Act 2, Scene 2

Wednesday passed without much of a fuss, Thursday seemed like it would be much the same, and that was where I made my mistake. In Glader High, you're either a popular douche, a pretty girl, or someone who should never let their guard down.

For the past couple days, I'd been trying to figure out where my life was, where it was going, and what the hell was wrong with me? After months of pining and subtle stalking, I was finally friends with Thomas, and all of a sudden I didn't find him attractive anymore. Physically, who am I kidding? He was hotter than the literal embodiment of the sun, but no longer did I fantasize of skipping through a field of dandelions with him, holding hands - or a less PG version of that. Don't get me wrong, he was my best friend - but that seemed to be it. I felt free until I realized my stupid heart couldn't last so much as a week without having a crush, and of course, it always wanted the incredibly unattainable.

On top of all this bullshit, it was starting to look like I was going to fail math. All that fake studying hadn't paid off. It's not that I wasn't smart, I just didn't really understand the teacher's hangover-addled lessons or have the spare time to figure out exciting things like how to graph polynomials. I had to do something about this, though. I didn't really want to still be thirty and working at Seven-Eleven. I wondered if the Siren would still stop by with her husband or something equally as twisted and disturbing - but then thinking of her reminded me of Minho. It was like all the wires in my brain had been rerouted to there. Goddammit.

I was sitting outside the school, math textbook open and making no sense. I'd given up my lunch hour for this, and it wasn't getting me anywhere. Frustrated, I picked up the book, ready to throw it, but paused. Someone was standing above me. Shit.

I looked up. Gally.

Stereotypical bully. Strong, ugly, and mean. I guess he wasn't as stupid as he could have been, but that didn't exactly comfort me.

I stood, feeling pretty small. Some dudebros materialized and I was almost impressed with their stealth. Almost. I stepped to the left, and saw Gally's eyes shift with me. They weren't going to leave me alone. Shit.

"Alright, what do you want?" I asked, tone even.

"Simple," he replied, taking a step forward, "Your money,"

I actually laughed at that, "Really? You want my lunch money? Are you trying to become America's Next Top Bully?"

Suddenly Gally was right up in my face. My back was to the wall. He had one arm casually braced against the cold brick, cutting off my escape. Not that he really needed that - his minions would stop me long before I could get my sorry ass out of there.

"Hey," he said with a small smirk, "I don't believe in senseless violence,"

And suddenly he had a fistful of my shirt collar. Oh bother. I swallowed a retort that was something about him being senseless. It didn't matter. None of it did. Even if I forked over my entire savings - which didn't amount to much - I was in for a beating.

"Gally!" A voice of pure rage came from behind him, distracting the bully for just a moment. But a moment was all I needed. I wasn't a damsel in distress who waited for the prince to come and rescue me. I didn't care that I was small and weak, I just wanted Gally to feel every single punch that had ever landed on me.

The boy toppled backwards, and I fell with him, pulled by my collar. My vision went red as I started punching. It took a couple seconds before Gally was fighting back, and suddenly I felt helpless again. He rolled, and it was all I could do to defend myself, until strong hands dragged him off of me.

That's right. I couldn't do anything for myself. I was either going to be hurt or be saved by some benevolent force. And I hated it. I wanted to be able to protect myself. I wanted to fight back, no matter how much it was going to hurt. I lunged after Gally, but someone had my arms behind my back.

"Newt! Newt, stop!" It was Thomas, doing all he could to stop me from squirming out of his grip. Minho had a struggling Gally in a headlock and looked like he was barely restraining himself from snapping his neck.

"I can protect myself, Thomas! Let me go!" I tried to pull away again, but it was imposssible. I was weak. Suddenly, the pain kicked in and I hurt all over. But the worst was the feeling that I needed these two to help me. I felt a flare of hatred towards Thomas, and that's what finally made me stop struggling. I gave up, heart sinking with disappointment in myself. I felt so incredibly weak.

"Office! Now!"

That's when I realized what was wrong with this scene. Why hadn't the dudebros come to the aid of their leader to fight the two traitors? Sure enough, they were standing in a nervous circle around me, Thomas, Minho and Gally. And there was the teacher. Fan-fucking-tastic.

A/N Good news - due to the release of The Scorch Trials I am re-obsessed and consequentially I will probably write more. Other good news - I was also rereading this fic and realized I have been spelling Teresa's name wrong - so I'll get around to fixing that. Cheers!