Dreams // Newtmas

7. Wanna Come?

The next few days went by in the relatively same way. The Gladers moved back to their own table uncontested and Newt came along with them. He was quiet for the most part but still took part in conversations and jokes. The others understood this and made a point of not being so loud around him and began to try to slowly wheedle their way into his good graces.

 Thomas himself was grateful for the peace and quiet since his sleep schedule had gone more than a little haywire in the past week. The transition from summer to school had yet to fully take place in Thomas's head and his mind and body kept fighting over what time he should be falling asleep at. At the moment it was somewhere between 11pm and 3am, which wasn't all that great considering he got up a half six.

Newt also hadn't been helping him get any sleep. They hadn't spoken much more since they only had two classes together, because of course Newt had to be a borderline genius at just about everything. For someone so smart, he still made it seem like a big deal that Thomas was in AP Calculus and  AP Bio. Like it was such an achievement even though practically all the classes he took himself were advanced placement.

"Got to be good at something my ass," Newt had mocked as Thomas sat beside him. "Next thing I know, you'll be on the honour roll."

"Trust me, you'll never ever have to worry about that." Thomas replied.

"So, maths and science huh? I never really pegged you for that kind of person. Any other hidden interests I should know about?"

"Not that I know of," Thomas shrugged. "To be honest I only like math. The whole science-y thing isn't really my go to. It just makes sense for some reason." He left out the fact that he sometimes had crazy dreams that turned into biology lectures on the human brain. That didn't look like a good strategy when trying not to appear crazy.

"Nah, I get it," Newt said "I'm just amazing at everything I try too." He shot Thomas a teasing smile that initiated a strange feeling in his stomach. 

"Well it sure seems like you are," Thomas said, smiling. "What with the whole perfect grades and all." 

"Except for P.E." Newt interjected "I suck at P.E. But that's not really my fault. It's kinda hard to run with a bloody limp after all." Newt looked down at his leg in annoyance with a trace of something darker. Before Thomas could ask about it though, the class began. 

//

By the time Friday came around, it was clear that Newt was going nowhere. The Gladers reassured him that the stares and whispers would die down after a week or two, even if that wasn't true at all. It was the easiest way to put him at ease in their company and he would get used to it quickly enough.

Thomas for one, was delighted that Newt fitted in with the group for reasons only obvious to himself and Minho who, like the best friend he was, always saved Thomas a seat across from Newt every lunch. Thomas was glad of the quiet company for once, it meant he didn't have to constantly listen to the others rave about the party Teresa was holding on Friday. He couldn't escape it forever though, and was soon enough nagged into going.

It wasn't like he intended on not going, it was Teresa's party so it actually had the potential to be fun, but the rest of them always liked to make sure anyway. Sometimes he wondered if they just simply didn't trust him.

Teresa's party was known for being the best party of the year even if it only took place after the first week of school. She lived in what could be considered a mansion after all, with huge windows, a large garden, a pool and even a mini hedge maze. It was basically the kind of house you dreamt of having one day and she just so happened to have it. That was mostly due to both her parents being brain surgeons that made six figures a year though.

The party was also the only one where he trusted the host to do a good job of it. Teresa worked hard in school and was likely to follow in her parents footsteps so she might as well have fun at sometime or other along the way. 

More importantly, Thomas trusted her as a person which was saying something all right. Not many people had that but Teresa had been his friend since the beginning and after putting up with the rest of the boys for so long, he felt she deserved it.

This being a Glader's party and all, it was a given that all of them would attend even if it was just to show off. That now included Newt and Chuck and while Chuck was more than happy to go to a senior's party as one of the guests of honour, convincing Newt to go was much more of a challenge.

"Please Newt," Teresa begged "It won't be a Glader party if not all of us are there. Even Thomas has to come to this one."

Newt looked over at Thomas with a look that said "Really? You have to go through all of this too?"

Thomas smiled in a way that he hoped was reassuring "You'll like it, trust me. And yes, even I can't escape from it."

Newt took a small bit more persuading after that but it was clear he would do it. Unlike Thomas, the rest of the Gladers were willing to pull out all the stops when it came to getting people to do things, which was probably why he had found himself being dragged along to things with no recollection of how it even came about. They were just really good at making bad ideas sound like the most amazing things in the world. And the ideas were always bad. Always.

"Don't worry about it," Thomas told Newt "By the end of the year, a party will seem like a walk in the park. Just wait until you come on our annual trip to the ice rink. Now that," He added " is something else entirely."

For a moment Thomas regretted the fact that he could have possibly scared Newt, but Minho was quick to come to the rescue in the form of a slap on the back of the head and a side hug that was a little bit too forceful.

"Just ignore Thomas here." He said "He's only saying that so you don't get a chance to see how bad of a skater he is. The man spends most of his time clinging to the railing or on his but, just never actually skating."

"I told you, if it doesn't have handlebars I will not be able to do anything other than fall."

"So you keep saying, yet you come every year."

"And you keep saying it will get easier every year except that hasn't happened yet either."

"Do you even have much of a choice?" Newt asked inquisitively.

Minho squeezed Thomas even tighter. "What do you think?" he wheezed against the crushing grip.

"I'm gonna take that as a no." Newt said "But it sounds like fun anyway."

"So it takes us two days to convince you to come to one party," Frypan butted in. "But only two minutes for you to agree to come to an ice rink. And it was them two that did it." He pointed at Thomas and Minho "Those guys are the worst at explaining things, like how do you even know what the thing is actually like?"

"I don't." Newt shrugged "But Minho said Thomas hates it so it must be fun."

Thomas couldn't tell whether he wanted to kick him or... something, but whatever it was it was a good thing.