Memo ~ Hey guys! I know that this is a much shorter chapter. I am so sorry about that, but I think It just might take me a few chapters to get back into the swing of things. I really want to keep this story going and I hope that you all will follow it with me and continue to give such amazing feedback. I hope you enjoy!
Joanne had never thought that she would be so happy to see the Glade again in her life. However a genuine smile formed on her lips when she saw the green grass. She was even happy to see the other Gladers, she'd be lying if she said that she hadn't grown attached to them during her stay here.
To her relief as well, one of the first faces that she saw was Newt, who came striding across the Glade. She had been worried about him after she lost him in the Maze, so she was glad to see that he made it out okay. However, she was also a little angry. What exactly happened out there? How did they get separated? And she was, at the moment, going to hold him fully responsible for that.
"Joanne, Minho! You're alright." He stopped in front of them, looking them both up and down from head to toe with a grin on his face. "I can't believe –"
"Enough with the greetings." Minho was blunt as ever, not condescending or upset, just simply to the point. "I wanna know why I found the Green Bean all by herself"
Newt was suddenly very quiet but there was nothing that flashed across his face. A crowd was starting to gather around the small group, clearly interested in what happened in the Maze. Minho gestured for them to continue this elsewhere.
They three hiked across the Glade and into a backroom in the homestead. Minho made sure no one was around to overhear them as he shut the door behind them. "Alright, explain."
Newt was staring at Joanne with an apologetic look in his eyes, "I'm sorry Annie…"
She didn't say anything back, instead just stared at him. Waiting for some form of explanation, some form of higher clarity. She knew that if he was directly apologizing for it, then it couldn't be for a good reason.
"Come on Newt, spit it out! What happened out there?" Minho was becoming impatient.
Newt continued his silence however, refusing to stop looking at Joanne, like he was willing the explanation into her mind. It finally clicked as he repeated his apology again. Her jaw dropped a little in shock and she shook her head while taking a step back.
"You were never in danger Annie, I promise. I-"
"Why…why would you do that…" Joanne asked, genuinely hurt.
Minho interjected, "Am I missing something?"
Newt finally looked at him, "I left her, on purpose…but she was never in danger, I looped back and followed her." Newt looked back to Joanne, "Please, Annie. I'm-"
"Why, I don't understand why…" Joanne repeated, her eyebrow furrowing together.
Newt paused, "Alby made the decision. He thought that being out there alone might jog your memory or that you would show some signs of being connected with the Creators."
Joanne said nothing just simply walked out of the room. Newt tried to stop her, "Annie, I'm really sorry, I didn't like doing it –"
"But you still did it, didn't you.."
"I didn't have a choice, Alby-"
"You always have a choice, Newt… And you clearly made yours. If you were really that against it, then you didn't have to go along with it. You have a voice don't you?"
With that, she made her exit. She could hear Newt calling after her, but she didn't care. How could she? She'd trusted him, and he'd done something like that to her. She could hear the footsteps of someone trailing quickly behind her.
''Hey! Wait!'' A firm hand clamped down on her shoulder. So lost in thought, she hadn't realized how close the person had been to her. She tried to shake them off but had no luck.
With a forceful tug she was spun around to face Minho. She was glad that it wasn't someone else that she had in mind however, but she still wasn't up for talking to anyone at the moment. Not the Minho was giving her much of a choice at this point.
Both of his hands where now on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. He was slightly bent so that he could be on the same level as her.
'' Listen to me. What Newt did was stupid, okay. But he would never have done anything to endanger one of the Gladers.''
Joanne huffed, shaking her head slightly, ''Ya I know, but am I really one of you…''
Minho paused, for the first time since she'd met him he looked surprised, genuinely taken aback. His hands dropped from her shoulders and he straightened out his spine.
''Do you really believe that you aren't…'' Minho finally replied
''I don't know what I believe anymore, Minho. There is two people in this whole stupid place that I trusted completely, and one of them just put me into a very compromising situation.'' She paused for a moment, regaining her composer, ''How am I supposed to know that you won't do something like that to me… I thought I could trust Newt and I was wrong, so how am I supposed to trust you''
''You wanna act like you are the only victim here Joanne'' His voice raised slightly '' If we wanna play a game of trust here, then how am I supposed to know if I can trust you, hmm''
''you can't''
''No, I can because you told me I could and It's my choice to take that risk. ''
She looked down at her feet for a moment, he knew that he had gotten through to her at that point. ''I know you are annoyed at him, and that's fine, you have all the right to be. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't care, or that you can't trust him. That is your choice. We are scared too Joanne''
''I just-I just need some time okay. Alone''
Minho agreed that that was probably a good idea. By the bags that were forming under his eyes, she figured that he was much overdo for a good night's sleep. They went their separate ways, Minho momentarily watching her leave, before giving into his desires for rest.
Checking her surroundings to see if she was truly alone, It was common in the Glade to find someone lurking around a corner. Feeling safe about her situation, Joanne pulled a crumbled up piece of paper out of her pocket. Unfolding it, black ink typed across it, clearly read:
Use it on one of them…