The Restored Girl

Chapter 12: Ditto, Rhea

QUILL'S POV
We're eating lunch together after a very tedious and tiring planning session. Tomorrow, officially, will be the day that WICKED comes crashing down. Literally.

After reciting those plans over a hundred times, Rhea finally called a break for us to eat lunch.

Well, we're eating when the doors to our canteen are thrown open and Cyrus runs in, Jenny behind him.

"Rhea!" He shouts, waving with a grin. "Where've you been, Rhea?"

He jumps onto Newt's lap, since he's sitting beside Rhea, and looks at us, smiling without shame. "Oops," he says. "Am I interrupting?"

Rhea chuckles a little as Newt laughs, letting Cyrus stay on his lap.

"Not at all, Cy," Rhea tells him, "what's going on?"

Jenny comes and stands behind Newt's chair. "We heard the adults talking."

"Eavesdropping, huh?" Trevor grins at them. "What'd you hear, little kids?"

Jenny frowns, her pretty features looking sad as she says, "The adults don't like the idea of teenagers being in charge. They think they can convince you to let them have seats in the government."

I see Rhea and Thomas both exchange a look with one another.

"What does that mean?" Minho asks aloud.

Rhea sighs, but forces out a smile for Jenny and Cyrus. "Thanks for telling us, kids. Go see if you can hear any more of their plans for us, would you?"

Cyrus nods enthusiastically. "I'll expose all their bloody plans!" He exclaims, hopping off Newt's lap and taking Jenny's hand, rushing off.

When they're gone, everyone bursts out laughing, though it's totally inappropriate. Rhea turns to glare at Newt.

"What?" He says, a knowing grin on his lips.

"This is your fault," Rhea says, playfully jabbing a finger at his chest.

Newt laughs, and I, too, have to admit that Cyrus definitely learnt the whole "bloody" thing from the British Glader.

"Busted," Harriet smirks.

"How could you teach such language to a young child?" Sonya scolds from her seat on Newt's other side, slapping his arm.

"Ouch!" Newt exclaims, but he draws an arm around Rhea's shoulders, drawing her towards him and kissing her temple, making Rhea's scowl dissolve into a reluctant smile.

I roll my eyes. "Well, I think that these two jokers have already taught worse to the poor kid," I say, jabbing Trevor in his side, as he is the one sitting beside me.

Trevor yelps. "Hey! I keep everything PG around my brother. Curtis is the one who deserves the jabbing."

"Don't talk shit, Trevor," Curtis says with an unabashed grin.

I know that all of us are just trying to ignore our nerves, but I don't mind this light hearted attitude.

Trevor swings an arm around me. "Well, I'm still your favourite, right, Quill?"

Rhea raises her brows at me in surprise, and my eyes widen.

"Uh-" I begin to stammer.

Maria lets out a whistle. "So we have Minho and Amy, Sonya and Adam and now Quill and Trevor? We Maze people must have a thing for the Andersons." She winks at Rhea, who smirks.

A blush spreads on my face, and Trevor quickly removes his arm from around me, much to my disappointment.

"Shut up," I say, tossing a fry at her.

Sonya, too, is blushing, and her brother beside her is glaring at Adam. Rhea rolls her eyes at him. I see Adam glancing away, a flush rising up his neck.

Minho, on the other hand, clenches his fists on the table, and Amy is staring at him with a pleading sort of look in her eyes. Minho's steadily ignoring her gaze, though. Damn, what happened there?

"What?" Maria laughs, "Everyone can see it."

June snickers. "Not to mention Harriet and Aris."

Harriet's eyes widen, and I'm pretty sure she's grateful that Aris isn't here. "W- what are you talking about?"

Rhea raises a glass and says, "This is interesting. Maria, June, please continue."

Dylan laughs. "Where's Frypan, anyway?"

"Working in the kitchens," Minho says with a grin. "He's actually cooking good stuff now. Chef's prodigy."

Newt snorts, rolling his eyes, and Thomas bursts out laughing. Huh. I wonder how Glader food tasted. Our Chef in our Maze died during the fight against the Grievers. I remember that she cooked well. Different meals every alternating week.

"Hey," Thomas says, and we all turn to him, sensing the seriousness in his voice. "We've all come so far together. No matter what happens tomorrow, I'm glad that I'm stuck with all of you guys."

Rhea's eyes darken, which makes me a little scared. I remember the fact that she had planned her own fake death that convinced us all that she was actually dead. Who knows what she and Thomas are planning? They didn't exactly tell us.

"Me too," Minho says, and meets all our eyes-mainly those of us who were in the Scorch with him. "You bunch are the best. I'm glad for the Gladers who've been with me since the Maze, and I'm glad for you girls who made sure we stayed alive in the Scorch. And you, my torture buddy." Minho adds the last past with a knowing look to Rhea.

I see Amy flinch at the remark and my brows raise. Interesting.

"Well," Newt speaks up, "since we're all on the topic of heartfelt comments, I wanted to say that Minho and Thomas, you two are the best bloody shanks in the world. I wish that Alby were here to go through this with us, and Chuck, too, and all the others that we lost in that bloody Maze, but they aren't. We're taking down WICKED for them as much as for us."

I see Thomas swallow thickly, and Minho's eyes squeeze shut. I wonder who Alby and Chuck are. They must have been really important to them.

"And, let's bloody survive for them. For their sacrifice," Newt finishes, sighing heavily at the end.

After a moment, Sonya say, "What, no 'I'm so grateful for finding my sister, Lizzie, too, whom I love very much. And Rhea, who is my wonderful girlfriend who saved me from the Flare' ?" The heavy atmosphere instantly lightens as Newt grins.

"Well, that, too," he says, tangling his fingers with Rhea's. "I love you both too."

"Gross," Minho jokes.

Rhea smirks. "Don't worry, Minho. You'll always have a special place in our hearts."

Minho laughs, "Ditto, Rhea. Ditto."

Newt claps his hands together, and says, "Great, now we're all bloody inspired."

Thomas and Minho laugh with him over some inside joke that I don't get. It must be some Glader thing. Nonetheless, I grin.