Thomas watched as the girl turned on her heel and walked away. He fought the urge to go follow her, if not only for the sense of familiarity and normalcy she seemed to project. His attention turned back to Newt as he began to speak to him.

"Well that's it for now greenie. Tour begins tomorrow and you'll start training with the Keeper's to find your place."
"The Keeper's? Who are they and what do they do? What IS this place?" The questions spilled forth uncontrollably. Newt only held up his hands and shook his head.
"Tomorrow greenie. Everything will be explained tomorrow." Newt smiled and slapped a comforting hand on Thomas' shoulder. He remembered what it was like to be a greenie, scary but Thomas was holding up pretty well.

Thomas nodded, forcing his numerous questions to stop. Newt dropped his hand, and sighed. He turned and headed off, leaving Thomas to his own devices. Thomas stood, slowly turning in a circle. The maze was immense, the grey walls towering over him, making him dizzy as they seemed to touch the sky. Thomas felt like his lungs were being squeezed at the enormity of it all. The glade seemed to stretch on forever around him.

"Hey! Greenie!" Thomas turned at the voice only to be met with a hard shove. Thomas fell to the ground, gasping for air as the wind was knocked out of him. "Don't think I don't know who you really are." The unfamiliar voice seethed. Thomas scrambled backwards on his hands as he found the owner of the voice. He was a muscular boy, pale skin, and cropped hair. He appeared to be fifteen with an ugly sneer and an even uglier face. "You're trouble and I'm gonna keep an eye on you greenie. I've seen you before, with them." His scratchy voice spat out the last word, his rancid breath hitting Thomas like a punch.
Thomas was left on the ground as the boy disappeared just as fast as he had come. Now utterly confused, and slightly frightened, Thomas pulled himself to his feet. "Don't worry about him." A young voice said. Thomas nearly groaned. He was getting tired of people appearing out of nowhere. Thomas turned to find an even younger boy, possibly around eleven or twelve. He was thick, with a round, cherub face and thick curly hair. "Name's Chuck." The boy said holding out a chubby hand.

Thomas eyed him and shook the boys' hand. "I was the greenie till you came. Good thing too, now they'll leave me alone and you can be the greenie." This Chuck kid sure did talk a lot. Maybe Thomas could get some answers from him.
"So, where exactly am I?" Thomas asked, following Chuck.

"They call it the glade. Only been here a month so, afraid I won't be much help." Chuck explained as he walked along.
"Who was that guy?" Thomas asked.

"Him? Oh, that's just Gally. He's a hothead so just ignore him." Chuck explained. He kept stealing quick glances at Thomas. Thomas could tell he was trying to be sly about it, but it wasn't working at all.

"What? I got something on my face?"Thomas sighed. Chuck stumbled, surprised he'd gotten caught.

"N-No, just, you seem pretty calm for a greenie." Chuck answered, "I was crying almost every night when I got here. Meraya really helped me through it." Chuck said her name with a fondness.

"Who?" Thomas asked although he was sure he knew the answer.
"The only shuck girl in this place." Chuck answered, although the glader slang sounded strange coming from him. Thomas nodded, silent for once. His eyes scanned the glade for her and found her over by the gardens.

"She's the only girl?"

"Yup. No one knows why." Chuck said. Thomas felt a memory try to surface. He reached for it only to have it disappear, to his immense frustration. Thomas' stomach growled loudly causing both him and Chuck to pause.
"We can go get you some food from Frypan, he's our cook," Chuck offered, "When's the last time you ate greenie?" Thomas frowned at the nickname that was quickly getting on his nerves. He tried to think back to his last meal only to be met with nothing. His thoughts were interrupted by his stomach letting out a long growl and both he and Chuck headed for the Homestead to eat.

Meraya finished her work for the day just in time for dinner. Her stomach ached with hunger as she wiped the sweat from her forehead, smearing dirt from her glove. Tossing her gloves in the collection bin, Meraya made her way to the kitchen. She was met on her way by Newt as they normally ate together. Newt was her best, and only, friend. Meraya got along well with the other gladers, but Newt was the one she chose to spend time with. He was respectful, unlike the others, and never once tried to hit on her, a key factor to their friendship. The only other boy in the glade she was close to was Chuck. He was like a little brother to her, as she had helped him get through the initial shock of the glade.

They got their dinner from Frypan, which consisted of chicken, potatoes, and corn, and found a table in the back corner. Newt sat across from her as Meraya settled in her favorite spot right in the corner next to the wall. She never liked having her back to the gladers, it just made her uneasy. It wasn't long after they began eating that the new boy showed up, led in by Chuck. Meraya's eyes traveled over his frame, that same familiarity filling her. Newt noticed the staring and followed her gaze.

"Mer's got a crush aye?" He smirked, wiggling his eyebrows. Meraya almost threw her potatoes at him. She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "That's not it," she murmured, "he's just….too familiar. I get this weird feeling about him Newt, like things are about to change." Newt's smile faded at the weird message. He knew Meraya, new when she was joking just to freak him out, this wasn't one of those times.

"What do you mean?" Newt questioned, leaning forward in case they had any unwanted listeners.

"I'm…I'm not sure, but I don't think it's gonna be a bad change Newt, I think…" Meraya frowned, shaking her never. "Never mind." Meraya turned back to her food, trying to force her strange thoughts away. Before she could take another bite, the familiar voice of Chuck rang out.

"Hey, Mer!" Meraya rolled her eyes, sending a glare at Newt for giving her that nickname, to which he only flashed a smile. "Mind if we sit here?" He chirped as he slid in next to her.
"We?" Meraya didn't need Chuck to answer as the new kid slid in next to Newt. They locked eyes again and Meraya felt like the wind was knocked out of her. His eyes, there was something in his eyes that just….she didn't have a word for it. Newt cleared his throat, breaking whatever connection had just happened, snapping Meraya and Thomas to the present.

"So, greenie, how's the first night in the glade treating you?" Newt asked.

"Oh, um, it's alright I guess." Thomas decided to keep the incident with Gally between him and Chuck. "What's outside the walls though?" The walls had intrigued Thomas since he had arrived earlier that day. He had seen two or three boys come sprinting from outside them and just felt drawn. Thomas watched as Meraya, Newt, and Chuck exchanged worried glances. Newt opened his mouth to answer, but Meraya beat him to it.

"The maze."