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"Hell of a first day, Greenie," Newt speaks up, breaking the silence that lingers over us. I snap out of my thoughts and nod slowly without meeting his gaze. The two of us have separated from the big crowd around the bonfire and are now sitting leaning against a wooden log, listening to the boys cheering and chattering behind us.

Newt chews loudly on a piece of meat as he stares at me and my vague response. He had offered me a piece earlier but I turned it down, not trusting myself in keeping any food down.

"Here." Newt holds out a jar of an unknown liquid. I examine the substance for a moment before accepting it. It's yellow, maybe slightly orange but I am sure if it's the bonfire that reflects on it making it shift colors. It doesn't matter. Whatever it is, I want it, or more like I need it. My mouth is dry from the day's events and I can use something strong to calm my nerves.

I place the jar to my lips and let the liquid slip inside. The taste burns in my mouth and before I have a chance to stop myself, my body hunches forward spitting out the liquid. I cough as the burning taste has etched into my tongue and throat but Newt's loud laughs drowns out my struggling. I know I wished for something strong but never in my life would I have expected something this strong. I groan. "What is that?" I ask in between my coughing.

Newt chuckles, grabbing the jar from my hands. "I don't even know. It's Gally's recipe." He glances over his shoulder, gazing over at the boy responsible for the drink. I follow his gaze, seeing Gally in the middle of the ring that has formed around him, boys watching his current fight cheering and hollering at him. I narrow my eyes as seeing him from afar is enough to fill me with hatred. "Yeah, well he's still an asshole," I say under my breath.

"He saved your life today." Newt says. I doubt that it is true, that whatever is out in that maze can harm me.

"Trust me. The maze is a dangerous place." Newt says like he has read my thoughts. If mind-reading is possible I won't be surprised after the many turn of events that has occurred today. "You don't want to get stuck out there.

I stare at the tall walls that surround their entire camp for several moments before uttering the words that have lingered in my head since I arrived. "We're trapped here aren't we?"

Newt doesn't look at me but he nods which is enough to send a stab of fear and resignation into my gut. "For the moment," Newt says, still not looking me in the eyes. "But..." he turns around to face to bonfire and I do the same, twisting my body so that I can see the crowd behind us. "See those guys. There. By the fire."

My gaze travels over the many faces before fixating on a group of boys, everyone with dangerous expressions that can cut through ice and muscles that are on display under their short-sleeved shirts. They look like they can walk right over me without even looking back.

"Those are the runners," Newt explains further. "That guy in the middle there," my eyes dart to an Asian boy with black hair and an icy expression, like the bonfire was boring enough to kill him. "That's Minho. He's the keeper of the runners. Well, alongside-"

Newt's sentence is drowned out in the ear-defining wave of laughter by the runners. It takes me a few seconds before I see who had caused the fist of laughter and when I do my heart almost skips a beat. She turns around, with a blooming grin on her face, looking down at Chuck, the curly-haired boy who had shown me around earlier, giving him a quick comment that makes him chuckle. I am not sure if my reaction is caused by the fact that she's a girl... or that she's the prettiest girl I have ever seen. But considering my lack of memories, she might as well have been the only girl I've ever seen.

But she isn't pretty in the soft, light way. She is beautiful like the sky during a thunderstorm and the moon on a star clear sky. She is stunning in a mysterious and dark way with her black hair, falling perfectly over her shoulders, framing her pale-skinned face. Her two green eyes travels over the yard before meeting mine. As much as I want to, I can't bear to hold her gaze in mine for more than a split second before I awkwardly look away.

"Alongside, Vanya." Newt finishes his sentence and it takes me a moment to remember what we had been talking about before. When I finally do, I force myself to look back at her. She seems to have lost full interest in us and is now back to eagerly chattering with Minho.

"But... but." I stumble over my words, hoping to find a way to say it without sounding disrespectful

"She's a girl?" Newt finishes my sentence for me. I nod. "I know. But don't let that fool you. She's one of the strongest and most powerful out of all of us. Not only her fists but her glares could put most of the gladers down. She's a runner as well. But she also works as a medjack and I'm pretty sure most of these kunk-filled-headed guys get injured just to get close to her."

"She the only girl?" I ask.

"Yeah. She arrived two years ago and she's been the only one since." Newt says, tearing his gaze from the girl, and sitting back up straight. "She's the only shank, lucky enough to have survived a night in the maze. We didn't even know she was out there until the next morning when those doors opened and that girl walked out, covered in goo and dirt."

At least a trillion questions flash through my mind but I don't want to seem too obsessed with the girl so I decide to keep my mouth shut instead. My gaze lingers on the girl from afar until I notice Minho staring back at me with eyes flaming. I'm not sure if it is the bonfire that reflects in his eyes or if it is actual fire, boiling behind them but whatever it is, it's threatening enough to force me to look away, heat flushing over my face and I am suddenly thankful for the darkness around me.

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"Greenie seems to have a staring problem," Minho says, looking past me to something behind me. I turn around looking at the new boy just as he stiffens and spins around.

"Yeah, well maybe he's got a thing for you." I joke, nudging Minho's side. "You two would make such cute babies." I have no memories but I somehow know how babies are conceived and the way that I have in mind is unfortunately not possible.

Minhos mouth twitches and for I moment I am sure that he will crack a smile until he stands up. I watch him as he walks around the group of runners before he returns a few moments later with two jars of Gally's juice.

I gasp. "Minho, you party animal," I exclaim dramatically as I  grab one of the jars. As runners, we barely ever drink more than one jar per bonfire night, since waking up the next day to head into the maze hungover won't be very pleasant. Trust me, I've tried.

Minho grins, holding out his jar to clank it in mine. "Yeah well. Happy two years in the Glade for you, Vanya."

I lower my jar, letting a sad shadow cast itself over my face but I quickly try to shake it off. Being stuck here isn't exactly ideal and I find no reason to celebrate it. I know that this is my two year anniversary in the Glade but I'm planning on doing anything special about it. Matter of fact I would've spent the night rotting away in my hut if Minho hadn't dragged me out here.

"How'd you know that?" I try to cover up the way his words affect me with a grin.

"Read it on your walls earlier." Minho shrugs.
I have my countdown written all over one of the wooden panels in my hut but I always cover it up with a curtain.

"Well, I don't see any reason to celebrate," I say before my mouth curves into a smile. "Screw it." I lift my glass. "To me, keeping up with you for two years."

Minho grins at my comment and he would have left my jar hanging if the other runners didn't join in, clinking their jars with mine as they cheer. I chug as much of the drink as I manage to get down, smiling at the crowd around me. The runners are like my brothers. They're my family. Most of them even call me 'sis' despite my many tries to make them stop. I always found the nickname ridiculous but they seem to enjoy it.

"Greenie. Greenie. Greenie!"

I spin around hastily and squint through the crowd in the direction of the chanting. The new boy has removed himself from the log and is now standing in the fighting ring as Gally taunts him to combat.

I sigh. This is so typical Gally. "Hasn't Gally tortured  him enough today?"

Minho and I make our way over to the commotion. We push through the crowd to get a better view. I gaze over at the Greenie who looks like he has seen a ghost. He doesn't exactly look like he has it in him to win in a fight. Especially not against Gally. He spends all his bonfire nights in the fighting ring and wins most of his matches. But that isn't because he is particularly strong, he is just stronger than the others he fights. Plus, he always gets too cocky and a skilled opponent can easily see the moments where he lets his guard down because he is getting too confident.

That's what I did. On my first night, I managed to knock him down which he clearly didn't appreciate. That's probably the thing that sparked this rivalry between us but ever since, he has been smart enough to stay away from any more fights between us.

Gally rolls up his sleeves. "The rules are simple greenie: I try to push you out of the circle...." A cunning grin inhabits his face. "You try to last more than five seconds."

A mocking laughter spreads across the crowd but not as much as a smile touches my face but it does Minhos. I glare up at him. Not that I feel bad for the new boy, I just don't want to give Gally the satisfaction. Minho stops laughing but the grin doesn't leave his face.

"Oh come on, V." He walks around me, draping his arms over my upper chest, hugging me from behind. "Loosen up. How many jars of juice will it take."

I snort. "To make me laugh at something Gally says?" My head spins around to glance at him over my shoulder with a grin. "Consider me dead."

Minho chuckles. "Is that a smile I see?"

I shake my head, turning my attention back to the fight. "You must be hallucinating" I hear yet another laugh behind me as Minho hugs me tighter.

"Ready?" Gally races forward and before the new boy has any time to react, he shoves him backward letting him collide with the group of boys behind him with great force. The Greenie stumbles for a moment before he catches his balance and the clamoring gets even louder.

Just as he stands up straight again, Gally pushed him to the sandy ground by my feet. His face meets the sand with a thud so loud I am sure that the grieves hear it. He coughs and spits out the sand from his mouth, his whole face scrunching up in disgust. He looks up and I catch his gaze in mine. Unfortunately for him, the sand doesn't cover the crimson color that floods his cheeks but I pretend to not notice, to not humiliate him further.

He tears his gaze from mine, looking at Gally over his shoulder.

"Come on, Greenie." He taunts him, jogging backwards trying to look intimidating. "We're not done yet."

But that doesn't seem to bother the Greenie as he almost instantly rises to his feet, fixing his shirt as he does. "Stop calling me Greenie."

I swear that the boy has a death wish. Not only has he gone against Gally twice today, now he is doing it a third time.

"Stop calling you that?" Gally mocks him. "What do you wanna be called? shank?"

A humiliating laughter spreads through the crowd that soon transforms into a cheering. "Shank! Shank! Shank!"

The Greenie looks around in confusion. Apparently Chuck hasn't told him the slang that goes around the Glade.

Gally grins and that's the Greenies last straw as he springs at him only for Gally to dodge him before throwing the blue-shirt boy to the ground- again.

"I think I've settled on shank," Gally says.

"I'm betting my tomorrow's meal on Gally," Jeff says, joining up next to me and Minho. Jeff is one of the other two med jacks and one of my closest friends in the Glade.

"Dips on not being the one to treat him," I speak up, without tearing my attention from the fight. Gally and the new boy are circling each other like predatory animals. The Greenie once again attempts an attack on Gally, rushing at him, hoping to tackle him but Gally is quicker and grabs the boy who struggles against his grip.

He kicks and pounds desperately as the two move closer to the end of the circle until... The Greenie twists his body to the side, swerving his arms making Gally fly forward, landing on the ground as the other boy remains on his feet

Scattered hollering and clamoring erupts from the crowd.

"Not bad for a Greenie huh?" The new boy pants and I feel a smile graze my lips but it is quickly wiped off as Gally twists around, sweeping his feet under the Greenies making him crash to the ground.

The boys in the circle around them groan, watching the boy's head collide with the ground. I let out a huff of air and glare at Gally who simply smiles proudly back at me.

"Thomas." I hear a faint whisper coming from the Greenie so quiet that I, for a brief moment think I am the only one who heard him until the crowd quiets down. "Thomas". The boy repeats as he shoots up. "Hey! Thomas! I remember. My name. I'm Thomas!"

Silence falls over the Glade and for a moment the only thing anyone can hear is the crickets in the distance, until Alby exclaims.

"Thomas!" He raises a hand in the air followed by the ear defining sound of the Gladers screaming and cheering his name. They all rush forward to congratulate and welcome the boy. I remain in my spot, watching it from afar as Thomas chugs Gally's juice before spraying it in the air, letting it rain over them.

He stops cheering with the group for a brief moment and gazes over at me. I look back at him and our eyes lock for a second. It was so quick that I'm sure we are the only ones to notice.

He returns to the celebration and shakes hands with Gally as they exchange a few words and I turn around, deciding that I am done for the night. On my way back to my hut I'm suddenly brought to a halt at the familiar yet chilling screeching from a Greiver in the maze cutting through the cheering that quickly dies out at the noise. I stop in my steps and every muscle in my body tenses. My breath catches in my throat as I stare at the tall walls having to remind myself nothing can get through them. Two years in the Glade, and the sound still terrifies me to my very core.

𝟐𝟕𝟒𝟓 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬
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𝐚𝐯𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬!!
if anyone calls Vanya a pick me... sleep with one eye open.

also don't get it twisted, Minho is not a love interest in any way. Vanya and Minho are just really close best friends and they won't have any feelings for each other!
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