centre | newtmas au

1

newt :

Newt was sitting by the window, watching the sun sink below the towers on southern campus, sighing to himself. Yet another night, where he wouldn't be sleeping. He barely sleeps now for more than one reason. One of them, probably the most prominent, is his brain. It wont turn off, he's always thinking about his sister Lizzy or Sonya. He shudders. Sonya was the name they forced on her. Newton was his, but he preferred Newt. He had to leave her behind when he was sent to this stupid, tiring, shithole of a school. And worse, it's all boys.

The other is his maddening roomate Thomas, who won't shut up. Just thinking of him makes Newt's head ache. Thomas was immature and loud, and he didn't even want to start thinking about the boy's friendship group. Almost worse than Thomas himself. They all acted higher than everyone else, in the apparent social status hierarchy, Newt was at the bottom, and Thomas was at the top. Maybe he was a nice enough boy, but Newt had never been interested  in finding out. Newt just detested his sappy hazel eyes and his messy brown hair which he always flicked away from his eyes. Ew.

"Newt?" Speak of the devil. He rolls his eyes before turning round to face him.

"What is it, Thomas?" He asks, projecting the lowest amount of energy possible.

"Principal Paige told me you have to go her office, now."

That's weird, He's never been called to the principle before.  He nods. "Thank you"
He smiles and turns on his heel and walks toward his friend waiting at the end of the corridor. Gally. Another one of his loyal followers. He lets out a yawn, and checks his watch. 5pm. Huh. The lack of sleep catching up to him, finally.

He makes his way down the hallway, his shoes silent against carpeted floor, running his hands against  the wooden panelling on the walls. The principals office sits at the end of the hallway. Principal Ava Paige is engraved in a golden plate on the door. He inhales and knocks.

"Come in Newton!" She says, her voice ringing in his ears.

He pushes open the door and closes it behind him.
"Take a seat by my desk. Would you like a drink of water?"

"No thank you Ms Paige. I'm alright."

She nods, clasping her hands in front of her. "So, you're probably curious as to why you're here, am I correct?"

He nods. "Don't worry. It's nothing bad. You're not in trouble."

"I wasn't worrying." She glares at him for a moment. He looks at his feet, suddenly embarrassed. His wit got the better of him.

"Teaching staff have being airing their concern that you're excessively tired, and you aren't applying yourself in classes. Is anything going on?"

He wants to tell her about Thomas, but he actually hasn't done anything to disrupt his sleep, it's rather the thought of him and how infuriating he is that's keeping Newt up at night.

"Nothing is wrong Ms Paige. I just find it hard to fall asleep. Don't worry about me." He says. He wants to say 'I don't matter' but he knows that'll cause more suspicion. He's different here, he doesn't know how but he is. He doesn't fit in. The other boys act differently around him, like there's something he's missing. Like he has some disease.

He is so wrapped up in thought he forgets he is being spoken to.

"Newton, are you listening to me?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. My mind is someplace else."

She inhales sharply. "Just promise me Newton, no matter what changes in your life in the next few years or-" She stops to shudder. "or months, trust yourself. Trust Thomas too, you'll need him.

Thomas? He frowns and a small bubble of anxiety creeps into his stomach. Why Thomas? Why him? Of all the people on the planet he has to place his trust in someone he detests? Great, he thinks. Life is looking fantastic.

"I promise Ms Paige. Thank you"

She smiles and beckons for him to leave. He walks away and closes the door slowly behind him. The bell rings for dinner, so he turns right and head down to the canteen. He bumps into the one person he wanted to avoid.

"Watch it Newton." Thomas says, sudden hostility possessing him.

He rolls his eyes. "Whatever mate. We need to talk later, as much as I'd rather not. Before bed."

"Alright. It better be worth it." He says flicking his hair from his eyes and walking past Newt. He watches him as he walks away. His hands are tucked into the pockets of their black school blazers. He turns his head to look into a mirror on the wall. His cheekbones are prominent, and his jawline is sharp. He's still looking in the mirror. Another reason to dislike him, he's vain too.

He shakes his head and stops looking at him and continues making his way to dinner, focusing on how hungry he was and not thinking about Thomas.

"God, the food here is terrible" Frypan says, looking at his plate in disgust. His name was weird, Newt thought. Why Frypan? They could have stuck with his true name, Toby. Newt liked that better.
Not that he cared. He barely spoke to Frypan, he didn't like anyone at this bloody school anyway.

Sitting in front of Newt was a plate of beef stew, and rice.
"I could do so much better, my stew would be killer, I know it" Frypan added, before shovelling it into his mouth. He rolled his eyes, standing up from the table and nodding goodbye to the others at the table. Winston and Jeff. They nodded back at him, simply acknowledging his presence, nothing more. He liked it that way.

After leaving his tray in the tray disposal area, he was aware of his mind whurring, he was thinking about what Principal Paige said to him, he was also, — although he really wished he wasn't — thinking about Thomas. Why this boy, who he detests, takes up so much of his mind, he doesn't know. He shakes his head and returns to his room.

He pushes open the door, and there is Thomas, his legs propped up on his desk, a book in one hand, an apple in the other.
"Hi" Thomas says, nodding in his direction, while his eyes skim the pages of his book.
"Hey. What are you reading?"
He looks up from his book, an eyebrow raised.
"Why the sudden interest in me?"
Newt smirks. "So a guy isn't allowed to ask a question without being questioned himself?"
Thomas raises his hands in protest. "Woah okay, okay. I'm reading about this organisation called WCKD, I stole it from the restricted area of the library, it's really crazy. I can't decided if its real or not."
Newt tilts his head and pushes his mind back to his conversation with Ms Paige, he's sure he heard that name before, but nothing clicks. "What does it stand for?"
"World In Catastrophe Kill-zone Department. Sounds intense right?"
Newton nods. "Maybe it has something to do with what Ms Paige told me, if it's real anyway. Do you have time? If you don't have time just because you wanna go play with your hair with your drippy friends, then I honestly don't think you deserve to know what I'm going to tell you."
"There's my Newton, that's the Newton I know." Thomas says, laughing. "Im just staying here, I have time."
Newt walks over to his bed and sits down, untying his shoes and placing them beside his bed. He's anxious, because he feels Thomas' eyes tracking him, following the movement of his hands. He's afraid to lift his eyes up to meet his.

Newt slowly sits up straight, taking a deep breath and allowing himself to feel confident in front of Thomas, but as soon as they look at each other, the confidence vanishes and Newt anxiously looks at his hands, that rest in his lap. He mumbles some kind of apology under his breath.
"Newt?"
"Yeah?"
"It's okay."

<33333
thank you for reading.

EDIT: hey! thank you for 2k reads on this part, i'd really appreciate you reading further and stick with it, if you're enjoying it (and if you're not). if there's anything u think i can take on board abt my writing or anything dm me or leave a comment. 

i'm writing an ao3 newtmas fic, its got 3 chapters and roughly 10k words as of 16th feb 21. it's set in italy, from thomas' pov. thomas moves there from nyc to work for a few months (with minho), as he feels trapped in new york and wants a fresh start & there's a certain blonde boy who helps him along the way :) the link is in my bio if you're interested!!! if you've read this far, thank you so much. hope ur well & sending love <3