Thomas let out a long, dramatic groan as he landed on his bedroom floor, his butt going numb from the impact.

"Dude, you need to slim it," Minho said, sitting down next to him. Teresa and Brenda sat next to Minho, both of them nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, you sound like a dying cat," Chuck sat on the opposite side of Thomas.

"That, or Alby when he tries to sing," Newt said, slamming his butt down next to Chuck.

"When the shuck have you ever heard me sing?" Alby asked, sitting next to Newt.

"I heard you singing yesterday when you were taking a shower," Gally commented casually as he came through the door, sitting next to Alby.

"I do not sing in the shower," Alby said, but the faint blush on his cheeks told the others the truth.

"Yeah, well, I'm just glad it's finally the weekend," Thomas said, rubbing his temples.

His friends all nodded in agreement. They all had a tough week at school with the final tests going on, but they now had a nice four day weekend ahead of them. Taking the tests was definitely worth the four day weekend.

"I know," Gally said, stretching his legs into the middle of the circle that all 7 teens (and one twelve-year-old) created. "I think that calculus test just about fried my shuck brain."

"Ha! Well, sucks for you guys," Chuck, Thomas's cousin, said. He was younger than all the high school students, so he didn't have to take the finals that they did.

"Shut up, slinthead," Thomas lightly shoved his cousin, causing Chuck to ram into Newt. Newt then ran into Alby, who ran into Gally, who ran into Teresa, who ran into Brenda, who ran into Minho, who ran back into Thomas.

"Shuck it," Minho said after the whole wave was finished. "We need something to do."

And then, almost like magic, Jorge came into Thomas's room.

"Hey, guys, I found this book sitting on the kitchen counter. Does anyone recognize it?" Jorge asked, holding a green book in his hands. The cover said THE MAZE RUNNER on it in white letters, and underneath, the words JAMES DASHNER were printed in a red-orange color.

A series of no's and never heard of it's came from the group of kids. Jorge shut Thomas's bedroom door and sat between Thomas and Minho, much to Thomas's dismay.

"Well, I was skimming through it," Thomas's uncle said, "And it mentions all of you by name," He paused, glancing at Brenda. "Well, all of you but Brenda," He said.

"Seriously?" Thomas asked, taking the book from Jorge. He was about to open it when Gally snatched it out of his hands.

"I wanna see!" He said, but before he could look, Newt had taken it away.

"Hey, slim it!" Newt said, handing the book back to Jorge. "How about he just reads it to us?"

"Good that," Minho said; he was as curious as everyone else to see what was inside the mysterious green book.

"Okay, boys and girls, get ready for the story of a lifetime," Jorge said dramatically before opening it up.

He cleared his throat and began reading:

He began his life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air.

"What a great way to start a new life," Chuck said, much too cheerfully. His comment made Minho smirk and Gally chuckle, but those were the only reactions. Jorge continued reading.

Metal ground against metal; a lurching shudder shook the floor beneath him. He fell down at the sudden movement and shuffled backward on his hands and feet, drops of sweat beading on his forehead despite the cool air. His back struck a hard metal wall; he slid along it until he hit the corner of a room. Sinking to the floor, he pulled his legs up tight against his body, hoping his eyes would soon adjust to the darkness.

"He must be terrified!" Teresa said; her blue eyes were wide with shock. Brenda nodded in agreement.

"That doesn't sound too scary," Minho commented.

"Yeah," Newt said. "Only a baby would be afraid of that."

Both boys knew they'd also be afraid, but were too manly to admit it.

With another jolt, the room jerked upward like an old life in a mine shaft.

Harsh sounds of chains and pulleys, like the workings of an ancient steel factory, echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls with a hollow, tinny whine. The lightless elevator swayed back and forth as it ascended, turning the boy's stomach sour with nausea; a smell like burnt oil invaded his senses, making him feel worse. He wanted to cry, but no tears came; he could only sit there, alone, waiting.

"What a cry-baby," Minho snorted, crossing his legs and bringing them to his chest.

My name is Thomas, he thought.

Newt and Minho started laughing, surprised that Thomas was the baby they were making fun of.

That… that was the only thing he could remember about his life.

"Wow, poor Thomas," Teresa said, giving Thomas a look of pity. Thomas rolled his eyes.

"Oh, please," he said. "If that was the real me in that box, then I would try and find a way out. I wouldn't want to sit and cry, and I wouldn't be afraid if the only thing I could remember was my name."

Everyone looked at Thomas with doubt, but they didn't say anything.

Jorge skipped a few lines, then continued reading.

Strangely enough, he felt his fear whisked away like a swarm of gnats caught in the wind, replaced by an intense curiosity. He wanted to know where he was and what was happening.

"So do I," Gally said.

With a graon and then a clonk, the rising room halted; the sudden change jolted Thomas from his huddled position and threw him across the hard floor. As he scrambled to his feet, he felt the room sway less and less until it finally stilled. Everything fell silent.

A minute passed. Two. He looked in every direction but saw only darkness; he felt along the walls again, searching for a way out. But there was nothing, only the cool metal…He screamed, called for help, pounded on the walls with his fists.

Nothing.

"Man, Tommy, you are the queen of freak-outs," Newt said, earning a sour glare from Thomas.

"It gets better," Jorge promised

Thomas backed into the corner once again, folded his arms and shivered, and the fear returned. He felt a worrying shudder in his chest, as if his hearted wanted to escape, to flee his body.

"Someone…help…me!" He screamed; each word ripped his throat raw.

Then, almost as if it were planned, each person in the reading circle put their hands to their lips and yelled, "Someone help me!" in a mocking way. Thomas rolled his eyes, trying to ignore his friends teasing.

A loud clank rang out above him and he sucked in a startled breath as he looked up. A straight line of light appeared across the ceiling of the room, and Thomas watched as it expanded. A heavy grating sound revealed double sliding doors being forced open. After so long in the darkness, the light stabbed his eyes; he looked away, covering his face with both hands.

He heard noises above—voices—and fear squeezed his chest.

Jorge passed the book to Minho.

Look at that shank.

Minho passed it to Brenda

How old is he?

Brenda passed it to Teresa.

Looks like a klunk in a T-shirt.

Teresa handed it to Gally.

You're the klunk, shuck-face.

"Gee, thanks," Teresa said as Gally handed the book Alby, though she looked entertained.

Alby rolled his eyes and read the next line.

Dude, it smells like feet down there!

Alby passed it to Newt.

Hope you enjoyed the one-way trip, Greenie.

Chuck got the book next.

Ain't no ticket back, bro.

Chuck passed the book across Thomas and to Jorge. Jorge grinned and continued to read.

Thomas was hit with a wave of confusion, blistered with panic. The voices were odd, tinged with echo; some of the words were completely foreign—others felt familiar. He willed his eyes to adjust as he squinted toward the light and those speaking. At first he could only see shifting shadows, but they soon turned into shapes of bodies—people blending over the hole in the ceiling, looking down at him, pointing.

And then, as if the lens of a camera had sharpened its focus, the faces cleared. They were boys, all of them—some young, some older. Thomas didn't know what he'd expected, but seeing those faces puzzled him. They were just teenagers. Kids. Some of his fear melted away, but not enough to calm his racing heart.

"That's awful," Teresa said.

"Yeah," Chuck agreed. "That's a wicked thing to do to kids."

Jorge smiled, and continued.

Someone lowered a rope from above, then end of it tied into a big loop. Thomas hesitated, then stepped onto it with his right foot and clutched the rope as he was yanked toward the sky. Hands reached down, lots of hands, grabbing him by his clothes, pulling him up. The world seemed to spin, a swirling mist of faces and color and light. A storm of emotions wrenched his gut, twisted and pulled; he wanted to scream, cry, throw up.

"Dude, you are you queen of freak-outs," Minho said, agreeing with Newt's previous statement.

The chorus of voices had grown silent, but someone spoke as they yanked him over the sharp edge of the dark box. And Thomas new he'd never forget the words.

"Nice to meet ya, shank," the boy said. "Welcome to the Glade."

Jorge looked up from the book at the kids in front of him.

"And that's the end of chapter one." He said, grinning.

"Well, let's hear chapter two!" Chuck said excitedly.

"Yeah, I actually want to know what happens next," Newt agreed. Brenda and Teresa both nodded.

"Okay, okay, we can read chapter two," Jorge succumbed to the teens' request. "Are you guys ready?"

When everyone nodded, he started reading again.

A/N: Thanks for reading everyone! This is my very first FanFiction ever, so hopefully it isn't too bad. Have a great rest of the day! Bye! ~