Greetings

That entire morning, and through the afternoon, Hope tried her best to forget about that boy. That little boy's voice, too. She worked the hardest she could in the Kitchen, never slowing down or giving up for anything. It was obvious that Hope was worried, because working her butt off was her response to such emotions. Therefore, Siggy kept trying to calm Hope down, but the girl merely kept working. And working. And working some more. She did things that she didn't need to do, yet she did them. She put in extra work for things that didn't need extra work. Hope was just… She was…

"I-I wish you'd just disappear from this world!"

Hope stopped. She stopped stirring the stew, she stopped blinking her eyes, she even stopped breathing. For a few moments, Hope just stood there in the Kitchen, unable to move. Hope didn't want to admit it, but that voice affected her in a way that neither the woman nor the girl had ever done before. Not only because of what the voice had said to her, but also because of the fact that… she wasn't asleep. That that wasn't a voice in a dream - that that was a voice in her head, which also could mean that… Hope's scariest theory was true.

Those dreams of Hope's might not have been dreams all along. In truth, they were lost memories. Forgotten memories. This entire time, they had been seeping out from her subconscious and back into her head. It meant that her mind had been trying to remember, but was unable and scared to do so. And that boy… that new boy… had triggered that memory. Hope couldn't have been certain that it was his voice, but it was a new voice nevertheless. It was a voice that belonged to someone… Hope had once hurt.

Because why else would that voice say such a thing to her? If Hope hadn't done something terrible, then why… why would that boy… tell her to die?

"Ruff, ruff!" All of a sudden, Hope's ears heard Hugo bark. This caused her to snap out of her frozen trance, but also to jump after feeling him pull on her sleeve. "Ruff, ruff! Ruff, ruff, ruff!"

"H-Hugo?" Hope stuttered. She even kneeled down in front of him, anxious to know what had caused such a laidback hound to bark so much. "What's wrong, boy? What happened?"

"Woof!" Hugo barked again before turning around and running through the Kitchen's door. Hope immediately stood back up to follow behind him, but what she saw once she'd exited the Kitchen as well made her freeze again. "Woof, woof!"

"O-Oh no…" Hope mumbled. "That's… That's not good…"

"Hugo? What the heck?" Even Frypan, who had been chatting with some Gladers outside, looked at Hugo in surprise after hearing him bark so much. "What're you barking ab-"

"F-Frypan, look!" Hope said, placing a hand on his shoulder and pointing toward the Maze's entrance. "H-He shouldn't be doing that, right? Like, really shouldn't be doing that?"

"…Shuck," Frypan scoffed when his eyes saw the scene too. "What is that idiot doing?"

Off in the distance, Hugo's keen eyes had seen the Greenie and Chuck walking toward the Maze's entrance. Almost immediately had he informed Hope, somehow knowing that that area was off-limits; off-limits to everyone but Minho and the Runners, that was. But what Hugo saw next, which was something Hope and Fry saw as well, made the dog let out another bark. "Ruff!"

"…Hey, get off of me!" The boy's angry shouts could be heard all throughout the Glade. "Don't touch me!"

That was when everyone saw the situation unfolding, yet Hope and Hugo had already run halfway there by the time everyone else started running. Seeing the Greenie walk toward the Maze's entrance at this time of day made Hope go crazy with fear, but after also seeing Gally push him to the ground, made Hope unable to keep still. Her legs carried her without a second thought, while Hugo followed Hope without so much of a thought in his head. The boy was just standing back up by the time Hope had reached him, and despite Gally's attempts at calming him down, the boy wasn't having any of it.

The boy wanted answers. No, he needed them. This entire situation still felt like a dream to him, but this opening in the walls… This entrance that seemingly led to nowhere, reminded the boy that he was awake. That all of this was real and that he was alive. The singular opening on all four sides of the stone wall made the boy feel powerful emotions. Curiosity. Worry. Even yearning.

Curiosity for what was inside.

Worry for what hid inside.

And yearning to figure it out for himself.

So if someone - anyone - tried to stop him from discovering the truth, then the boy was going to be more than angry.

"Gally!" Hope yelled the moment she reached the two. "What's going on?!"

Gally huffed. "Nothing! I was just-!"

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?!" the boy barked right as everyone else entered the scene.

"Just calm down, alright?!" Newt tried to console, but the boy wasn't having it.

"No! W-Why won't you tell me what's out there?!"

"We're just tryna protect you, man!" Alby said.

"For your own good!" Newt added.

"You guys can't just keep me here!"

"We can't let you leave!" Alby continued.

"Yeah?!" the boy barked. "Why not?!"

GRUMBLE! CRACK! But then, almost like the Maze heard him, it came alive. And although Hope had been there for over a month, she never didn't get goosebumps whenever she heard the Maze close. The way it made the ground tremble, the way it sounded like an animal's deep roar, made Hope unable to look away from the spectacle. It was the same for the boy, too. The second he heard the Maze's voice, he slowly turned around to face it head-on. When he did, he was met with a rush of wind that everybody but him and Hope turned away from.

"W-What…" the boy gasped. "What the hell…?"

BOOM! GRUMBLE! Once more, the Maze heard the boy's bafflement and decided to show off its power. Slowly but surely the entrance to the Maze started closing: on either side of the stone opening, the walls came together by using gears and mechanics unknown by anyone in the Glade. Its movement caused raptures of sound to boom through the Glade, and once the opening fully closed, yet another thunder of sound was heard. The boy took a step back in shock, not knowing what to say or what to do. Even the most curious of people could be shut up by the Maze.

Though, not all of them stayed shut up. Some of them… just couldn't resist the Maze's taunts. But, for now, the only taunt that the boy heard was Gally's voice. "Next time, I'm gonna let you leave."

"…Welcome to the Glade," Alby said to the boy as well. Furthermore, once Gally had walked away, everyone else started clearing out of the area. None of them wanted to stay near that door, even if it was closed for the night. However, as the Greenie continued to stand in front of the wall, one person stayed. One person that didn't have it in them to walk away from him. This person had a black german-shepherd by her side and brown hair as dark as the boy's. This girl couldn't look away from the boy's back.

"Ruff, ruff!" Hugo wasn't as patient as Hope, though, so he barked at the boy to notice their presence. In response, the boy immediately turned his body around to face them, but instead of getting a verbal greeting, he got a physical one. "Woof!"

"W-Woah!" The boy let out a shout after Hugo had run up and tackled him to the ground. "What the…?!"

"Oh my goodness, Hugo!" Hope quickly ran up and sat down in front of the boy, who was being attacked with face-kisses from Hugo. "I'm so sorry! He usually doesn't act like this! Hugo!"

"No, it's… it's fine!" the boy remarked, causing Hope's eyes to widen when she saw a huge smile on his face. "Pfft! You're a happy dog, aren't you?"

Hugo stopped licking him and sat down between his legs. With his tail wagging, the dog then nuzzled himself into the boy's stomach. "Ruff!"

"W-Wow, uhm…" Hope shook her head in surprise. "He's never reacted to someone like this before… You must be pretty special."

"You think?" the boy questioned as he rubbed Hugo's head. "You said his name is Hugo, right?"

"Yeah. This is my Box buddy," Hope said. After seeing the boy's puzzlement, however, she let out a chuckle of her own. "Heh, I mean that he came up in the Box with me. He's the only dog here, and I'm the only girl. We're like two peas in a pod!"

"Wait, seriously? I mean, I haven't seen any other girls here, but… are you really the only girl?"

"Yep… Weird, right?" Hope muttered while scratching behind her neck. "And now that another boy's come up, I guess that Hugo and I were just a mistake after all."

After that, silence washed over the two. They sat in front of the other, yet no conversation seemed to spike. Hope glanced awkwardly, while the boy couldn't glance away. Precisely like earlier in that day, the boy wasn't able to look away from this mysterious girl. This unique, one-of-a-kind girl. He watched as her throat gulped, he watched as she licked her lips, he watched as her chest let in air and let out air, and he most definitely watched how… her differently-colored eyes darted around. For some reason, all of the girl's actions felt familiar. And every inch of her body looked familiar.

Especially those eyes of hers. That blue eye and that brown eye - the brown eye that had cried earlier that day - was the apple of his eye. Therefore, that feeling of wanting to get to know this girl overpowered his anger and confusion from just prior.

"What's your name?" the boy eventually asked, Hugo still laying in his lap. "I never got to ask earlier."

"O-Oh, it's, um… It's Hope," she replied as her eyes found his eyes again. "My name is Hope."

"'Hope'…?" The boy tested out the name on his tongue. Again, it felt strange. Really strange. Still, the boy wanted to know more. "How long have you been here for?"

"Hugo and I got here a month before you, actually. So not very long."

"Well, you two seem nicer than every other boy here," the boy grumbled. "Which is a relief after that day I've had."

"I'm… I'm sorry about Gally," Hope apologized with a sad smile. "I know he can be a little unpredictable, but he's a kind person at heart. Trust me, he just wants what's best for everyone."

"I'll believe it when I see it," he sighed and then looked down at Hugo. "Though, I gotta ask about… what I saw…. earlier."

"What you saw…?" Hope tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"I mean when you… Earlier, when you ran after me, you were… It looked like you were crying."

Hope's smile immediately dropped. "Oh. That."

"I just… I just wanna know if it had something to do with me," the boy acknowledged, not liking to see her frown so deeply. "When I came out of that Box, everything was really weird for me, and I'm sorry if I did anything weird to you. A-And you can tell me if I did. I'll apologize, so-"

"No. No, you didn't do anything," Hope interjected while she shook her head. "Trust me, that was just a me thing. It had nothing to do with you."

"Oh, okay… That's good…" the boy huffed in relief. "I mean, if there was a worst first impressions list, making a girl cry would be number one."

"Haha!" Hope let out a giggle, making the boy's heart thump with happiness. It was the same laugh he had heard earlier, but this time, it was created by him. Him. "You've got a funny side, huh? I think Fry will take a liking to that."

"'Fry'…?" The boy tested out another name. "Who the heck is named 'Fry' here?"

"Pfft," Hope snickered again. "He's the Keeper of the Cooks. A friend of mine. Would you like me to introduce you to him?"

"Well…" The boy gulped. "I don't know… Would he want to know me?"

"Of course!" Hope beamed and then stood up. Moreover, once she had dusted off her pants, she reached out a hand to the still sitting boy. "C'mon! I'll introduce you to as many people as I can! I know they'll love you!"

The boy raised an eyebrow. "You seem super happy for someone in the same boat as me."

"Well, why should I be sad when I have an amazing person in front of me?" Hope inquired, prompting the boy's face to turn flushed. Hope didn't think anything of her compliment, though, and continued on with her friendly nature. "And I know everyone else will think you're amazing, too. Plus, they're all amazing as well, so you have nothing to worry about."

"You sure…?"

"Positive."

"O… Okay…" The boy ultimately gave in and deliberately lifted his hand to Hope's. But once their hands touched for the first time, something chimed in each of their hearts. The feeling made either of their eyes widen, while also making them freeze in place. Regardless, not wanting to act like a weirdo any longer, the boy shook that feeling away and stood up. Now, Hugo sat between the boy and the girl, who both disconnected their hands from the other's. "Um… Lead the way?"

"R-Right," Hope stuttered as she turned around. "Just this way."

Behind them, the Maze grumbled in annoyance. And as the sun set over that same Maze, the monsters came out to play.

Ava Paige started at the large monitor overlooking the entire Glade. It was a sunny day. A beautiful day for lounging outside or basking in the sun. But when the cameras picked up motion by the entrance of the Maze, she zoomed into the area and saw something… that made her blood run cold. That made the sun hide behind the clouds. She saw Hope and the newest boy talking. They were just talking. Talking. That was it, but… but they didn't know what…

"She's… different than the rest."

Ava remembered that day like it was yesterday.

"There's Hope in her eyes."

She remembered the first time she looked into Hope's eyes.

"Come here… I won't hurt you…"

She remembered how sad Hope looked.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

But she also remembered how alive Hope looked.

"I'm gonna take you somewhere special, okay?"

So… innocent.

"And I'm going to… I'm going to take you home."

Ava thought it was for the best.

"I want you to meet someone very special to me."

Ava thought that Hope's life would be better.

"This is my…"

She thought that she could save her.

"P-Please…"

But, in the end, Ava realized that…

"Save me!"

She'd only made Hope's pain worse.