Born Again

Chapter sixty seven

"I see you've brought a guest," Vince noted when the group arrived at the library.

"This is Gally," Frypan introduced as they sat down. "He said he's wants to join."

Vince nodded, looking over at Sonya. "Go ahead and add him to the list."

"Sure thing," Sonya said, writing something on a piece of paper.

"List for what?" Thomas asked.

"We'll tell you in a second," Harriet assured him. "I think you'll like it."

"First things first," Vince started before Thomas had a chance to reply. "We're going to welcome Gally, our newest member." He nodded at the boy.

"Hey," Gally said awkwardly, giving a small wave. Frypan gave him an encouraging pat.

"We're going to continue today's meeting like normal," Vince continued. "But tomorrow, we'll be spreading the word about our support group for multiple reasons. Harriet, do you want to elaborate?"

"Sure," Harriet answered. She leaned forward. "First: the addicts we're currently working with are practically free from their old habits, so they will be leaving soon. We'll need more people after they're gone."

Thomas smiled. He thought the cranks would be a lost cause, since they were in his dreams, but apparently not. He was thankful for the difference.

"Second," Harriet continued. "Vince, Sonya, and I were planning a farewell party for them. After some thinking, we decided to double it as a welcoming party for those who want to join. That's why we're going to put up signs tomorrow."

"Plus, nobody would want such a small party," Sonya added. "I mean, who would have a party with only fifteen people?"

Thomas started to raise his hand before Newt grabbed it and lowered it again. The older boy gave him a glare but Thomas just shrugged.

   The biggest party he'd ever had was with twelve people and they were all family.

"So tomorrow we'll be putting up the signs we made," Harriet continued. "And hopefully reach more people."

Vince nodded, agreeing with what she said. "Sound good to everyone?" He asked.

Thomas nodded, seeing everybody else do the same.

"I just have one question," Gally said. "Does the party have a name? And if not, should we give it one?"

Harriet smiled at Sonya. "Sonya came up with it. You tell them."

Sonya nodded proudly. "It took a while to convince Vince—"

Minho snickered. "Convince Vince," he muttered.

   Thomas hit him.

"But I told him the addicted liked the nickname," she continued, giving Minho the stink eye. "So we're calling it the Crank Palace."

Most of the group nodded, liking the name. All of them except Thomas, Minho, and Newt.

Thomas looked over at Newt to see his face full of worry until he masked it with surprise.

"Newt?" Thomas asked quietly. "Are you—"

"It'll be fine, Tommy," Newt interrupted. "And I told you not to worry about me. Besides, it's just a party, right?"

Thomas sighed. "I guess."

But he knew that was wrong. If the dreams were right, like they always were, The Crank Palace would be one of Thomas' worst experiences ever.

~~~

The next day, Thomas was out in the hot afternoon sun, holding the stack of signs while Newt hung them up.

Vince had split them up into groups of three and spread them out to put up these advertisements. Thomas was put in a group with Newt and Frypan.

Which he would've been fine with if they didn't have to walk out in the heat.

Thomas kept complaining that they should've brought a car instead of walking. That ended up annoying Newt to no end which made Frypan continuously try to break up their bickering.

Thomas sighed, adjusting the stack of papers he was holding.

"I swear, if you complain about the heat one more time . . ." Newt warned.

"Newt, calm down," Frypan begged before Thomas could respond. "Yeah, maybe we should've just taken a car, but Thomas, it's not actually that hot."

"That's because you aren't stuck carrying the bag of everything," Thomas pointed out. He gestured to the bag of extra paper, markers, a stapler, and two rolls of duct tape. That wasn't even including all the papers he was holding in his arms.

  "Tommy," Newt whined, turning to grab another paper from his stack. "Please just chill?"

Thomas raised an eyebrow with mock seriousness. "It's too hot to chill, Newt."

"Bloody hell," Newt muttered, turning away. But not before Thomas caught a small grin.

Frypan must've seen it as well because he relaxed. "Come on, guys. Let's can hang up more signs over here."

He led them down the street to a long, abandoned tunnel with a highway on top.

"You want us to go in there?" Newt asked.

"Yup," Frypan answered, taking the stack from Thomas and walking forward. "Let's go."

"I don't want to sound too positive," Newt said, walking over to Thomas. "But if I were a crank, that's exactly where I'd be."

"Exactly," Frypan said, looking back at the two. "That's why I thought it'd be perfect.

Newt started walking forward but Thomas hesitated, recognition flowing through him.

He grabbed Newt's wrist before his friend went any farther.

The blonde stopped and looked back at him, clearly waiting for an explanation.

"Don't you remember?" Thomas asked. "From my dreams?"

Newt nodded. "Yeah, I remember. But I don't think we have much of a choice. Besides, if those full gone cranks just played a joke on you and Brenda, I'm sure we'll be fine now."

"Alright," Thomas said, unconvinced. "Just stick close. I don't want us to get separated."

"Don't worry about it," Newt said, shaking from Thomas' grasp and walking forward again. "Hey, Fry, wait up!"

"Hurry up!" The other boy called back. "This is—woah."

"Fry?" Thomas asked, sharing a concerned look with Newt.

He could see their friend stopped halfway through the tunnel, looking down at something.

"You guys might want to come see this," Frypan answered.

"We'll be fine," Newt said again, though he didn't sound so sure anymore.

Thomas sighed but walked in after his friend anyway.

He wasn't convinced in the least that everything would be okay.