September 19th, 2001

     "Why do you look like shit?" Newt asked as they walked across the courtyard.

     Thomas knew what he was talking about. He knew he had giant bags under his eyes. He knew his eyes were bloodshot and his skin was pale. He always looked like that, lack of sleep did that to a person.

     "Thanks." Thomas grumbled as he ran a hand through his hair. "Don't worry about it."

     "Okay." Newt shrugged, dropping it as he kept walking.

     Thomas narrowed his eyes, looking at the blonde boy. "You're not gonna ask more?"

     "No?" Newt looked at him with a board expression. "You said don't worry about it, and honestly I don't really care whatever is wr-"

     "Yo blondie!" A guy yelled from across the grass.

     Newt's face broke out into a smile. It was the first time Thomas saw him look anything but downright pissed.

     "Hey Minho." Newt punched the guy in the shoulder when he got close enough to them.

     The boy had dark hair and dark eyes. He looked Korean, but honestly the most striking thing about him was the gorgeous muscles on his arms.

     "Who's your friend? Why does he look like shit?" The boy asked as his eyes fell on Thomas.

     Newt rolled his eyes. "The greenie remember? The one who blew up the fuckin street."

     "You know I'm standing right here?" Thomas asked in complete disbelief. He wasn't surprised Newt was being rude, he was just surprised the way he was going about it.

     Minho frowned. "The babysitting duty guy?"

     Newt nodded, completely ignoring Thomas. "Yeah. So, obviously I can't go with you guys this week."

     Minho looked at Thomas carefully, like he was studying him. "You can't leave him alone for a night?"

     Newt shook his head. "Hank will have my ass. You know he hates me and sneaking onto the missi-"

     "Maybe he hates your cause you're an asshole!" Thomas snapped, surprising Newt and himself.

     "Excuse me greenie? What did you just say to me?"

     "You're rude all the time for no reason!" Thomas flailed his arms, trying to gesture something. He blamed it on sheer sleep exhaustion, he wasn't in his right mind.

     Newt covered his mouth to stifle a laugh.

     "What?!" Thomas was beyond annoyed now.

     "Your attempt at telling me off was pretty funny." Newt shoved his chest, making Thomas stumble backwards. "You get a warning this time, but if you ever..." Newt grabbed the collar of his shirt and pointed a finger in his face "...ever talk to me like that again, I'll make your life hell. Got it?"

     Thomas shoved Newt off him. The blonde boy may have been taller, but Thomas was definitely stronger.

     Newt glared at him. "Listen here Tommy." Newt spat out the nickname. "I don't like you, we're not friends, the only reason I talk to you is so I don't get expelled got it? Don't fuck this up."

     Minho grabbed Newt's arm then. "Yo feisty, settle down."

     Newt huffed and yanked his arm out of Minho's grasp before disappearing completely. He was there a second ago and now where he was standing was literally nothing.

     Thomas' eyes widened almost comically. "What the fuc-"

     Minho rolled his eyes, sighing loudly. "Come on Newt, don't do this, I'm not chasing you again."

     Silence fell over the group. Minho's eyes were watching the grass carefully, like he was waiting for it to get up and move. Thomas was beyond confused, he couldn't wrap his head around what was going on. How did Newt just disappear out of thin air like that?

     Suddenly Minho's head snapped up toward the school. Almost like magic, Newt reappeared about fifty feet away, storming toward the building angrily.

     "Newt! I'm not babysitting your kid!" Minho yelled from across the courtyard. Newt didn't even turn around.

     "Ho-how did he..." Thomas kept looking between Newt, who was almost inside the school, and Minho.

     "It's his stupid ability. Turning invisible. Better watch out cause he can do it to stuff he touches too. He can make them look different, make your pillow look like a snake. He's crazy."

     Thomas was quiet for a moment. He found himself not wanting Minho to hate him like Newt did. "What can you do?"

     Minho grinned before rolling up his sleeve and flexing his arm. "Touch."

     Thomas hesitantly put his hand on Minho's bicep, his eyes widening again when he did. It was hard, not like muscle hard, it felt like stone.

     "How...?" Thomas hit his arm, looking at it in disbelief when he felt the stone again.

     Minho grinned, rolling his sleeve back down. "Think of it like material manipulation, I can make myself into whatever I want it. I can do stone, metal, stuff like that. I never look any different tho which is the nice part."

     "So you're kinda indestructible?"

     Minho shrugged. "More or less, super strong too. I probably could break your skull in my right hand."

     Thomas took a step back which made Minho laugh. "Come on relax, I'm not as uptight as Newtie. I think you're alright. Walk with me." Minho took his arm, dragging him along to walk along the shoreline of the lake in the courtyard. It really was a beautiful place. The school looked even bigger from the outside, the stone towering over the courtyard almost resembled a castle. There were kids outside sitting on the grass, talking and just hanging out. They all looked so happy.

     "So what can you do?" Minho's asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

     "What?"

     "Your ability. What is it?"

     "I don't know."

     "What do you mean you don't know? Newt said you blew up a st-"

     "That wasn't supposed to happen. I killed people, serval people. I don't even know what is it. My veins run black and my eyes close and I feel outside myself and when it's over, people are dead and I pass out."

     Minho was quiet for a second before whispering, "that's kinda badass."

     "No it's not! It's horrible!"

     "No it's awesome. Once you learn how to use it at least."

     Thomas yawned, his eyes watering. He really was exhausted.

     "Why don't you sleep?" Minho asked, watching Thomas carefully.

     "It's bad when I sleep. It's like, when I'm awake I have a way of fighting it, but when I'm asleep it just goes free. I've hurt so many people that way."

     Minho cocked his head curiously. "Well you really look like shit."

     "Newt said the same thing." Thomas frowned as he pulled the collar of his hoodie up higher to cover the bottom half of his face.

     Minho just laughed. "You know Alex blew up the school once? Like the whole thing just went up in flames. Jane kinda destroyed the walls and once Scott cut a whole tree in half."

     "What?"

     Minho smiled softly at him. "Past students, you've heard of them, but they started here too. They destroyed stuff, X built it back. Point is, you can sleep Thomas. You don't have to be scared anymore. We know how to deal with this stuff. X won't let you hurt anyone, remember he can control that fucked up brain of yours."

     "Why are you so much nicer than Newt?"

     Minho laughed again, shaking his head and stopping to look put over the lake. "I'm not nicer than him. Maybe to you, but I'm the asshole, Newt's precious."

     "He sure hates me though." Thomas frowned.

     Minho shrugged. "Newt works in weird ways. He's been through some shit though. I'm not defending him, he is kinda a bitch to you, but something might be wrong."

     Thomas huffed and ran a hand over his face. "Whatever."

     Minho clasped a hand on his back. "I think you should go sleep. I'll warn X about your murderous dreams so you don't have to worry alright?"

     Thomas smiled at him. "Thank you Minho."

     "And hey before you go, you should let Newt leave this weekend and not rat on him. You can handle yourself for two days right?"

     Thomas didn't want to be left alone and he also didn't want to do Newt a favor, but Minho was nice and he didn't want the only person who'd been nice to him to hate him. "Yeah. I won't tell."

     Minho grinned. "Atta boy, I knew I had a good feeling about you...now get to bed."

     Thomas nodded, turning and walking in the direction of the school. He wasn't even too sure if he knew how to get back to his room, but he figured exploring might be good for him. The sooner he could figure out the workings of this school, the sooner he could get away from Newt.

     He pushed the massive doors open, entering what looked like the main foyer of the building. There was a huge staircase and several openings to other halls. Thomas wondered how many kids like him actually were here. It seemed like there were a lot of rooms and the courtyard was pretty full earlier. Thomas took a turn down a random hall to the right. He vaguely remembered going left to get out of the mansion so he assumed he was at least headed in somewhat the right direction.

     Thomas watched the numbers as he walked, watching them get closer to fifty. He sighed, he was never going to find his room.

     "Are you lost?" A voice asked from behind him.

     Thomas turned around quickly, coming face to face with a girl.

     "I u-uh yeah," Thomas admitted as he hung his head.

     "You're Newt's boy right?" She asked as she looked Thomas up and down.

     "Why do people keep talking about me like I'm his property!" Thomas snapped. "I hate being stuck with him just as much as he hates being stuck with me!"

     "Woah." The girl put her hands up in surrender, her blue eyes widening. "I was kidding."

     "Thomas sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. "Sorry. I'm tired."

     "Yeah you kinda look like shit."

     Thomas rolled his eyes. "Are you Newt's friend? You act just like him."

     "I am actually, the names Teresa, but me and Newt are nothing alike."

     "What can you do?"

     "What?"

     "Your mutation or whatever."

     Teresa laughed. "I don't have one actually."

     "So you're just normal?"

     "Technically speaking. Moria's my aunt."

     Thomas looked at her blankly. "Am I supposed to know who that is?"

     Teresa shrugged. "Guess not. It doesn't matter much anyways."

     Thomas gave her a half smile, there was something off about the black haired blue eyed girl. She seemed so out of place, not that Thomas didn't feel that way himself, but the way she fidgeted when she stood made Thomas wary of her. He was going to ask Newt later, even if he got pissy about it.

     "You still need help finding your room right?" Teresa asked as she watched Thomas glance down the hall.

     He nodded.

     Teresa smiled wide, grabbing his hand and pulling him along. "We gotta go one hall over."

     Thomas felt his cheeks heat up at the contact. In all honesty he'd never held hands with another person before. He tried not to focus on it, instead he looked at the numbers on the doors as Teresa pulled him along, trying to remember their route.

     Finally, he recognized the hallway they were in. He faltered slightly when he saw that Newt's door was open.

     Teresa noticed and stopped. "What's wrong?"

     Thomas cocked his head. "Newt's door, it's open but he's not in there."

     Teresa rolled her eyes. "He's in there. He's just throwing another tantrum."

     "What?"

     Teresa pulled something out of her pocket and threw it at the empty bed.

     "Bloody hell!" Newt appeared suddenly on the bed, rubbing his upper arm. "What the fuck Teresa."

     "I found your boy wandering the halls, I had to save him."

     Newt huffed. "He was fine, he has a brain, he can use it."

     Thomas was uncomfortable again, he just wanted to try and sleep. "I'm just gonna..." he motioned to his door which was next to Newt's.

     Teresa nodded. "Okay, have fun. I'll be here."

     "Uh no you won't be." Newt scowled as Teresa walked into his room. "Get out T, I mean it."

     Teresa rolled her eyes and took a few steps back. "Sorry, I forgot you're fuckin anal about having people in your roo..."

     Thomas droned out the rest of their conversation as he went into his own room and shut the door. Thomas pulled his shirt off, tossing it on the floor. His pants came off next, leaving him just in his boxers. He crawled into the bed, burying himself in the covers.

     As soon as his head hit the fluffy pillow he could feel the sleep taking over him. He was completely and utterly exhausted. His eyelids fell closed and he could feel himself drifting.

     After mere seconds Thomas was asleep.

11:07 pm

     Everything was dark, completely black. Thomas could barely move, he felt like he was walking on clouds, slipping and falling through a floor that wasn't even there. It was happening again. Fuck it was happening again.

     Thomas squeezed his eyes shut, throwing his hands over his ears. Stop stop stop stop.
That's when he heard the gunshots. Two. Two shots. Thomas' eyes were ripped open and he was thrown onto his back. He groaned as his head smacked a hard surface. Suddenly the room lit up, making Thomas squint from the light. He couldn't even scream, his throat felt like it was closing up. The room swarmed with guys then, black bullet shields in front of their faces and dark jackets engulfing their bodies. One of them looked at Thomas, his eyes were fully black and his nose was missing.

     Thomas used his feet to scoot back against the wall, closing his eyes and throwing his hands over his ears again. The men stormed through the room, disappearing through the walls somehow.

     Thomas. Hey Thomas, I need you to wake up now.

     Thomas pulled his knees closer to his chest trying to close in on himself. He felt the blood running through his veins, it hurt.

     "I-I can't, I-I can't wake up." Tears we're running down his cheeks and he was shaking. It wouldn't stop, it wouldn't go away.

     Thomas, this isn't real.

     Thomas finally let out a scream, it was so loud he could hear it through his hands that were clamped tightly over his ears. The world was spinning again and his head felt like it was trying to escape out his ears.

     "Make it STOP!" Thomas screamed, the tears rolling down his cheeks faster. The weird men kept running past him, their footsteps were so loud, he felt like he was stuck in a heard.

     Thomas. He felt a hand on his arm. Thomas open your eyes.

     "I can't, I can't, it hurts. Make it stop."

     I'm gonna count to three and you're going to open your eyes. Ready?

     Thomas nodded weakly, fresh waves of tears coming from his eyes.

     One...Two...Three

     Thomas used all his power to wrench his eyelids open, gasping when he did. He was thrown back, the wind knocking out of him. The scene changed immediately, resembling his room back at the school. He moved his hand, feeling wood under him as he came back to his senses. He sat up slowly, feeling dizzy.

     He was back in his room, the professor was above him in his wheelchair. Upon further inspection, he noticed the curtains were signed and all the dresser doors were pulled out and dumped.

     "Welcome back Thomas." Xavier was smiling softly at him.

     "D-did I hurt anybody?"

     The professor shook his head. "Everyone is fine."

     Thomas rubbed his head. "I knew I shouldn't have slept."

     "Does this happen every time you sleep?"

     Thomas nodded. "I don't know why, but I can't control it."

     The professor smiled. "You will be able to. That's my job, to teach you how to control it."

     Thomas felt his heart clench when he looked at the room, it was a mess. "I'm sorry about the room."

     Xavier actually laughed which confused Thomas. "You think you're the first one to destroy a room? You shouldn't be upset Thomas, you should be excited. You discovered your gift. It's a gift not a curse and we're gonna figure out exactly what you can do."

     That made Thomas feel better. "You're not mad?"

     He shook his head. "Of course I'm not mad Thomas, what do you think we do at this school? Math? No. We train and most of the time that involves breaking a thing or two."

     Thomas smiled softly, hoisting himself off the floor and sitting back on the bed, ignoring that the sheets were torn off and the pillow was somehow ripped in half.

     "Since we have a guest, I think he would be more than happy to help you clean this up."

     Thomas looked confused until Newt appeared in the corner.

     "Bloody hell, how do you always know I'm there?!"

     Xavier looked at Thomas before turning his wheelchair around. "Even when you think you're being quiet, you're loud in your mind."

     Newt opened and closed his mouth a few times before pulling his lips into a hard frown.

     The boys were quiet as the professor rolled out of the room. As soon as he let Newt angrily slammed the door closed.

     "Why were you in here in the first place?" Thomas asked as Newt glared at him.

     "I saw you destroy a whole army of men, wanted to see what else you could do."

     Thomas rolled his eyes as he got off the bed and started pulling the sheets back in place.

     "You really are a freak man," Newt said as he squatted down to scoop clothes off the floor.

     "Thanks." Thomas scoffed as he put the comforter back in place and frowning at the pillow.

     "I have two."

     "What?"

     "I stole one a few months ago, you can have my extra." Newt motioned to the pillow.

     Thomas didn't know how to say thank you, he felt like Newt would laugh if he verbally said it so he just threw a half of the ripped pillow at him.

     Newt smirked and waved his hand. Thomas watched in awe as it turned into a bird.

     "How did yo-" Thomas started, stopping when the bird disappeared and the pillow half rested in Newt's hand.

     "Magic."

     Thomas rolled his eyes which made Newt huff out a small laugh.

     They cleaned the rest of the room in silence, barely even looking at each other. When they were finished, Thomas looked up at Newt who already had his hand on the doorknob.

     "Who's Teresa?"

     Newt snorted out a laugh. "That bitch? Ignore her. She probably just wants you to bone her."

     "But-"

     Newt was out the door before Thomas could even finish his sentence.