Under the Streetlight - Newtmas

T e n

Thomas:
Minho and I had been entertaining ourselves with a small talk on the school gate, waiting for Newt, though probably my raven-haired friend hadn't noticed, but he was more than twenty minutes late. I felt antsy, I was lifting my heels all the time, like I was warming up for a soccer game. That, Minho had perceived.

I felt his firm hand on my shoulder, I shot my eyes to his, he was looking at me with his eyebrows raised in concern. "Thomas, he's fine, you know how Janson likes to make classes longer," he reassured me, I nodded pursing my lips.

A chill ran down my spine, almost as if something bad was about to happen, as if I could feel it getting closer, worry filled me. I sighed and got my phone out of my pocket, I knew Newt never had his phone on him, but it would be just as useless not to try. I searched his name on my contact list, and typed a short message in.

Me: Hey, you okay?

...

No answer. I can't say I didn't expect it, after all, he'd probably left his phone back in Minho's house. Hopefully.

Five more minutes passed, and finally all the kids in Janson's classroom stormed out yapping about how much they despised the teacher, my eyes searched for Newt's blond hair, but he clearly wasn't there, my heart started racing.

"Newt?" I asked, loud enough for everyone to hear me, and started walking towards the teenagers. "Newt!" I repeated, but he wasn't there. I stopped one of his classmates, named Aris, he looked at me with wide, blue eyes.

"Hey man, have you seen Newt?" I asked with exasperation.

"Nope, he left before all of us," he shock his head, and then walked off nonchalantly. My heart suddenly stopped, I assumed the worst, and prayed that it didn't happen.

Once the hall cleared out, my eyes met Minho's, standing in front of me, his expression concerned. "Minho, we gotta go look for him," I demanded, he nodded with decision, and we headed to the entrance.

We searched all the main corridors, but he wasn't anywhere, my stomach twisted, I felt dizzy with worry, and I was so definitely developing migraines. I needed to find him, if anything happened to him, it was on me.

As desesperation took over me, I distinguished a shadow on the corner of a hallway, as I moved closer, I could see it was a boy, and my heart stopped when I realized who he was. Minho and I didn't have to exchange words, we raced as fast as our legs let us and knelt next to him, it was undoubtedly Newt.

"Newt..." I blubbered, feeling one tear roll down my cheek, I grabbed him and placed him on my legs, he was covered in blood, his face was almost unrecognizable by the bruises that covered it, his spotless shirt was now stained with scarlet red, and his bright yellow hair, was brownish and dirty. Minho fell on my side, his eyes glassy, full of melancholy. "Hey man..." I shock him as gently as I could, hoping he would miraculously open his eyes, but he didn't.

"What have they done to him..." he whispered, leaving a hand on his chest, stopping me from cradling him, he seemed to be having a hard time believing what his eyes were witnessing.

"Newt, please, please..." I prayed, but he didn't answer. I placed my fingers on his neck and checked his pulse. "He's breathing," I mumbled, relieve allowing me to function. "He's breathing," I repeated to myself, Minho nodded very quickly. I thoroughly cleaned his face with my hoodie as gently as I possibly could, thinking who could have done this to him, who could have hated him so much, and why.

I side-eyed my friend, he was dialing 911, and then the realization hit me: who was the only monster that couldn't feel guilty? Gally. He did it, that fucking son of a bitch did it. The awful sadness I felt turned into unbearable rage burning inside me.