landslide, neil perry

fourteen.

celia stared off into nothingness as the boys around her sang a hymn. charlie, next to her, stopped singing, leaving the two as the only ones not singing along. "all my life, thy light shall surely follow me. and in god's house forevermore, my dwelling place shall be. amen."

nolan stood at the pulpit of the room, the other professors seated behind him. "the death of neil perry is a tragedy." he began.

celia's hand rounded into a fist that charlie grabbed, the two holding onto their hands as if they were the only things keeping them upright.

"he was a fine student." the headmaster continued. "one of welton's best. and he will be missed. we've contacted each of your parents to explain the situation. naturally, they're all quite concerned. at the request of neil's family, i intend to conduct a thorough inquiry into this matter. your complete cooperation is expected."

after he'd finished, the society members all moved into the hallway outside of their rooms. they wanted to go to the cave, for their usual meeting, but they knew they wouldn't ever be able to utter thoreau without neil.

"who do you think they're gonna interview first?" meeks asked, nervous.

charlie shrugged. "doesn't matter to me."

"but what's our story? it isn't our fault, or the school's fault, that this happened." the red-head continued.

knox looked up at this. "what, do you think they're going to try to blame us?"

"it depends on what we tell them." charlie replied. "as long as none of us.. shit."

"what?"

celia looked among the group. knox, meeks, pitts, todd, herself, charlie. she then knew what the latter was suggesting. "guys, think about it. which one of us isn't here right now?"

pitts was confused for a moment as he registered her question. "you don't think he'd-"

"cameron." meeks agreed.

"we're all fried." charlie said.

pitts turned to him. "how do you mean?"

"cameron's a fink." charlie spoke through gritted teeth. "he's in nolan's office right now, finking."

"about what?"

"the club, pittsie. think about it. the board of directors, the trustees and mr. nolan. do you think for one moment they're gonna let this thing just blow over? schools go down because of things like this. they need a scapegoat."

"he wanted to tell nolan about the society anyway, he won't hold back if they ask him directly." meeks worried aloud.

"exactly." charlie said, slamming his fist onto the floor angrily. "whichever one of you finds him first, tell him we need to talk. the closet, tomorrow. all of us."

·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

the next day, the group all sat about the cluttered cloakroom, waiting for cameron. "you told him about this meeting?" charlie asked, lighting a cigarette.

pitts nodded. "twice."

before they could just get up and find the red-head themselves, the door opened. charlie was the only boy who didn't attempt to put out his cigarette, keeping it between his lips.

"what's going on, guys?" cameron asked as he walked in, feigning innocence.

charlie stood, tossing his cigarette. "you finked, didn't you, cameron?" he accused.

"finked?" he asked. "i don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"you told nolan everything about the club is what i'm talking about." charlie countered, his anger growing.