Dreams // Newtmas

4.Nice To Meet You

Whether Minho reacted in any way to that slightly insane piece of news, Thomas had no way of knowing since he refused to look back to check. Better to stay focused on the task at hand, there would be time for questions after they saved Newt from a bunch of bullies with too big egos.

Newt was sitting at the end of a table in the farthest corner of the room and was pretty much surrounded on all sides. Garret had taken the seat in front of  him and was staring at him with an evil glint in his eyes that Newt wisely chose to ignore. Daniel and Quinn had taken seats on either side of him, caging him in. Another thing he seemed to take no notice of. Looking away from Garret, he rifled through his school bag and pulled out a sandwich.

"Can I help you?" he asked when Garret continued to stare at him.

Thomas took the opportunity to step in before Garret could do any number of stupid things. He stepped up to the table and leaned against it, giving Garret a fake smile. Garret looked up, annoyance overtaking his features for an instant before the evil smile returned.

"Hey Thomas," he said "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just thought I'd come in and check on Newt here." Thomas said pointedly "He's new here and I wanted to make sure he wasn't having any trouble with anything."

Garret laughed. "No troubles at all, ain't that right Newtie?"

 He looked over to Newt who just shrugged. There was something in the way he did it that made Thomas unreasonably angry, like he was used to this kind of thing.

Thomas's smile dropped along with any pretence of being friendly. He nodded towards the door. "Scram." 

Newt looked up then, surprised. Garret looked up too but his surprise was a little less grateful.

"What?"

"He said scram slinthead." Minho said, appearing beside Thomas. "So scram."

Garret opened his mouth to say something but, after seeing the group that had gathered behind Thomas, he decided against it. Nodding to Daniel and Quinn he got up from the table and headed over to where the rest of the football team normally sat. The two boys followed him in angry silence. Quinn glared at Gally who, being six foot tall and extremely intimidating, was not scared in the slightest.

"Move it." That was all it took to send Quinn scuttling over to his own group. Thomas couldn't help but laugh. It was funny how cowardly some people could be.

"I hope you don't mind me asking," Newt said, grabbing everyone's attention "But who exactly are you guys?"

"Think of us as the cool kids that people whisper about in the hallways but are too afraid to get close to." Minho said taking a seat. "Also think of us as the guys that just saved your ass from a bunch of good for nothing idiots."

"Think of us as the nice ones." Teresa said from her new seat. The Gladers now occupied almost all of the seats at the table and Newt looked around at them in confusion.

"Wait, you're actually sitting here?" he asked.

"Why not?" Minho shrugged "We can get our normal table back tomorrow. It's not like anyone will try to take it from us anyway." He looked back at Newt as if he had suddenly realised something important. "I'm Minho by the way."

"Nice to meet you Minho," Newt replied before looking up at Thomas. "And you are ..."

"Thomas," He said. There was a moment of silence where Newt just looked at him and Thomas's brain short circuited. He was so pretty and so so real. It felt like he was dreaming. Again.

Then he remembered that they were sitting at a table full of people, half of which were patiently waiting to be introduced.

"Oh, and this is Teresa, Winston, Frypan, Gally, Alby and Chuck." Thomas said gesturing around the table. The Gladers waved as each of their names were called, Chuck giving an especially enthusiastic one. "We're the Gladers and, if you like, maybe we can be your first friends here."

"And even if you think we're the most annoying shanks on this earth," Minho intervened "at least let us sit with you until those jerks lose interest." 

"And you're sure they won't try anything with you guys?" Newt asked sceptically.

Minho patted on Thomas's back in response "Nah, we're pretty safe so long as we have Thomas here. No one ever tries to mess with him."

"Except you of course," Thomas said pulling out his lunch. In truth, he was trying to deflect the more dangerous side of what Minho had said. He didn't want Newt to be scared of him before he even had the chance to get to know him and something told him that Newt would be very quick to back away if he thought that Thomas was troublesome.

Thankfully, Newt pretty much ignored everything that had just been said and moved on to something different. "So, the Gladers. Where did you come up with that name?"

Thomas could have sworn he saw something like recognition in Newt's eyes for a split second. What if he was like Thomas? that was where the name came from after all. A nickname he could never shake and one of the most common things mentioned in his dreams. Newt was becoming more and more intriguing by the minute. Who was he really?

Minho saw the recognition too but pegged it as something different. "Don't blame us for the name, it was all Thomas's idea. I don't know what he was thinking, but in the situation we were in, no one was in a position to disagree."

"It's a long story." Thomas said before Newt could ask about it. He did not need to explain that right now. Newt nodded but he could tell that the curiosity was still there, subdued for now but not for long.

"Anyway," he said, quickly changing the topic "Where are you from Newt? I haven't seen you around these parts before."

"Yeah man," Minho added "Your accent is killer by the way."

A slight smile appeared on Newt's face as he shook his head. "I was born in London but my family moved to America when I was ten. I can't seem to get rid of the bloody accent though, even after seven years."

"Why would you want to get rid of it?!" Minho asked, incredulous "That things a complete chick magnet!"

Of course that's all Minho would be thinking about. Thomas understood Newt though. While his accent was definitely attractive, it also brought a whole lot of unwanted attention with it along with some ammunition for those who didn't like him. In high school, anything that made you unique could also be used against you and most people, Thomas included, wanted to actually enjoy their lives meaning that being unique wasn't all that great. Hence why Minho was the only one who knew about his dreams that had gotten so bad at one point that his parents had sent him to therapy. 

"Great, so then I only have to get a new set of social skills and I'll be good to go right?" Newt joked. Like he had said previously, 1000% sarcastic. This Newt had a lot in common with the one in Thomas's head and he couldn't decide whether that was a good or a bad thing. So long as he stayed sane this time, it was definitely a plus.

"I like you Greenie," Minho said "I think you'll fit in with us just fine."