, but I managed to not show it. We ate and I tried to get Newt to tell me what the surprise was but he never faltered. He was unbreakable. I envied his ability to not slip up. I surely would have if our roles had been reversed.

Finally, we finished our food and he took back our plates and trash to Frypan. I sat there and waited even more. I wasn't sure how long I was going to be able to take this. I had no clue what was going to happen. Newt hadn't given away anything. He refused to answer any of my questions.

It felt like 20 minutes had gone by before he returned. He held out his hand to help me up and I took it. He gave me back my crutches.

"Now close your eyes."

I closed my eyes but left them a wee bit open so that I could make out where Newt was. He didn't move, he just stood there.

"So what's the surprise?"

"I'm not showing you until you really close your eyes."

Dang it.

"How could you tell?"

"Cause I know you, now close them."

I did as I was told and I felt him guide me a few steps, then we stopped. He turned me around. We had barely moved. Had the surprise been this close all along? I literally could have looked around for it while he was gone, but I hadn't thought he would keep it this close. I felt like such a slinthead.

"Can I look now?" I asked.

"Yes."

I open my eyes and realized we had gone to the back of our tree. It had been this close. 

At first, I didn't see anything. I was just staring at the back of the tree. I began to wonder if it was some kind of joke he thought was going to be super funny, but it wasn't. At the bottom of the tree, there was something carved into the bark. A heart. In the heart was carved N + K. I smiled. This was so sweet of him. It was something small and simple, yet meant a lot to me. This really had become our tree.

"Do you like it?"

"I love it."

"I thought you would." He said and wrapped his arms around me.

I looked up at him and we stared into each other's eyes. Then he leaned in and kissed me. 

Everything felt right in the world at that moment. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Every time I kissed Newt it was like a surge of electricity traveling through my body, making everything from my head to my toes feel tingly. I pulled him closer and let my crutches drop. I didn't want anything in the way of this moment. I wanted it to be like as if I didn't have a screwed up leg, that everything was normal.

But it didn't last long. Right in the middle of our kiss, an ear-splitting alarm went off. I looked around to see where it was coming from, but I couldn't identify the source. This had never happened before. What was going on? Was it some kind of disaster alarm? Earthquake? Tsunami? Bombing? I recalled the memory of there being such things but I wondered why we would need them here.

"What the shuck is this?" 

"The Greenie alarm," Newt was smiling.

I looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Whenever we get a Greenie, this alarm goes off to let us know. It didn't happen for you, of course, cause you came through the maze instead of the Box."

"Oh," Then it finally set in, "Oh my gosh. We're getting a Greenie. I'm not the Greenie anymore!"

I laughed a little. It was somewhat comforting. I wouldn't be the center of attention any longer. Maybe there would be another girl and all the boys could gawk at her from now on. I wouldn't be the only girl, the only oddball. I'd have someone to talk to about girly things that I wouldn't be able to really talk to the boys about. It would be a real blessing. Something in my gut told me it had to be a girl coming up, it just had to. I smiled wider than I probably should have.

"Do we go over to the Box now?"

"Not yet, it takes about half an hour for the Box to reach the top. We need to get to work."

I wondered how I was possibly going to be able to focus on my work while this alarm was blaring in my ears, reminding me of the possibility of what was about to arrive.

Newt picked up my crutches and I slipped them underneath my arms. Newt gave me a quick kiss before we went back out into the open. 

I was surprised to see that everyone seemed calm as if this were a normal happenstance. Then I realized that for them, it was. I was the only one not used to this. I was the only one who hadn't seen it happen. Then I realized I didn't even know what it was like to come up into the Glade through the Box. I hadn't had that experience.

"Newt, what is it like coming up through the Box?"

The question caught him off guard.

"Well, everything's dark. You can't see anything, not even yourself. You can tell the Box is moving at a fast pace, but what scares you, even more, is that you don't where you're going, where you came from, who you are and how long you'll be stuck in there. Those 30 minutes are some of the scariest you'll experience."

I looked over at the Box. I felt bad for the poor girl coming up right now. She'd be so shaken, so frightened. I tried to think of what might be a comforting approach to someone who'd be scared and confused out of their mind. I had to be gentle and considerate. I had to answer their questions simply and promise them that they were safe. They would have so many questions, just like I did. I may not have come up through the Box, but I had had the same feelings, the same questions. I was the most recent person to experience the confusion they're going through. I was probably this girl's best bet at a real friend.

Newt walked me over to the Gardens. Today I'd be picking peas. It was something easy, but that meant my mind would be allowed to wander and I knew that would be dangerous for me. My mind liked to come up with impossible scenarios. Ones that I knew would never happen but would stick nonetheless, and bother me until the chance for it to happen had passed. 

I got on my knees, grabbed my basket and started picking. I began to wonder what the girl might be like. Would she be kind? Would she be willing to accept my friendship? Or would she be rude and yell at everyone, like Gally? I shuddered at the thought of getting another person like Gally. 

My mind began to wander out even more. My hands were picking the peas as if I were on autopilot. Would we even get a girl? No. We had to. Why would they just randomly send me if they weren't going to start sending more girls? Why would I have to be alone in here? It made more sense to send more girls rather than just sending one to fend for themselves.

I got so caught up in picking peas and thinking about the Greenie that I hadn't realized how much time had flown by. When I finally looked around, everyone was at the Box. Even Newt had left without saying anything to me. I grabbed my crutches and hobbled over to everyone else. 

I felt so restrained with these crutches. I wanted to run over. I wanted to feel the wind whip past my face and feel the burning in my calves once I've reached my limit. But I couldn't. Clint would kill me, and then when he was done Newt would kill me all over again.

 Once I got to them, I pushed my way through the crowd so I could get to the metal doors. Alby and Newt were getting ready to open them. My heart was beating in my ears. There was a loud metal ker-chunk and the alarm stopped blaring. I couldn't believe it. They were here. The Greenie had arrived.

I tried to lean over to see inside the Box when Alby and Newt opened it, but the boys around me swarmed towards the edge like bees and I was shoved to the back of the group. I almost fell a few times, but I managed to keep my balance. I guess they had all been anxious about the Greenie being another girl as well. I would have laughed at them if I had not been so anxious myself.

I tried to reach the edge of the Box before they could say anything to give away who was inside, but it was too late. They started yapping as soon as the doors had opened.

"Ain't no girl at all."

"What a fat shank."

"Just a little kid." 

"They're sending kids now?" 

"Poor guy." 

"Gonna get eaten by the grievers on his first night, I bet." 

"Big enough to be another one of the pigs."

There was laughing. My heart dropped. It couldn't be true. It couldn't be just another boy. I needed a girl. I needed one to be my friend. I hadn't realized how truly desperate I was for a fellow female until that moment. I felt myself getting a little angry for the creators disregarding my obvious need and sending another boy.

I managed to push past all the boys to the front of the crowd. I looked down into the Box. There were wooden crates, metal barrels, and even a cage holding a pig, probably a pregnant sow. Her belly was much too round to just be well fed. There were other materials and supplies that I didn't care too much about, but in the middle of all the supplies was a little boy, shaking and crying his eyes out. 

He couldn't have been more than 11 or 12 years old. He was chubby and had curly brown hair. His pants were soiled. My frustration melted and I felt so much compassion for the kid. He was so young, younger than any of us. He was confused and scared to death. It didn't help that all of the boys were making fun and pointing at him.

"The Greenie done and klunked his pants," someone sniggered next to me.

"You're gonna have to get out of there sometime, Greenie," Alby shouted down into the Box.

The kid looked fearfully up at Alby and started rocking back and forth. Then he rested his head down on his knees and whimpered. He had snot running down from his nose and his brown eyes were red and puffy from all of his crying. My heart sank and I knew I had to use my motherly tendencies to help calm him down. None of these boys were going to make him feel safe at all. The poor kid was lucky to have me. All these guys were gonna do was make him feel more confused and hurt.

As if to prove my point, Alby hopped down into the Box and pointed at the boy fiercely. 

"Come on, shank. Get up! We don't got time for this klunk."

I had enough of this, someone had to stick up for the Greenie.

"Alby, don't shucking scare the kid. Look at him, he's shaking."

Alby's head snapped in my direction and the boy looked up at me. I smiled kindly and the tears stopped streaming from his eyes, but I could still see his chest heaving.

"Bring him up carefully, Alby. I'll take care of him since no one else around here understands what common decency is."

Alby squinted at me, obviously deciding if he should yell at me for my comment, but he looked down at the Greenie and sighed. He made the kid stand up and got him out of the Box with the help of Newt and Gally. I made my way over to him. He stared up at me with wide eyes and I looked at him with a soft smile. 

"Don't worry about Alby, kid. He may seem scary, but he won't hurt you. I'm Kelley. What's your name?"

He sniffed and brought his hand up to his face to wipe off some snot. 

"Chuck. I think my name is Chuck."

I put a hand on his shoulder, "Nice to meet you, Chuck. Welcome to the Glade."

"What's the Glade?" He asked.

"Where we all live. I'll explain everything else later, okay? But right now we gotta get you some new clothes. Good that? Uh, I mean...alright?"

Chuck slowly nodded and I turned towards the Homestead.

"Follow me."

I started moving. It took him a while to follow me cause all of the Gladers were glaring at him like it had been the kid's own fault for not being a girl. When Chuck caught up with me he still looked as spooked as a rabbit in a cage full of foxes.

I looked at him, "Don't pay attention to them, only focus on me."

He quickly scuttled along with me. I felt like a real mom and I was beginning to fall in love with this kid. I was fine that I hadn't gotten what I thought I wanted. He needed help and I was glad to give mine. Maybe this is really what I needed instead of a girl friend. Maybe I just needed someone to take care of, someone who was dependent on me.

"Who are you guys?" Chuck asked.

"We're the people who live here. You'll have to get used to those boys soon. I'm sorry about how they treated you. They're awfully rough on Greenies."

"Greenies?"

"New people."

"Oh," He looked down at my leg.

I could see he was hesitant to ask the question so I went ahead and answered it for him.

"I hurt my leg, but you're gonna have to wait to hear the story. There's a lot you're going to have to learn about this place."

He looked scared again.

"Don't worry. I'll answer all of your questions in due time. There's no need to be afraid, you're in a safe place. Now come on in. I have some fresh clothes in my room for you."

I opened the door to the Homestead and walked with him up to my room. I gave him some shorts and a baggy jacket that had originally been Newt's. I had a feeling Newt wasn't going to be too happy seeing the Greenie wear it instead of me, but I didn't care. I wanted to make this kid feel happy and welcome. I wanted him to know he was safe and that I'd protect him. I wanted to make sure he'd never get in trouble and have a happy life.

Something about helping him brought back that nagging feeling that I had forgotten something. There was something from my previous life that had to do with taking care of younger people. I couldn't tell what it was specifically, but I knew this came naturally to me because of my previous life. I knew what to say to Chuck and how to calm him down. After 10 minutes or so, he looked a lot better, much more presentable. The scared look in his eyes had finally worn off and when I told him how nice he looked, he actually smiled. A nice genuine smile. I felt my heart grow. This kid just unknowingly became one of the few people I loved in this maze.