Chapter Text
Thomas stares blankly at the white board, the math equation looking like a giant blob of intricate designs with no pattern whatsoever. His eyes begin to wander about the room, falling upon the clock which read a quarter to three, five minutes until school was over for the week. He looks back down at his homework, which didn't even have a single problem done, even though the teacher had passed it out to the class ten minutes ago.
Thomas feels a ball of paper hit him in the back of the head, groaning internally he turns around to see one of his best friends staring at him with an insistent look.
"What?"
"Do you have the answer for number thirteen?" Minho bluntly whispers.
"Nope."
"You haven't even started the worksheet, have you."
"Nope."
"Thomas, Minho, do I need to change your seating again?" Their teacher peers through the top of her glasses with a blank stare. Thomas turns back around facing the front, and Minho looks back at the almost complete worksheet in front of him drawing another still silence in the classroom. Thomas looks back at the paper in front of him, racking his brain for anything he can remember about how to do the problems in front of him.
Damn, math really needs a therapist.
Before he can put his pencil to the paper the bell rings, signaling the end of the day. Everyone around Thomas begins to pack up and leave the classroom in excitement for the weekend.
"Thomas, you really need to stop procrastinatin' ya shank," Minho appears behind him, all his books stowed in his arms waiting for the brunet to finish gathering his stuff.
Thomas rolls his eyes, "I honestly don't care, you know, math has no relevance to what I am going to be doing after graduation anyway."
"What are you going to do? Besides the track scholarship for that college you're going to, I haven't really heard you talk about anything else for your future," Minho questions, throwing his books into his locker and picking up his bookbag. Somehow their parents had gotten the school board to let them have lockers next to each other. Thomas shrugs, "Dunno, all I know is that I won't be a shuckin' mathematician."
Minho laughs, "can't say I blame you, although you should really try to get a passing grade in that class." He gives Thomas a pointed look with a bunch of mixed emotions filled with pure honesty in his eyes.
"I guess, but the equations just don't make sense! Like number five! How the hell am I supposed to calculate that in my head!" Thomas storms out of the school building with Minho trailing quickly behind him.
"You didn't even listen to Miss Paige, did you."
"Huh?"
"She said we could skip number five."
"Oh."
Minho facepalms, rolling his eyes and heaving an exasperated breath before looking back up to search for his car. Thomas does the same for his own, which they really were searching for the same thing since they always park right next to each other. A blue sports car enters his view, alerting him of Minho's car.
"Found them Min."
"What? Where?"
"Right there," Thomas points towards the cars and begins to walk towards them. Minho hastily follows with his naturally quick pace. When they reach their cars Minho turns to face Thomas with a serious look on his face.
"Thomas, you really need to start thinking about what you're going to do after school ends, we're already a quarter into second semester and you only know you're going to college on a track scholarship."
"I get it Min, this kind of thing just needs time."
"Not for everyone."
"I'm not everyone."
Minho heaves another sigh, shaking his head and getting into his car, starting it and leaving Thomas still standing by his own car.
"I'm not! I just don't get the whole rush for figuring out what job you want," Thomas mutters to himself before getting into his own car and starting it, leaving the campus as well.
{+}
"I'm home!" Thomas calls out to no one in particular, throwing his car keys onto the counter and taking his bookbag and jacket off. He walks into his room and throws himself onto his bed, turning on his phone seeing he got five text messages all from Teresa and Minho, as well as one from his mom saying she would be later than usual getting home due to something with a co-worker. Well that explained why no one responded to him when he got home. He throws his phone to the side, not even bothering to reply to Teresa and Minho. His mom should be home soon since she said she would only be held back for a half hour or so, and she usually got home a little before he got home from school.
Thomas closes his eyes for a few minutes, letting the small sounds fade a little around him until the sound of the front door closing alerts him that his mother was home.
"Thomas can you come out here for a sec?" His mom shouts. Thomas groans, moving himself to get up and walk back out to the living room.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"I'm going on another business trip, so you're going to have to stay at someone's house for a few weeks, and before you say anything about being old enough to take care of yourself, don't even think I have forgotten about last time I left you alone while I was away." She narrows her eyes, making Thomas cringe at the memory. He had hosted a small party, which Minho, of course, couldn't keep his mouth shut about, so it resulted in almost everyone from Glade High School coming to his house and his mom coming home early to see a bunch of crazy teenagers tearing around her house.
"Okay," he sighs, "I'll just call Min-"
"Nope, I don't trust you enough to stay at his place for the amount of time I'm going to be gone."
"Well who else's place can I stay at?"
"What about that one boy that you did that physics project with a few months back? What was his name? I think he had an English accent?"
Thomas blinked confusedly for a few minutes until realization hit him. His mother was talking about Newt Isaacs, one of the quieter people at his school that he had someone gotten paired with for one assignment that lasted for two weeks. Thomas didn't know him that well, and no one really talked to him.
"Hi Elise. Yes Thomas is fine with it, did you ask Newt? Okay good, see you soon."
"Wha- Mom! I didn't agree with anything!" Thomas snaps out of his thoughts hearing his mom talking to Newt's mother.
"Thomas," his mother looks at him sincerely, "Newt's mother is a co-worker that is going on the business trip with me, Newt is a very trustworthy boy, and I feel that he would be a good influence on you, now go pack your things, you're going to his place tomorrow after you wake up."
Thomas' eyes widen, a shocked, disbelieving look flies to his face, before turning around with a deep breath and walking back to his room to get his stuff ready.
"I can take care of myself, I'm not a child anymore." Thomas mutters to himself, slamming his door shut.