𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 | 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

I woke up some time later, cold. I opened my eyes to see Charlie asleep—our bodies still tangled together. I wanted to get under the covers to warm myself up, but I couldn't do that without waking him. I decided to wait it out for a moment.

I watched him. His breath was deep but light, and I could see every little detail in his face. That sadness was temporarily gone and replaced with a gentleness that only sleep could buy you. I wondered what he was dreaming about... if he was dreaming at all.

I heard a knock on the door and sat up. I wondered if I should go get it. I didn't want to get caught here with Charlie. Maybe they'd make an exception just this once? The knocking grew a little louder, waking Charlie.

"Mmm." He sighed as he sat up as well, glancing over to me. He watched me for a moment, then leaned over and kissed my cheek.

"Charlie, open up." The knocking got a bit louder. It sounded to be Knox.

Charlie quickly got up and opened the door. "What?" His face fell when he saw Knox, and so did mine. All these boys looked like messes. "Oh, yeah, the meeting. Sorry. I fell asleep."

"Come on." Knox grabbed Charlie's shoulder, pulling him out of the room. I wasn't sure if I should stay or follow, so I looked out of the dorm as they walked down the hall. Charlie glanced back at me, motioning for me to follow them.

We went into a room, and all the boys were there except for Cameron. Charlie sat down, but I stood at the doorway awkwardly. "Hey guys." I said, rubbing my eyes of tiredness. Charlie kept his eye on me.

"C'mere doll." He said, wanting me to be a part of the group. The boys all chuckled when he called me that. I simply rolled my eyes, trying to ignore it as I moved to be with them. "You're a part of this group, too." I leaned against the wall.

We were waiting for what felt like hours, but the truth was, it had only been a few minutes. Charlie was getting impatient. "You told him about this meeting?" He asked, looking to Pitts.

"Twice." He responded.

A look of defeat crossed Dalton's face, and he let out a sigh. "That's it, guys. We're all fried."

Before anyone could speak up, Pitts spoke. "How do you mean?"

Charlie looked at him as if he said the most surprising thing. "Cameron's a fink. He's in Nolan's office right now, finking!"

Pitts looked confused, although everyone else knew what Charlie meant. I couldn't blame Pittsie. It had been a hard couple of hours. "About what?"

"The club, Pittsie!" Charlie looked as if he was going to pull his hair out. "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 for things like this. They need a scapegoat."

The door opened, and all the boys, except Charlie, put out their cigarettes. Charlie stood up when he saw Cameron. "What's going on, guys?"

I could feel Charlie's anger seething. "You finked, didn't you, Cameron?" Charlie put out his cigarette, tossing it to the side. I knew he was going to do something idiotic.

"Finked?" Cameron watched Charlie in shock, also predicting what was to come. "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 hissed back.

"Look, in case you haven't heard, Dalton, there's something called an honor code at this school, alright? If a teacher asks you a question, you tell the truth or you're expelled."

Charlie sneered. "You little -" He went to lunge at him, but Meeks and Knox held him back.

"Charlie!" Meeks looked to him in shock. I, for one, was trying to hide my smile. Cameron did deserve it. I realized then that if Dalton hit him, he would be expelled.

"Don't do anything stupid." I warned him. Charlie glanced back at me without a word.

He looked at Cameron, feeling betrayed. "He's a rat! He's in it up to his eyes, so he rattled to save himself!"

Knox intervened, remaining calm with the boy who looked like he was about to explode. "Don't touch him, Charlie. You do, and you're out." No matter what anyone would say, Charlie couldn't help himself.

Charlie looked at Knox. "I'm out anyway."

"You don't know that, not yet." Knox replied, thinking he had ahold of Charlie. I didn't want to interrupt them. Charlie knew what would happen if he did anything. It was his decision. Honestly, I figured he was going to get expelled anyway, too. After all, he was walking the thin line between staying and going.

"He's right there, Charlie." Cameron began, and I let out a small sigh. He was begging to get hit, wasn't he? "And if you guys are smart, you guys will do exactly what I did and cooperate. They're not after us! We're the victims! Us and Neil." My heart dropped when he brought Neil into this.

"What's that mean? Who are they after?" I touched Charlie's arm, seeing how he was getting fired up again. He moved his arm away from me, so I took the hint and moved back. Cameron was purposely being an asshole.

"Why, Mr. Keating, of course! The "Captain" himself. I mean, you guys really didn't think he could avoid responsibility, did you?"

"Mr. Keating responsible for Neil? Is that what they're saying?" Charlie asked. I looked over to Todd. He looked lost in his mind, maybe wanting to say something?

"Well, who else do you think dumb ass?" Cameron answered, making my blood boil.

"Don't call him that." I said, but Cameron ignored me.

"The administration? Mr. Perry? Mr. Keating put us up to all this crap, didn't he? If it wasn't for Mr. Keating, Neil would be cozied up in his room right now, studying his chemistry and dreaming of being a doctor." God, was he a younger Mr. Perry?

Todd stood up unexpectedly. "That is not true, Cameron. You know that." His voice was shaking, and I felt every ounce of his pain. "He didn't put us up to anything. Neil loved acting."

I saw Charlie look to Todd, feeling sorry for him. I could sense he had some sort innate feeling to protect him—like he was his own brother. Or maybe that is what Neil wanted. Charlie would've done anything for Neil.

"Believe what you want. But I say; let Keating fry." I glanced to Charlie, wondering if I should hold him back or not. I could sense he was going to take the plunge. "I mean, why ruin our lives?" I decided to let Charlie heal.

Charlie lunged forward, punching Cameron in the face. Cameron fell backward, and I turned around so that he wouldn't see me smiling. Justice felt good. I heard a scuffle and turned to see Knox and Meeks pulling Charlie back. It looked like he wanted to take all his anger out on Cameron.

"You just signed your expulsion papers, Nuwanda." Cameron mocked as he stood back up, wiping the blood off of his face. "And if the rest of you are smart," Cameron looked to me, knowing how Charlie and I were sort of a thing. "You'll do exactly what I did." He looked to the other boys as if they didn't hate his guts. "They know everything, anyway. You can't save Keating, but you can save yourselves." He looked to me once again. "Oh, and l/n, they know you're in on it too." And on that note, Cameron left the room.

"Fuck you Cameron!" I yelled as the door closed behind him. I wanted to hit him, too, in all honesty. I ran to the door, but Charlie grabbed my arm, holding me back.

"I know I'm inspiring and all, but I don't want you getting in trouble with your school, y/n." Charlie said as I stood at the doorway, trying my best not to cry.