YOURS SINCERELY • newtmas au

001 | Thomas

Dear Glader Kid,

That's what our English teacher calls you:

'Glader Kids'.

I think it's pretty funny, so that's how I have started my letter to you. I wasn't even going to write at all, is the fact of the matter, but I found it funny when he said it, so I wrote on top:

'Dear Glader Kid."

My name is Thomas.

Fun fact: I was named after the genius who invented the lightbulb, Thomas Edison ( you might think it's cool, but seriously, I think it's a dead giveaway of how nerdy I am ). My best friend Teresa likes to call me Tom, and she's the only one allowed to call me that, so I do hope that you don't start your letters with 'Dear Tom', Glader Kid. You can call me Thomas or Tommy or Thomas Edison for all I care, but not Tom. Anything. But. TOM.

I'm seventeen, and I study at WCKD. Not a really nice name for a school, but they're good. I have responsibility of being an older brother to Chuck, my little man, who's a few years younger than me and is attending middle school. My parents work abroad, and they're only here for the holidays, so aside from being an older bro, I also have to be a mom and dad. Which probably explains why I can cook chicken fingers like a boss and repair the fridge at the same time.

I am a talented person, so to speak.

I'm part of the school's Science Club, along with my friends: Teresa, whom I have mentioned earlier in this letter; Rachel, who is practically my carbon copy; Aris, whom I have initially disliked because he was smarter than me in middle school, but since Teresa and Rachel like him fine, I guess I now do too. ( Only because I am very prone to peer pressure. Seriously, those three got me to join the Science Club in the first place. If they ask me to do drugs, I don't think I have the courage to say no. )

Just so you know, you are now pen pals with the biggest nerd in school. Aris is supposed to be the one holding the title, but he started going out wuth a non-nerd last fall, so technically that dulls his nerdiness a bit, and technically the title falls to me, who has the Periodic Table of Elements taped on the inside of my locker dopr like a poster. Condolences, Glader kid. On the bright side, you can ask me about your homework. I can get your grades up in no time.

How is it there in GHS, by the way? I'm sure you guys are--how do I say this?-- liberated, because it's a public school. Don't get me wrong, though! I'm not insulting you guys! I'm just wondering what it's like to study in a loose school, because I've been hearing so much from my classmates and I don't know whether to believe them or not. Because you know how our schools are.

Some of us here in WCKD dislike some of you in GHS, and vice versa. I honestly think that this pen pal thing would just be pouring salt in the wound, but the again I can't go around judging too soon.

But hold on, Glader Kid, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm telling you too much--and I haven't even caught your name!

I hope we get along for the rest of the year, Glader Kid. It'll be awesome seeing you write back.

Yours sincerely,
Thomas