𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 | 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗

The air started to become cooler, and most of the leaves had fallen off the trees. Having said that, we were growing more comfortable in our classes. Todd and I had bonded over commas, grammar, and spelling. We spent our time editing eachothers papers. Getting to know one another a way only authors could. He was a splendid writer, painting visions in my head that spiraled on for hours. It was magnetic and interesting. No wonder Keating saw so much potential in him.

He would spend forever talking about his past instructor and Neil. He told me how he mumbled Neil's lines at the play, like he needed them. It was saddening, a wicked thing, death. It was permanent, and that was the hardest part. He had to leave Neil in 1959 while he was moving forward in the 60s.

Charlie, on the other hand, seemed to want to forget all of '59. Appearing on and off in our study sessions, and when he was there, he would drift off to another plane of existence. He didn't change his major either, and I could sense that he was drowning in numbers and formulas. A sea so sharp with perfect answers and analytical gods. He had no life boat, no enjoyment. It sucked the life right out of him. I tried to convince him to do what he wanted, not his parents, but he would simply reply with a sickening; "You don't understand."

I was sitting on my bed, Todd at my desk. We were both writing down out thoughts, trying to make a non fictional paragraph sound enticing and fun. It wasn't, but sometimes it could be. Todd was a wizard at writing papers that would never bore the reader. I wanted his tips and tricks, but he would laugh, embarrassed, not thinking it was anything special. It was special.

Rhonda walked in, her eyes softening when she saw me. "Hey, sweetheart." She grinned, flailing her fingers in a sort of hello. Her bracelets jingled, causing Todd to peer up from my desk. Rhonda took her sunglasses off, tossing them onto the bed. "All you do is write, write, write."

"Yeah." I said, getting back to my work. "English majors tend to do that a lot."

"Ha, ha." She leaned back on her bed, staring at the ceiling in thought. Quickly, she became bored. Leaning over onto her side, she spoke up again. "Let's go do something. What's good about college if we don't go out and have fun?"

Todd straightened in his seat, causing the chair to creak under his shifting weight. I noticed Rhonda look over to him, a curious smile on his face. "Rhonda.." I warned her, watching her carefully as if she were dog about to chase after the pet cat. She glanced back at me, winking.

"Todd, was it?" She asked. Todd looked over at her, sending an awkward smile her way.

"Rhonda," I tried to interrupt, knowing how uncomfortable the poor boy was going to be.

"You don't speak much, do ya, sugar?" She continued, practically gliding from her bed over to my desk. She laid an arm on his shoulder, and I watched him stiffen even more.

"Rhonda, cut it out." I stood up too, but I was far more abrupt about it. If she were the snake, I would be the lion. "Leave him be. I know he doesn't like that shit."

She looked at me, keeping her gaze still and unpredictable. "Hm," She then looked back to Todd, running a hand through his hair. "He never told me that."

"I-I.." Todd stammered, not wanting to touch Rhonda. He scooted more into the desk, causing his knees to touch the wall. I could hear Rhonda giggle, now leaning against her elbow on the desk. Her exotic perfume was intoxicating. How could she not be desired?

"He doesn't like that." Todd never spoke up for himself, so I felt the need to. "So quit it. We get it. You're a seductive goddess. You don't need to prove that to Todd."

"Oh?" A smile crept onto her face, and she focused in on me. "You think I'm a seductive goddess?" She pulled her hair out of her messy bun. Running her hands through the platnium blonde strands, she took two pieces and placed them perfectly, framing her face.