𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 | 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎

Charlie wasn't suspended, and I wasn't allowed back at Welton. Afterward, I wanted to cry. No more Meeks, no more Dalton, no more Pitts, no more dead poets society.

I was the first one to leave the office, absolutely devastated at what happened. My mother stayed back to yell at Charlie, but in return, his mother yelled at mine. I noticed Meeks standing in the corridor, giving me a sympathetic stare. I quickly and quietly went over to him—pulling him into a hug. He had been waiting for us to be done.

"Not good, huh?" He asked, putting his arms around me in return. His voice was low and gentle, opposite of whatever the hell was going on in that office.

"Not good." I mumbled into his shoulder. "Not good at all." I pulled away reluctantly when I heard the office door open. I didn't want Meeks in trouble either. Luckily, it was just Charlie. He was smirking.

"Why do you look so sad?" He asked, meeting up with the two of us.

"Why do you think? I'm not allowed here."

"You never were. Nothing's changed! Nolan was just trying to scare you away, y/n." Charlie explained, and I supposed he was right. I had been sneaking out to go to the meetings, which I wasn't allowed to anyway. Still, there was more to it.

I disagreed with him. "No, it definitely has changed." He looked at me confused, scrunched his eyebrows together. "Charlie, you'll be expelled if I come back."

"What?!" Meeks looked at the two of us in pure shock. "You're joking."

Charlie didn't say a word. He just kept staring at me. He looked like he would cave in at any moment, break down. This boy got in trouble often, but I had never seen him actually getting in trouble before. It had to shake a person up, no matter how strong they seemed, so no matter how uncaring they seemed. He soon turned and left down the hall.

Meeks and I watched him as he went up the stairs, disappearing from view. "Did I upset him?" Meeks asked, genuinely confused.

"Maybe I did." I admitted, looking to the ground. "When Nolan mentioned he could be expelled, he looked crushed."

"Yeah, 'cause the only place he can find himself is with us." It was such a quick and seamless response. Meeks said it was like nothing, but it bothered me.

"Why?" I asked, now turning my head to look at Meeks.

"You know why parents send us here, right?" I didn't respond, so he answered his question. "They think they know what's best for us, and money talks." I still didn't really understand what he was getting at. "Charlie's parents have a vision of how he's gonna turn out, and he doesn't want to be that person because that's not him."

I looked back to the stairs. "Damn." I didn't know how to respond to that. Most of these boys lived that way? I guess it made sense. What teenage boy would want to go here and study their ass off every night for their future? What if their future was never to come? What kind of life is that?

"Carpe diem and all." Meeks said to end the silence. Soon enough, Charlie was running down the stairs, holding something in his hands. Once he made it to our level, he put the thing behind his back and came close to us.

He leaned in, whispering. "Y/n, you better still come to our meetings." He said. "I get it if you don't want to anymore, so, here, something to remember us by." He handed me the thing he held behind his back. It was a Welton crew neck sweater, and it was the sweetest gift I have ever been given.

I felt like crying again. I would never let myself break down in front of anyone, though. So, instead, I wrapped my arms around Dalton, burying my head in his shoulder. "Thank you."

Meeks couldn't even make fun of us right now because of how sentimental and shit this experience was. I felt Charlie hug me back and not some half-assed shit either. It was real and it was sad. I think he thought he wasn't ever gonna see me again. "You're one hell of a poet, l/n."

Again, we heard the office door open and quickly gathered ourselves. I distanced myself from Charlie, and Meeks quickly ducked behind the corner. Our parents saw us, and each took their kid. I knew I was going to be yelled at, especially for the sweater, but I didn't care.

I glanced to Charlie, who looked at me with a smile. "Romeo and Juliet." He said with a wink.

"Grow up, Dalton." I hissed back, knowing he was all jokes anyway. His smile grew larger, and I could tell that he was happy I could translate his behavior.

His mother and father began pushing him down the hall to his room, but he continued to look back at me. "It were a grief so brief to part with thee. Farewell." He said, quoting the famous play.

I noticed Mr. Keating stopping into the hall as Charlie was performing. He smiled at the boy, mostly confused, then looked down the hall to see me. I waved at him, he waved back, and was quickly told by my parents to "get my ass outside".