Flourish - Neil Perry x O.C

1: Hell-Ton

Charlie and I sat next to each other during Mr Nolan's big welcome speech.
What started as droning was becoming increasingly more like white noise by the second.
"Yahdahyahdah Ivy Leagues... blah blah Tradition, Honour..."
"Jeez, how do you put up with this guy," I nudged Charlie.
"You learn to get used to it," he whispered, "it gets easier to block out after a while."
We sat there for what felt like a century before he finally wrapped it up by introducing the new English teacher. My father.
"Ah, there he is," I whispered, giving my father a light round of applause.
"Can't believe you're gonna have to be in your Dad's class," Charlie smirked, "What a drag."
"Could be worse," I shrugged, "At least I know what to expect with Dad."
Everyone started getting up. Charlie went with his parents and I scouted around for my dad.
I spotted him talking to one of the teachers. A much older guy but definitely not the oldest I'd see today.
I ran up to him, "Hey pop!"
"Hey, kiddo!" Dad pulled me into a hug, "Proud of me?"
"Obviously," I said, patting his shoulder.
Dad walked with me through the school to the girls dorms to leave me off.
"You need anything, you come straight to my room," he said, "Know where it is?"
"Yeah, Dad, I know," I smiled.
"Even if its five o clock in the morning and all you need is a glass of water."
"I know, Dad."
We said a brief goodbye, and I went to find my room. There was a girl already in there. She was sitting on her bed, reading a book.
"Hey, I'm Josephine Keating," I said from the doorway.
"Right, yeah, my roommate," she looked up at me, "The new girl?"
"That's me," I smiled, "What's your name?"
"Jane Cameron," she stood up and shook my hand, "You know anyone here?"
"Yeah, a friend I met at a holiday place this summer. His names Charlie. Oh, and my dads the new English teacher," I said.
"Lucky!" she exclaimed, "You get to have a parent with you?!"
"We'll see how lucky I am when I have to sit through one of his classes," I laughed, "What about you?"
"My brother, Richard, and some of his friends," she said, "Are you talking about Charlie Dalton by any chance?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"I know him! He's Richard's friend! Well, 'friend' is a heavy term. They fight a lot."
"Your brother is Boot-Licker Cameron?" I exclaimed, "I mean... uh, sorry."
"It's cool, he's a total bootlicker," she grinned, "C'mon, I'll introduce you to them!"
"Are you sure we can be in the boys dorms?"
"Don't sweat it, it's fine!"
Jane grabbed my arm and we ran upstairs to the boys rooms.
We knocked on one of the doors and went in.
Charlie was lying on the bed, trying to stash a smoke.
"Jeez, you scared the crap outta me!" he exclaimed, "Thought I'd get caught. Jane, took you long enough to get here."
"Shut up, Dalton," she smiled at him, "Josephine, these are the guys."
Charlie waved at me, "Hey, Josie. Lucky you got Jane as a roommate, she's one of us."
"Where's my brother?" Jane asked.
"What do I care? Bootlicking?" Charlie snorted.
One of the guys walked over to me, "Since no one else will, I'll introduce myself. Neil Perry."
Neil Perry was beautiful to say the least. Light, brown eyes. A mop of nicely combed brown hair. He smiled at me.
"Josephine Keating," I smiled, "But everyone calls me Josie."
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Josie Keating," he said.
One of the guys cleared his throat, "Sorry, I'm Steven Meeks."
"Knox Overstreet," said another guy.
"This is Todd Anderson," Neil patted another guys shoulder.
At that, the door opened again. This time with reason to hide cigarettes.
"Neil," said a balding middle aged man, "I spoke with Dr Hager, we both think you're doing too many extra-curriculars this year. I think you should drop the school annual."
"But I'm the assistant editor this year," Neil said, disappointed.
"Well, I'm sorry," said the man.
"But, father, I can't it wouldn't be fair!"
"Fellas. Excuse us," Neil's dad dragged him out of the room. We could here him quietly talking to Neil. Something to do with disputing.
"Wow," I whispered towards Charlie.
He nodded, rolling his eyes.
When Neil's father left, we stepped out into the hallway.
"Why doesn't he let you do what you want?" said Charlie.
"Yeah, man, tell him off," Knox said.
"Oh, that's rich, like you tell your parents off? Mr Future Banker and Mr Future Lawyer?" Neil exclaimed, laughing a little.
"Ok, so we don't like it any better than you do," Charlie shrugged, "Listen, I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it. It's just a bunch of guys trying to impress Nolan."
"I don't care, I don't give a damn about any of it," Neil shrugged.
Steven Meeks appeared in the doorway then, "Latin, 8 o'clock?"
Everyone agreed.
Neil turned to me, "You wanna come?"
"Sure," I smiled, "And, listen, it's a known fact that parents are completely clueless when it comes to letting their kids explore their interests. Don't sweat it, it gets better than this."
"Thanks, Josie," he smiled back at me. I could still see the disappointment in his eyes that he was trying to hide.
I nodded, patted his shoulder and said, "See you later, Neil Perry."