Trials and Tribulations

Part I

Thomas was a smart boy, he had to be in order to get into WCKD U, and smarter still to maintain his GPA for that full scholarship. He wouldn't have done it if it weren't for his best friends Minho and Newt. He'd planned to keep things simple after Glader High; take a year off from studying and busting his butt on term papers; do a little soul searching, find his purpose in life. Figure out what if college was something he wanted to do next. (Maybe bum around his house for the summer. He deserved it after busting ass for four years after all.)

But then, Newt had to go and get accepted into WCKED U, an Ivy League university paving way for the future thanks to their prestigious science department.

Thomas was fine with it. Happy even. Newt had done nothing but bust his ass to get into the renowned school; the acceptance letter had just been a sweet victory.

When Minho had gotten accepted—thanks to his athletic prowess –Thomas was floored. He had wanted to take a break from the stresses of school, but with his two best friends moving to college in the fall, Thomas realized being left alone for a year was no longer an option. Not unless he wanted to be alone, bored out of his freaking mind, while his buddies have fun without him.

So he did the next best thing—he studied until his brain turned to goo, begged a few high school teachers for glowing letters of recommendations and churned out a heart wrenching, award-winning, most bullshit worthy entrance essay with outstanding exam scores and hoped to whatever God that watched him it was enough to get in.

Luckily for him, it was.

Now, two semesters and one summer later, Thomas stood in the dormitory that will become their living space for the course of the year.

It was comfortably large—bigger than the two-person dorms that were commonplace for the campus and certainly much more spacious than the single bed dorm Thomas had been stuck into the last two semesters. They had a kitchenette off to the right with cabinets for storage and a working sink. A small refrigerator stood to the side, positioned underneath counters with a black casing that showed their reflection and the words WCKD U painted in yellow.

The small hallway led Thomas down to the main room—their only room honestly—where a single twin bed stood off to the left, pressed against a barren wall and a bunk bed stood to the right. A computer desk sat in between the beds, barren of junk and a chair tucked underneath. A dresser stood to Thomas's right. To his left, by the single bed, was a wall-length mirror attached to the closet door. Another empty dark wooden stand stood behind him—the perfect place for their TV and gaming systems.

The walls were a dull perfect white; the carpet, a standard brown, clean of filth and hair. But not for long.

Thomas grinned.

"This is great! We finally get to be roommates after all this time."

"Yeah, bloody great that is," Newt grunted. He dropped a pile of bags onto the single bed and released a sigh of relief. He whirled on Thomas, expression set in a glare. "Are you gonna gawk there all day or are you going to help me move everything in?"

"I'll help," He murmured sheepishly, though he eyed the empty beds again. He wondered where they would sleep.

Newt's brows furrowed again. "Minho's going to need help bringing the TV in."

"You think that shuck face's gonna try to get cable again?"

"Who you calling a shuck face, shuck face?"

Thomas and Newt turned toward the door in surprise. Minho popped in with a grin, wheeling their flat screen TV into the room by trolley. He nudged Thomas playfully on the arm and gave Newt a wink. The blond rolled his eyes but smiled in good humor.