Exactly a month after I arrived, everyone was very excited. They were waiting to see if another boy came up in the box. I'll admit I was rather curious as well. Everyone waited around the hole for hours that night. That's why, in the morning, everyone was devastated when the box never came.
The day after the box was supposed to come, I was weeding in a quiet corner of the garden when Beth came up behind me. "May I help you?" I asked, not looking up from my basket of weeds. When she shoved me over, I was more angry than scared at first. "Now look what you've done! I've been collecting those weeds all morning!" I yelled angrily, gesturing at the leaves strewn all over the ground. Then, she started beating me up. I didn't see it coming, I was too surprised to defend myself. I just yelled for help. As she hit me, Beth began screaming as well. "This is all your fault! Everything changed when you got here! It's ALL YOUR FAULT!" I just covered my face. What the hell was she talking about? Finally, someone pulled Beth off of me. I saw Lizzy and Jackie holding her back, and Harriet rushing towards me. I felt too overwhelmed. What had just happened? The last thing I saw before racing into the woods was Sonya's shocked face.
I just sat in the woods for several hours, trying to gather my thoughts. As I wandered back towards the garden, I heard sobbing coming from behind me. I frowned, following the noise. When I finally made it into a small clearing and saw the figure that was leaning against a tree, I couldn't believe my eyes. "Sonya? What's wrong?" I asked in a worried tone, walking over. She wiped her eyes. "Oh my god. This can't be happening. You aren't allowed to see me like this." She said miserably, tear tracks staining her cheeks. I looked behind me uncertainly. "I'll just...go then." I said, backing up slowly. Sonya looked up at me. "Wait...stay. Please." She asked quietly. I walked over, sitting next to her. I carefully put my arm around her. Even though she was obviously upset, I had no doubt that she could break my arm in half. She made no move to attack me though. She just laid her head on my shoulder and cried.
After about half an hour, her sobs gave way to silent tears. She slowly sat up, wiping off her face with her wrists. "I have to go. We'll talk later. Don't tell anyone about this." She said, getting up and walking off. I stared after her. This was by far the weirdest day of my life. Sonya, stronger than stone, had just cried. And she had let me witness it. And she hadn't killed me. Yet. As I got up, I wandered back out into the gardens. When I neared the kitchen, Rachel flew into me with a crushing hug. "Oh my god, Newt, I was so worried! Are you okay?" She asked in a concerned tone. I nodded, wincing. "Yeah, I'll be okay." She sighed with relief. "Thank god." She said, kissing me. I lightly kissed her back, then noticed Sonya awkwardly standing there. I gently pushed Rachel off of me, and she faintly blushed when she saw Sonya. I looked at Sonya. "Do you need me?" I asked her. She nodded. "We need to question you about the attack. Come to the meeting room." She says, turning to walk away. I looked at Rachel apologetically. She smiled and shook her head. "It's fine. Go ahead." She said. I nodded, following Sonya to the homestead.
When I got to the meeting room, Harriet and Sonya were sitting at the table. Harriet had a pad of paper and a pen in front of her. I sat down in the chair. Harriet proceeded to question me about the attack. Things like where I was, who threw the first punch, what she said. I answered as best I could, looking at Sonya. Sonya very pointedly looked out he window the entire time. After lots of questioning, Harriet quietly informed Sonya that she had gathered all of the information that she needed. Sonya nodded. "Harriet, you're dismissed. I need to ask Newt a few more questions." She said authoritatively. Harriet quietly exited, leaving me and Sonya. Finally, she looked at me. "Alright, we need to talk about earlier." She reluctantly admitted. I nodded. She continued, saying "You will never speak of it to anyone. It never happened. You never saw me in the woods, you never saw me cry, and I definitely didn't ask you to stay. Okay? It was a moment of weakness, but it's over. I'm not fragile or delicate. If you treat me any differently, I will snap your leg in half." She said calmly. I nodded again, tentatively asking, "Would you mind telling me what was wrong? In exchange for my silence." She glared at me, then sighed, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. "It's been a stressful couple of days. First, with the box not coming up. We need the supplies in that box to survive. Secondly, Beth broke one of our rules, and that means she has to be banished. I wouldn't mind, but Beth has been here almost as long as I have. It will be hard for me to force her to leave." I looked at her, confused. "Banished?" I asked nervously. She nodded. "It's basically where all of the leaders force the banished person into the maze just before the doors close." I understood the punishment in that. They'd have to be there overnight, and though nobody really spoke of it. I knew what would happen. I thanked her and stood up to go. As I left, she quietly added, "And Newt? Thank you." I smiled at her before going to my room to try to manage to get to sleep.
As the days passed, the panic began to slowly die down. People realized that we weren't all just going to drop dead, and continued their lives as they had been. Sonya estimated that we had enough supplies to last us roughly two months before we would run out of some necessary items. I was a bit confused at first. We could grow food for as long as we needed it, and as long as the creek kept flowing, we would be fine. We could even breed the animals. After I pointed that out she got snapped that not everything was about me. I rolled my eyes. "Are you on your period or some-" Before I could finish the sentence, Sonya grabbed my neck. "If you say one more word," she hissed, "I will squeeze your neck until you stop breathing. Got it?" I nodded and slowly backed away. I realized then what she meant by "necessary supplies".
Rachel and I's relationship was not going well. She didn't do anything, I just...didn't feel the spark anymore. One day when she had just come from the maze and we were walking to the kitchen for food, I brought it up. "Look, Rachel, we need to talk." I said. She furrowed her brow, looking up at him. "What's up?" She said cautiously. "Look, I just really don't feel comfortable with this...relationship thing we've got going on here." I said bluntly. She nodded. "Yeah, I figured this would be coming soon. So are we breaking up?" She asked. I looked at her, shocked. How was she taking this so well? I looked at her suspiciously. "Yeah, I guess so." I agreed. She gave me an amused smile, asking, "Why are you looking at me so weirdly?" I shrugged. "You're just taking this awfully well." I admitted. She smiled. "I'm not stupid. I could tell you were losing interest. As long as we're still friends." I nodded. "Yeah, we are." I replied, smiling at her as we reached the kitchen.
