Act 2 Scene 4

Wise men have long wondered if it possible to both love and hate a person. My answer is yes. Yes, it is.

"Minho," I said, breaking the long silence that had followed the clicking of the lock.

"Yes, Newt?" he replied, face blank.

"Can you please apologize so I don't get fired?"

"No," He said, turning away again. His gaze had started to bore a hole in a particularly uninteresting section of the ceiling.

"C'mon, Min," Thomas tried, "The sooner you say it, the sooner we can leave,"

Minho didn't even bother answering.

"Well, this is fucking stupid," Gally stated, reading our minds.

"We could tell Rat Man that he said it anyway," I suggested. The sooner I could left and forgot this ever happened, the better.

"No," Minho said.

"Is that all you can say?" I snapped. My nerves were getting frayed and his stone face fueled my anger further. "Really, is your ego so big that you think we care if you say sorry or not? None of us mean it, so suck it up and just fucking say it!"

Minho turned to me, and for a second I saw something burning in his eyes. I wondered if he was going to punch me.

"No," he said.

"Stop saying that!" I yelled. My patience had just about run out. Maybe they could afford to sit around here all day waiting for this idiot to apologize, but I didn't want to think of what would happen if I got fired. I'd been saving every penny I made to get out of this stupid little town - to just escape, and hell if I was going to let Minho's stubbornness keep me here. I started towards him, not quite sure of what I was going to do, but a hand grabbed my arm.

"Don't, Newt," Thomas said, holding me back.

"Easy for you to say!" I turned on him, "I-"

"Newt," he interrupted, the calm in his voice irritating me beyond belief.

I sat back down, glancing at the clock angrily. School was officially over now, and I was going to be late to my job if I even showed up.

"Why don't you listen to your little damsel in distress, Min?" Gally asked, his voice a mocking monotone.

I growled at him, "I'm not -"

Thomas gave me a look, and then turned to Gally, who was sat as far from us as possible while still being in the same room.

"Give it up, man, leave Newt alone," he said, "Seriously, we already know you're an asshole. You don't have to keep convincing us,"

"Fair enough," Gally conceded, "I'll leave him alone if you'll get me out of here in the next ten minutes,"

"Sure," Thomas said, but Gally wasn't done.

"If I have to stay here a second longer than that, I'm gonna make that little bitch's life hell," he nodded to me, "And you two won't always be there to protect him,"

"I don't need them to protect me, you bloody c-" Thomas cut me off. Again.

"Fine,"

I was about to give him hell for censoring me, but the poor boy looked troubled enough. He was, after all, trying to keep peace between two extremely angry teens, and one incredibly stubborn one. I decided to bite my tongue and hope he'd use his good old Thomas magic to get me out of here.

"Minho, why won't you apologize?" Thomas asked, "You don't have to mean it,"

Minho graced him with an answer, "I can't look in his ugly shuck face and say those words. It's impossible,"

"C'mon man, we all did it," Thomas said, then, lowering his voice as if telling some secret, "Do it for Newt,"

What was that supposed to mean? Did he mean do what any decent human being would do and not crush Newt's future in college, or did he mean do it so Gally won't pound Newt's face in the second you're out of sight? Why did "do it for Newt" had to be said in that tone?

"Alright, Minho," Thomas said, "I'm going to go get Rat Man and you're going to apologize to this ugly bastard. I don't care how much you bullshit it, all we need are those two syllables,"

He then strode over to the door and knocked on it. It was unlocked from outside and Thomas left to find the principal.

There was an awkward hush. I looked over at Minho to see him staring straight back at me.

"Please," I said, but my voice came out as an odd half-whisper, and he looked away. All of a sudden, I felt close to tears. I didn't want to admit it, but I was terrified that if I lost my job, I'd have to stay in this town forever. I did have dreams and plans, but I didn't exactly have the financial means to follow them unless I continued to work my ass off at this shitty job.

Thomas re-entered, the Rat Man in tow.

The principal nodded at Minho, "Do you have something you want to say to Gally?"

"Yes, " he replied, turning to Gally. I couldn't tell what he was about to say, but it didn't look like an apology, "You're a right bastard, and if you ever hurt someone I care about again, I will break every bone in your body - starting with your neck. You're absolutely despicable and bear a striking resemblance to the toad your mother screwed to produce you. So, in conclusion, fuck you."

There was a brief pause.

Minho spoke again, "And sorry, I guess."

A/N I hope you all read my "rated T for swearing" warning before this :D.