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“Absolutely not, Thomas.”
“Gally, it will only take a minute to—”
“I said no!”
Thomas and Gally glower at each other in silence as Minho, Alby, Newt, and Chuck look on in silence. They’ve learned in just a few short months that although Gally and Thomas have finally decided to call themselves friends, they rarely see eye to eye about anything. It’s best to let them sort it out.
Thomas breaks the silence first.
“I know how to do this safely, okay?” (Minho rolls his eyes at Thomas’s softer approach, but he ignores the Korean in his peripheral vision.) “If I switch minds with Chuck, I can teleport the same way he can. I can get a good look at the grounds and find a good way for us all to escape this school.”
“And kill yourself in the process,” Gally insists. “Chuck barely has control over his powers and doesn’t even really know how they work, beyond the science of it. And you think you can do it better than he can? This is just some stupid suicide mission you’ve once again relegated yourself to.”
Thomas rubs his temples. “What else do you want me to do? If what you’re saying about Dean Paige is true, there’s no way she’ll just let us walk out of here. And we need a plan to get everyone past the school’s…security measures.” He does his best to finish tactfully, knowing at least one of the mutated monsters running the grounds is Alby’s friend, Ben. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Alby shift in his seat, but the dark-skinned boy remains silent.
Ever since Gally arrived around four months ago, Thomas's friends have seen the transfer has a possible way out. Not because Gally is more powerful than anyone else in the room, but because Gally was born with his powers, while all the other students were given theirs from experiments at the School for WCKD Minors. Ne’er-do-well delinquents written off by their parents and society, so no one will come looking for them if they suddenly “disappeared.” And the school is great at making troublesome students disappear. It’s the reason why Gally disagrees with any addressing of the dean other than “Dean Ava Paige.” The entire name is needed, or you run the risk of forgetting how ruthless the woman can be.
“I sure as hell can’t do it,” Minho grumbles. “I can only astral projection the length of a frickin’ hallway. So if you have any better ideas, now’s the time to speak up!”
Gally chooses to stare at Minho from under his eyelashes instead of answering. His own parents dropped him off here, telling him not to bother coming home without controlling his powers to the point of repression.
“Good that,” Minho says sarcastically. He and Gally haven’t gotten along yet, and that probably has everything to do with Minho’s friend Newt.
“Minho’s right,” Thomas says, ignoring Gally’s outraged scoff. “And Alby and Newt don’t have the right powers for this. If we want a shot at this, I need to go into Chuck’s mind, gain his powers, and hopefully…” Thomas trails off, knowing how it sounds to his newest friend. True to form, Gally’s pissed.
“Hopefully come back in one piece, right? Teleportation is one of the most scientific of the powers you guys got. Velocity—of rotation and orbit, polarization, how different velocities can be within just a few miles of each other.” Gally’s spitting, so he takes a breath. “So don’t say you’re going to be alright. And don’t say that this isn’t you sacrificing yourself so that you don’t have to watch your friends do the same.”
Gally’s eyes search pleadingly for the truth he knows is in Thomas’s eyes.
Thomas looks away. It isn’t an expression he often sees on Gally’s face. Thomas frowns. Actually, he doesn’t remember ever seeing such concern on the raven boy’s face before.
He doesn’t respond before Gally continues quietly. “If you don’t want to see your friends die from some reckless stupidity of theirs, what makes you think they’re so eager to see you bite it?”
Newt nods slowly, reluctantly. “I hate to say it, Tommy, but Gally’s right on this one.”
Chuck chooses now to speak. “It’s my choice, right? My power that’s being used.” The youngest boy takes a deep breath. “I say—”
The door opens, and Chuck slaps a hand to his mouth. Brenda peeks through, and everyone but Gally relaxes a bit.
She frowns. “What’s going on in here?”
Alby, who’s been otherwise quiet this entire time, responds. “We’re trying to help Chuck figure out his teleportation powers.”
Brenda snickers, but Gally notices her eyebrows are still slightly furrowed. “Four Mentalists helping a Sortileger? I can see why Gally might be here, but you’re a telepath and Thomas’s mind exchange would only help him learn the ability through Chuck’s mutation.” She tilts her head, tapping her chin in an exaggerated show of thought. “Though, Minho’s similar enough, I suppose. And Newt’s persuasion could help, but not much else.”
Brenda isn’t someone Gally knows very well at all. He knows she used to be a Class 3 student—a fellow Sortileger, in other words. But that was before Gally’s arrival. And she isn’t a student anymore, since she never gained any powers from the experiments put on her. But she can’t leave obviously, because no one has ever left the school. So, she’s simply the ‘receptionist’ currently.
The girl brushes brown bangs out of her green eyes. “Anyway, I need Thomas and Gally to come with me. A.D. Janson wants to see you.”
If Dean Ava Paige needs her entire name for the proper image to pop up, the A.D. really just needs the title. The association with being Dean Ava Paige’s right hand is enough.
Thomas and Gally exchange looks. Thomas shares a decent relationship with A.D. Janson, but one or two students being specially called to his office to talk is never a good sign.
Good luck, Newt mouths, but Gally knows it’s directed at Thomas. It’s no secret that the two are close enough for rumors for spark about their possible relationship.
The walk to A.D. Janson’s office is silent, so Gally’s almost glad to arrive at the door. Brenda raps on the door just below the silver plaque reading Assistant Dean Janson.
“Come in,” Janson calls from inside.
Thomas turns to wave goodbye to Brenda, but the receptionist is already gone.
Gally pushes the door open, wishing to get this over with as soon as possible.
Whatever appearance he expects A.D. Janson to have, the man sitting behind the desk doesn’t have it. He’s a thin, handsome man, and even though he looks to be in his late thirties, there are slight crow’s feet around his grey eyes and his hair has a hint of salt-and-pepper in it. His three-piece suit is entirely white and he’s reading a book from the NY Times’s bestseller list. It’s a such calming image that Gally almost feels at ease already.
“Hey, Janson! Long time, no see!” Thomas says beside him.
Gally flinches. Of course Thomas would try to be as normal as possible, even if he doesn’t fully believe it himself. His greatest defense strategy is acting stupider than he actually is.
It doesn’t work on Janson.
“There’s no need for you two to be so worried. I wanted to ask Gally how he’s doing in school so far. I only asked you to come along because Gally’s more talkative with his new friend around.” Janson smiles, and Gally’s surprised to see it reaches his eyes.
“School’s fine,” is all Gally says.
“Jorge treating you well? I know he mentioned being worried he couldn’t help a kid born with powers.”
Gally nods curtly, forcing a smile to his face. Once upon at time he was a friendly kid, but that kinda goes away once your parents decide to kill you as an eleventh birthday present.
Janson hums, just watching Gally for an indiscernible time. Gally tries to stand still, but one foot finally slides forward in a stilted kind of shuffle. That’s when Janson turns his attention back to Thomas.
“Dean Paige has been looking for you today by the way,” Janson informs him.
“Oh!” Thomas’s eyebrows raise, and Gally notes Thomas’s refusal to meet his eyes.
Gally huffs.
“I’ll go see her right after we’re done here, then.” Thomas’s voice is suddenly more reserved, more respectful and Gally realizes how little he understands Thomas’s relationship to the dean. He doesn’t like the feeling.
“See that you do.” Janson’s tone is serious and his eyes are stern. Gally’s stomach hardens as he wonders if he needs to protect Thomas from this mess, too. But soon enough, another smile breaks out over Janson’s face.
“You’re a good kid, Thomas, so don’t try finding trouble for yourself. Okay? I’d hate for…”
Suddenly, a hard wind rushes around Gally’s head, but he can see there’s no open window in Janson’s office. There’s also no effect on his hair or clothes. He puts his hands over his ears, as the gale-force winds are enough to cause his ears actually pain as it passes.
Janson and Thomas fade away right before Gally shuts his eyes against the gust.
When he opens them again after the winds subside, Gally finds himself in the woods and it’s now night. He doesn’t have time to figure out what the hell just happened as he hears one of the mutated former students nearby.
He runs through the foliage, his feet slapping hard against the leaves beneath his feet. When he brings his hands up to prevent thin branches from scratching his face, Gally realizes the fingers are too stocky and the backs of his hands too wide to belong his actual body. Gally trips over a half-exposed root, having stopped paying attention to where he’s going.
The horrific form behind him catches up and slices its talons through Gally’s back. A scream rips through his throat and the voice doesn’t belong to him. The mutated…thing forces Gally onto his back. A small thing on the forest floor finds its way into Gally’s wound, and the pain is so sharp he can’t do anything but whimper pitifully.
The monstrous human shape raises its talons to finish Gally off and he wakes up exactly where he was standing in Janson’s office before.
Janson is staring at Gally incredulously. Thomas’s arms surround Gally and suddenly he feels like he’s the one being protected. He feels Thomas’s shirt growing wet, and numbly realizes it’s because he’s crying.
“A new power…?” Janson breathes.
Thomas continues to hold Gally, worried for his friend. At the same time, Janson wonders what he needs to do next.
Gally just never wants to experience that again, all while knowing things at the School for WCKED Minors is never what you want it to be.