Serendipity - The maze runner, Newt

Chapter 19 - Isaac's arrival

The first rays of sunlight streaming through the walls of my hut woke me up the next morning. This time, I hadn't had any dreams. The night was peaceful. I got up and freshened up. I tied my hair into a bun and dressed in green cargo pants and a black short-sleeved top. I also put on my runner's jacket and gloves. Once ready, I headed to the canteen with my backpack. Frypan handed me breakfast, and I went to sit with Isaac.

"Hi Maylin !" He greeted me.

"Hi Isaac. Did you sleep well ?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, and you ?"

"Great."

We chatted for a bit and finished eating. Frypan gave us our sandwiches and water bottles, which we each put in our respective bags. Once ready, the two of us headed towards the doors of the maze. We started running through the corridors. The feeling of air in my lungs when I run had been missed, even though I had only missed one day of running. Being alone with Isaac, the desire to know why the other boys disliked him came to mind. I hesitated for a few minutes to ask, which Isaac seemed to notice.

"Is something wrong ?" He asked, still running at an easy pace.

"No, everything's fine... I was just thinking, you still haven't explained why the others don't like you." I said hesitantly.

"And you want me to explain now ?" He asked, chuckling.

"Yeah, a little, well if you don't want to, I can understand."

"No, it's fine, I'm okay with it." He replied.

I stayed quiet, inviting him to continue.

"When I arrived in the box over a year ago, I was very panicked. I was awake the whole trip, if you can call it that ? Well, during the entire time the box was going up. When it finally opened, at first I was relieved. But when I saw about ten boys staring at me and laughing, I panicked again. When Gally entered the box to get me out, I hit him."

I laughed. "You hit Gally ? How did he react ?"

"Well, not very well. It's been over a year and he still hates me, as you know." He chuckled. "Anyway. I used one of the big crates inside the box to climb out on my own. Once outside the box, I started running towards the doors. Newt was chasing after me, but not fast enough to catch up. Unfortunately, I tripped, so Newt was able to catch me. Except... Except I kicked him, with both feet, right in the stomach."

"You did what ? Wow."

"I'm not proud of it..." He said, sounding guilty.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad." I said.

"No worries."

"But why does Minho hate you ?"

"I'm not done yet... So after kicking him, I got up and pushed him aside to get through. I started running again and entered the maze. I ran without stopping, looking for a way out. Until I bumped into someone, causing them to fall. Well, I fell too."

"That someone was Minho wasn't he ?"

"Exactly. He yelled at me, saying I had no business being there, etc..But I got up and tried to run again. He tripped me up so I couldn't get away. That made me angry, so I hit him. After that, he hit me hard enough to knock me out. I guess I must have been pretty weak coming out of the box for him to do that so easily. They brought me back to the Glade, and the guys threw me in the Pit. When I woke up, I was still panicked, so I insulted them. Let's just say they haven't liked me much since then." He chuckled, but his laugh sounded forced.

"It's not your fault, Isaac. You were just panicked. If I hadn't fainted before going into the Maze, I probably would have done the same. If you apologize, they have no reason to hold it against you." I said calmly.

"I apologized, Maylin. I apologized every day for a month, but I got tired of it, and they didn't seem to want to forgive me. At first, I didn't want to be alone every day. But since no one wanted to talk to me, I eventually got used to it. Since then, it's been like you know it today." He sighed.

"I'll talk to them, Isaac. You haven't done anything so wrong that they should leave you alone. We're all stuck here, the least we can do is support each other."

He smiled at me, and I returned his smile. We continued running in the maze until we were both hungry. Then we ate our sandwiches and started running again. The day passed quickly, and I really enjoyed Isaac's company. He was genuinely nice, and I couldn't understand why the other boys hadn't accepted his apology after all this time.

We finally returned to the Glade. The other Runners had already come back shortly before us. Isaac went to shower, and I did the same. Once finished, I headed to the kitchen. I picked up my dinner from Frypan and noticed Gally sitting at a table. I sat down in front of him.

"Hey, Gally !"

"Hi, Maylin." He greeted me. "How was your day ?"

"Pretty good, actually ! I ran with Isaac today."

"You're friends with Isaac ?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Even though it seemed difficult to bend his eyebrows even more, he managed to do it.

"Yes, and you should be too, actually. You know, he's very kind, much more than you think."

"He didn't tell you everything he did when he arrived ?"

"He did tell me. But he was panicked, it could have happened to anyone."

Gally sighed. I spotted Isaac in the distance, so I waved for him to join us. He hesitated for a moment but finally sat down next to me.

"Well, I know you two don't get along, but-"

"I don't dislike him." Isaac interjected.

"Yes, that's true. So, I know you don't like him." I said, looking at Gally. "But it's time to settle this. Isaac has apologized, and he's made that clear. It's been over a year, I doubt you still have any lingering effects from his punch."

"I have no lingering effects, he didn't even hurt me." Gally retorted.

"Then it's settled ? If he didn't even hurt you, there's no reason to dislike him !" I exclaimed.

Gally sighed and looked at Isaac. "Works for me. I don't dislike you, but I'm not exactly looking to become buddies either. However, there's no more issue between us." Gally announced, extending his hand to Isaac.

Isaac finally took Gally's hand and shook it. "Thank you, Gally." He said, giving him a slight smile.

The meal proceeded rather well after that. Gally and Isaac exchanged some conversation, which was already a big step forward. If I had managed to convince Gally to reconcile with Isaac, it shouldn't be too difficult to convince the others.

Once dinner was over, Gally headed to his hut, Isaac went towards the Homestead, and I made my way back to my own hut. I took off my shoes and lay down in my bed. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep, exhausted from the day.

The next morning, I woke up at dawn, as usual. I styled my hair, this time opting for a braid, and got dressed. Once ready, I headed to the kitchen and sat down with Newt and surprisingly awake Chuck.

"Why are you up so early ?" I asked Chuck.

"I'm on laundry duty today. I need to wash them as early as possible so all the clothes are dry by tonight." Chuck sighed.

"It's not that early, Chuck." Newt chuckled.

"You're kidding ! The sky is still orange !" He exclaimed.

"And it's beautiful. It's good that you're awake, though." I said, smiling.

"She's right Chuck. The sky is beautiful." Newt agreed.

"Well, of course she's right, Newt. You never argue with her." Chuck said.

I chuckled, and the three of us ate together. Once finished, I picked up my lunch and a bottle of water from Frypan and headed towards the maze.

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So I don't really have much readers but I love writing so I'm going to continue !!

If you liked this chapter don't hesitate to comment <3