It's been two weeks since Thomas arrived to Albuquerque and it has been amazing, not that he'll say out loud, he had finally been able to forget, the nightmares had stopped, life couldn't be better. He was happy that he had his own clothes, they were really nice and they fitted him perfectly, he had eaten food that tasted so amazing that he thought he was in heaven, he had his own room with a bed that was so comfy that he felt as if it was made of clouds, heck he even had wifi, what else could he need. And the job was amazing and kind of fun, cause he worked with this asian guy called Minho who was extremely funny and luckily for Thomas he studied in the SHS too!
If Thomas was being honest he didn't expect that thing would be so great, so amazing, so perfect, he knew everything was going to be different but he didn't expect this, because Thomas knew it was too good to be true, he didn't knew what he did to deserve this but he was glad that he got a second chance. At first it was kind of hard to forget about his past, it hurt and broke his heart, but when he was finally over it, he could feel all the darkness in his soul leaving, he could truly smile, he saw the world from a different point of view, and he was sure that if this was how happiness felt he didn't wanted to let it go.
His cousins have been amazing they've helped him forget and forgive, they showed Thomas that they cared about him, that they loved him and that they were happy of living with him. Aris was supportive and enjoyed presuming Thomas about this amazing boyfriend of his with this amazing golden locks or those dark chocolate eyes, but he didn't mind actually he enjoyed hearing the way Aris voice filled with happiness, seeing the way his eyes flickered, Thomas was sure that Aris was in love with this guy. And Teresa was Teresa, she closed all of Thomas wounds, instead of pouring salt like many other had done, she was like a big sister caring and protective, also a good listener. Aunt Ava was another story though, thanks to the fact that she was barely at home cause she had a lot of work as headmistress of WCKD, the biggest medical research company in the world, and the fact that she owned most of the Starbucks in Albuquerque didn't help that much, but whenever she was home she spent it with them, playing video games, watching movies, making a sing along contest or whatever came across her cray mind.
"Tom you ready?" asked Teresa, oh yeah Thomas almost forgot that today was his first day of school, he should be nervous but he wasn't, he felt like the king of the world, but that feeling wasn't going to last, cause soon he was going to meet a certain blonde, who made honor to the title.
"Yeah, let's go." Said Thomas happily.
"You'll love it there." Commented Teresa.
"Where's Aris by the way?" Asked Thomas with a little frown in his face cause he hadn't seen him since yesterday.
"He's probably at his boyfriend's house, he spent the night there after all." Answered Teresa. "But don't worry, you'll see him at school."
"Your brother, Thomas." Said Aris, with a hint of anger in his voice.
"I know, but I need to forget about my past, my mother asked me to do it." Said Thomas dryly.
"How could you be so emotionless Thomas, he's your little brother he loves you Thomas, and I thought that you loved him!" Screamed Aris.
"It's not easy, and I'm not doing it cause I want, it's just that there's nothing left for me, besides he'll be better without me!" Shouted Thomas.
"You're wrong it's now, when he'll need you the most Thomas, how could you!" Said Aris with venom in his voice.
"You want to now the truth it hurts me but I'm doing it for the best, that's why I threw my suitcase to the trash can, that's why I'm planning of forgetting about my past, that why I'm breaking my promise Aris, so there are two options you can help to forget or can ignore but nothing you say is going to make me change my mind!" Said Thomas while some tears started rolling down his cheeks.
"I'll help you Thomas but that doesn't mean that I approve what you're doing." Said Aris.
"Thank you, Aris." Were the words Thomas said before embracing Aris in a bear hug.
"It's the least I can do Thomas." Answered Aris "Though I'm interested in knowing how are you spraining this to mom and to T."
"You'll discover it soon." Thomas said with a wink "Now let's go shopping"
After a few minutes of silence and endless walking they found Aunt Ava's car and entered it.
"What took you so long cuz, don't tell me Aris was flirting with you" Said Teresa while chuckling.
"No, not that I would have minded" Thomas said and winked in Aris direction.
"I'm in a relationship, and your my cousin Thomas" Answered Aris a little nervous.
Then Thomas kisses Aris, the kiss is so passionate, so good, so perfect, that none of them want to pull back, they even got to the point that both of their tongues were fighting for dominance, that's when Thomas decided that it was time to pull back.
"That was so amazing, but so wrong" Said Aris with a blush.
"Don't worry cuz we won't tell a soul, and if you want to do it again just ask" Purred Thomas into Aris ear, and that made Aris shiver.
"I got admit I wouldn't mind doing it again, and I don't think my boyfriend would mind since we are on an open relationship but we are cousins Thomas" Said Aris still blushing.
And with that Thomas kissed min again, lip against lip, Thomas fingers rummaged free around Aris back, while Aris fingers played with Thomas hair.
"Don't do that without warning Thomas, and don't think of doing this in public, because if you do it I swear I'll kill you." Expressed Aris.
"Kids, we are here, so get your ass out of the car, cause we're going to buy Thomas some new clothes, maybe Aris can choose your underwear" Said Aunt Ava winking at the boys, which made both of them blush and Teresa laugh.
"Mom!" Screamed Aris obviously embarrassed for the comment.
"I wouldn't mind if you help choose what I'm buying, I got admit you've a great fashion taste" Said Thomas with a small blush.
"We're here, Welcome to the SHS Thomas" Said Teresa with a big grin.
"Thanks, T" With that Teresa motioned Thomas to follow her, so that she could show Thomas around.
First Teresa showed to Thomas, and explained that whenever he needed some time alone or just needed to talk to someone he could come here, since the librarian was a friend of her, she was quite sure he could help him get over his problems. Then Teresa showed him where he could it, and told him that the burger wagon was her personal favorite. After that Teresa took him to the Gym and the locker room. And finally Teresa told him where he could find each of his classrooms.
"I gotta go Thomas, good luck with Mr. Janson" Thomas started walking to the classroom number 118, where he was supposed to take advanced chemistry with Mr. Janson.
"Hey, Thomas" Called a voice behind him.
"Hi Minho" Said Thomas.
"You got chemistry with Rat-man too?" Asked Minho.
"Who's Rat-man?" Thomas took a place and waited for Mr. Janson to arrive.
"I forgot that you were new, well greenie we call Mr. Janson, Rat Man" Answered Minho.
"In that case I guess I do have class with Rat Man" Said Thomas "By the way what does greenie means?"
"It's a slang used in SHS to refer to the newbies." Explained Minho.
"Hello Class, today we got a new student who's name is Thomas" Said Mr. Janson "Care to present you self greenie?"
"As you said my name is Thomas, I'm 17, I used to live in Denver but my mother decided that I should move to Albuquerque and live with my Aunt and cousins" Thomas said as he sat again.
"I guess we shall begin, today we are talking about venoms and their compounds, my favorites" All the class laughed at that not knowing if the should be scared or happy about that.
Thomas couldn't believe the fact that it wasn't as boring as he expected actually he found himself listening carefully to every word that came from Rat Man's mouth.
"Thomas I want you to meet my friends" Said Minho with a toothy smile.
They walked for about 15 minutes, while Minho wouldn't stop babbling about his amazing friends, how they were like a family, about the racing team, and the fact that he was the proud leader of it, while Thomas just nodded and tried to look interested to his friend's words.a
"We're here" Thomas saw a big sign that said The Maze.
"Where are we exactly? Cause I don't remember Teresa showing me this place" Asked Thomas.
"Wait did you just said Teresa?" Minho looked like he had seen a ghost.
"Yeah, but you haven't answered my question Minho"
"Yeah right sorry, well this place is exclusive for the student group called The Gladers, and you'll soon be a proud member of it"
"Thanks I guess, though I still don't understand why you reacted that way when I said Teresa's name" Said Thomas.
"There are questions that are better without an answer Thomas" Answered Minho "Maybe one day, you'll learn the whole truth but today isn't that day"
"Fine" Scowled Thomas as they entered The Maze.
"Gladers, may I have the honor to present you the new member of our little family, Thomas" Said Minho while the people inside cheered.
"Are you the leader?" Whispered Thomas to Minho.
"No that's Newt, he must be in his office, doing all the paper work like always" Replied Minho.
"I'm Ben" Greeted a pale blonde.
"It's great to meet you" Said Thomas with a small smile.
"My Name is Winston" Said a teenager with lots of zits.
"I'm Thomas as Minho already said"
"You can call me Gally, greenie" Said a tall and strong blonde and left without giving Thomas the chance to greet back.
"I'm Siggy, but call me Frypan" Said another teenager while embracing Thomas in a bro hug.s
And many other followed some were really kind and extremely friendly like Frypan, and some were cold and distant as the Gally guy was.
"Thomas, I guess it's time you meet Newt" Minho grabbed his hand and took him a private room where a young and slightly skinny boy with golden hair was working himself to death.
"Minho, care to explain" Was all this Newt said.
"Thomas here, is a friend of mine, we got class with Rat Man and we work together, so I do you wouldn't mind if I introduced him to our group of friends" Explained Minho.
"As long as he doesn't messes up with me I don't mind" Said Newt coldly.
"Common Newtie, don't you want to introduce yourself to Thomas" Newt gave Minho a death stare, it was so dark, so deathly that Thomas was sure he was getting nightmares about it.
"Don't an asshole Newt and present yourself to our new friend" Insisted Minho slightly annoyed.
"Fine" Said Newt.
"Great" Said Minho
"My name is Newt, greenie, and believe me you don't want me as an enemy, so don't get in my way or I'll destroy you." Said the blonde with a cocky grin.
"First, that was extremely rude for a first meeting and second I'm not afraid of you, actually I think it's you who should be afraid of me, cause life is perfect and I'm not going to let anyone ruin it, Did you hear me, blonde?" Replied Thomas, even though he was scared of the blonde, he wasn't going to back off, cause he hadn't done anything to make Newt mad.
"You just didn't call him blonde, did you?" Said Minho obviously worried.
"I did, What are you going to do about it blonde?" Answered Thomas.
"I'm going to kill you!" Screamed Newt "Bloody Idiot!"
"Did the blonde got upset?" Asked Thomas in a teasing tone.
"Thomas, you don't want Newt to get mad, especially not when he's stressed." Said Minho "You better apologize before he beats the hell out of you."
"If that's what the blonde wants, then be my guest." Said Thomas making eye contact with Newt, then he bowed.
That was it, Newt couldn't hold back anymore, with a single blow Thomas felt to the floor unconscious.