Click. Click. Click. The darkness was a cold black, and the girl trembled in the corner of the box. She could hear the box scraping against the side of something, and she could feel herself going up. She didn't try to stretch out, or feel for anything, in fear of finding a monster of the darkness. She was easily scared like that. Time passed on, and eventually she felt herself drifting off to sleep. It was only when the box jerked to a stop that she woke up, jumping, before realising she was still in the box.
She listened out, and she realised she could hear voices above her, and footsteps pounding on the box. There was a crunching noise, and then there was light. Bright white light. The girl curled into a ball, her head between her knees, and her eyes fiercely clenched closed. She heard shouts and voices, whispers and murmurs. Then a bang, the box bounced, and she realised someone had jumped inside.
"Hey," A voice said, smooth like butter. The voice spoke out again, and she could feel the person getting closing, "We're not going to hurt you. Just open your eyes, please." The girl only curled tighter into a ball. She could feel the person getting closer, and closer, until they were kneeling next to her, their breath in her ear. Coarse hands were placed upon her own, trying to unwind her tightly knotted fingers. Slowly, the girl unwound them, and uncurled herself. Her eyes opened, and she found herself staring into deep brown eyes. A boys deep brown eyes, or was it a man? She wasn't sure.
"Where am I?" She whispered, and he smiled, a smile that confused her. It was cheeky, yet charming, and devious – but made you want to trust him at the same time. "Welcome to the Glade." He replied, and he stood up, offering her a hand. Once stood in the light, you could see the girl had pale brown hair, and mistrusting green eyes. There was one or two catcalls, but the boy glared out of the box, and everyone soon quietened. "Right. Everyone as they were!" A deep voice called out, and the gathering of boys disappeared, leaving only the boy with the smile, and the boy with the deep voice.
Cautiously, the boy took her hand and led her to the edge of the box, before jumping up. "You coming out?" He asked, and she nodded. The girl placed both her hands on the ground, and heaved herself up, her arms trembling slightly. She wasn't skinny. She wasn't fat or chubby either. The boy with the smile thought she had a nice body, and a nice face. He scolded himself internally for thinking such thoughts before he had even introduced himself. As soon as she got up, the deep voiced boy started talking.
"I'm Alby. This is Newt." He gestured to his friend, "You are?"
There was a minute of silence, until she replied. "Lacey."
Alby raised his eyebrows, and started to snicker, a frown creased between Lacey's brows, and her eyes went glassy. "Hey, hey," Newt started to walk over to the girl, "Don't cry. Alby's just being a slinthead." The girl shook her head, "What's a slinthead?" She asked, looking up. She was blinking a lot, as if she way trying not to cry. Newt chuckled, "Oh, uhh, when someone's being a… bloody hell, I can't explain."
"Well good thing I can." Lacey jumped, and turned round to a muscly Asian boy. He was hot, and Lacey wondered if they deliberately only put cute guys into the maze. Alby wasn't bad, and Newt… Newt was something else. "A slinthead is a guy who's being a dick." Now it was Lacey's turn to raise her eyebrows. "Name's Minho by the way." He held out his hand, and she shook it. He winked at her.
"Why aren't you in the maze, Minho?" Newt asked, and Lacey turned back around. Minho walked over, so he was by Lacey's side, "I heard the commotion – and I figured there was someone new coming up. Didn't expect them to be this pretty though." He smiled again, and it was a simple smile, not with hidden depths, like Newt's. Lacey blushed and smiled at the floor. "I should probably go to the map room now though." He replied, and then jogged off.
"Talk about laying it on thick." Newt murmured grumpily under his breath.
"Are you going to tell me what this place is then? Or explain why I can't remember anything?" Lacey asked, looking at Alby and Newt. She seemed more confident after meeting Minho, and her eyes were no longer glassy.
Alby gestured to Newt, "He'll give you the grand tour, and then come to me when you're done to sort accommodation and stuff." Lacey nodded, and watched Alby walk off. Newt started to walk off, so Lacey followed. He pointed out all the areas, and explained a bit about the maze, but always before careful not to tell her too much, or answer too many of her questions. He explained that no-one remembered anything before the maze. Soon after, Lacey stopped listening so carefully, not being one for lectures. She glanced around the glade, fascinated by the way it worked, and how well all the boys seemed to get along.
"Are you even listening, Lacey?" She jumped, and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I don't think I'm very good at listening to people drone on for long periods of time." Newt looked taken aback, and Lacey looked at little shocked at the words that had come out of her mouth. "Omygosh, sorry! That came out all wrong! I didn't mean it like that. Om-" Newt rolled his eyes, "Don't worry about it." They walked on, this time in silence. It felt a little awkward, and Lacey cursed herself for being such a slinthead, as they called it. "I guess I should go and find Alby now." She broke the silence, and quickly spied Alby. Not wanting to draw out the awkwardness, she quickly jogged over to Alby, leaving Newt dumbfounded.