Disclaimer: I give James Dashner full credit for the Maze Runner Trilogy. The only character I own is Kelley. I use the appearances of the characters from the movies but the books' circumstances.

My eyes fluttered open. I was lying on cold, rough stone. I could feel the sun's warm rays beating down on my back. I lifted up my head a little and blinked a few times, getting my eyes to adjust. The floor was cracked from age.

I sat up. Hair fell in front of my face, so I swept it away. I looked at my hands; dirty, scuffed and slightly bleeding.

"Ow." 

Whoa. I thought to myself. This is what I really sound like? I couldn't believe that I didn't remember the sound of my own voice. It was deeper than I had expected.

Now that you mention it, I don't remember anything. Where am I? How did I get here? What was I doing? Oh, crap....who am I?

Kelley.

That was my name. The only thing that I could remember.

I looked at my clothes. I was wearing a thick, light brown, button-up jacket with two pockets, a plain white t-shirt, beige cargo pants and some seriously heavy-duty hiking boots. I was covered in dirt. My shirt had a few holes in it. What had happened? 

I stood up and looked around. I was in some sort of corridor. There were stone walls that were impossibly tall and what seemed to be like more corridors branching off from either end. Other than the ivy scaling almost every inch of the place, I couldn't see any other sign of life. 

I noticed the sun was in the near middle of the sky. Noon. How long had I been laying here? Why aren't there any people? What am I supposed to do?

Questions kept flowing in and out of my mind and I knew I was going to get a headache. So I stopped. I stopped thinking and focused on what was more important for the moment. I at least knew that wherever I was, I wasn't supposed to stay. I needed to get out.

I looked around some more and a memory came to mind, a single word. Maze. Well, shoot. I remembered how difficult those were to navigate. How was I supposed to get out if I didn't even know where I was?

I walked down the corridor and peered around the corner. There wasn't anything too different. Just more corridors. More chances to get hopelessly lost. I walked down another one and stopped at an intersection. I looked down both and they were practically identical.

My word, who made this? Who had so much time on their hands that they made this ridiculously elaborate maze? They needed to get a life. 

I took the left corridor because it seemed slightly more promising.

Another left.

A right.

A right again.

Where am I supposed to go? Do I just wander around aimlessly until I find something or someone? What do I even say? Kind sir, would you please direct me out of this maze? I've lost my way and it is forever impossible to keep track of all these corridors. Do you by chance know who I am? I surely haven't a clue. Oh, look! A squirrel!

I began to wonder if I'd manage to stay sane before I found anyone.

I walked left to another corridor. Left. Another memory surfaced and I smacked my forehead for not realizing it earlier. It was a strategy for being lost in a maze. If you stuck to the left wall and never let go, you'd eventually find the way out. Or was it the right wall?

My gut told me left would probably be the likelier one out of the two, so I slapped the left wall and dragged my hand along it. 

Minutes passed. Minutes turned into hours. I had no way to keep track of the exact time. The sun had moved down quite a bit, but it was far from sunset. What was I to do? I've whistled every tune imaginable to keep myself occupied. If this maze was as big as I thought it was, how long would it be until I had found an exit?

My stomach growled. 

Right, food. That's a thing. How could I have forgotten? I stopped and patted down all my pockets, hoping there would be something. I sighed as my search went unsuccessful and I resumed to my prior task of brushing my hand against the left wall and whistling some song I couldn't remember the name to.

I looked at the plants and wondered if it was edible. I stared at it for a long time and decided against it since I wasn't that desperate.

Then, as if by a miracle, I heard the shuffle of feet. Someone was running in a nearby corridor. I hadn't realized I had frozen. I tried to yell at them to make up for my late reaction.

"HEY!!!! HEY COME BACK I NEED HELP!!!!!!" 

The sound of feet died away. I was too late.

"Crap."

I was such an idiot. I promised myself that next time (if there was a next time) I'd start yelling right away.

The corridors seemed never-ending, and I swear I was going in circles but that should have been impossible. Maybe some parts of the maze were identical in an attempt to confuse the victims thrust into this hell-hole.

I hoped that I would hear someone else.

If there was another person, they never came.

More hours passed by and I had started talking to myself to cope with the loneliness. I made an imaginary friend named Frederick who was infatuated pineapples and claimed to be a psychic. He was pretty funny. 

The sun was starting to set. Would I have to spend the night in here? There wasn't any food or water. Should I sleep or keep going? I didn't feel tired yet, but I'm not sure I'd see quite perfectly at night. What if I ran into something?

Then I heard the sound of stone grinding against stone. It sounded close, very close. I started running, running as fast as I could. I kept pushing. I pushed past the burning and stinging. My shoes weighed me down and made it impossible to sprint. 

Then I turned the corner. 

I stopped. For some idiotic reason, I stopped. I wish I would have realized my mistake sooner. The doors were closing. 

Just behind it was a green field with people. Trees and a farm and some tall building. That must have been what I was trying to get to. It felt right.

I started running again. I shouted louder than I thought possible. I had to get out of this thing. I was not about to be left in here overnight.

"HEY!!!! HEY SOMEBODY HELP!!!!!! KEEP THE DOORS OPEN!!! I'M STILL OUT HERE!!!!"

Some of the people gathered near the door. Some were confused, some looked as frantic as I felt. I heard them shouting back at me:

"KEEP GOING!"

"YOU'RE ALMOST THERE!"

"YOU'RE GONNA MAKE IT!"

I could see their faces now. A few of them tried to push against the doors to buy me some time, but it obviously wasn't working.

I was gonna make it, I could feel it. The doors were literally 30 feet away and still decently open. I smiled.

Then I tripped. Those stupid hiking boots were too big for running this much. I had misstepped and face planted onto the ground. 

The people on the other side shouted louder for me to get up, some talked about coming out to get me, but a louder, gruffer voice told them no.

I picked myself up and realized that I had screwed myself over. The doors were a foot from closing. I ran right up to it.

"OPEN UP!!" I shrieked. "PLEASE, JUST OPEN!!! LET ME IN!!!"

Some of them stared, others hung their heads in disappointment, but none of them seemed to be doing anything to help me.

What were they doing? Why couldn't I be let in? Why didn't they try to help? I felt tears start to stream down my face.

"PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!"

The doors closed with an echoing boom. 

I stood there and stared at the door, unsure of what had just happened. I felt like a trapped animal. I gripped the ivy on the walls and tried to stop my hands from shaking. I don't know how long I stood like that, but eventually, I gathered myself together and started pounding on the door, threatening its life. 

I know the door isn't a person, but I needed to yell at something and it was the only thing there that was somewhat responsible for my current condition. Frederick joined in and kicked the wall a few times for me.

I yelled until my voice turned raspy and my throat became sore. I needed water desperately. 

I turned around, leaned back against the wall and slid down until I sat on the ground. I felt lost and hopeless. 

Was this hell? Had I died and wound up in a place where I'd be constantly tormented by never reaching my goal, never having the comfort of food or water or a place to sleep? Was I supposed to waste away here forever suffering for something I don't even remember doing? What had I done to deserve this? Did I really suck that bad?

This couldn't have been hell though. I didn't feel like I died and had been translated to an alternate dimension where I would pay for all of my sins. I still felt mortal and very much alive. There would have some kind of explanation right? A little meeting with the devil telling me why I had been sent here and what was to happen.

Nothing was making sense, especially not me.

Grinding noises similar to the one the door had made started appearing all over the maze. For a second I thought it was another door opening, but as soon as I turned the corner I could see the maze rearranging itself. Yet another thing that made no sense to me. I felt my eyes starting to sting. More tears were on their way. My throat clamped up and I could feel my chest beginning to physically hurt from all of the emotional pain.

I sobbed for a good 30 minutes before crawling into a corner and falling into a dreamless sleep.

************

A metallic scraping noise woke me up. It was followed by an animal-like screech. 

I stood up and looked around. Everything was dark. I could barely make out my hands in front of me. I felt uneasy. Something bad was coming. I wasn't sure how I knew but there was this tension in the air that was almost tangible. My heart began to pound. Do I call for help? Do I run? Do I stay still? What is in this maze?

Then there was a roaring sound, almost like a chainsaw.

I did not like this. Not one little bit. This was all kinds of nope. Frederick wasn't having it either. 

My breaths became shaky and I felt jumpy, like my senses were turned up to eleven.

Frederick tried to comfort me. He said it was probably just a bad dream. A very long, bad dream with realistic surroundings and noises. With genuine feelings of dread, hunger, and exhaustion. I'll just wake up in a few minutes and laugh about my dream with my family and friends. I had those, right? People who cared about me. People who would help me get over the psychological toll all of this would obviously have on my mental health. 

Then it turned the corner. This giant slug. This grotesque mass had four-foot spikes protruding from its outer membrane. It glowed too. Beams of light shot out from its body along with drills, saws and who knows what other murderous tools. 

I stayed still and prayed to God that it wouldn't notice me. I kept my breaths quiet and slow.

We stayed like this for a good 10 minutes, each moment seemed to drag out into a million. The thing was so hideous I could barely even look at it. I wasn't sure if I was going to throw up, scream, run or beat the crap out of it. The hairs on the back of my neck stood still.

It didn't move, it just sat there almost as if it were saying: I'm going to kill you, but I feel like driving you insane before I rip your limbs apart, so I'll just sit here. How was your day?

Tingles ran through my body. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins. It was getting more and more difficult to stay still. Sweat was forming in every place imaginable.

A part of me wanted to curl up into a fetal position and start crying again. Maybe severe depression would ward off this creature. 

Then I thought that it was possibly harmless. I mean we've been at this for what? 15 minutes now, and nothing has happened. I was about to start walking, but then its lights moved. 

They all pointed at me as if scanning me for something or trying to identify me. My heart pounded in my ears. 

A beam of light shot straight into my eye. 

"Ah!" I covered my eyes with my hands. They hurt. Those lights were brighter than they seemed.

It screamed at me as if I had insulted it or challenged it. Then it started to charge a lot faster than I thought possible for something its size.

"AAAAAGH!" Frederick and I screamed in unison and ran along the wall and around the monster.

It whirred its drills and roared its chainsaws. Then chased after me. I ran and ran and ran. I had to get away. I had to find a safe place, somewhere I could hide from this thing until those doors opened up again. 

My legs screamed nearly as loud as my predator. I wanted to stop but I wanted to stay alive more. There was no way I was going to die. I didn't even know why I was alive, to begin with. I had to be here for some reason. I wasn't meant to be shredded by an over-grown cyborg slug. 

It was almost like that thing was getting faster. I didn't know how much longer I could take this. All I could hope for was that it would get worn out before I did. 

Breathing was getting harder and I kept tripping. I swore once I was able to get rid of these shoes, I would. I hated them. I hated them so much. I'll light them on fire and watch them burn if I get the chance. Give them a taste of the torture they inflicted upon me while I was running for my life. 

The monster's noises started to become obnoxious. Slime against stone, chainsaws dragging against the walls, screeches like nails on a chalkboard. If I ever get the chance I'll light him on fire. 

Just then I rounded a corner and realized I had made yet another mistake. I had turned too far into a dead end. I just loved putting myself into dangerous situations, didn't I? I turned around and noticed the thing was still following me and blocked my way out. 

Why me? Out of all the billions of the people on the planet, why was I the one to go through this? Frederick wasn't sure either. He said the probability should have been too low to ever happen to anyone. 

The monster roared at me as if I said something offensive about his mother. My circumstances were terrible and I had had just about enough from this piece of crap, so I just let loose.

"Well for all I could care, your mother can go jump off a cliff and you can join her." I stuck my tongue out at him.

This was oddly satisfying.

Then it screamed and started to charge. I remembered that it could kill me and quickly forgot the empowering feeling of insulting the darned thing.

I ran down to the end of the corridor and started searching the wall. There could be a secret door to save my life. Maybe a ladder to get me out. A gun to shoot it with would be nice too. I'll take anything I can get at this point. 

My time was limited and I had to come up with another option. It was closer than I would have liked, so I resorted to something less rational and probably all kinds of stupid. I turned around and stared it straight in the face.

"Come and get me you idiot." 

It roared in response and started going faster. I let my inner coward take control and I ran around the monster at the last second. I had gotten pretty close to it, but as far as I could tell I had gone free of any casualties.

I kept running and everything was hurting. My left arm hurt more for some reason, but I didn't have time to check it out. I heard the creature start following me again. This was how I was going to die, wasn't it? Eaten by a slug monster. Fantastic. Only Frederick would be able to tell people my story.

I traced my way back to the door and looked around. There had to be some way to get away from this thing, some way to open the doors or kill it. Then the screeching got louder and stranger.

I turned around to see two of them now. Just my luck. I grabbed one of the ivy vines and tugged on it. It broke easily so I grabbed a thicker one and tried again. It seemed secure so I started climbing. My hands were dripping with sweat and I almost slipped a few times. I decided I was safe fifteen feet above ground and stopped as I reached it. They sat at the base of the wall as if they no longer knew how to pursue me. I looked up and saw the sun starting to rise. 

I sighed in relief. They screamed at me and I stuck my tongue out at them.

"That's right! You don't mess with me! I'm too cool for you. Now run back home to your mommy and never come back. You stupid pieces of crap." I laughed along with Frederick. He gave me a high five.

My arms and legs were starting to violently shake from supporting my body weight for too long. I was starting to panic. The monsters were still below me and hadn't moved. Were they waiting for me to fall off?

Then they started climbing.

I screamed incoherently and started scaling to the right to get away. Most of the vines were falling away and wouldn't support me well enough. I managed to move a couple feet to the right and a few feet down before all support fell from underneath me. 

I hit the ground with a thud and I thought for sure I had broken something. The monsters screamed at me for inconveniencing them with making them climb up the wall if all I was going to do was fall down eventually. 

I apologized and started running again. I could see the sun had almost risen all the way. Then the sound of stone grinding against stone started. The doors were opening and I was running away from them because of these stupid things. I looked back and saw both of the monsters still in pursuit. How had they not given up? What was so desirable about me? Why can't they just leave me alone?

I turned the corner and hit a dead end. 

I looked around frantically. There was nothing I could do to lose them. There was nothing different about this one than the others. My energy was severely depleted. I must have been running for hours by now.

A metal drill reached out and sliced the floor next to me. I screamed and turned around. 

There it was, just 3 feet away from me and ready to kill. It reeled back and extended another drill for a second attempt on my life.

By some miracle, I caught the arm on its way down.

I couldn't tell who was more surprised, me or the monster. 

I pushed it away and started backing up. The second monster came out from behind the first and screeched at me.

I ran out of ideas so I started screaming at the top of my lungs. The monsters stopped for a quick second, phased by my outburst, but not for long. They started charging again and I gave up. I ran to the back wall and watched as they got closer and closer. There was no way I could run around both of them without getting severely hurt. Would it be worth it? Or should I just let my destiny to be eaten by these things play out?

Then a boy appeared at the end of the hallway.

"HEEYY!!" He shouted and waved his arms.

The things turned around and must have found him as more suitable prey. They didn't even hesitate in their new pursuit. The guy went off running and I was left alone.

I finally had a moment to catch my breath. I slumped to the ground and groaned in pain. Every muscle hurt. Every part of my body was done. I felt as if I wouldn't be able to move for days.

My left arm started bothering me more prominently than anything else. I looked at it and noticed a wide gash and a small piece of metal protruding from the wound. My jacket had been soaked from my shoulder to my elbow with blood.

"Well, would you look at that."

I didn't touch it. I wasn't sure what the right medical procedure was, nor did I have the strength to perform it.

I rolled my head against the wall and closed my eyes. My breathing became very shallow and my surroundings started to get fuzzy. I couldn't think straight. I wanted to call for help, but ugh. I wanted to sleep. My head bobbed up and down as I fought against my desire to rest. I had to get up, I had to move.

I tried to speak, but it just came out in a hushed mumble. 

I cleared my throat and tried to simply make noise. It was a weak attempt, but I at least squeaked out the word help a few times.

Someone must have heard me because a few seconds later I heard footsteps, and another boy appeared down the corridor. He stared at me and I stared back.

I tried to get up, but I ended up tipping over and falling sideways onto the ground. He ran over and picked me up.

He had black hair and tannish skin. I couldn't make out any definite features since my vision started going hazy.

"Who are you?" he asked

I croaked out a moan and fell into unconsciousness.

*************

When I woke up I didn't recognize where I was. Again. I had almost gotten used to unfamiliar surroundings. 

I felt a lot better than what I last remembered. I could see clearly, my throat didn't feel raw and my muscles had obviously gotten better, though still sore. 

My arm and right ankle were bandaged. I must have sprained my ankle from the fall. Someone had taken off my jacket, washed it and laid on a nearby chair. I was in a wooden room on a cot. It looked adequately constructed. Sturdy, but not professional. I looked around, but nobody was there. 

"H-hello?" My voice cracked.

I cleared my throat and spoke louder, "Hello?"

Two boys walked over to my doorway and saw I was awake. One told the other to go to an alley. It didn't make sense, but I didn't care. The one who stayed walked up to me. He was on the shorter side and I thought I saw a few grey hairs amongst the black ones, but that couldn't have been right. This kid was only about 16.

He sat down in the chair next to me. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been worse..." I suddenly realized I was thirsty. "Do you have any water?"

He nodded and handed me a glass he had in his hand. I grabbed it and slowly drank all of it. It felt so nice. I love water. Water is nice. Water is a good friend of mine. Then I realized the kid was watching me. I stared at him for a while and then decided to break the awkward silence.

"What's your name?"

"Clint." He smiled kindly, which was somehow creepy and not creepy at the same time.

I smiled back. "Nice to meet you Clint..... Where am I?"

"You're in the homestead."

I nodded slowly, not knowing where that was. "And that is.....?"

"Ah," He understood that I didn't, "it's where we sleep. Don't worry. Alby will be here soon enough to explain everything."

Oh, it was Alby. Not alley. 

"Who's Alby?"

"Our leader. He's been here the longest."

"......And where is here?" I attempted to get a clearer answer.

"The Glade. The Maze. Whatever you want to call it."

"What's the Glade?"

He shook his head and smiled. "Greenies always ask so many questions."

I wasn't sure how I felt about that word.

"What did you just call me?"

Clint was about to explain when the other guy I had seen with Clint and the guy who must have been Alby walked. Clint's friend was tall, had a buzz cut and was decently built for someone as skinny as he was. Alby seemed like a very scary person. He was dark-skinned, had short hair and looked like his face had always been kept in a permanent scowl. He looked at me disapprovingly, almost as if he was saying: How dare you come in here injured and ask for shelter and food. Go back out there and bleed yourself to death.

He glared at me for a few seconds.

"Hi," I said. "You must be Alby."

He nodded curtly. "And who are you?"

Crap. What are the chances they would believe me? Judging by Alby's attitude, he would kick me out and let the monsters finish me off. I would have liked to play it safe, but I had a gut feeling to just tell the truth.

"I.....I don't...I don't remember anything except my name. Kelley."

Clint looked over at his tall friend. "Just like a normal greenie. Maybe she's not that different after all."

Alby snapped his head and looked at Clint fiercely, "We don't know that yet. Now get that klunk idea out of your head and help me figure out what the shuck is happening."

I felt really out of place and uncomfortable, awkwardness was practically radiating off of me.

"What...did I do?" I asked gently.

Alby looked at me, "Nothing...yet." He onced me over and I felt very self-conscious. "Why were you in the maze?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Do you remember how you got there?"

".....No."

He sighed. "Do you remember anything that happened before you got in the maze?"

I felt like I was the biggest disappointment ever. Just another waste of his time and space.

".........No."

"How did you survive the maze last night?" I felt like he was reaching into my soul with his icy glare.

"I uh, well I probably slept for a majority of it, but I just kept running away from the thingy-things that were trying to murder me-

"Grievers." He interrupted.

"Huh?" The word was very foreign to me.

"The thing that attacked you, we call'em Grievers," Clint explained.

"Oh... That's a cool name I guess. But yeah, that's just about what happened. Not to mention me almost dying a few times, but I guess that's a given when trying to escape gravers."

"Grievers," Alby corrected.

I nodded, "Yeah, those."

Clint looked at me, apparently impressed with what I had said. "You handled a griever all by yourself?"

"Two actually."

Clint smiled widely and looked at Alby, "Come on Alby. You've gotta give at least some credit to this girl. She's done something none of us ever could."

Alby nodded, but I could tell that he still pretty much hated me for just being here.

I looked at Clint, "How long have I been asleep?"

He tilted his head to the right, "Maybe a day and a half?"

"What? That long?"

"Yeah, you must have been exhausted. I only remember two other people sleeping that long." 

Clint seemed like a really decent guy, a promising friend. I wasn't sure about Alby though. He made me feel like I was a nuisance. Like I had wronged him in a way I could never make up for. It almost seemed childish.

Alby turned to Clint, "We'll have a gathering to discuss this with the keepers later today, alright? Spread the word. I'm gonna go talk to Newt."

Clint nodded.

"Who's Newt?" I asked.

"No one of your concern." Alby snapped.

I raised my hands in defense, "Okay, geez. It was just a question."

Alby scoffed and stormed out of the room.

I frowned, "Well, he's a real gentleman."

Clint laughed a little, "Alby's just protective of us. He always wants to make sure we're safe. Since you arrived, he's been on high alert. You're different than all the other greenies"

"Okay, what in the world is a greenie? What are all these weird words you guys keep using? It's kind of creeping me out." 

"Don't overwhelm her too much." said the other boy.

Clint apologized, "Sorry. Greenie basically means a new person. We've got a lot of slang that you'll pick up on as you stay here."

I nodded, "Okay," I looked at the other boy, "What's your name?"

He smiled politely, "Jeff."

I smiled back, "Cool name."

Jeff smiled a little bigger, "Thanks."

I was hesitant about asking my next question, but these boys seemed like a decent pair that I could trust. 

"Do you know who I am?" I asked.

They both looked at each other.

"Sorry Kelley," Jeff said, "but no. It's alright though, nobody remembers who they were before arriving here. It's one of the things we've never been able to figure out."

That made me feel slightly better. "Am I not supposed to remember anything else too?"

Jeff nodded, "The only thing we've noticed is that we remember basic knowledge. Like you know what a beach is, right?"

I nodded, recalling the noise of the ocean lapping onto the sand.

"But do you remember ever being on one with other people? Possibly family or friends?" Clint asked.

I was about to say yes, but then I realized I couldn't pull a distinct memory. 

"No, actually."

This really surprised me. At first, it was weird that I couldn't remember anything, but knowing that nobody else remembers almost made it worse. That means nobody has an answer. Nobody knows where I came from or what I was supposed to do or become. Nobody will be able to help me get back to my family or resume my life. Who knows what I had before. I could have had a perfect life, but now because of whoever or whatever put me here, all of that was gone. I felt almost hopeless, and I must have started looking that way too.

"Hey, don't worry," Clint said, "We'll all figure it out someday. I'm sure."

I faked a smile, "Thanks, Clint."

Jeff looked down the hallway, "Maybe we should take her to Frypan and have her eat. It's lunchtime anyway."

Clint nodded, "Good that." He looked back at me, "Do you think you can walk?"

I shrugged, "Sure."

I sat up a little too quickly and started seeing stars. I grabbed Clint's arm to steady myself.

"Take it easy," Jeff said.

I nodded and slowly put my legs over the edge of the cot. I felt slightly drowsy. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

Clint held my left arm and Jeff held my right. I started standing and my legs felt like jelly. My ankle felt like it was on fire. Jeff grabbed a pair of crutches and handed them to me. They guided me carefully over to the door and down the stairs. 

"Do you think you can walk on your own now?" Jeff asked.

I shrugged. "Sure. I'll give it a try."

They let go of me and I took a few steps. I was able to maneuver myself correctly after a few seconds. 

"So who's Frypan?" I asked.

"He's our cook and a good one at that too," Clint answered.

"Oh, that's cool." 

We walked out of the building that must have been the "homestead" as Clint earlier described. It was a simple wood building, but still impressive, might I add. It was four stories tall.

We walked over to a nearby table where some other boys had already congregated. I got lots of weird looks and they started whispering to each other. I felt self-conscious again.

Clint told me to sit down with Jeff as he got the food from Frypan. 

The other boys kept staring at me. It was really getting on my nerves. I was pretty sure I wasn't horrendously ugly or severely disfigured. There was no reason to stare. I was a normal human just like the rest of them. I had gone through too much crap to be treated like a monster or something to be entertained by. I decided to do something about it.

"Keep staring at me and I'll slap you into tomorrow, okay? If you have a question just ask."

Some of them laughed under their breath, a few others scowled and one actually got up and left. I didn't care who did what, all I cared about is that they actually stopped staring at me. One of the boys got up and sat next to me. He was an average height, had darkly tanned skin and longer hair than most of the other boy's but was very decently built. His biceps were the size of tennis balls. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, not entirely sure what he was up to.

"Hi, my name is Frankie."

I looked at him, unsure at first of his intentions. He didn't seem that bad, so I returned the favor.

"I'm Kelley."

He smiled at me, "Pretty name."

I wasn't sure how to take that, "...Thanks."

A boy across from us laughed, "Already trying to pick up the greenie, Frankie?"

He was on the younger side, skinny and slightly gangly with brown eyes and brown hair.

Frankie glared at him, "Shut up, Jack."

Clint came back with food and gave me some of it. I was glad to have a reason to not talk to the boys anymore. 

Out of the boys who decided to stay at the table with me, four of them had asked me questions. Frankie asked if I had really come from the maze. Some guy named Tim asked me how I hurt my ankle and I told him about climbing the wall to get away from the grievers. He told me I was one crazy shank, whatever that means. I had forgotten the last two questions but I think the boys' names were Zart and Dave.

They all seemed pretty cool. No one seemed as hostile as Alby had been, except for a few boys who had walked by and given me some really rude glances. One of them had weird eyebrows and I had a hard time telling what emotion he was trying to express with his face. I thought I had seen the last of him for now until he came back after a few minutes and stopped at our table. 

He was pale-skinned, covered in freckles and had short, light brown hair. He looked like one of the stronger boys in the group.

He glanced at me cautiously and then spoke to Zart and Clint.

"Did you hear about the gathering Alby is having tonight?"

Clint nodded. "Yeah, we're starting as soon as Minho comes back from his run."

I looked at Clint, "What's a gathering?"

Before he could answer, the other guy pointed a finger at me and spoke rather harshly. 

"It's none of your business, greenie. So keep your nose out of it."

I was taken aback by his rudeness. It caught me off guard enough that I didn't have a good come back, so I stayed silent.

Clint raised an eyebrow at him, "Actually it is her business. The gathering is about her."

That didn't make me feel good. "...Is that a bad thing...or....?"

Clint smiled reassuringly, "No. A gathering is just a meeting of all the keepers in the Glade. Alby just wants to make sure you're someone we can trust before we let you become one of us."

I didn't know what keepers were, but I didn't want to ask. I was afraid of asking too many questions at the moment.

"So I'm not in trouble?"

The boy scoffed and folded his arms, "Not yet, anyway."

Clint glared at him and looked back at me, "No, you'll be fine. You have nothing to worry about."

I wanted to trust Clint's statement, but I wasn't entirely sure I was going to get off the hook easily what with Alby and this kid with the weird eyebrows giving me death glares. I'll just have to prove myself. Prove that I literally have no idea where I am and what had happened to me. 

The other boy left in a huff.

"What's his deal?"

Jeff shrugged, "Gally doesn't trust people easily. He's a real pile of klunk if you ask me."

"When are you getting a tour of the place, Kelley?" Jack asked.

"Uhhh," I looked at Clint and Jeff. "I'm not sure...."

"I'll ask Newt to show you around before the gathering so you can get familiar with everything," Clint said.

"Sounds cool, who's Newt?"

"The second in command," Frankie answered.

"Oh," I leaned over to Clint, "is he like Alby?"

Clint laughed, "No, not even shucking close to Alby. Don't worry, you'll like him."

I felt reassured. Then Jeff stood up.

"How about I go out and get him? I saw him walk out to the gardens a few minutes ago."

Clint shrugged, "Makes no difference to me."

Jeff walked away. 

I finished my food and Clint took the trash back to wherever he got the food. When he got back, he helped me up and gave me my crutches. Some of the boys said goodbye and I waved in response. Clint had me walk around in the open field as we waited to make sure that my ankle wasn't getting worse and that I'd be capable of moving around on my own. Eventually, we could see Jeff walking back towards us with another guy.

Something about the guy seemed off. Then I realized it was because he had a limp. It wasn't too noticeable, but still there.

Clint greeted the guy with a smile, "Hey, Newt. Ready to show our greenie around?"

Newt shrugged, "I'm ready if she is."

There was something off about his voice too. It sounded different than the rest of ours. It took me a while to finally realize he had an accent. It was strange.

"Can I not be called a greenie? Or is that not an option?"

Clint shook his head and I sighed, "Fair enough."

"Well have fun you two," Jeff said as he walked away.

Clint joined him and I said goodbye. I turned to Newt and felt slightly awkward. I could tell from his body language that he felt that way too.

"Well, I assume you already know who I am, but formalities are still in place," he held out his hand. "I'm Newt."

I shook it, "Kelley."

He smiled, and it gave me an odd warm feeling. I couldn't help but smile back.

"So... You'll be giving me a tour?" I asked.

"More or less, just showing you the general places, telling you the rules, a little history about the Glade. Nothing too fancy."

"Alright then, where do we begin?"

Newt smiled and we started walking towards the center of the Glade.