Chapter 19
You sit with Claude on the bench. He had just asked you to tell him everything.
"I don't really know what I can tell you," you're trying to think, "I don't remember anything, much like the rest of you."
You pause and, as a joke, offer up, "My name is Y/N."
You laugh but Claude is anything but impressed.
"I've only been here a week, you know."
Claude shifts in his seat, thinking,
"Well surely you know what kind of person you are, what you like and don't like, hobbies?"
You sit there, thinking again, then you realise that, no, you don't know of any hobbies; you haven't had time for them since arriving in the Glade.
"Sorry, Claude," you voice your thoughts, "I just don't have any of that, I haven't had time."
Claude looks disappointed, maybe even a bit angry and, trying to lighten the mood, you say,
"What about you? What are your interests?"
He looks at you and seems to be considering something but he abruptly stands up and angrily says,
"Forget it," as he storms off.
You're left sitting there, looking at his disappearing figure, utterly confused. You think about following him but decide it isn't worth it. I didn't even get to thank him for his help with Jeff, you think as you stand up and head towards the Homestead to see how Jeff's doing after his altercation with Ben. Before you get there however, you're surprised by a tap on your shoulder. You jump and turn around to see Newt standing behind you smiling.
"Hey, Y/N," he says as he pulls you into an embrace.
"Newt!" you exclaim gleefully as you grin from the butterflies in your stomach and the electricity you feel as you hug him back.
"How was the Gathering?" You ask as you pull apart.
"Most boring klunk ever. I don't get why we really needed it. Not much we can do while the girl's still in that bloody coma," he pauses to think, "Well, we did talk about what we should do with Gally."
You had forgotten about Gally. Memories of that night, waking up in the Maze, being chased by a Griever, resurfaced every time you looked outside the Doors, at the Maze. But Gally's possible involvement had completely slipped your mind.
"What's going to happen to him?" you ask nervously.
You know that harming another Glader could lead to the Banishment of the guilty party, and you don't think that he actually did it.
"We were going to banish him, but since he says he didn't do it, and more than half of the Keepers sided with him, we're going to leave him in the Slammer for a couple of days while we figure out what happened."
You sigh, you don't want Gally to be banished for something he didn't do and it be your fault. He could be lying, you think, but you don't want to believe that.
"Y/N?" Newt breaks your train of thought,
"What's going on up there?" he asks, gently tapping your forehead.
You giggle a bit and brush his hand away as you sigh.
"There's just so much going on right now. What with Ben attacking Thomas, the note saying I have to complete some task, the girl..."
You gasp realising that you had forgotten yet another thing, your memory of the girl, Teresa.
"Where's Alby? I need to tell you both about something."
"What is it?"
"Before Ben wigged out and attacked Thomas, I was sitting with the comatose girl to see if she would spark any memories, she did."
"What did remember?"
"Her name is Teresa. But I'd rather not say it twice. Can we go find Alby first?"
"Of course, sorry, love," Newt takes your hand and the two of you start searching for Alby.
"Oh, there he is," Newt says as he points to the door of the Homestead.
You see Alby coming out and he seems to have calmed down a bit after the whole thing with Ben.
"Alby!" you call out, getting his attention before running towards him, pulling Newt along behind you.
"This better be good," he says grumpily.
"I hope it is," you say, "You wanted me to tell you if I remembered anything."
Alby suddenly seems interested.
"Spit it out," he demands.
The three of you sit down on a nearby bench and you tell them every detail of your memory. When you finish, Alby muses—rubbing his chin thoughtfully,
"Her name is Teresa?"
You nod, "Yes, and she and Thomas definitely had a strong connection before coming here."
"You can't remember anything else?" Newt asks you.
"No."
Alby jumps in again, "What about this special job you mentioned?"
"Everything I know, I told you. If I learn anything else, I'll let you know."
"Good that," Alby says as he nods, stand up, and leaves.
You turn to Newt, "Is he always that direct?"
"He wasn't always. But since he became the leader, he doesn't have time for chatting. You have no idea how the responsibility has changed him after Nick's death."
"Who's Nick?" you ask, wondering what happened to him, How does a sixteen-year-old kid just up-and die?
"He used to be in charge around here, Alby was second-in -command, until..."
Newt pauses and looks sullenly at the ground,
"It only happened about two months ago. I'd rather not talk about it. It brings up bad memories that I'd rather not revisit."
"I'm sorry," you say, "I completely understand."
You both just sit there in uncomfortable silence for a bit before you decide to change the subject.
"What do you know about Claude?"