Hellton Girls - Dead Poets Society

𝚅𝙸. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚞𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚁𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐

The next morning when it was still dark outside, Neil had already gotten out of his bed, getting dressed and putting on his coat, as it was still cold outside.
He was trying to be as quiet as possible, but he still acciedentally woke up his roommate:"Neil, what are you doing?"
"Go back to sleep, I'm going for a walk." Neil whispered with a smile on his face.
Todd was still not completely awake, so he was barely talking:"Why is it so chilly?"
Neil smiled and took the blanket off his bed to cover the poor freezing half-asleep Todd with it:"Better?"
Todd closed his eyes and made himself even more comfortable, his face lit up with a huge smile:"Much better."
Neil quietly opened the door, checking to see if the hallway is empty, then he quietly walked over to the female restroom, making sure no one sees him and knocked on the door. Vanessa walked out of it and they snuck outside in complete silence.

Once they stepped outside, they felt the cold air and luckily they were in their coats.
"Did you bring the sketchbook?" Neil asked her after those few taunting minutes of silence.
Vanessa tapped her pocket and nodded:"It's right here."
"Great, I hoped you wouldn't forget it." He smiled and then blew the air through his mouth, forming a little cloud.
"Are you cold?" Vanessa asked a bit concerned, but he shook his head, still not able to erase that adorable smile off his face, despite the aching cold air.
They sat down by the lake and Vanessa looked around, playing with her sleeves:"Are you sure we're not going to get in trouble?"
"The chances are almost zero." Neil confidently answered.
Vanessa pulled out her sketchbook and flashlight then she started showing him some pieces. The pages were filled with ink and pencil sketches, even a few aquarelles.
"Is this at Welton?" Neil asked, pointing at one of the sketches of a tree and some people under it.
Vanessa giggled:"Yup, I was a bit bored the other day so I went to sketch the courtyard."
Neil couldn't believe his eyes. Everything looked so good it was almost poetic. He stopped at a portrait of a familiar woman:"Is this your mom?"
"How did you know?" Vanessa said in surprise.
Neil smiled:"Well, I saw her when you first arrived. And Mr. Keating also has this exact photograph of her in his room here."
"What were you doing in his room...?" Vanessa said, kind of weirded out by the thought of her father just inviting students into his room.
"Well, your father has been helping me with some things since the beginning..." he said with a smile on his face. But it faded away when he remembered that his own father would never support him half as much as Keating does. Sure, he is an only child, but it puts so much more pressure on him. He looked at the lake, his lips forming a thin straight line, as he continued:"So I wanted to have a little talk with him about it alone, away from all the eavesdroppers."
"Was it something serious?" Vanessa asked in concern.
Neil's voice shook a little when he forced a breathy smile:"I'll leave that story for another time."
The dark blue sky started slowly turning into a gradient mix of purple, pink and orange. Vanessa noticed the surface of the lake sparkling more and more:"Neil, the sun is rising!" She exclaimed happily.
"The sun will rise and we will try again." Neil smiled with a slightly pessimistic undertone.
Vanessa looked at him, nodding approvingly:"What a poet you are."
Neil just chuckled at first, but he was completely mesmerised when he turned his head around to face her. The golden sun has just started to hit Vanessa, causing her ginger hair to shine in colors he had never seen before. It looked like something straight out of a fairytale, she looked like a fairy. She looked like she knew all the secrets of Earth. But he didn't want to ruin the scene, so he kept his thoughts to himself even though it was so damn hard to do that.

Before class started, Linda had noticed Todd standing all alone in the hallway. "Todd!" She shouted and came closer.
"Hey, Linda. Where's Vanessa?" Todd asked, smiling nervously because he still wasn't used to the girls.
Linda furrowed her brows:"I was just about to ask you the same. I woke up and she wasn't in her bed anymore, so I thought she had already went to the classroom."
Todd didn't move at all, he just started looking around nervously as he stuttered:"I-I haven't seen her. Neil left early in the morning to go for a walk."
"Aww, do you think they went somewhere together?" Linda said, already thinking of all the possible scenarios of what they might be doing.
Todd looked at the ground and shrug without saying a word. The whole thing was almost painful. Heck, it was very painful.
"Todd!" A voice from the other side of the hallway yelled. It was Neil, carrying Vanessa on his back. He eventually put her on down the ground when they arrived to their roommates.
Linda was curious:"Where have you two been?"
So Neil explained to them that they went to see the sunrise, but Todd's expression hasn't changed. He was dead serious, not even a forced smile or a nervous chuckle.
Neil noticed that and he was naturally very concerned about his well-being, so he put his focus on the terrified boy for a moment:"Todd, are you sure everything is okay?"
Todd just nodded, still not saying a single word. Instead he walked into the classroom. Neil was completely confused at his actions, so he followed him inside. Linda and Vanessa looked at each other, not having a single clue of what is going on, so they wanted to follow the boys.
But before they could even properly take a step, a hand gripped Linda's arm:"Well hello, my lady."
It was no other than Nuwanda. Vanessa was interested in what the boy has to say, so she decided to wait.
"May I invite you out to the cinema this Saturday?" Charlie proposed, adding a naughty smirk.
Linda mimicked his talk:"May I ask you which movie?"
"La Dolce Vita. Double date. Me, you, Knox and his girlfriend." Charlie insisted, recieving a risen eyebrow from Linda:"Remove the date and we have a deal."
Charlie continued the stare in hopes of achieving something, but Linda didn't give in, despite all the butterflies she felt at his every single stare. He knew how to do it, he knew exactly how to look at women to make them all flustered. But she didn't want to show him and boost his already huge ego. "Take it or leave it." She demanded, so Charlie reached out to shake her hand:"We have a deal then."

"I hope everyone has written some poetry. I'm expecting to read a poem from each and every one of you!" Mr. Keating said at the start of his class. "You won't be reading them today, but I will collect them and read them in the afternoon. So please put your poems on the tables and you will get them back on Monday!" Sounds of paper filled the classroom, as students were searching for their poems and handing them to Mr. Keating. He counted the papers in his hands and realized that one of them is missing. "Somebody is trying to get away. If you don't bring the poem up here, you will come up here and read it." Keating said with a smirk on his face, causing Charlie to stand up and hand him the piece of paper with a grumpy face.

In the afternoon it was time for their study group.
"What was your poem about, Charlie?" Knox asked, surious as to why he didn't want to hand it in.
"It was a bit inaproppriate, I think." Charlie answered, slightly scared of what Keating might say about it.
"Then why did you write it?" Meeks questioned, getting more and more surprised at his stupidity every day.
"I didn't think he would be collecting them!" Charlie said, slightly raising his voice.
"What if he made us read it?" Pitts said, also surprised by the lack of Charlie's thinking.
"I would tell him I didn't write it and he'd make me talk about a sweaty-tooth madman." Charlie leaned back on his chair and looked at Todd, who chuckled at the memory of that.
"Guys, we have no idea what you're saying. Translations?" Vanessa said with Linda relating to her confusion.
"Todd didn't write a poem last year, so he had to make one up on the spot." Neil explained, resting his elbow on Todd's shoulder.
Charlie joined in:"So he just comes up with the best thing I've ever heard! Everyone was speechless!"
Knox bumped Todd and suggested:"Come on, Todd! Show them some of your poetry!"
Todd was blushing more and more:"I- umm- okay wait." He started flipping through his notebook, trying to find a poem he could read to everyone. Charlie was tired of him being picky about which one to read, so he took the matters in to hi sown hands. Literally. He pulled a small piece of paper out of the notebook and started reading.
"No! Not this one!" Todd panicked, trying to get the paper out of his hands.
Charlie assured him:"Todd, I haven't heard a bad poem from you. They'll love this one."

Like a wind that caresses you after a storm,
Just like sunrise - new hopes are born.
As strands of hair fall on your face,
Your sweetest smile makes my heart race.
Oh, how I wish I were your stage,
To be your only audience, through all the years as we age.
Such feelings can't be described even on the screen.
The comfort as I rest my head on the sage green.
Maybe he can't see it, but keep that grin,
I see exactly what you hide within.

"Oh wow! Who's the lady?" Meeks smiled, impressed by the poem Charlie had just read.
"Is it Linda?" Neil teased Todd, trying to get a reaction from Charlie.
"What if it's Vanessa?" Charlie sassily said back, looking at Neil with a teasing smirk.
Pitts chuckled and sarcastically said:"I say it's Chris!"
Recieving a laugh from Knox:"I sure hope you can fight then, Todd!"
Todd was practically a tomato at this point and the girls felt bad for him. But Linda noticed something that no one else did.
It obviously wasn't about Chris.
This wasn't about Linda.
It wasn't about Vanessa.
Damn it, it wasn't about any girl in this world.
It was about the one and only sunrise-loving, flippy-haired, audience-loving, green-sweatered, problem-dealing Neil Perry. Did no one even think about it? The way he looks at him all the time. The way his face lights up when they're together. The way he is truly himself only when they are alone.
"Guys, stop it. We are not the only girls in Todd's life!" Vanessa tried to fix the situation without Todd feeling completely terrified.
Todd looked at her and mouthed a "thank you".
Charlie wasn't in the mood to obey any orders:"Oh, so he has many women?"
"Charlie. Enough." Linda said, no jokes this time.
To that he just raised his hands in defeat:"Okay, okay, Mrs. Nolan."
"Amazing poem, Anderson." Vanessa said with a kind smile.
Todd looked at her and shrug:"Eh, I've written better..."
"A humble man. You will one day teach English at this school, I tell you." Meeks told Todd.
Linda clapped her hands and announced:"Guys, guys, stop the chit chat. I wanna do some trig!"