SONDER (IV): tmr thomas

017: I should let her go

Leo 17

We're all jammed together in this tiny apartment. There is no furniture in here, so we've all crammed ourselves in a circle on the floor. A yellow blanket covers the window, making the room glow in dim yellow light.

Thomas leans in next to me, beginning to speak to Gally. "This is Brenda and Jorge."

"Yeah, I know," Gally rolls his eyes. He looks across the circle at the boys from Group B. "Who are those two idiots? Sheil and...?"

"Jay," the larger of the two boys offers, straightening his back. He towers over Gally, even while we are sitting down.

Sheil leans forward. He batts his eyelashes twice, before finally speaking. "How do you know me?"

Gally rolls his eyes. He rubs his crooked nose with the back of his hand. Thomas really did a number on him after Chuck's death. In this moment, I see Chuck on the floor, and Thomas leaping at Gally. I see myself carrying Ella's unconscious body to safety, step after step, with all my friends gone. Now is not the time to relive the past. When I am ready, I will fight back.

"Everyone knows about you eight." Gally looks up at me though for a bit too long. I don't know why he knows Sheil specifically, nor why he stares at me when mentioning it. I avert my eyes. "Even the Right Arm has had their eye on you. Apparently, Ella and Emil put a serious wrench in WICKED's plan."

"What do you mean?" I ask, looking around.

Thomas turns to me, beginning to speak. "I remember Emily from before. Like, before she was Ella. Not much, but WICKED was considering her as a substitute for Teresa or Rachel. She got really mad, so I think she snuck you up into the Maze."

Brenda shakes her head from across the circle. "I doubt it. WICKED would never admit to being bamboozled by two teenagers. It's all part of their plan."

Gally shrugs, crossing his arms over his chest. I wait for Michelle to react, or for someone to stand up and shout. Even without the people who have caught the Flare here amongst us, it is rare that anyone gets along. Any second now, people are going to start screaming. The tension is palpable. I hate the taste.

"Why did you want us here?" Minho's voice is harsher than it needs to be. I look up at the ceiling. Right now, more than ever, I wish Dawn was here.

Gally glares at him. "Thanks for threatening me in our last Gathering, by the way. Real nice of you."

"Don't expect me to feel bad for you," Minho shakes his head back and forth.

"You did dump bleach on me," this is the first time I have, perhaps in my life, added gas to the fire. Gally's eyes flick up at me. Minho looks from Gally to me. I lift my hands up, showing him the scars along my hands. "After I said I wouldn't sleep with Alby to keep Michelle safe. You thought there was some conspiracy, remember?"

Gally sighs, folding his hands tightly in his lap. Minho nearly stands up, but Jay tugs him down on to the ground.

"Yeah, well I ain't perfect," Gally begins to cuff his pant leg, revealing scars that are just like mine. Along his shin. They go all the way up his leg, perhaps even on his torso from when he slipped and fell. "It was an accident because I was a shucking idiot. Any more grievances?"

Michelle absentmindedly rubs her cheek. It is scarred, all the way across her jawline and up to her eye from when he hit her with a plank of wood. I wonder if he knows she has gone blind in one eye now. Maybe WICKED fixed it while we were in custody, and I never even knew about it.