Chapter 3
When I woke up I was immediately reminded of the strange day I had yesterday because of four faces staring at me from across the room. I recognised Newt and Chuck but not the other two so Newt kindly introduced me to them.
"This is Winston and that's Minho." He said
The first thing I noticed about the boy Newt pointed out who was called Winston was that he had acne covering his face. After further inspection of his physical attributes I realised he was a tall boy with dark hair, brown eyes and warm brown skin. His facial features didn't display any signs of emotion but his eyes held a fearful confusion that I could only guess was caused by my arrival.
The other boy however, had all of his emotions written out on his face. Instead of confused Minho seemed more curious than the rest of the people I had met in the glade which made me wonder if he would also be nicer. He was obviously Asian with short black hair and as far as I could tell he had a good build but his arms where the main thing about him that stood out. His eyes were brown like Winston's but seemed more warm in a way which made me want to trust him. A smile was on his lips as I looked at him and I smiled back slightly to try and gain another friend besides Chuck while I was in the hell hold the other boys call the Glade.
"Um hi." I said awkwardly
Chuck let out a quiet snort but tried to cover it with a cough as the other three boys looked at him weirdly. As I waited for someone else to say something I took in Newts tense posture as he stood next to the boy he called Minho. I wondered what that was about but thought better of it than to say anything in case it made things in the room even more awkward than they already were.
"Alby wants you in the gathering and sent us up to get you." Chuck said breaking the silence and I was grateful.
"He sent all of you up to get me?" I asked in disbelief
Newt shifted his weight from one foot to another while Minho scratched his arm and Winston let out an awkward cough.
"Well no, he did originally send me up but then Newt wanted to see how you were doing even though he had seen you ten minutes earlier and Minho wanted to see what everyone was talking about when they said you were really h-" Chuck didn't get to finish as Newt put his hand over his mouth to shut him up.
"I think we should all get to the gathering." Newt said before turning and walking out of the room with the Winston and Chuck in tow whole Minho lingered while I got out of the bed I didn't remember falling asleep in.
Minho walked next to me as we made our way down the stairs towards where I could only guess the gatherings took place. Once we got to our destination I was surprised. It was only a small room with thirteen chairs in it and not much else apart from a table that covered most of the space in the room. Nine of the seats where already taken up but Newt, Winston and Minho filled three of them and then I was left to fill the last chair. I felt bad for Chuck who had been left outside the room but knew there must have been a reason for the other boys to leave him out.
"Alright you shanks I think you all know what this gathering is all about. We need to figure out what we should do with the new Greenie over there. Anyone got any suggestions?" Alby said
"I say we banish her! She can't be good for anything anyway and she'll only cause more trouble if she stays." A boy I recognised from yesterday said, I think his name was Gally?
I didn't know much about the Glade or what half of the words the people used meant but I could tell that being banished was not something that I wanted to happen to me. I was fairly certain that the big walls that opened and closed at night where the only way of getting out of this place and even I knew that there was something bad beyond the walls so being banished probably meant going out there.
Thankfully not a lot of the other boys seemed to agree with that idea, Newt was especially against it which made my heart do a weird fluttering thing as he stood up for me.
"I don't understand why need to do something about her, she's just like the rest of us. We all came up through the box, we were all bloody petrified, we were all confused. The only difference is that she is the first girl here." He said with anger in his tone.
Ally shot him a warning look as Newt fumed in silence next to him and it was hard not to notice his trembling hands as he slowly curled and uncurled them into fists. I stayed silent throughout the entire 'gathering' thinking it was what was best although I seriously wanted to but in at times, especially when Gally offered the idea that the 'creators' could have been sending them a message and telling them they could be there a long time. Newt reacted more than me though and practically leapt across the table to try and strange the idiot that was continuously getting on my nerves. It took Minho, Alby and two other boys to pull Newt away from Gally who was smirking even though it didn't reach his eyes.
After the gathering was over all twelve of the boys decided that I should be treated just as equally as the rest of the other boys (they called them gladers) but still should have some different sleeping arrangements. I was more than happy with this arrangement which set me in a good mood for the rest of the day as well.
Newt approached me after the gathering to explain some things to me. Apparently I was still allowed to do all of the jobs but if there was one I especially didn't want to do then I wouldn't have to. He also explained who keepers where and what they did so I learned that the gatherings were only for keepers which was why Chuck wasn't allowed in. Newt also took me on the tour while he explained everything to me so I got to fully understand everything and was able to get a few more answers than the day before because Chuck couldn't answer all of my questions.
After the tour I was shown where everyone ate and it was about lunch time. At the mention of food my stomach let out an uncalled for growl and I realised just how hungry I must have been. I hadn't had any food the day before and had missed breakfast to go to the gathering earlier so when the cook (I learned his name was Frypan) gave me a sandwich and an apple I couldn't help myself and practically devoured it all while Newt watched me in amusement, not like I could care less.
We were joined by Chuck at lunch who made most of the conversation and filled in most of the gaps when nobody bothered talking. I didn't mind and it didn't seem like Newt did either so we let Chuck blabber on about random things while we ate.
Later on, Newt and I were walking through the deadheads together and talking about the glade. I was able to learn a lot of new information about what went on in the weird place and about Newt himself. As we were walking, something silver caught my eye and sparked my curiosity. I hadn't seen anything like it before - or maybe I had and couldn't remember - but either way I wanted to know more.
"Beetle blades," Newt said once he noticed what had captured my attention "harmless really, unless you touch one."
"What do they do?" I asked
"It's how the creators watch us. They're everywhere." He explained
The idea of someone watching my every move creeped me out greatly, so I changed the topic onto something more lighthearted. We must have been walking for about an hour when we started heading back towards the open area of the glade. While we walked I realised all of the small things caught my attention drastically. The leaves on the trees that looked withered and old seemed amazing and the soft sounds of insects as they buzzed in the air almost made me stop to admire each one. Everything fascinated me but I couldn't think of how or why.
As the trees began to thin I felt a weird itching feeling that wouldn't go away. I tried to think of what it was but I knew I felt like I wanted to do something. As my hands brushed against the rough bark of one of the trees it was like something in me just snapped into place and I realised what I wanted to do.
Without warning or hesitation I grabbed onto one of the low hanging branches of the trees and swung myself into it so that I was crouching. Then I started reaching for a branch higher up and hoisted myself onto it and continued to keep on doing that over and over again. At the back of my mind I could faintly here Newt calling for me but the feeling I got while I got higher and higher, the adrenaline pumping through my veins, it made me ignore him. Once I got to the highest part of the tree I was in I started jumping from tree to tree. As I jumped I felt like I was invincible and the the amazing feeling of pushing myself off of each branch as I landed was indescribable.
After I felt like I could get down from the amazing rush of energy I felt while in the trees, I climbed down onto the lower branches and watched Newt as he paced back and forth while he talked to Minho who I hadn't seen since the meeting. Feeling the need to lighten the mood on what was obviously a stressful conversation for Newt, I climbed onto a branch that was directly behind him looked up at Minho who was watching me in amusement. I put a finger to my lips in a shushing motion and then crouched lowly in the branch which was still a few feet taller than both Newt and Minho. After timing it perfectly I dove off of the branch and onto Newt half way through pacing.
We both landed on the floor with him underneath me as I tried to hold my weight off of him with my arms. Minho was laughing hysterically behind us both and gasping for breath by the time Newt contemplated what had just happened. Before he had even asked the question I gave him the answer I knew he wanted.
"You looked stressed so I lightened the mood." I added in a shrug to make it seem more carefree but it only made me lose my balance as I held my weight off of him with my arms so I landed on Newts chest with an 'Umph' from him.
As I looked up he had a smile on his lips which made my heart do the weird fluttering thing again and then before I knew it, Newt was on top of me with my arms over my head, locked in place while one of his hands held them down while the other kept his weight off of me so I wasn't crushed.
"I wouldn't be stressed if you didn't go jumping into trees and then start jumping through them like a bloody monkey." He whispered, his mouth close to my ear.
I wanted to say something witty or smart in reply but Minho cut me off.
"My eyes, my beautiful pure eyes! Oh god have mercy on my soul and make them stop! I beg of you stop the flirting!" He cried out as he put his hands over his eyes and slowly started backing away.
I couldn't stop the laugh that spiller from my lips as he tripped and fell backwards onto the ground and I felt Newt chuckle to from on top of me. I blushed at how close the two of us where after we had all finished laughing and Newt seemed to think the same way as I did. His face reddened as he pushed himself off of me and then gave me his hand to help myself up which I gratefully accepted.
After we dusted off the dirt from our clothes after being on the ground we headed back towards the main part of the Glade where most of the boys were gathered around a campfire. Newt lead us over to them and took my elbow to guide me to a log that was only occupied by Winston as he talked to someone else who I didn't know the name of. I took a seat next to Newt as he sat on the log with me, while Minho took off to go to another part of the Glade I had learned was called the map room.
As I watched the flames of the campfire while they danced in the calm breeze I tried to recall a time before the Glade where I could have done something similar to what I was doing now. Maybe I had loved camping and would go out with my family every week. Maybe, I had pets or siblings or a best friend that I would tell everything to.
With those thoughts in my head I slowly started drifting off to sleep with the sounds of lots of boys talking and laughing amongst themselves. I didn't even realise I had rested my head on Newt's shoulder until sleep was inevitable so I was powerless against its demanding orders.
