I WANT TO BE WANTED | 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐎𝐍

𝒕𝒘𝒐

              Upon returning to her own dorm, blair was pleased to be met with the face of one of her closest friends, diana knight. the girl sat on her bed reading a tiger beat magazine as blair entered the room with a grin. "hard at work, huh?" the blonde teased, sitting next to diana to see what she was looking at. "very hard at work, thanks for noticing!" the girl laughed.

"rock hudson, ugh what a dreamboat. doris day is the luckiest girl in the world" blair sighed in happiness as she eyed the glossy photo of the man. "i know, right? he's nothing compared to neil though" diana giggled, placing a hand over her heart at the thought of the boy.

diana had always had a crush on neil, but then again... who wouldn't? maybe everyone except for blair, but only considering someone else already held a lock on her heart. neil was everything a girl could want. he was charming, kind hearted, passionate... he got the most out of life and made sure everyone around him did the same. he was truly remarkable.

"maybe this will be the year you finally confess, hm?" blair eyed her friend with a playful smile. "rich for you to say! says the girl who's been in love with charlie dalton for years" diana rolled her eyes playfully. while of course she was right, the thought of ever confessing her love to charlie made blair sick to her stomach. "hey! that's different. we're best friends. you and neil can barely even hold a three minute conversation" blair crossed her arms, a sense of righteousness coming over her. "whatever" was all diana could muster as even she knew blair was right.

after about a half hour of rushed unpacking, the two girls were headed off for their long list of morning classes. each one was more boring than the last, her friends making blair's classes the only thing that appeared to be worthwhile.

   as the day dragged on, eventually the clock struck ten– meaning it was time for english. blair despised the subject, but she wouldn't let that ruin her attempt at trying to enjoy the last english class she would ever take in high school. as she entered the room, her eyes fell on charlie who sat in the corner of the room. the empty seat beside him was calling her name as she sat down, charlie's gaze became fixed on her.

   "good choice" he smiled, his eyes unintentionally trailing from her face down to her stocking covered legs. "i refuse to sit anywhere else" she smiled happily, taking her books out of her bag quickly before mr. keating could make it in the room. blair didn't know anything about the man, much like everyone else... but in a way it intrigued her. nothing interesting ever happened at welton, so something as small as a new teacher was enough to excite the girl.

blair and charlie were in the middle of a conversation about what they had for breakfast that morning when whistling caught the attention of every pupil within the classroom. mr. keating finally presented himself, walking to the tune of his own song as he headed straight towards the door.

   everyone watched in silence and confusion as he left the classroom without a word. blair looked to neil for an answer, he usually had one– yet this time he seemed just as confused as the rest of them. "well? come on!" mr. keating peered his head in the doorway to gain a look at his seated class. all of them were hesitant to get up until blair stood, books clutched in hand as she made her way out the door. charlie watched her with an amused grin before he realized it would be a good idea to follow her.

   mr. keating led them into a room that no one ever really went into. it was decorated with lit up trophy cases and flags reading the four pillars of welton academy: TRADITION. DISICPLINE. HONOR. EXCELLENCE. blair looked around to observe, she wondered if she had ever been in the room for longer than a minute before. as the rest of the boys and girls shuffled in, blair watched the man in front of her– awaiting his first words.

   "oh captain, my captain. who knows where that comes from?" the man looked around the room curiously. no one knew. "not a clue" he stated. "it's from a poem by walt whitman, about mr. abraham lincoln. now in this class you can either call me mr. keating... or if you're slightly more daring: oh captain, my captain" the man smiled wildly.

   soft laughter erupted from the group, blair watched with an enticed expression on her face. the man was already showcasing how different he was than the rest of their teachers at welton.

   "now let me dispel a few rumors so they don't fester into facts. yes, i too attended hellton– and survived!" he announced, more laughter sounded from the room. "and no, at that time i was not the mental giant you see before you. i was the intellectual equivalent of a ninety eight pound weakling. i would go to the beach and people would kick copies of byron in my face" he relayed, eyes scanning each and every face in the room.

   "now, mr. pitts. that's a rather unfortunate name. mr. pitts, where are you?" mr. keating questioned upon reading the name off of a paper in his hand. gerard pitts, who blair's eyes immediately fell on raised his hand hesitantly. "mr. pitts, would you open your hymnal to page 542 and read the first stanza of the poem you find there" the man instructed.

   blair's eyes found charlie ever so often, just as his found her. they wanted to know what the other was thinking about the amusing teacher that stood in front of them, considering it was rare for any amount of fun to be had at welton.

   after gerard finished reading the poem, mr. keating repeated a line. "gather ye rosebuds while ye may. the latin term for that sentiment is carpe diem. now who knows what means?" he asked. blair felt her hand shoot up into the air, almost as if she didn't even mean to do so. "carpe diem. that's seize the day" she smiled proudly. the phrase 'seize the day' always seemed to mean a lot to her. she first heard it from her father when she was younger.

   "very good, miss..." his eyes searched her face for a name. "cagney" she nodded. a smile appeared on mr. keating's face. "gather ye rosebuds while ye may. why does the writer use these lines?" silence fell upon the classroom once more. that was until charlie snickered aloud, "because he's in a hurry"

   "no, ding!" mr. keating slammed his hand down on an imaginary buzzer causing the group to laugh. "it's because we are food for worms, ladies and gentlemen. because, believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold and die" the man stated. things had suddenly taken a turn as the tension within the room fell uncomfortable.

   suddenly mr. keating turned around to face the trophy cases. "now, i would like you to step forward over here and peruse some of the faces from the past. you've walked past them many times. i don't think you've really looked at them" mr. keating waved the students forward, to which they hesitantly obeyed. blair, of course was the first one to step ahead expectedly.

   she walked right up to the glass, right in front of a case with photographs and game used footballs. the rest followed suit, charlie made sure to swiftly position himself next to her.

    "theyre not that different from you, are they? same haircuts, full of hormones just like you. invincible, just like you feel. the world is their oyster and they believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you. their eyes are full of hope, just like you. did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? because you see, these kids are now fertilizing daffodils. but if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. go on, lean in"

   once mr. keating had finished his rant, blair felt goosebumps prick at her arms. it didn't take a lot for her to truly understand what mr. keating was trying to tell them, she took his words straight to her heart. blair's gaze was stuck on the image of a young blonde girl just like her, sitting in the front row of a welton girl's tennis team photo. it was hard to realize that someday, a new generation of kids would be standing in their spots– looking at their photos. blair began to wonder if she would ever make anything meaningful of her life.

   mr. keating hovered over blair's shoulder as whispers of "carpe diem. sieze the day" left his lips. the girl smiled to herself as the phrase began to circulate in her mind again.

   "make your lives, extraordinary"

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