Born Again

Chapter sixty nine

"Where's Minho?" Gally asked as he and Thomas walked to history class. "I haven't seen him all day. Or yesterday for that matter."

   "He was expelled," Thomas answered. "For the same reason Sonya and Aris were suspended. Those two will be back soon. But Minho . . . " He shrugged as an answer.

   Gally looked at him, confused. "All three of them?" He asked. "What happened?"

   "Long story short, they  got into a fight with Janson, our principle," he explained.

   He didn't really want to explain that Minho did it on purpose to prevent himself from getting kidnapped.

   "Ah," Gally said, nodding as if he understood. His confused expression said otherwise but he didn't press.

   They walked down the hall in silence for a few moments until Gally spoke up again.

   "Do you want him back?" He asked.

   "Minho?" Thomas asked. "Yes, definitely. School is so boring without him here. I miss him."

   Gally nodded. "I might know a way to get him back. But it won't work without her."

   Thomas followed his gaze to see him staring at Teresa. She was pulling books out of her locker, facing away from them.

   "You really think she's going to help us?" He asked.

   "Well, I'm planning on asking for her permission," the boy answered. "I'd need her to convince Janson. But, um, we kind of have a rocky past. I can't talk to her after what happened."

   This intrigued Thomas. In the dreams Thomas was the one who had a problem with Teresa. How did Gally get involved?

   "What did happen?" He asked.

   Gally let out a long sigh. "It's a long story. Basically, she found out that I was getting into alcohol and told Janson. I trusted her and she betrayed me. That's why I was kicked out of the school. Teresa and I haven't spoken since."

   Thomas nodded slowly, piecing together the similarities in his dreams.

   "So you need me to convince her to work with you." He said it more like a statement than a question.

   "It won't work without you, Thomas," Gally said. "Just . . ." He sighed. "Just tell her that I've changed."

   "Alright," The brunet said. "I will. And I'll tell Newt, Fry, and Brenda to meet us at lunch to go over plan."

   Gally gave him a confused look. "The less people involved, the better. The only person I'll need is Teresa. Other than getting her to talk to me, I won't need you or anyone else."

"But Minho . . ." Thomas started to protest before letting his words fade out. "Oh, never mind. I'll talk to Teresa soon. But the other guys are still coming. If we don't need them, that's fine, but I, at least, want them in on the plan."

   "As long as you can get Teresa to trust me," Gally replied, stopping just outside of class. "I don't mind who comes."

   "Do you really expect me to?" Thomas asked genuinely, as opposed to the accusing tone he used in his dreams.

   "I don't think we have much of a choice," Gally answered, pushing open the door. "Either we make this work or we don't." He walked inside before Thomas had a chance to answer.

   He hoped they could make it work. For Minho's sake.

~~~

Thomas took out his phone, glancing warily at his history teacher, Mr. Glanville, to make sure he didn't notice.

   After deciding it was safe to continue, he opened his messages to text his first friend.

   Thomas: Hey Teresa

   Teresa: Thomas.

   Teresa: You shouldn't be texting me.

   Teresa: If Janson finds out you're on your phone...

   Thomas: I'm not staying on my phone long

   Thomas: It's just I had to text u. I had to ask u something

   Thomas: Do u regret it? What u did to Gally?

   It took a long time for Teresa to reply.

   Teresa: Sometimes. But I did what I thought was right.

   Teresa: I'd do it again.

   Thomas: Good.

   Teresa: ????

   Thomas: Gally stopped. He's better now. He wanted u to know

   Teresa: Really? That's great, Tom. I'm happy for him. Really :)

   Thomas: Me too. But anyway I'm trying to get Minho back into the school. Gally said we'll need your help.

   Teresa: That's why you texted me?

   Thomas: Yeah.

   Teresa: Alright. We can talk at lunch.

   Teresa: And NO MORE TEXTING ME IN CLASS

   Thomas: I make no promises.

   Thomas slipped his phone back into his pocket without waiting for a reply.

   He looked around the class again to see his teacher still talking, completely oblivious to Thomas using his phone.

   Everybody else seemed to be listening intently to the useless information Mr. Glanville was teaching them as well. Thomas figured he was safe.

   He was about to focus back in when he saw Gally staring at him from a seats away. The boy raised his eyebrows questioningly.

   He somehow knew Thomas had been talking to Teresa.

   Thomas gave him a small nod, letting him know that it went well.

   Gally returned the nod in understanding before focusing on their teacher again.

   After class was over, Thomas and Gally didn't discuss anymore of the plan.

   "I talked to Teresa," Thomas stated.

   Gally nodded. "I know. And?"

   "She said she's happy for you. That you stopped drinking."

   The boy gave a small smile. "I'm happy too."