RECKLESS [The Maze Runner || Newt || Book 1]

Clara and Newt stood outside the maze doors doing a few stretches with the other boys, waiting for instructions from Minho.

"Alright shanks, Alby and I decided that since we have no shucking clue what's inside those walls, we're partnering everybody up! Once you get your partner, grab a pack and you can start running in your sector." 

The keeper started listing out the pairs and each boy walked up to his partner, some shaking hands and some high fiving as Minho finished off the list "Johnny and Rob, Clara and Newt, and Ben you're with me."

"What?" Newt and Clara said in unison, looking at each other before jogging up to Minho, both desperate to be partnered with someone else

"Minho, buddy, can you put me with anyone else? Please, literally anybody except him." Clara begged the boy, Newt speaking after her,

"Minho I can't spend all day with her, come on mate!"

"Suck it up shanks, this was Alby's decision, and it was final, no changes allowed." He said before jogging off to go find Ben,

"No Minho, wait! Please!" Clara yelled at the boy, before groaning in frustration and turning around to face Newt who was smirking at her, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Guess it's me and you, sunshine."

"Oh, shut it."

"You might want to drop the attitude, seems like we're gonna be spending a lot more time together."

"Doesn't mean I have to like you."

"Just remember who has to carry your body out the maze when you die."

"Jerk."

"Arsehole."

After the pair had gotten their packs, they set off to explore their sector in the maze. Newt used a small dagger to cut off small pieces of ivy and throw them on the path, like breadcrumbs for them to follow if they got lost. They followed the winding paths, left, right, left, right, and took turns choosing a direction when they came to passages that split into two. 

After a few hours, they stopped to eat the snacks that were in their backpacks. Clara sat leaning against one of the walls while Newt sat cross-legged a few meters away, fiddling with something in his hands. Eventually, he stood up and walked toward the girl, motioning for her to put one of her palms out. He dropped a small circle of ivy into it, and she looked up at him, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion,

"What is it?"

"It's a bracelet? You'd think a girl would know more about jewelry."

"This is a piece of ivy, blondie. I don't know if I'd consider it jewelry." She remarked twisting the small bracelet over in her palms, examining it.

"Do you want it or not, sunshine?"

"Yeah whatever, I'll keep it if you'll stop bugging me."

"Good that." He said, and she slipped it over her hand onto her wrist, where it settled just beneath her watch. She stared at the boy in curiousity, as he went back to where he was sitting before and continued eating his food. 

After they'd finished eating, they continued exploring the maze, making sure to mark their route on small notebooks they'd found in some of the supplies that arrived with them. They arrived back at the glade just as the sky started growing darker and met up with the other runners near the West door, handing their notebooks to Minho. He had already started creating a small map of the maze in a building he'd discovered in the forest. 

When they'd handed in their notes, Clara and Newt headed off to dinner, still determined not to speak to each other, and they found Gally, Winston, and Frypan sitting at one of the tables. The pair joined their friends, Clara taking a seat next to Frypan and Newt sitting opposite her while Gally offered to get their food, Clara thanked him before the other two boys bombarded her and the blonde with questions,

"So, what did you guys find out there? Was it zombies?" Winston asked first,

"Yeah, Winston. There were zombies. In fact, one of them got Newt, he could turn at any moment." Clara responded, putting on a serious face and widening her eyes as she pointed at Newt. She laughed when Winston looked the boy up and down, shifting further away from him.

"She's messing with you Winston, calm down, I'm not interested in eating brains. And if I was, you certainly wouldn't be my first choice, there's not much in that big head of yours."

Clara laughed at Winston, who pulled a big frown, huffing and crossing his arms like a toddler. Newt looked at Clara, smiling slightly at the fact that she'd laughed at his joke, but he quickly looked away when her gaze met his, turning his attention back to Winston and giving him a pat on the back. Gally arrived back at the table with two plates of food for the runners, who thanked him before violently attacking their meals as if it had been days since their last one.

"Seriously though Clar, did you guys find anything?" Frypan asked, a small hint of hope lingering in his voice,

"Nope, just more ivy and walls. There was some sort of sticky stuff on the floor in some places though, it was like green slime, no idea what it came from."

"That's gross."