Sometimes, it amazed me how much can change in a month. Attitudes towards people, feelings towards the Earth, how you live your life, the things you say... But I don't think anything's surprised me as much as these past few weeks have.

The boys still called me Greenie, but that was when I didn't remind them of my name. I had convinced Alby and Newt to make the boys take showers every morning, and the amount of praise and respect I gained from that simple little change was enough to make me drop dead. Chuck timed everyone each morning, and the only change that they had to make was the time everyone woke up. Nobody had a problem with it, of course, the boys all enjoyed the water in the morning. Even if it was freezing cold. I also made them wash their hands before every meal, and use a napkin. It saved a lot of germs, and it certainly saved me from living with the thought that they wiped their dirty hands on their clothes that poor Chuck had to clean.

To my surprise, Newt had told me that the boys no longer thought of me as a piece of meat, dangling on a stick. They thought of me as one of them. A sort of caretaker for the time being. One to make sure they were all doing okay, and keeping themselves well-rested and well-fed. When someone needed cheering up, they would come to me, and I would stop everything I was doing to console them. A couple of days ago, a little fourteen-year-old kid came up to me telling me about how he just wanted to get out of here, and that he felt like he still had family alive. The story almost sent me into a mental breakdown, it was so sad. But I listened, sometimes that's the only thing you can do.

Of course, Newt and I kept our promise with each other, and he was constantly asking me how I was doing. Since I unsurprisingly got the job as a Track-Hoe, I spent most of my time with him. I learned about the things he did when he was upset. He would sigh, and then rub his eyes with his palms. When he was angry he would clench his jaw and spread out his hands, then clench them into tight fists. When he was happy, he smiled and talked about random things. I learned that he wanted to go to an arcade—whatever that was—and an amusement park. He told me that he can faintly remember a rollercoaster and what it looked like, but he couldn't ever remember riding one. I told him that trying to remember is like looking through murky water. He agreed.

Every morning, he would wake me up and we would watch the sunrise together with our heads pressed against the wall, watching as the sun showed itself to the rest of the Glade. Sometimes, we would watch it set as well, but most of the time, I just watched Newt as he looked at the walls of the Glade, lost in his thoughts.

I had also learned a lot about the Runners. When Newt or Alby wasn't around, I spent my time with Minho, who I had grown fond of in the month that I've been here. He told me what the strange building by the deadheads was. Maps. He told me how he had to track which way he ran and then go to the map room to discuss it with the other runners, even if they didn't find anything new. Occasionally, Minho would partake in a little race, but only in the depths of the forest when nobody was paying attention.

Chuck had become like my best friend. Whenever one of us was late for a meal, we would get a plate for each other so that we didn't have to deal with the bottom of the pot, or the cold food. I really appreciated it, because usually, I made sure that all of the other boys ate before me. Chuck earned some major kudos with Newt, who invited him to sit with us every day after he caught on to the things we did for each other. When we were feeling playful, both of us would play pranks on the boys. Little pranks, but enough to make them annoyed with us. We had this one where we would shake the outhouse and spill the water all over everyone. That was personally my favorite. We watched out for each other...I didn't tell him this, but I thought of him as my child. Even though I was maybe five years older than him.

And that brings us to today. Greenie day.

It's hard to believe that I've been here for a month already. Sadly, I've been starting to use the Glader slang, which tells me that I've been here far too long. I remember the day I came up, just a scared little Greenie who hid it all too well behind the panic of not being able to breathe. I got that under control as well. I knew when to take my inhaler, which I only had to use about once a day. But I kept it in my pocket just in case something bad happened.

We had something special planned for tonight. Somehow, with my big giant shucking brain, I had come up with the idea of having a little party for the new Greenie. Minho agreed to it immediately, and even Alby didn't have to think about it too long before telling everyone to start collecting wood for a giant bonfire.

Currently, I stood by the Builders, helping them tie the branches together to make some cool kind of fireplace for us. But I was mostly doing all of the work...these kids were good for one thing, and that certainly wasn't thinking.

"Gally," I sighed. "That's not how you tie a shucking knot. I thought you had some brains in you..."

The giant boy scowled at me. "This wasn't even my idea. This was yours... You know what? I'm going to help Fry with stuff."

"Whatever..." I sighed, trying to undo the giant mess of the strings Gally had made. I heard some of the other boys laugh from beside us. For some reason, they thought it was hilarious whenever I called Gally out on something. Which was a lot.

"Hey, Mae!" A deep voice called from behind. I turned around, watching Alby and Newt walk up behind me. I smiled at the two of them, trying to keep a blush from creeping up on my cheeks when I had locked eyes with the Brit. "How's it goin'?"

"It's goin'." I told them. "Gally had a temper tantrum and walked away to help Fry but I should be done in a few minutes."

"Why'd he get mad?" Newt chuckled, probably already knowing the answer.

"Cause I told him off again." I shrugged. "He's a baby."

The two boys both chuckled as I turned back to undoing my knot. "You know, this is probably gonna be the best night we've ever had in the Glade." Alby told me. "And it's all because of your little brain." He placed his giant hand on the top of my head and wiggled it, making me stare at him with a blank expression.

"Ha ha ha, very funny." I mumbled. "Just because I'm small doesn't mean I have a small brain. It's about ten times bigger than yours."

"She's got a point, Alby." Newt piped up while biting his bottom lip as he crossed his arms and looked at me.

God, he's so good looking, I thought.

But I shook myself out of my trance and faced back towards the branches that still had to be tied. I grabbed a new string from the pocket of my cargo pants and wrapped it around the three sticks twice before I tied it into a bow, placing my hands on my waist and proudly nodding at my work.

"Mae." Newt placed his hand on my shoulder, pointing at the tie I just made. "That's gonna fall apart in about six seconds."

My face dropped and I furrowed my eyebrows. "What are you talking about? It's not falling over..."

Alby laughed from over my shoulder and moved in front, undoing the knot and wrapping the strings five times around the sticks, then skillfully tying the two ends three times, not creating a bow. I opened my mouth to scold him and say that he did it wrong and that it wasn't pretty anymore, but the sound of an ear wrenching alarm kept me from doing so.

My hands flew to cover my ears, and I took a step closer to Newt, shouting into his ear. "What the hell is that?"

He just sent me a smile. "It's the Box. The Greenie is comin'." He grabbed my hand from my ear and held it as we walked towards the hole where everyone began to gather. The sound of the gut-wrenching noise just made all the memories from a month ago flow into my mind once again. The feeling of not knowing where I was, not knowing who I was and what I was doing there. Then, I had the fear of not being able to breathe and the fact that everyone was staring at me weirdly.

My heart dropped at the thought of someone else having to go through it.

"It happens to all of us." Newt whispered into my ear as we pushed our way to the front of the crowd. "Stop feeling bad about it."

"You really are a mind reader..." I mumbled, annoyed. He just sent me a cheeky smile and squeezed my hand, making butterflies erupt in my stomach.

All of the Gladers were huddled tightly together, all peering down at the hole in the ground as the familiar screeching sound came to a stop. The metal made its way to the top, and I could faintly make out the red fluorescent lights that soon turned to green.

"Open 'em up." Alby growled at Gally and another boy. I looked at him, suddenly seeing the chiseled expression on his face. His jaw was clenched and his eyebrows were furrowed as he crossed his arms over his chest, making himself seem like the big and scary leader he tried to be. Truth was that he was just as nice as the rest of us. It just took a little more to make him show it. Somehow, I had cracked the code the night I told him to get some sleep. He was never mean to me again.

Newt on the other hand, had his eyebrows furrowed together in a curious manner. His face stayed calm like always, and his arms were at his side, still holding my fingers with his. I casually looked around, swaying back and forth on my heels, trying to see if anyone noticed our hands. To my surprise, nobody was looking strangely at us, making the nerves unravel in the pit of my stomach.

Gally opened the two metal doors and jumped down onto the landing, briefly getting a look at the boy. From my height, the only thing I could see was the metal. No sign of a human. Although, I almost screamed when I heard a familiar snort from the corner. Not another pig...

"Go get him, Gally." I mumbled, starting to become impatient. He nodded and jumped down, finally letting the boys and me get a good look at him.

"Look at that shank." Someone pointed at him.

"How old is he?"

"Looks like a klunk in a T-shirt." Someone near me insulted.

I turned to him. "You're the klunk, shuck-face."

"Dude, it smells like feet down there!" I think that was Chuck.

"Hope you enjoyed the one-way trip, Greenie." Someone else spoke. "Ain't no ticket back, bro."

I heard Gally mutter something incoherent to the new boy, who looked scared out of his pants. Then, in one swift motion, Gally grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him up and out of the Box. I raised my eyebrows, surprised at the action. They used a rope for me. I'm flattered.

The boys immediately surrounded him, and in the middle of all the chaos and teasing, Newt's hand slipped from mine. I didn't even notice it until I was in the back of the group, trying to push my way through all of the boys that were easily a foot taller than I was.

"Move, guys." I mumbled at them. "Give the Greenie some space."

All of them took a half step back, making me roll my eyes and find my way to Newt who was standing over him, smirking. That was when I finally got a good look at him. He had brown hair and a curved nose. He had freckles on his face, and he was wearing a blue shirt with black cargo pants. He stared at each of the boys, probably feeling incredibly overwhelmed. Then his eyes met mine, and he furrowed his eyebrows. I pursed my lips and gave him a small smile, already knowing what he was thinking. He looked so scared, I wandered if that's what I looked like when I came up. Minus the coughing and wheezing.

Suddenly, the boy scrambled to his feet and pushed his way through the crowd, breaking out in a sprint towards the south doors.

"We got a Runner!" Zart screamed after him.

Newt laughed, while I just furrowed my eyebrows with a smirk, knowing that he wasn't going towards the open doors. If he was, then everyone would probably be going after him.

"I think he's glitching." I told Newt over the shouts and screams from the boys beside me. He laughed, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, something he's been doing often lately. I turned my head away from Newt—which was difficult—and back to the boy who continued to sprint. Then, as soon as my eyes caught his figure, he tripped over is own foot and faceplanted into the ground. "Oh shit, I was right."

All of the boys broke out into tremendous laughter, shouting and whistling at him. I shook my head, disappointed at the way they were acting. But I didn't say anything, I just examined the way the boy slowly stood up and got his first look at the ginormous walls that surrounded the area we lived in. I knew exactly how he felt. Hell, I could almost feel it myself.

"We'll put him in the slammer." Alby nodded towards the scared boy, causing Gally and the same one who opened up the doors to start walking towards him. "I'll give him the tour before tonight. I ain't gonna worry about that shank tomorrow..."

"Wait." I followed Alby with long strides as he walked towards the slammer, following Gally. "The slammer? Why?"

"Need to make sure he doesn't run." He murmured, turning around to face me. "You go finish your work with Newt...I'll bring him over in a sec."

Against my will, I nodded as he started to walk towards where the new Greenie was. I rolled my eyes and turned around to Newt, who was smirking at me with his arms folded across his chest. I stuck my tongue at him. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like how?" He teased, moving his hands behind his back and walking next to me.

"Like you're coming up with an evil plan to destroy me." I murmured, taking out some of the string from my pocket and tying it around my fingers as a distraction. "It's not a very pleasing look."

Newt chuckled and pointed to something in the distance to our left. "Look." I followed his gaze and saw how Alby was helping the newbie out of the jail they had made before I got here. "Looks like Alby's gonna give him the tour now... Bloody newbies."

"I was a newbie once." I reminded him, tearing my gaze from the leader. "You were nice to me."

"Yeah, because you were strange."

"Cause I was a girl, right?" I played, making him throw his head back in annoyance.

"Yes, Maisy." He used the nickname he gave to me a couple days ago. "Now go find Chuck. Alby's gonna wanna see him."

I nodded and saluted the British boy as he shook his head and sighed, limping back towards the patch of trees he had been working at earlier.

Through the weeks, I had become an expert on finding the chubby little boy. Although it was hard at first, I once spent a whole day with my eyes on him, finding out where he would go when he just disappeared. I learned that he ran off to one of three places. The kitchen, the watchtower, or the showers. For some reason, he just liked to sit in there and listen to the commotion of the people outside. I did it with him once, just sat and listened... it was actually very calming. Even found myself going there once in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep.

So that was the first place I looked. I made my way to the showers and sighed as I opened the door, calling for Chuck. "Chuckie! Alby wants to see us... Well, he wants to see you, but I'm coming."

I continued to call for him, and when he was nowhere to be found, I groaned and stepped back out in to the Glade, scanning the boys all in search of one significantly shorter than the others. I saw that Alby and Newt were both talking to the Greenie, and I groaned, knowing that if I stayed with Newt for a little while longer, I would've gotten to meet him.

But, I kept looking for my "son".

"Chuck!" I shouted as I entered the Homestead. I peered around, about ready to leave when I saw a faint movement coming from behind the window of the kitchen. I sighed and shook my head, knowing that I had finally caught him. Slowly, I walked over to the window, being careful not to make any noise.

When I reached the opening, I smiled, looking down at Chuck and seeing how he was stuffing his face with a carrot. I shook my head at the boy, wondering how he never got caught. He was annoying, and yet he was probably the sneakiest one out of all of us.

"And what might you be doing?" I asked suddenly, making him yelp and start to cough. I chuckled and hit his back. "Slow down, shank... I thought Fry hated it when people raided the kitchen?"

He glared up at me, taking another bite. "I was hungry."

I cocked my eyebrow and leaned through the window, snatching the carrot out of his hand and taking a bite of it myself. "So am I."

"Hey!" He yelled, standing to his feet. "Give it back!"

"No." I smirked, taking another bite. "Alby's looking for us."

Just as Chuck was about to snatch the carrot back from me, someone barged through the door, making Chuck and I freeze in our spots.

"What are you two doin'? Couldn't hold out 'til dinner?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed at him. "Newt is it just me, or are you being extra annoying today?"

"Do you want me to leave you in here and get Frypan?" He smirked. "Cause I will happily do that."

Chuck groaned and snatched the carrot out of my hand, walking towards Newt. "Come on, Mae. Let's just go."

I watched him walk out of the door and then turned my eyes to Newt, who was still smirking at me. I walked up to him with a mischievous smile and stopped about an inch away from his face. Although he tried hard to not blush, he did anyways. I looked into his eyes, and he looked into mine like we've done so many times before, but it never get's old. I squinted, but didn't blink. He did the same thing, holding the same small smile. Suddenly, something in the air shifted, and I felt nervous all of a sudden. I didn't look away, but instead, I bit my bottom lip like I did all of the time. Newt's eyes flickered down to my lips for a fraction of a second before he looked back up at me, the same tense look in his eyes.

"Mae!" Chuck called from outside. I blinked and shook my head, taking a step away from Newt, not knowing what came over me.

I pointed to the door, feeling my cheeks heat up. "I've gotta..."

He nodded and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, yeah."

"Okay." I mumbled as I skipped out of the Homestead and to Chuck, who furrowed his eyebrows at me and my reddened skin. He had his arms full of new hammock material, and everything the new Greenie would need since he wasn't sleeping in the Homestead like Alby, Newt and me.

"What did you and lover boy do back there?" He giggled. I lightly slapped the back of his head, rolling my eyes. We both made our way to the lookout spot, where Alby was standing with the Greenie. He was probably telling him the rules, all that klunk. Making sure he didn't run out of the walls before they closed...the same thing he told me.

Chuck and I stood under the structure, peering up at the two as they continued to talk.

"You think he's gonna be nice?" I asked Chuck, who scoffed.

"I have a feeling he's gonna be a pain, but nothing I can't handle. I have to deal with you all day..."