Newt's shoulders relaxed as he ran a hand down his face. "Oh, okay. Great."

I looked at Chuck who was beaming, proud that he finally did something right. He figured out my name, even if he did think it was stupid. His chubby cheeks were pulled into a bright smile, and his hands were pressed gently against the surface of the table, almost as if he were ready to run out into the Glade, telling everyone about his accomplishment.

"So." I spoke up as the awkward silence started to float in the air. "What did you gossip girls talk about in there? What are you going to do with me?"

Newt sent me a nervous smile, reaching up to the back of his head and itching the same spot that had seemed to be bothering him all day. "Well, we decided that...that you're a girl."

I blinked at him as crickets interrupted our conversation. Chuck looked at Newt with furrowed eyebrows, and then he looked back at me, almost checking at whether he had been talking to the right person. Newt stared at the ground, thinking over his words as if he was wondering if he said them out loud.

"Well spotted." I finally spoke in a monotone voice. Chuck pursed his lips into a line, trying to hide back a smile as Newt's face got about five shades darker. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head, mentally cursing himself for being so stupid.

"Th-That's not what I meant." He said. I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms over my chest. "I mean that we haven't seen a girl in...well since any of us can remember. Every month that Box comes up with one new Greenie. A boy Greenie. And...you're a—"

"Girl, yeah I got it." I saved him the breath by repeating something he's said at least five times in the past minute.

He shut his mouth and glanced at Chuck, who looked up at him with a curious face. Newt looked back at me and sighed, deciding to finally stop sugarcoating whatever he was trying to get out. "We decided that you should have your own room, here in the Homestead. We'll give you the tour tomorrow, and for now, we'll treat you like every other Glader. But we have to set some rules."

I raised my eyebrows. "For now? Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that you have to treat me any differently. I can still help with...whatever it is you people do around here. I'm more than capable of—"

"I know." Newt interrupted softly, holding his hands out in front of him. I hadn't realized I was walking towards him until he took a step towards me, only about a foot away. I looked into his eyes, suddenly feeling an overwhelming sense of familiar comfort. My eyes softened, and I shut my mouth, finally feeling him relax and take a breath. "There's another thing. We have to be careful with you. I'm gonna take you to the Med-Jacks to get you checked up."

Just as quickly as the comforting moment lasted, it was gone, and I was sent into a spiral of questions again. "What are Med-Jacks and why do I have to go there?"

"That little stunt you pulled earlier in the Box wasn't normal. The guys that come up are usually scared, but they aren't so scared that they forget how to shucking breathe. Clint said you were having some sort of...attack I think." He explained, making my heart beat. If I was sick in here, how were they supposed to help me?

I pursed my lips and inhaled a shaky breath, remembering how frightened I was only an hour ago when I couldn't catch my breath. "How will you know what's wrong with me? Maybe I inhaled some sort of..." I trailed off, suddenly feeling scared at the thought of going to these so-called Med-Jacks.

Newt tilted his head to the side. "I'll stay there with you if you would like me to. Kinda have to anyway...Alby's orders."

I nodded, feeling a little calmer with the thought of Newt being there with me. I don't know what it is about him, but whenever I was around him, I just felt...peaceful. Like I wasn't stuck in a giant—what did Chuck call it?—a Maze. I felt like I was safe, and that even though I didn't show I was scared, he could see right through me.

It scared me. Losing all of my memories, but every time I looked at this one person, a wave of familiarity coursed through my veins. It was like looking at a picture and trying to remember what the people outside of it were doing. I knew him from somewhere, I just couldn't remember where. It made me want to scream, cry, punch someone. Maybe him for being so close, but yet so far. I wanted to punch my brain. If I did that, then the memory of where I know him might finally come up. It was right there. I could practically feel it trying to break through the barrier of whatever was blocking me from my past. It was like an itch. But the walls were too high...exactly like the ones that surrounded Newt and me as we walked out of the Homestead and back through the grassy field to another rickety building.

Just stop thinking about it, I told myself. The last thing I wanted was to go crazy from trying to grasp onto something that might not even be there in the first place.

"How do you like Chuck?" His smooth British accent made its way into my mind. My head shot up at his voice, I almost forgot that he was beside me.

"Oh." I shook my head, trying to break out of my trance. "He's nice...But I do have a question about him?"

Newt hummed in response, looking ahead at the group of boys that were gathered back at the Box, pulling crates of things out of it in an organized manner. "Why is he dressed like that? I mean...you and I are dressed in nice clothes compared to him. Why does he look like a kid who had a temper tantrum in a cheese grader?"

He laughed out loud, making my ears perk up and a smirk dance across my lips. "He's a Slopper."

"That's not a very nice name to call a twelve-year-old kid. What's it mean?" I asked him.

"It means that when we tested him out for all the jobs that are around the Glade, he wasn't good at any of them. So, he's a cleaner. He cleans up after all of us, making sure everythin' is nice and tidy."

"He has to clean up after fifty of you guys!" I gasped, feeling frustrated at the choice of job for the small boy. "Why? Why not let him run around like a normal kid should?"

Newt's smile suddenly disappeared as his calm eyes meet my frantic ones. He always seemed like it; calm. "Because, Mae. Nothin' about this place is normal. We have a specific way things go...everyone works. Everyone has to do their part. That's why you're gonna be tested for jobs the day after tomorrow."

"Why not tomorrow?" I asked as Newt pushed a door open, allowing me to step into the new building first.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Uh, because tomorrow is your tour. We thought that you should have time to relax to everyone and everythin' before you start the actual work. You know, get used to the way we run things here."

"How will I get used to it if I don't live it?" I questioned him again as he took the lead once more and lead me down a narrow hallway, passing weird beds in the meantime. "When the other guys came up, did they get tested for jobs the same day as the tour?"

Newt once again scratched the back of his neck, turning around to face me as he continued to cautiously walk, making sure that he didn't hit anything. "I suppose... But—"

"Why should I be any different? Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that I'm any less human than the rest of you... I want to help out, Newt."

At the sound of his name leaving my lips, a voice sounded in my head.

Maisy.

I stopped in my tracks, placing my hand on the wooden wall that I walked along. I closed my eyes, feeling a wave of dizziness course through me. The floor felt like it was falling beneath my feet as the voice again echoed through my mind.

Maisy.

I opened my eyes, needing to see if Newt was actually speaking. It was no mistake that my name was being spoken in a British accent. The only person I knew with that trait was standing in front of me, carefully holding onto my shoulder. His eyes searched every part of my face, looking for some sign that I was in danger, or that my health was failing me. His lips were slightly parted, but he didn't speak.

"I'm okay." I muttered rubbing the sides of my head with the palms of my hands. I stood up straight, still feeling Newt's worried hand on my bicep.

"What happened?" He asked, a shake in his voice. I shrugged, not even knowing myself. I couldn't just tell him that I heard a voice...his voice in my head. He would probably think that I was crazy and then he would just leave me in the slammer—or whatever you call it. Alby certainly wouldn't take that lightly. If I told him that I heard someone say my name, everyone would look at me more than they already were. A crazy girl who heard voices. That's what they would think of me.

So, I lied.

"I just got a bit dizzy for a second." I pursed my lips into a fake smile. "I'm alright now. I promise."

Newt searched my eyes, looking for a sign that I wasn't telling the truth. But instead, he just nodded and turned around slowly, leading me back through the narrow hallway. We walked until we came to a bigger room, only lit by one small lamp. Two people were leaning against the building. One leaned against the window, and the other against some kind of dresser.

As soon as Newt and I approached, their conversation came to a stop, both of them immediately looking towards me. I rolled my eyes, getting tired of the distraction that was my body. All that I wanted to do was know what happened to me in the Box, and I wanted to have a sandwich. Without a hundred eyes on me.

"You must be the girl shank." A kid with brown curly hair turned to me. He had the kind of expression on his face that made me want to pinch his cheeks. I could say the same for Chuck, but it would be less weird for him. This guy almost looked like the older version of him.

I nodded once. "Good to see that you're not blind." I walked towards the small bed and sat down, letting my legs dangle over the side as I placed my hands under my thighs. "Now do your magic weird people...tell me what's wrong with me and stop drooling."

The skinny dark-skinned boy chuckled while grabbing something that looked like it could strangle me. It had a dark circle around the end, and I watched with wide eyes as he put the other ends into his ears, moving closer to me with an amused look on his face. My eyes widened, and I scooted back on the bed, not stopping until my back hit the wall. I looked up, seeing that there was a small window right above my head. Outside, the sky was beginning to turn a dark orange color, telling me that it was almost night.

Shaking the strange thought from my head, I looked back at the boy, seeing him look towards Newt with furrowed eyebrows. Newt started to walk towards me, his hardened expression changing to a soft one almost immediately. My eyes searched his face as I felt my heartbeat start to slow down when he sat down on the bed next to me.

"It's okay." He muttered to me in a quiet voice. "They're not gonna hurt you. They're just gonna listen to your heart and your breathing to make sure everything's okay. Good that?"

I looked at the two other boys who were standing behind Newt. The guy with the thing hanging out of his ears sent me a warm smile, and the guy with the pinchable cheeks gave me a small nod, agreeing to Newt's words. I looked back to him and swallowed, letting my trust for Newt lead the way. Although I've only known him for a few hours, it feels like I've known him my entire life.

"Okay." He turned back to the two boys after I didn't protest any longer. "Clint, Jeff, get this over with quickly. I don't think she's eaten anything today."

Almost as if on cue, a loud groan came from my stomach. All four of us raised our eyebrows and looked down at my tummy. Newt let out a breathy laugh as he stood up, making his way over to stand next to the bed I sat on. I rolled my eyes, now knowing that I was hungry and I was five feet away from a kitchen half an hour ago.

"Anyways." The dark-skinned boy smirked and started to advance towards me. "I'm just gonna press this to your back and listen to your lungs. Is that okay?"

I nodded, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. The boy, either Clint or Jeff, I couldn't tell, pressed the circular tool to my back, making me shiver. All four of us were silent as the boy listened to my breathing. The only words that were spoken were ones when he was telling me to inhale and exhale. I kept my eyes on Newt the entire time, and he kept his eyes on mine.

The cold metal moved from the center of my back to the right side and the boy told me to inhale again. I did as I was told, looking at Newt as he took the breaths with me. In through the nose, out through the mouth. He nodded to me occasionally, making sure I stayed calm, which I had to remind myself to thank him for earlier.

"Okay." The boy removed the metal from my back and took the tool out of his ears. He looked towards the chubby one. "Definitely asthma."

My head shot to both of them, my mind racing as they discussed what's wrong with me as though I wasn't in the room. What's asthma and why do I have it? What does it do? Newt seemed to be just as confused as I was. He pushed himself off of the wall with furrowed eyebrows.

"What's that?" He asked, his voice a level louder than it was when he spoke to me. Clint and Jeff turned to him with wary expressions before looking back at me, then back at Newt.

The chubby boy cleared his throat. "It's where her airways are swollen and become inflamed, making it hard to breathe in some cases." He told Newt. Then, he turned to me. "When you were having trouble breathing in the Box, what did it feel like?"

"Like I was dying." I started, watching the dark-skinned boy jot down notes on a paper, "Um...my lungs felt like they were being squeezed, and it was like someone was choking me."

"Clint." Newt called attention to the chubby boy, who's name I now know. "Can...is there any way to stop those attacks when she has them? Or is there any way to prevent them?"

Clint shrugged. "There might be something in the Box to help her with them, but as for prevention goes, the only thing we can do is refrain her from too much physical activity."

"From what I heard." Jeff started, dropping his notes on the dresser. "It's not life-threatening. She has slight wheezing when she breathes, but that shouldn't really interfere with everyday activity. She can still work with us, but she probably needs more breaks, and she definitely cannot be a Runner."

"What's a Runner?" I blurt out, not really taking in the information about my condition. I watched as Newt's face hardened as he glared at Jeff. Clint lightly punched him in the bicep before calling him a name. Jeff sighed and covered his face with his hand, feeling humiliated.

I turned to Newt, feeling as though I wouldn't get the answer from either of the Med-Jacks. His eyes met mine and softened again. He let out a breath, closing his eyes for only a moment before opening his mouth to speak. "They're the ones who go out into the Maze every day."

"Wh-They get to go out of here?" I asked, feeling a sudden interest in the job. I didn't know if I could be cooped up in this Glade for days and days on end, waiting for them to come back with something new. Possibly something that could lead to our way out of here.

Before Newt could respond, an ear-piercing screeching sound came from outside. I covered my ears and turned around, feeling the ground shake beneath my feet. From out of the small window, I could see the large walls that surrounded us. My eyes were drawn to the entrance I wondered about earlier, watching as enormous metal bars slowly emerged from the right side. My mouth opened slightly as I let out a breath, feeling my heart beat faster. The walls moved towards each other, groaning and screeching, and I just stood there, too shocked to move.

For a moment, and just a moment, I thought about what would happen if I just booked it to the walls and squeezed my way through. Maybe I could find a way out...but common sense won, and my feet stayed plastered to the ground as the doors finally touched each other, creating a loud bang sound through the whole Glade.

I stared for about thirty seconds, feeling claustrophobic just looking and thinking that we were now officially trapped here. But when I turned my head back towards Newt, he looked completely calm, his face drawn of any emotion.

"W-Wh-What the hell was that?" I asked as my voice cracked.

Newt moved his gaze towards the ground, thinking of the possible ways that he could softly tell me that we were in the middle of a Maze with walls that close every night. We really were trapped.

"I think it's time I show you your room." He muttered, turning away from me and starting the walk down the narrow hallway. I looked at Clint and Jeff for some help, but they nodded and turned around, studying the notes that they had taken down only moments earlier. Knowing that I wasn't gonna get any answers from them, I groaned and started down the hallway, where Newt was already waiting for me at the door.

I thought about asking him why the doors closed, but I knew that would probably save my questions for when he was actually in the mood to answer them. So I just followed him back to the Homestead, not daring to speak.

Why were we put here? Was it for some kind of punishment? I didn't remember anything...was that meant to be a punishment as well? All I wanted to do was get some food and go to sleep. Although I didn't know how much of that I would get. The thought of resting while I could be trying to figure my way out...our way out, just made me want to puke. What did I do? There had to be something or someone that put us here. We couldn't have just gone wandering out into a field and jump into a Box. But maybe that's what happened. Maybe we're all just some stupid teenagers who didn't know better. I sure felt stupid knowing so little while everyone around me was going about their daily business in the Maze.

Newt led me back into the Homestead, where all the boys were sitting at the same picnic tables that were empty when Chuck and I were in here. When it felt like we were the only two people in the world. Now, as soon as I walked in, everyone stopped conversing to look at me. I swear you could hear a pin drop. It's like someone just turned on the mute button.

I wanted to say something to them, maybe a sarcastic comment, maybe even smile and wave. But again, I stood as a hundred eyes burned into every part of my body. I furrowed my eyebrows at the boys, feeling like someone should tell them to stop drooling. But nobody spoke. Not even Newt, who also stared at me. Except his eyes weren't on my body. He was looking right into my eyes, with a crease in the middle of his forehead. I looked at him and watched as his face fell slowly. He could probably sense how intimidated I was by the boys who all looked at me like I was there for amusement.

Then, without thinking, I turned towards the steps of the building and started up them. I needed to get out of this place. Be alone. I hadn't been alone all day. The only time I was alone with my thoughts, was when I was partially dying from lack of oxygen.