TEN DEAD POETS

Charlie's A Dumbass

After going through a whirlwind of emotions very quickly, Maggie now had to get ready and head to Welton's soccer field.

"Fuck..." she muttered to herself. She was completely physically prepared and had asked for this. It was still incredibly terrifying, considering she no longer felt mentally prepared. Actually, she was unsure if she was ever mentally prepared.

As she walked towards the field, she wished Charlie was still on the soccer team. He gave it up this year to focus more on rowing. At least Knox was still on the team, so there was one familiar face.

As she arrived, the whole team was warming up. She stopped in her tracks, took a few deep breaths and continued walking.

The soccer coach greeted her. He was a tall man with round glasses and a bit of a receding hairline. "Autry?" He asked, looking at a clipboard.

"Yes, sir."

"I'm not sir, I'm coach," he said matter of factly. "Alright, I don't care that you're a girl, as long as you're a good player you'll make the team." This man was very straight faced and Maggie could tell he wanted to get to the point quickly, no matter what he was trying to say.

She nodded nervously.

He looked back at the clipboard, "What's your position?"

"Center forward, but I've also played defense."

"Okay," he paused as he wrote down what she said. "Go warm up with the guys and will get started on drills after."

Maggie nodded, still a little nervous to speak. She also immediately stood next to Knox to warm up.

"Hey!" Knox said happily.

"Hey Knox," she said quietly.

"Don't worry Maggie, you'll be fine."

She took some more deep breaths and tried to ground herself mentally as she warmed up.

At first, Maggie had felt a little rusty as she hadn't played soccer in a year. But as she kept pushing forward and with Knox's encouragement, she got her groove back and was just as good as she always had been, if not better.

The practice, or try out for Maggie, went by exceedingly fast. She dribbled the ball passed the defenders constantly and could out run nearly all of the other forwards and midfielders.

The coach called everyone over at the end of the last drill. He talked about the next practice and what they were going to work on before their next game. He was about to dismiss them when he said, "Congratulations Autry, you've made the team." He then walked towards the locker room.

Maggie stood dumbfounded, unaware of the rest of the soccer team celebrating around her. She was broken from her trance by Knox shaking her shoulders. "Maggie! You did it!"

"I did it! Holy shit!" The shock subsided and she celebrated. The team gave her a group hug and she was thankful that all of the boys were so welcoming.

—

After practice and getting cleaned up Knox and Maggie walked into chaos. The teachers were racing up and down the halls whispering to each other as the students were walking towards the assembly hall.

"What the hell is going on?" Maggie asked.

"No idea," Knox replied. "Neil!" He shouted as he saw him walk past.

"Bad news," was all he said.

Maggie and Knox followed him. "What are you talking about?" She asked.

Cameron popped up behind them, "Nuwanda's article," he said disappointedly.

"You've got to be shitting me," Maggie complained. "I forgave him but I change my mind. I'm going to kill him."

The poets as well as the other academy student gathered in the assembly hall and waited for the impending interrogation by Mr. Nolan.

"Sit," Mr. Nolan commanded. The students sat down and he raised the newspaper that held Charlie's article in his hand. "In this week of Welton's Honor there appeared a profane and unauthorized article. Rather than spend my valuable time ferreting out the guilty persons— and let me assure you I will find them— I'm asking any and all students who knows anything about this article to make themselves known here and now. Whoever the guilty persons are, this is your only chance to avoid expulsion from this school."

As Mr. Nolan was about to speak again, a phone rang in the middle of the hall. Everyone looked around to figure out where the source was.

All of the sudden, Maggie saw Charlie pick up the receiver. She was ready to scream.

"Welton Academy. Hello. Yes, he is. Just a moment."

Charlie then stood up with the telephone. "Mr. Nolan, it's for you. It's God. He says we should put in a hot tub at Welton."

The assembly room erupted in laughter, except for the teachers, as well as the other poets who groaned and shook their heads.

After the assembly, Mr. Nolan quickly brought Charlie to his office for a personal interrogation.

The poets as well as some other students waited in the hallway outside of their rooms.

"What the fuck is wrong with him?" Knox exclaimed.

Meeks shook his head in disbelief, "he's an idiot."

"He's more than an idiot. He's the biggest goddamn dumbass I've ever met," Neil added.

Maggie was waiting by Charlie's door, ready to slap him. When he finally entered the hallway, her heart dropped.

"You kicked out?" Neil asked.

"No," Charlie said, barely audible.

"So what happened?" Evelyn chimed in.

He walked toward his door and stood next to Maggie. His eyes were red and his face was pale. "I'm to turn everybody in, apologize to the school and all will be forgiven."

"So, what are you gonna do?" Neil asked. "Charlie!" He yelled as Charlie entered his room.

"Damn it, Neil. The name is Nuwanda," He smiled, looked at Maggie, then shut the door.

Everyone looked at each other and without saying a word, went back to their rooms and sat in silence before dinner. Except for Cameron, he left Charlie alone and joined Neil and Todd in their room.

"Jesus Christ," Maggie sighed with her head in her hands.

Evelyn sat next to her, "I can't believe him."

"I unfortunately can."

"He's not going to rat us out. You'll still be on the soccer team."

"How'd you know I made the team?"

"Knox," she smiled.

"Of course," Maggie chuckled. "Blabbermouth."

"I think you should go talk to him," Evelyn said.

"I don't know. I bet he wants to be alone."

"Just try. At least he knows you care."

Maggie sighed deeply, "Okay. I'll see you later. I think I'm going to skip dinner, I've had a long day."

Evelyn laughed, "understandable."

She walked to Charlie's door and knocked quietly. After no answer, she quietly opened the door, "Charlie?"

He laid on his bed with his arm over his eyes. "Go away Maggie."

"You don't have to talk if you don't want. I just want to be near you."

Charlie cracked a small smile. "Fine," he croaked. Secretly, he was thankful that she was checking on him, and didn't want her to leave his side.

Maggie sat on the floor next to his bed and held his hand. Charlie didn't move his other arm off of his eyes once. She kissed his hand and laid her head against the mattress. She would joke about almost slapping him later, once he was feeling like himself again.