Teresa.

My jaw clenches at the thought of her name; at the thought of seeing her again. She lied to us. She betrayed us. She watched me as I was tortured and tested for information I didn't have and didn't say a fucking word. 

She's our supposed way into the city. 

Gally's big plan to get into the WICKED headquarters and rescue Minho is by using Thomas as bait, capturing Teresa, and forcing her to tell us how to get in and where he is. 

"No," Thomas firmly says, walking over to the round table covered with maps. He rubs his chin anxiously. "There's gotta be another way."

Gally asks, his tone annoyed, "like what? You've seen the building. She is our only way in."

"You really think she's gonna help us?" 

"I don't plan on asking for her permission," Gally fires back.

Brenda sits hunched over the table, her chin resting on her palm. She speaks up. "Am I missing something here?" Her voice grows louder. "This is the same girl who betrayed us, correct? The same dick?"

Gally nods his head over in her direction, pointing his thumb at her. "I like her," he says.

For some reason, my jaw clenches even more. My fingers, which were previously tapping against my thigh, stop. I dig my fingernails into the material of my pants. It shouldn't bother me, but it does. 

Thomas's hands are on his hips. He glances over at me, making eye contact for a moment before he looks away. We haven't spoken to each other about what I told him last night. He's barely looked at me since, always meeting my eyes for a split second before looking away. 

Brenda's eyes flick between the two of us. "What's going on?" She asks Thomas as he stares at the table, at the maps covering the wood, anxiously.

"What, are you afraid your little girlfriend's gonna be hurt?" Newt asks suddenly, anger and bitterness lacing his voice. I look up, surprised by his words. Thomas stares at him silently. We all do. Newt's eyes are fixed only on Thomas. "Hm? This has obviously never been just about rescuing Minho, has it?"

Thomas's voice is barely above a whisper. "Newt, what are you talking about?"

"Teresa," he replies, spitting the word out as if it's a vile, bitter taste in his mouth. He forces himself up, stalking slowly towards Thomas. "I mean, she's the only reason that Minho and Venus were even missing in the first place. We got Venus back and now we finally have an opportunity to get him back too, and, what, you don't want to because of her?"

He backs Thomas up against a wall, his face too close to the brunettes. I watch his anger rise, too shocked to stand and help. Everyone else seems to be in the same boat as me.

Newt just continues. "Because, deep down, you still care about her, don't you? After everything she did to Venus; all the shit she put her through, you still care about her. Just admit it." His voice is dangerously low, his nose almost touching Thomas's.

"Newt, I-"

"Don't lie to me!" Newt cries, shoving Thomas against the wall, cutting Thomas off. We all flinch at the sudden outburst. I've never seen Newt this furious. Mad, sure. Angry, sure. But never furious. I've never seen him with an anger like this, so deeply rooted in what I assume to be pain and jealousy that he takes it out physically. The thought causes a shiver to run down my spine. "Don't lie to me!" He makes sure to sound each word out, his loud, gruff voice ringing throughout the room. 

I shoot to my feet, rushing over to the two boys. I try to pull Newt away, pleading with him to let Thomas go. He pushes me off of him roughly, not with a whole lot of force, but enough to send me stumbling back. My mouth drops open, my eyes wide. 

We all stare in utter shock and horror at his actions. Newt seems to be shocked by himself as well as his eyes widen. He breathes deeply, inhaling and exhaling as if he can't catch his breath. He slowly steps back, away from Thomas. He struggles to meet the brunettes eyes, muttering a quiet, 

"Sorry." The room is deathly silent. He steps back more, looking at me now. I stand rooted to the ground, frozen with my hands out in front of me slightly, in the same position I was in after he'd pushed me. He can't meet my eyes. "I'm sorry, V," he whispers. He slowly turns to look at everyone else. "Sorry," he says again, his voice back to normal. We all stare at him in silence. He grips onto his right arm, practically stumbling out of the room, all of us watching him as he goes. 

Thomas's eyes meet mine for a split second again before he walks out after Newt, leaving us all in a stunned silence. 

Brenda's the first to react, stepping over to me and grabbing onto my wrist lightly, giving me a light tug and pulling me out of my stupor. 

"Where are you-" Jorge starts as Frypan begins to protest, but Brenda ignores them. She pulls me into the room on the other side of the wall, pushing my shoulders lightly and making me sit down on a crate pushed against the wall. She kneels in front of me, her forearms resting on her kneecaps.

"He..." I trail off, my worry for Newt choking me up.

"I know," she replies softly.

I swallow the lump forming in my throat, my leg bouncing up and down rapidly. "He's never yelled like that. He's never pushed anyone like that."

She nods, saying another, "I know."

I place my head in my hands, my elbows resting on my thighs. I tangle my fingers in my hair, overwhelmed at... everything.

Newt's angry, Gally's alive, Thomas won't speak to or look at me, Minho's gone and possibly dead, and... Teresa. 

I'm gonna have to face Teresa again. I think of the promise I made to her what feels like a lifetime ago. "If I see you again, I'll kill you."

Would I go through with it? Would I be able to? Sure, she's the reason Minho and I were taken in the first place. Without her betrayal, I wouldn't be as fucked up as I am and Minho wouldn't be in the WICKED headquarters right now. But... would I be able to look her in the eyes and kill her the way I did to Marcus. I hadn't known Marcus. I'd killed him. But... I know Teresa. We were never the best of friends, but I know her. She was my first female friend. Would I be able to look her in the eyes and kill her? Could I handle another person's- another one of my friend's- blood on my hands? They're already so tainted...

"You can ta-" Brenda starts, but I cut her off quickly.

"I don't want to talk about it. About anything."

"Okay," she says softly, nodding. "But, you can if you need to, Venus. I'm here."

I look up at her, smiling a little. I nod. "Thank you," I whisper. "For everything."

"This is what friends do," she replies, returning the smile. "we help each other."

🪐🪐🪐

I can hear Frypan filling Gally in on everything that happened in the past nine months or so. His voice, though muffled by the wall a little, is still decipherable, even though he tries to keep it around a whisper. He tells him about WICKED and the Scorch. He tells him about Winston's death and meeting Jorge and Brenda. He tells Gally about Marcus; about what I did to Marcus. He tells him about the Safe Haven and Teresa's betrayal, which ultimately led to me and Minho being captured.

Gally's silent throughout the whole thing, listening intently, holding on to every word that Frypan says. I hear him tell Gally about how they rescued me after six or so months of looking. He tells him about my nightmares and hallucinations, things Thomas must've told him back at the camp. He tells Gally about the Crank tunnel, car wreck, and me slamming my fist through the window, hardly even flinching when the glass cut my skin. He tells him about everything up until we saw Gally again. He even tells him a little about my breakdown in that room, brushing over the point where I'd thrown the junk to the ground and been utterly angry about Gally's unexpected return. 

"Fucking hell," I hear Gally murmur.

"Yeah, that about sums up the past few months," Frypan replies with a small, halfhearted chuckle. I fiddle with my fingers, counting every second that passes. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Repeat.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Brenda had left not too long ago, leaving me alone in the room to listen to the boys talking. "Have you... talked to her yet? I mean, actually talked to her," I hear Fry ask.

Gally replies, "a little, but our conversations always end in an argument." He pauses before adding, "she doesn't talk much anymore."

"She's been that way since WICKED," I hear Brenda say quietly.

"What'd they do to her?" Gally asks softly, his voice breaking. Silence fills the room for a moment.

"We're not sure, hermano," Jorge says. "But, whatever it was, it really affected her. She doesn't talk about it. The only people she might've talked to about it are Newt and Thomas, but I doubt even they know. She's quiet about it. She acts like it never even happened most of the time."

They're all silent again until Gally finally says, "she's different. I mean, I expect her to be after... everything that happened, but... she's changed so much."

"She could say the same about you, I bet," Frypan says. "But, yeah. She's different. She's not the same person you fell in love with in the Glade."

Gally's silent again. I hear the legs of a chair squeak against the hardwood floors as it's pushed back, footsteps coming towards the room I'm in. They grow louder until they stop. I look up and meet Jorge's eyes, which travel around my face, but don't reveal any emotion.

He sits down beside me, letting out a long, loud sigh as he rubs his hands on his thighs. "Rats," he mutters, wrinkling his nose as he spots one across the room, scampering along the side of the wall. "I hate 'em."

"Rats?" I ask, making no indication that I'd heard their whole conversation before. 

"Oh, yeah," he lets out a small chuckle. "I'm deathly afraid of them. Mice, too, but rats are worse. They carry more diseases, I think. Plus, they're a real pain in the ass to exterminate. Did you know that a single rat is more dangerous to have in your home than a single mouse?"

I shake my head, letting out a low exhale. "I did not," I reply, fiddling with the ends of my hair. "I don't know as many fun facts about mice and rats as you apparently do."

"Oh, hermana, if only you knew the damage that they can do to a home." He pauses before saying, "y'know, I saw one this morning in my room before I went to get breakfast. I think I almost passed out."

"They scare you that bad, huh?"

"Oh, yeah," he replies, letting out a sigh. 

I pause for a moment before asking, "why'd you tell me that?"

He looks over at me, his eyes softening. "I thought it might take your mind off of the conversation I know you heard earlier." I run the ring across the leather cord, avoiding eye contact with him. He places a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it with his fingers. "Your friends love you, Venus. We all do. We're just... worried."

"Don't be. I'm fine," I mutter.

He taps me under the chin, offering me a sad smile. "People who say that rarely ever are."