"When you say go back, you mean back to the Glen, right?" I asked.

"Thomas. Ava will never, under no circumstances, go for this idea!" Teresa exclaimed.

This time, I finally glared at her.

"Think about it. It's like-" Thomas stopped suddenly, looking deeply in Teresa's eyes. They seemed to be having a silent conversation in their heads, and Thomas was winning. I missed Terra.

Teresa showed defeat. "How would we reintroduce Lauren back into the . . . 'Glen,' as you called it?" She looked at me. I nodded. "The girls have probably already had a funeral. It wouldn't make a rational Variable, let alone a good one. Besides, we don't even know anything about Group B. That's Aris and Rachel's territory."

"Then we go talk to them!" Thomas said exasperated.

The door opened then, and a white-clad WICKED staff member walked in. I thought it was for me, but I was wrong.

"Chuck, you need to head back to your room. You need to sleep for tomorrow. Let's go." She left with Chuck, and he gave a sad look back at Thomas and Teresa. I felt bad for the kid. I remembered my insertion into the Glen. I was 13 then but scared out of my mind. Chuck couldn't be much younger than I was.

"Um." I raised my hand. "Blondie here. What happens tomorrow?"

Thomas looked confused. He looked up at my blonde hair, then down at my face. I swear I could hear the wheels turning.

I hadn't realized I used the term. "It means newbie, new person. Just some Glenner slang." My heart became sad.

"Chuck's getting inserted in the Glade," Thomas says quietly.

"That's the other Maze. The one on the screens?" I gestured to the pictures along the wall.

"Yeah. It's exactly like your Maze, but this one has boys instead of girls." Teresa finally has an emotion other than annoyance on her face.

I felt a bit of pity forming in my heart, which made me reevaluate Teresa's impression.

Amelia always said not to let our first impression of a person ruin our readings of them. I mentally smacked myself in the face. I was losing my touch. I wiped my mind of all my impressions of Teresa. She had been pretty helpful in answering my questions.

The wheels started turning in my head. Teresa said it wouldn't be wise to send my back to the Glen. As much as I was sad about it, it made sense. But, I still needed to develop my brain more. I came up with a different solution.

"Send me in the Glade." I blurted.

The two dark-haired geniuses stared at me.

"It would make an off the walls 'Variable,' as you said. The guys would never see it coming, and I could develop my brain even further. It would also get rid of me. I know you guys are only tolerating my presence because Ava said so."

Thomas opened his mouth, but I cut him off.

"It would make fabulous research for the cure. Think about it, guys." I felt smart, but I knew if the two didn't sign off on it, we would never take it to Ava.

I took a deep breath and looked at them hopefully.

"You're the brains of the operation." I was pushy, but it was needed.

Thomas looked at Teresa. They were doing the whole "conversation with their eyes" thing.

"Let's take it to Ava, at least." Teresa finally said.

|~^_^~|

Ava's office was everything you would expect of an employee of a major company trying to save the world from being taken over; clean, white, minimalistic, and sparsely decorated. Ava was sitting at her desk, typing something on her computer. She finally looked up after I coughed twice.

"Ah, did you guys show Lauren around?" Ava asked Thomas and Teresa.

"Yes, and the place looks fantastic, Ava," I answered.

"We—" Teresa said.

I coughed.

"—Lauren," Teresa corrected, "has a proposition for you. A Variable idea for the subjects in Group A."

"Yes?" Ava looked interested.

"I wondered if I could be sent in Group A's maze. I know it's strictly boys, but maybe there could be an exception? I talked to the two, and we all concluded that getting sent back into Group B's maze wasn't an option. I've been declared dead there. But you said it yourself; my brain needed a final push.

"It would make fabulous research for the cure, and that's what this is all about, right?" I was pushing my luck to the extreme, but I had outrun a Griever. Talking to Ava was kind of easier.

Speaking of her, I looked at Ava, but her face was blank. She looked down at her desk in thought. Everything in my body was tense. If we didn't get Ava's permission on it, I would never leave WICKED. And as I was getting my memories back, I realized I never liked it.

At last, Ava looked up. "I like the idea."

"Really?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes. When Lauren was examined, her brain was one of the best out of Group B. But it wasn't quite curing material. It needed a final push. And as you said, we couldn't just send her back into Group B's Maze. Some of the Psychs had talked about sending a girl into Group A and a guy in Group B for some stimulation. I'll talk to them tonight to see if this could actually work. But I, personally, think it's a good idea." Ava said.

I could feel the relief on my face. Thomas caught my eye, and I smiled. I looked at Teresa, and she gave me the smallest of smiles.

We all left Ava's office and headed back to the camera room. I sat down in one of the chairs and dropped my head.

"It worked," Thomas said, his voice full of awe.

Teresa looked utterly confused as to how we pulled it off.

It wasn't until I was tucked into my WICKED bed until it finally hit me. I was going into another Maze. And this time, it was willingly.

|~^_^~|

Ava walked over to my table.

I was strapped down, and the scientists around me were doing various tasks. Screens filled all of the open space along the wall, and you couldn't ask me what they meant for the life of me.

"Are you ok?" She asked.

"Oh, me? I'm fine. I'm going to be sent into a Maze filled with boys who don't know me, surrounded by walls closing us in, oh and did I mention the Grievers?" I responded.

Ava chuckled. "You've never lost your humor, did you, Lauren?"

"No, ma'am. That's the one thing that will never leave me. Sarcasm till I die." I said, smiling.

She left then, and I was at the mercy of WICKED yet again. One of the scientists stuck a new liquid into one of the tubes running into my arm. The last thought that was running through my mind was this: I hope this is worth it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The prologue is officially over!

...Yay?

But ah!!! Lauren's going into the Glade!!! I'm SO happy about it because I'm taking her on a route that few have gone on before. She's going to hang out with some ~minor~ characters! Not the fabulous five! (Thomas, Newt, Minho, Chuck, Teresa...)

I am NOT hating on the people who do; some of them can write it really well!
I am just not one of them, and I'm too lazy to copy scenes from the book/movie and make them correct. *laughs awkwardly*

Please yell at me if I do, and/or could have very easily paraphrased. (Kinda nicely, though? Thanks.)

I have absolutely NO idea where this thing has gone, but I'm just going to summarize.
I'm excited about the coming chapters. I've got some great OC Gladers sprinkled in, and yell at me if I plagiarize.

Okay? Okay.

Bai!