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THE BONFIRE THAT NIGHT, consisted much more of shouting, drums, yelling and pushing than the last one, he recalled.
the last one seemed pretty dull, people had fun, yeah, but it was way different than the current one.
Newt was stumbling around, Atlas following him. He watched as the other gladers around him stared as they bumbled through the crowd.
"Newt, you're really embarrassing." Atlas said, rubbing his hands over his face, the tips of his ears red.
"Oh come on, you gotta let loose sometime." Newt said, giggling happily before they finally sat down near a log.
"here, try some." Newt said, holding the jar up near Atlas's lips.
"Absolutely not."
"Oh come on, don't be chicken."
"is this peer pressure? are you peer pressuring me?"
"chicken!"
"i'm not." and that's when Atlas grabbed it and took a swing, letting the liquid flow down his throat. it burned sort of, and it taste horrible. he spat it out, coughing a bit.
"Oh my god what is that?" he said, wiping his mouth, looking at Newts smirk.
"it's some of galleys...special liquid." He said, shaking it around a bit.
Atlas scoffed, pushing him slightly. suddenly, it quieted down between them. Atlas looked around at the other gladers.
"'Ya meet the greenie yet?" he asked, looking over at Newt.
"Hmm, no, not yet. You?"
"Nah, haven't had the chance." he said. Newt nodded.
Atlas became hyper-aware of the brush of their shoulders, the closeness between them.
"Um—" he squeaked out.
"I'm gonna go uh, find Mo." he said, and Newt nodded.
"Have fun."
pushing himself up, he set off to find him.
he weasled through bricknicks fighting, builders yelling, he dodged shoves and pushes, before he eventually spotted the matt of curly hair.
however, Mo was sitting with Kennedy.
But what surprised him, was the way Kennedys lips were quirked up in a smile, and Atlas became alarmed.
"Hey, Mo." he said, and the youngest smile brightened.
"Oh! Atlas, have you met kennedy?" he said.
Atlas nodded, slowly.
"Yeah, i, uh, have." He felt uneasy under Kennedy's scrutinizing gaze, before he broke it.
"well, are ya gonna sit?" Kennedy says, his voice gravelly and rough. Atlas nodded, taking the seat opposite to Mo.
Eventually, the world blended away in colors. Atlas sat, for the first time in what felt like forever, and had genuine fun. Even with kennedy, sitting there with him.
They watched as Kennedy at one point got up to shove at Gally, Mo and Atlas cheering the whole time.
Kennedy even one, managing to shove Gally out of the circle.
Suddenly, the crowd quieted down.
"Well, Greenie, what do you say?" Gally said, holding out his arms. The boys mouth opened and closed, like a fish.
Suddenly, Mo started clapping.
"Greenie, greenie!" and then the whole group burst out in chant and claps and cheers, watching him stand in the circle.
Gally shoved at him, sending him sliding across the circle. The Track-Hoes behind him caught him, pushing him back in. Gally dodged him, circling around and shoving him down to the ground.
"Cmon greenie, get up. we're far from being done." he said, and the greenie growled.
"stop calling me that!" he hissed, charging at him.
"What do you want me to call you, huh? Shank?" he said, shoving him back. "How about that, guys, have we settled on shank?"
The other boy was practically seething, and Atlas watched, as he charged at Gally, managing to surprise him, and to everyone's surprise, sending him to the ground. The crowd cheered.
Atlas let out a surprised scoff. "Not bad for a greenie?" the boy exclaimed, cockily.
Suddenly, however, Gally had kicked his feet out and swiped him off his feet, sending him to the ground. the greenie hit the ground, hard. suddenly the crowd went silent. Atlas swallowed thickly.
the greenie was down on the ground for a minute, and Atlas was concerned. Maybe gally has gone too far? but then suddenly, he began to get up, muttering something.
"Hey! hey, i remember! my name! it's Thomas!" he said, smiling, Atlas jerked. The people around him were congratulating him, clapping him on the back, the world started melting away in a blend of color and fuzzy sounds—
and then he blinked, and the scene changed.
it felt the same way back when, in the kitchen with Frypan and Nick. His brain felt fuzzy, and he couldn't move or talk, like his brain had shut off but his body was still working.
"Nobody can trust you!" he shouted at the boy in front of him, Thomas.
"You say that like this is my fault!" he yelled back.
they were in that same monitor room, the maze on the cameras, white walls, white trim. like a hospital.
"if you're so concerned, why are you working for them?"
they seemed to be in an argument over something.
Thomas seemed to get angry at this, and grabbed the collar of his shirt before slamming him against the wall.
"I'm not working for them." he seethed, his eyes wild and manic.
the doors slid open, and two guards ran in, grabbing Thomas and dragging him away.
"Bring him back to his room! Now." Someone said, a woman, maybe.
suddenly, the memory dissolved into air, and he was brought back to the present.
in the glade, Newt and Mo in front of him, the fire slowly dying in the back.
the sounds of boys screaming and yelling had melted away, the buzzing of crickets taking their place.
"what happened?" Atlas asked.
"could ask you the same thing, you suddenly just froze up, you looked scared." Newt said.
"Maybe we should just head to bed, you guys had a long night, anyways." Mo said, and Atlas nodded.
That night, Atlas lay awake, trying to piece together these memories, figure out why he was having them. and most importantly,
