Darkness. That's all I saw. Nothing else except a black endless void of nothingness. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see. I couldn't remember.

Then, a flash of light. Something clicked in my body, making me abruptly sit up and cough up water. Millions of thoughts ran through my head. Where am I? Why am I here?

However, one question stood out.

Who am I?

Breathing heavily, I slowly started to stand up, grabbing onto anything for support. Another flash of light illuminated the box and revealed crates, filled with who knows what, stacked upon each other. Looking up, I noticed a ceiling. A ceiling that was coming very fast towards me. Very, very fast.

Oh shit

I scrambled about, banging on the walls of the giant box I seemed to be in. I screamed and screamed until my throat went dry. However that didn't stop me from shouting. I couldn't die like this, not now. I yelled and banged on the box until my hands were sore and my voice wouldn't work.

As I neared the top, I finally gave in, sitting on the ground and curling up into a ball. I let out a quiet sob and braced for impact. Yet, that impact never came. Instead, I heard boys voices talking rapidly above me. I looked up to see a shutter open and a bright light shine down on me. Shielding my eyes with my hand, a loud thump was heard. Someone had come down into the box. Slowly, I removed my hand and my eyes met a pair of brown ones.

The boy didn't look older than 16, but you could tell by the stress lines on his forehead that he'd had to handle a lot. He had dirty blonde hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed in ages. A baggy beige top covered his torso and he wore brown trousers that were covered in dirt.

When he saw me, he immediately gasped, followed by a question from someone above.

"What is it Newt?"

The boy, who I assumed was Newt (isn't that a lizard?), shouted back up. "It's-It's a girl."

"A girl?"

"Is she hot?"

"I call dibs!"

"You can't call dibs Chris!"

"QUIET!" A voice roared through the air. "Newt, bring her up."

The boy walked over to me and stuck out his hand for me to take. Hesitantly, I grabbed it and stood up. I climbed up and sat on the grass.

Three words

So. Many. Boys.

And to add to that. No girls. Anywhere. I stood up and turned a full 360°. What I didn't expect to see were four large, tall walls surrounding me.

I stopped when I saw an opening in the walls. That had to be a way out. Without any second thoughts, I began running as fast as I could towards the doors.

Numerous voices called behind me saying things such as "we've got a runner!" And "Go greenie go!". What the hell are they going on about.

As I started nearing the opening, the shouts turned from those of cheering to nervousness.
I was almost there when someone tackled me onto the ground. The muddy ground.

My head was pounding and my heart was racing, but not in a good way. My arms were pinned down either side of me as I struggled underneath the person I was stuck under. "Let me go!" I looked up and saw the one pinning me down was a Korean boy with unnatural good-looking hair that was swept to the side. If I stayed under him for too long, I was scared his hair was gonna give in and I'd get covered in hair gel.

A husky voice spoke from above me "Not until you stop moving greenie!" Swiftly, he picked me up over his shoulder and carried me back over to the rest of the boys. Kicking and screaming, he placed me on the ground in the middle of everyone.

A dark skinned boy with an extremely shiny head sent the boys to get back to work. The only people left with me was lizard boy, shiny head man, gel hair, and this new boy with funky eyebrows. Not intimidating at all.

Newt walked over to me and knelt down. "Look, Greenie, I know it seems scary but we'll explain all your questions soon, but first you must promise-"

"Are you guys mentally unstable?" I blurted out. The boys seemed taken aback by that and just looked around at each other until the dark skinned one walked over to me.

"Come on greenie, I'll explain everything to you," he turned to gel boy, "Minho, can you go help Gally get all the supplies out of the box?"

Minho saluted and ran over to the box I came out of, helping the funky eyebrow man get supplies out. Weirdos

"Come on greenie, we've got a lot to get through" the one with the shiny head beckoned me to follow him. Reluctantly, I walked after him.

~

The boy, who I had soon learned was named Alby, had just finished the tour and was now climbing up a very unstable building.

"Hope you're not afraid of heights" He smirked

I mumbled under my breath "No but I'm afraid of this falling over"

Once I got to the top, I went over to Alby who was leaning on the railing. Down below, I watched all the boys do their jobs. They seemed happy, but how could you be happy knowing that you were trapped?

Alby turned to me. "This is all we've got, and we've worked hard for it" I peeled my eyes away from the forest and looked over at him, "If you respect this place, me and you will get along just fine." He turned to look over the glade, "So greenie, any questions?"

Deep down, I knew he wouldn't give me an answer that I liked, but I had to know. "Why can't I remember anything?"

He sighed, "It happens to us all. You'll get your name back in a few days at the most. It's the one thing they let us keep."

That made me stand up right. "They?"

"We call them 'The Creators'. No clue who they are but all we do know is that they sent us up here." He pointed to the box I came out of, "They provide us with everything we need, and it all comes out of there. The box gets sent up once a month with fresh supplies and a new greenie. This month, that was you. You're such a lucky shank." He nudged me jokingly, causing me to smile, something that felt unnatural but... good.

My eyes trailed to the doors. The doors that they stopped me from going in for some reason. "What's out there?"

Alby stayed quiet for a moment before standing straight. "We only have three rules. One, do your part; we have no time for any freeloaders. Second, under any circumstances, never harm another glader, none of this works unless we trust each other." So far, the rules seemed innocent enough, but he still hadn't answered my question." And third, our most important rule, never go beyond those walls. You understand me greenie?"

I nodded slowly. He didn't answer my question but, from what he had told me, I don't think I wanted to know. He smiled at me and I was about to say something when a young voice shouted up.

"Hey Alby!" Alby walked over to the other railing and I quickly followed him, looking over the edge. A short boy with chubby cheeks and curly hair placed on his head looked up. He waved to me and I smiled back warmly.

"Hey Chuck," Alby greeted "Where've you been man?" We started ascending the ladder and walked over to Chuck

The young boy stuck his hand out for me to shake. "I'm Chuck, I was the greenie last month. You're a girl? I've never seen a girl before, never mind touched one!" Alby coughed and looked at Chuck as I laughed quietly.

"Oh wait. No, that's not what I meant. I meant, I've never shook hands with one before." He smiled at me embarrassed and Alby shook his head while grinning.

Smiling, I let go of his hand. "Don't worry, I know what you mean." Chuck nodded gratefully as Alby began talking.

"I'm going to leave you here with Chuck. He'll get you a hammock sorted in the homestead and catch you up on anything I missed out on. See you at the bonfire greenie"

With that, Alby turned and walked away, leaving me with Chuck who was grinning ear to ear with a twinkle in his eyes "I'm going to make sure that you don't have to sleep near those stinky boys!"

So this is the first chapter. Tell me how you like it! I'll probably try get another out today as I've twisted my ankle while playing sport (I'm sat rn with my foot on a pillow and frozen peas on it)

Question of the chapter: if you could read any book for the first time again, what would it be?