"So," I said, tipping my chair back onto two legs. "The entire Glade was full of girls with the exception of me until this dude Aris came up. I was the fourth one to come to the Glade. Sonya came right after me and our current leader, Harriet, was second. Jenny, our cook, was third. The first few months were - they were horrible." I gulped, dreadful memories rising to the surface of my mind. "The first person to come was Hayley, but she was killed by a Griever only two weeks after I arrived. She was my first friend, ya know. Like a sister. I kinda lost my mind for a couple of days after that, crying and not coming to dinner, but Harriet knocked some sense into me and I realized that I had to keep going. For me, and for all of us.

"After that, it got a bit better. We lost a lot of people to despair and fear, but we recovered. Harriet took charge with Sonya as her second-in-command and we just kinda. . ." I waved my hands around vaguely. "I guess we just accepted that we were stuck in the Glade until we found an exit and we figured out how to run life. We had a bunch of different jobs like Medic, Builder, Cook, Skinner, Caretaker, stuff like that. Each Blondie to come up has to try out every job and though we usually don't let 'em choose, they always get to say what they prefer. I'm a Mapper, as you know. And it was good for a couple years. We were happy there.

"Then I got stung and I broke a bunch of bones. My leg, six fingers, dislocated a shoulder too. Got stuck in the Healing Shack for a freaking week before I finally got up. But during the Changing, I had weird dreams, visions, memories, whatever. Stuff that bugged me to no end. I told our leaders about them, and they tried to figure it out. But they couldn't, and neither could I. We got another Blondie a week after I got stung. Her name's Rachel and I recognized her. She had been in one of my memory things, but just like the rest of us, she had no memories at all. Pretty much useless, I s'pose.

"We got another Blondie right after her, which was weird 'cause we never got more than one newbie per month. But it got even weirder after we found out it was a shucking boy. A boy in a freaking coma! But then he woke up and said, 'Rachel, everything is going to change.' And he had this paper in his hand - said 'He's the last one. Ever.' and you know, that obviously creeped us out big-time. He kept mumbling in his coma too - stuff about endings, or triggers, or whatever. Couldn't make sense of anythin'. And it got even freakier after Rachel realized that he could talk in her mind, but we found out a bunch of stuff about him that way, so honestly, it was pretty darn helpful for us.

"His name is Aris. He woke up eventually and I showed him around a bit 'cause I couldn't run with my leg, so I had nothin' to do. And then. . ." My voice faltered as I recalled what had happened.

Newt, who had been quiet during my rant, asked quietly, "What happened after that?"

I shook my head, feeling my eyes burning. I looked down at my knees, wiping away my tears furiously and I scolded myself for being so weak. So vulnerable.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, my words coming out harsher than I had intended. "I shouldn't have told you so much anyway."

Newt looked hurt but he nodded. "I get it," he said softly, and for a split second, I thought I saw him look down at his leg. He had a limp, I remembered. I wanted desperately to know what had happened, but I wanted different answers first.

"I said my part, now it's your turn," I said, waiting. Newt smiled.

"Fine, if you're so bloody impatient." Newt explained what he knew about the Glade and Creators. When he got to the part when he used to be a Runner, I interrupted him.

"Well, why aren't you one now?" I asked. Then I realized what an obvious question it was.

Newt laughed. "Greenie, you can't be that stupid, can you?" He gestured toward his bad leg. "I hurt it when I was running away from a bloody Griever. Never recovered, you know." He said all of it easily, as if he had said it a million times before, but I knew better. I almost didn't catch the small flicker of pain in his eyes, but I did.

"You're a good liar," I commented casually. "Now, do you want to tell me the truth or not?"

He didn't hesitate or stiffen, which were usually big giveaways that I had caught somebody, but his face did turn a shade paler. 

"What do you mean?" he asked, the slightest tremble at the end of his words. I sighed dramatically and flicked a stray lock of hair out of my face.

"What I mean, Newt," I said, looking him in the eyes and emphasizing his name, "is that you're lying to me. Maybe your leg wasn't hurt by running, or maybe it did recover, I don't know. But you are lying to me. Don't even bother denying it," I said as Newt opened his mouth. "And if you don't trust me, I don't trust you." I stood up, clearly ending the conversation.

I left quickly, but not before I caught his pained expression. I felt like he did want to tell me, but something held him back.

Whatever it was, I was determined to get answers.

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WORD COUNT: 1070

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From Wikipedia:

"Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian, and author who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the scientific revolution."

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Sort of a filler. Not the greatest, I admit. But hey! Another 2-in-1 update!! I'm wayyyy too nice to you guys. BUT I GOT TO 124 FREAKING READS AND #121 IN MAZERUNNERFANFIC!!! I'M GONNA DIE!!!

haha no jk I won't. But seriously! I'm super happy!! Vote, Comment, Follow, Share!