𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

The morning sun beats down on my uncovered shoulders as I plant and repot the new sprouts that we got this month with the arrival of our out of the ordinary Greenie. He's strange, that kid. He's curious. He isn't afraid and he's curious, which isn't a combination you want in the Maze.

We've had too much curiosity lately.

I hear shuffling behind me, and I look up from where I'm sitting, my knees buried in dirt as the sky slowly shifts from purple to blue. A shadow blocks the glare, and I squint up, my hand flying above my eyes to peer up at the figure. The tall blonde smiles down at me, nodding politely before moving to stand next to me, a bag of string in his hand. I see Thomas walking towards us, looking around awkwardly as he shoves his hands in his pocket.

" First day of the tour, eh? " Newt explains as the other boy arrives at the Gardens, going to stand across from the second in command. I sniffed in response, focusing back on my task at hand. We worked in blissful silence for a while, the only sounds being the birds fluttering in the wind . My mind, wandering without supervision, goes back to my idealistic house on the beach. The waves crashing lightly into land, white noise engulfing my head. I feel myself relax, my soul enjoying the work while dreaming of a better day. Until, of course, someone speaks up.

" Has anyone tried climbing to the top? " Thomas asked, obviously giving up on the complicated knot he was supposed to be tying. Newt looked at me, one of his eyebrows raised as he ties the string with ease.

" Yes." I grumbled, my eyes feeling heavier by the second as another question flooded out of his mouth. " What happened?" He questioned, moving closer to me. His feet landed next to my hands, ergo, not the place they should have been.

" Well," I start, dusting myself off as I stand up to face him, our eyes not aligning whatsoever. " We actually got out! But then, we thought ' hmm, well, we made it out, but now we don't know what to do! let's go back ' so here we are." I roll my eyes as he stares at me, confused. Newt looks up from the twine with a chuckle, shaking his head as he clarifies ; " We tried it, but the ivy doesn't go to the top. And besides, where are you gonna go from there?" I raise my shoulders playfully, shaking my head while getting back to work. " Funny, " Thomas retorts, his cheeks reddening as he faces me again. "So I've been told" I crouch back down, much more aware of the painful ache that was taking over my back.

He takes another inhale, and I know another question is about to hit me in the face. " What about the uh— the Box? Next time it comes up—"

Newt kneels down next to me, grabbing the string he threw on the ground when they showed up. " No, we tried that. The Box won't go back down with someone in it."

" Okay, what if we—" He starts, but I cut him off. "Listen, Thomas, I don't know how to say this, but it seems like you've never had an original thought ever. Anything you can think of, we've tried it already." His mouth drops down slowly, and Newt lets out an actual laugh, an amused smirk carving itself onto his face as he shakes his head. I keep my eyes locked onto the Greenie's, tilting my head as hope slowly drains out of his eyes, replacing itself somehow with more confusion, if that's even possible.

" Okay, so how do we get out?" He asks, crouching down next to me, his forearms resting on his knees. For some reason, although I was just holding eye contact with him a few seconds earlier, I can't seem to maintain it when we're at the same level. I keep my gaze focused on the dirt I'm moving, and I keep silent. I have no idea what this kids been told, but I was not going to get blamed if he decided to run into the Maze right now because I told him it was the only way out. I can feel Newt's and Thomas' gazes piercing through the back of my head, but I just let out a dry cough, ignoring both of them.

The blonde finally caved, sighing as he grabbed ahold of another loop of string. " The Maze is the only way out. Now look, you want to be helpful? Here, go dig us up some more fertilizer." Thomas grunts as a small woven bucket is pushed into his hands, his mouth opening in protest. " Hey, wait— I don't even know where the fertilizer is!" He turns to me, and I scoff, shaking my head in disgust. " Hell no, I'm not going to walk you over to the giant pile of shit. You're grown, figure it out."

He frowns, his eyebrows furrowing. " Rude." He comments, but I can tell he's already thrown in the towel for this petty argument.

" Never said I wasn't." I shoot back, nodding my head to the mess of trees to our left. " It's back there, the fertilizer."

Thomas lets out another grunt, and then he slumps off, his shoulders sagging then straightening back up, an express timeline of disappointment and resentment.

" You like him."

" What?" I snap my head to Newt, who has a lopsided grin plastered on his face. " Sorry, I meant you seem like you don't want to rip his head off 100% of the time, which is crazy, considering our Thomas has already worn me out in the first ten seconds of meeting him with his endless questions."

I let out a breath of relief, turning myself so that my eyes can open without being seared with the impossibly bright sun. " I guess. I dunno."

" It's just a hunch. He makes you seem, I don't know, lighter? Like, you're full of goldenness instead of whatever it is you keep hidden in your head."

Again, I scoff, my hands going to my hips as I swivel my head to face him. " I do no such thing. I voice all of my thoughts, quite loudly, by the way."

" Whatever you say, I guess."

" Okay, why are you so opinionated today?"

He rolls his eyes, crouching down to tighten the poorly done knot— Thomas did it— at the bottom of the support beam. I start to pick up my things, dusting off my knees as I get back up. My ears prick up at the sound of distant screams, and I shoot my head up, eyes boring into Newt's, waiting for a minute, my hands cramping with how tightly I'm holding my basket. And then I hear it again.

It being the screams of a boy I met a day or two ago. It being somehow the worst sound I've ever heard. It getting louder and louder, and than all of a sudden—

I'm running towards him again.