When I get home, I leave a text for my mum that Julie has woken up and head to bed; however, despite how much I turn in bed, I fail to fall asleep.

I have cured someone from the Flare! I have cured someone from the Flare, shanks! You hear that, shuck-faces?! Beat that!

I close my eyes for a second, and I find myself in a beautiful place. Somewhere by a beautiful and soft golden sand. The weather is sweet and warm. The sun is sitting, and the water has been colored in a warm, golden glitter. I hear the gossip of a group of people. When I look, I find a gathering around a burning fire. I head there to see who they are.

I see them.

Tommy,

Minho,

Frypan,

Brenda,

Jorge,

Aris,

Harriet,

And even Sonya, who I know now is my sister. I think I even see Galley, and maybe also Alby and Chuck are present. Julie and Teresa are in the crowd too. When everyone sees me coming, Sonya and Lennie run and pull me abruptly to the crowd. Everyone is laughing and shouting like they are out of their minds.

Tommy then comes and gives me a shake on my shoulder. "The place has been boring without you, shank." Minho comes over too, and soon, everyone is around me.

Tommy then stands and calls "For our victory on WICKED, for the end of the Flare, and for the one who made it possible!"

Everyone starts cheering, and my name gets hailed. "Newt! Newt! Newt!"

"Newt, wake up! Bloody hell! Are you dead?!"

"Yes, mum. Anything from the grave?" I ask while my eyes are still closed.

"It's almost noon!" she yells.

"I'm your cure. Don't I get to have some bloody sleep," I mumble as I pull the blanket over my head and turn. Mother then goes to tickle my bare feet. "Are there Grievers breaking those walls, mum?!" I shrill as I abruptly sit.

"No, but did you leave the Tupperware for our servants to clean? Also, Neal needs help with his stuff. You'll go to see what you'll be wearing on Saturday. Along with that, Julie has been left with no one in the hospital. I have to go with Lennie now; it's our Sunday gathering. Finally, clean your room. It looks like a stable."

"How has she been? Julie?"

"She's fine now. She is still under the shock that she's no longer a crank, but she'll get out of that."

"And her brain?"

"It's been a bit more damaged than yours, but she's still fine. By the way, she said she had a dream before she woke up, just like you."

"I know," I mumble as I rise and search for some water to drink.

"She said she has seen Sonya- Lezzie."

"I heard her mumbling Sonya's name."

"And you didn't open to see her dream?!"

"Would you like random people seeing you dreams, mother?" I ask her, still in my hoarse voice while ruffling my hair.

"Well, if it could help me find or get a clue what happened to my missing sister, I would!"

I stay quiet for a while and sit on the bed. "I'm going to see Julie and Neal now. Anything else, other than cleaning my stable?"

...

I head to Neal's flat, and then we both head to buy few things. Apparently, there's a festival by the end of the week. "For me, Paddy's Day," Neal tells me while we're shopping. "It's a national celebration at my home, but as we're having a little of everyone here and many occasions are happening in this period, we decided to make it for everyone."

I'm in the dressing room of a boutique. I have no idea what Neal has dressed me in, but I think I like it. "And what will you be doing? Glitter and confetti?" I ask him while he's helping me fix the braces on my trousers.

"It isn't a birthday for a kid turning five, lad," he laughs. "We'll all be dressed in our origin's costumes, and everyone will bring something unique from their place. Your mum will bring tea and cake. Zaher's wife will prepare their biscotti they call Ma'moul due to that it's almost their Eid. Some will get noodles, some fajitas, and so on."

"So, it'll be like a themed gathering for families?"

"Aye. This's one great bonus for the place here over WICKED. Here, it's more like a community where everyone is enjoying their origin and family, while WICKED was more of an institution where everyone had to be like a robot." Neal stays quiet for a while as he checks me again. "Try on the cap. Ha. This'll work," he finally states.

...

"Do you miss it, Newt?"

"WICKED or being a crank? Answer is no for both."

"The Glade, Newt."

"Sometimes."

Julie and I are sitting on the roof of the headquarters. Surprisingly, it's warm up here like it's summer. Neal explained that the forcefield here is uniquely made to control temperature aside its original function, making the place warm in w inter and cool in summer.

Neal's brought his guitar and is playing away from us. It's quiet up here, and there's no sound but Neal's guitar and the soft wind's. I've texted Lennie to meet us once they've done their gathering. She's said she'd pay me anything if I took her out of that ladies gathering, but mum refused, saying that it'd be impolite, and said we'd all gather here once they're done.

"What do you miss there?" Julie asks me.

"My friends... the parties we had, the homestead, the farms... even the Maze was beautiful sometimes."

"Don't you wonder why did we ever leave it there?" she sighs.

"Maybe, but I'm glad I didn't stay to rot there."

Julie stays quiet for a long while. "What was your life like in the Glade?"

I laugh. "Second-in-command. And you?" I ask her.

"A med-jack, but mostly no one?" she gibbers. "I preferred to stay out of sight. I did gather with the sticks and all this stuff, but my presence was like my absence. I preferred to work alone and quietly. I was surprised with all that fuzz when I said I wanted to stay in WICKED."

I stay quiet for a while then ask her, "What was Sonya like?"

Julie tightens her lips for a while and smiles. "She was well," Julie answers.

"Can you be more specific?"

Julie laughs. "She was our General. Everything was order, order, and more order for her. She was like our police, especially for those who had the thought for a fragment of a second to be lazy. But... don't understand me wrong. We know she was like this because she cared for our own good. She always helped the new sticks and considered their opinions while she and the other keepers were deciding everyone's roles. Sometimes, she also felt like the only friend I had."

"Is that why she was there in the dream you had before you woke up?" I ask.

"She didn't want me to feel inferior, which I understand," Julie comments, tears seeping into her eyes. "But I saw what cranks can do, and I didn't want to get to that moment when they'd have to kill me because I'm danger."

I tighten my lips.

"When they were on the Berge's door and Sonya was in her last trial with me," she adds, "I shouted that I'd prefer to be a rat in WICKED than to spend one more day with them. I told them in the face that they are all a bunch of idiots. I think they blamed it on my Flare, but you can't miss someone who's told you that."

"The last time I saw Minho, I almost shot him," I laugh. "I also had written a letter to Tommy begging him to kill me."

Julie looks at me with astounded eyes. I smile. "Didn't get to the best part yet. The last time I saw him, I told him that I hated him and that his sight makes me sick. I told him things I shouldn't have and blamed him for everything. Tommy thinks now that he has killed me."

"What did Thomas do?" Julie asks me.

"I pulled his arm to place his gun on my forehead," I answer. "But Neal was there, and he used a technology to tranquilize me to look dead and manipulated Tommy's brain to think that he's pulled the trigger."

"That's terrible," she frowns.

"Everyone's got a story to tell," I comment. I then look at her and whisper, "But we're lucky. Do you know why? We've been given another chance to live, and I'm not planning on spending it in moaning."

Julie smiles. "Do you think we'll ever find them, Newt?" she asks me.

"Who knows? I still don't think they could've died in something as a bloody explosion."

"We'll have a lot to tell them when we see them," she mumbles before staying quiet for a very long while.

"By the way, I wanted to tell you. There's a gathering this Saturday, and everyone here will be coming," I tell her. "Would you like to... come?"

She smiles. "I'll see," she answers quietly.

"This might be our Glade now," I whisper finally. Silence hangs in the air for a long while, and even Neal's music stops. I then hear mother calling us to take our fajitas while they're still hot.

...

The week passes quickly, but not boringly. Julie passes her tests, proving that she's become immune like me. As for my Biology quiz, I ace that! Thanks to the fact that I was studying in the battlefield.

When I tell Julie after school, she congratulates that then falls quiet. I understand her look and ask her if that's what she wants. She hesitates due to her condition but agrees at the end. At evening, I discuss the matter with mother after dinner.

"So, you think she should go to school too?" mother asks me.

"It's not what I think, it's what she wants," I answer. "Also, I thought it was a part of our rights to receive education."

Mother's eyes widen in astonishment. She falls quiet then stats, "We'll consider that."

Anyways, if I have anything else to add under this topic, it's that Julie shall proceed in classes with me starting next week.