WICKED Is Weird (The Fever Code)

More than two years had passed since Minho's Great Escape™ when one of the strangest (and possibly cruelest) changes WICKED made of our Groups was put into effect:

Our typical Monday night dinner was interrupted as a guard brought Thomas and Teresa into the cafeteria.

"Listen up," He barked (clearly, he was one of the nice ones). "Many of you have heard of Thomas and Teresa- they've been considered Elite candidates for years. They're going to be joining you for classes, meals and recreation times from now on, so be nice to them, they've worked really hard. The Maze Trials are starting soon, as you're all well aware, and there's a lot to be done..."

And blah blah blah, this is where I zoned out. I didn't mean to, of course, but these people always said things using like, as many words as humanly possible. And he even said himself that we were well aware of what he was saying, so I didn't really need to listen, now did I?

Of course, in hindsight writing this, I wish I had listened so you could learn something probably relevant, but hey, 11-year-old May wasn't overly concerned with such things. In fact, at the moment, she was busy trying to steal some of Minho's carrots, since she'd run out. This earned her an elbow to the ribs, and one carrot, as opposed to the three she'd tried taking. She considered this a victory.

I was pulled out of the great carrot conflict as Newt and Alby stood from their seats across the table, prompting me to join them as the three of us headed over to greet our friends.

The boys reached the Elites first, Alby hugging Teresa and Newt heading for Thomas.

"Well, look who the bloody copper dragged in," My (very) British friend said, pulling the younger boy into a tight hug, patting his back a few times before pulling back. "It's a bit strange seein' you without sneakin' about and all. Welcome to society."

His accent, which used to only get strong when he was annoyed or stressed, had become much more prominent over the past two years. I hadn't been sure if this was a sign that he was always stressed, or if it was a choice, but either way I'd been keeping a closer eye on him.

I quickly took his place, hugging Thomas.

"I spaced out during most of that, did I miss anything important?" I asked, pulling back just enough to smile innocently up at him.

Thomas laughed a bit. "Not really, just a bunch of 'play nice' crap."

"Okay, good." I nodded, letting him go and shoving his arm lightly, before heading over to Teresa as Newt was now letting her go. "I'm finally gonna have a partner for boys vs. girls dodgeball games!"

She smirked. "We'll be unbeatable."

"We'll leave 'em sobbing!"

Our joint laughter was interrupted as Thomas was bulldozed by Chuck beside us.

I was thrilled to have my whole weird family together again. We all headed back to the table, Minho actually joked with Thomas for a bit, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like everything was okay- well, as okay as things could be for subjects at WICKED.

Thomas and Teresa were only allowed to stay a few hours- they still slept in their own rooms -but it was a very pleasant few hours. After dinner we'd been allowed in the library, where our group decided to take turns passing around a book to read (I think it was the censored rewrite of Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone; same story, just with less xenophobia and ableism) way to loudly to each other.

It was nice, being able to just do a very decidedly 'kid thing' for once.

Weeks passed, and the feeling of "okay" stayed for the most part. Classes were fine, Min was still improving, Chuck was thrilled to be able to see our Elite friends every day when he wasn't dog tired, and (as planned) Teresa and I destroyed all five of our boys in am impromptu game of dodgeball (well, four of them, at least. Halfway through, Chuck revealed that he'd been a double agent the entire time; unplanned, but appreciated).