Bound | Newt Love Story

19 | Heathens

I run right behind Thomas as the shouts and yells from the Gladers fill my ears. We reach the edge of the Deadheads and come into view of what's going on. 

"Chuck, what's going on?" Thomas asks as we run up on a laughing Chuck. 

Chuck points up and laughs, "Girls are awesome."

I follow Chuck's pointed finger and see multiple different things fly down from the top of the treehouse. 

"Leave me alone!" A voice comes from the top as one of Frypan's wooden spoons come flying down. 

"Hey! Watch it!" Gally yells as he covers his head with a metal sheet. All the Gladers surrounding the area have things covering their heads...all but Newt, who's trying to make amends with her. 

"Hey!" Gally yells again. "Throw one more of those things and-" He's cut off my an apple hitting him right on top of the head. 

We run over and Newt gives up, crouching under a piece of wood with Jeff. "I don't think she likes us very much." Newt laughs looking over at me. 

"Go away!" The voice comes again. 

"We just want to talk!" Thomas yells up.

"I'm warning you!" The voice says again.

"Take cover y'all! Take cover!" Frypan yells out as more things come flying down.

"Hey!" I yell up. "I just want to talk to you!" 

Suddenly, the food and the frying pans stop flying down. My voice obviously stopping them. A head peaks over the edge of the treehouse. 

"There's another girl?" The girl asks, her eyes searching the Gladers.

"Yeah." I answer, trying to sound comforting. "Me." Her eyes land on me and her eyebrows furrow. 

Newt watches me cautiously, almost as if he's nervous the girl is going to hurt me or something. 

"Can we just talk?" I yell up. 

Her head disappears from the edge and her voice comes down quieter. "Yes. But only you. No one else."

"Okay." I nod, walking over to the wooden ladder. I place my foot up on the first step and grab onto another, pulling myself up to the top level. 

"Be careful, B." Frypan calls out. 

"I'll be fine, Fry." I smile, before finally reaching the top. 

"Are you crazy?!" Gally whispers, stopping me in my tracks. "She sounds like she's gonna kill you!" 

"Gally!" I yell back, harshly. "She's one of us now. She deserves to be treated equally. She came up just like us...She's probably confused and scared. I need to do something."

I watch as Gally's face just turns into more of a scowl as he simply nods. I see the corners of Newt's lips turn up into a reassuring smile.

I turn myself back to face the ladder. I grab onto the latch door and slowly push it open. My eyes search the upper level and fall on the girl, who's crouched in the corner with a very sharp cooking knife pointed at me. 

"Woah!" I yell, throwing my hands up in surrender. "I'm not going to hurt you." 

The girl doesn't put down the knife but starts attacking me with questions. "Where am I? What is this place? Who are you?"

"Okay, look." I breathe, pulling myself onto the level and sitting down, cautiously. "We can talk and I'll tell you everything, but I'm not going to explain anything with a knife pointed at me."

The girl's eyebrows furrow and her arm slowly bends down, placing the knife on the floor. "Why can't I remember anything?" She asks, her eyes still on the floor. "And why are we the only two girls here." 

"Look, let's just take it slow." I say, trying to make my face look comforting. "You're scared...and confused. I know. Because we've all gone through this." I gesture towards the boys standing down below, listening to our every word. "You're in the Glade." I nod. "We don't know exactly where we are and we don't know why." I stop, trying to think of the right thing to say next. Newt made explaining everything look so easy. "Now, your name...That'll come back to you in a couple of days. It's the one thing they let us keep-"

"Teresa." 

"Wait, what?" I ask.

"Teresa." She repeats.

"You can already remember your name?" I ask, confused.

"Yeah." She breathes. "Is that not normal?"

"No." I kind of laugh. "It took me about two days." 

"What's..." Teresa nods towards me.

"Brooke." I smile.

"Can you tell me their names?" Teresa asks, nodding towards the boys.

I chuckle, "Of course." I peer over the edge. "That's Gally." I point to him. "He's kind of an asshole, but he just has everyones best interest at heart." I laugh. "That's Minho." I point him. "He's a Runner, like me, we run the Maze everyday trying to find a way out. He's really nice...you'll like him." Teresa watches them intently as they stare back up at us. "That's Chuck. He's the youngest of us all, but he still pulls his weight around here." My eyes fall on Newt. "That's Newt." I smile. "He's Second-In-Command here, keeps everyone in line." I laugh. 

"Are you two..?" Teresa starts. 

"Yes, I suppose." I smile.

"And then," I continue, pointing to the black head of messy hair. "That's Thomas. But you already knew that."

Teresa's eyes light up a bit as she stares down at Thomas. "How do I know him?" 

My lips press down in a straight line. "I don't know. None of us remember anything before we got here."

"Is the girl coming down?" Gally's booming voice comes up.

"Mmm..that's Gally." I laugh. 

"He is kind of an asshole." Teresa says, smiling for the first time. 

"Do you want to come down?" I ask. 

Teresa looks between me and the rest of the Gladers, her face unreadable. 

"Do you want me to send Thomas up?" I ask. 

Her face changes and her eyebrows furrow a bit. 

I nod and turn, pulling the door up and starting to climb down. 

"Brooke." Teresa's calls.

"Yeah?" I ask, peering my head back into the open doorframe. 

"Thanks." She mumbles. 

I smile, "You're welcome." I climb down the ladder, jumping down into the grass with a thud before walking over to the boys. "She wants to see Thomas." 

All eyes are on Thomas again. He looks slightly nervous.

"Just go." I whisper. "It may be the only way we can get her down."

Thomas nods, before looking up to the top level and climbing up the ladder. 

Newt looks over at me before slinging an arm around my shoulders. "Good job." 

I laugh and lean my head back against his shoulder. "You make it look too easy."