Born Again

Chapter twenty nine

"Thomas, slow down!"

   Thomas glanced back as he ran, seeing Minho fall behind.

   Ignoring his friend, he turned around and continued to sprint until he reached the end of the block. Then he sat down and waited.

   "What kind of a shuck idiot are you, Thomas?" Minho gasped, plopping down next to him. "Why would you just take off like that? This is just our morning jog, remember?"

   "Sorry," Thomas said flatly. "It just helps to go fast. I don't have to think."

   Minho looked at him sideways, still breathing heavily. "About Alby?"

   Thomas nodded grimly. It had been a few weeks since their friend died. Sometimes grief would hit him out of no where and he'd have to excuse himself until he could calm down. Sometimes it was over Alby. Sometimes it was over Chuck. And other times it was just because he was tired of living.

But running helped. He put all of his mind and body into it, pushing aside every thought of his friends. The faster he ran, the easier it was to ignore. And if he could ignore it, he'd be okay.

   Right now, he was okay.

"Hey," Minho slapped Thomas' head lightly, bringing him back into reality. "Stay with me."

"Sorry," Thomas said, shaking off his thoughts. "Anyway, do you think we're ready for the race?"

Minho leaned back on his hands. "We better be. It's this weekend. If we aren't ready, we're shucked."

"I'll take that to mean we're ready."

Minho grinned. "Definitely."

~~~

They arrived at school a few minutes later. Newt met them at the gate.

"Guess what," he said, walking inside with them.

"What?" Thomas and Minho asked simultaneously.

"We've got ourselves a new Greenie," Newt answered. "His name is Aris, I think. I haven't met him yet but I heard he's really smart."

Aris, Thomas thought. That kid was the strange one. In one of his dreams, Thomas completely hated the kid. He helped Teresa betray him and break his heart. Another time, he was great and helped Thomas escape from WCKD. They were good friends in that version. Thomas hoped he would be the latter.

"Do you know him?" Minho asked Thomas.

"No, I've never met him," he answered. "In person anyway."

Newt nodded slowly. "That's right, I remember now. Wasn't one Aris good and the other bad?"

"Yeah. I hope we get the good one."

"Woah." Minho made a timeout gesture. "What are you two talking about?"

"In my dreams," Thomas explained. "There's two different kinds. Aris is nice in one and really mean in another. We're hoping this is the nice one."

Minho nodded. "Oooh. Hey, what about that guy?" He nodded at an older Hispanic man walking by, most likely a substitute teacher as Thomas had never seen him before. "Is he in your dreams?"

"What's his name?" Thomas asked.

"Jorge."

Thomas nodded, remembering the man. "Oh, yeah, I remember him. You probably don't want to get on his bad side, Minho." He shuddered. "It wasn't fun."

Minho arched an eyebrow, confused, and Newt scoffed.

"Minho has a talent for getting on people's bad side," Newt said. "So we're shucked."

Minho punched the blonde in the shoulder. "No, I don't."

Newt grinned. "We'll see."

~~~

Jorge ended up being their substitute in science class. Before he started, he gave us safety tips because he had to give a long lecture to "a stupid kid who somehow managed to burn himself".

Thomas would've guessed Minho even without his dreams.

On the way to the table he usually sat at during lunch, he noticed a kid sitting there in a hoodie.

Aris.

Thomas walked over and sat across from the boy, making him look up. He took his hood off to reveal a freckled face. The nice Aris.

"Sorry," Aris said, standing up. "I didn't know this was your spot. I can move if—"

"It's alright, Aris," Thomas said. "You can stay."

Aris sat back down, looking at him curiously. "How did you know my name?"

Oops.

"Oh. Um, you're the Gree—uh—new kid," Thomas stuttered. "My friend told me that's your name."

"Oh," Aris said, sounding convinced. "Yeah. I just transferred schools today. What's your name?"

"Thomas," he answered. "Why'd you have to change schools?"

Aris looked down. "There was a shooting. My best friend, Rachel, died. My parents didn't want me to go there anymore."

"I'm sorry about your friend," Thomas said sincerely, wishing yet again he could've done something about it.

"It's alright," Aris said, looking up with a small smile. "She's in a better place now. I'm happy for her."

Thomas didn't answer. He'd never thought about an afterlife. Was it possible that's where his friends were?

"Why're you guys looking at each other like you just fell in love?" Came Newt's voice from behind.

Thomas whirled around. "What?"

Newt chuckled, sliding into the seat next to him. "Jeez, Tommy. I was just joking. But who's your friend?" He nodded at Aris.

"Newt, Aris," Thomas introduced. "Aris, Newt."

"And that idiot behind you is Minho," Newt said, gesturing to his friend who sat next to Aris. Minho's clothes had burn holes in them. "Min, this is Aris. Say hi."

"I was just set on fire," Minho complained. "I don't have to do anything."

   "At least you weren't struck by lightning," Thomas muttered, making Newt snicker.

   "I heard Jorge gave you a hard time about it," Newt said.

   Minho scoffed. "You could say that. He ranted about how important it was to be safe and blah, blah, blah. I wasn't really listening."

   Minho and Newt continued to talk but Thomas was focused on Aris, who was listening intently. Something about him being there was triggering something in his mind.

   "Hey, Aris," Thomas said, getting the boy's attention. "What was your old school called?"

   "Spring High School," he answered immediately. "Why?"

   "Did anybody else transfer?"

   "Yeah." Aris counted on his fingers. "A few friends. Harriet, Miyoko, Beth, and this girl named Brenda. Her uncle, Jorge invited her over here after the shooting. Why are you wondering?"

   "Uh, just curious," Thomas said.

   Aris, Jorge, Brenda, Minho being set on fire. All that happening after Chuck and Alby died. Thomas realized what it meant.

   It was time for Phase Two.