I WANT TO BE WANTED | 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐎𝐍

𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆

By the time nightfall came, the plan that the group had constructed earlier in the day was ready to be put into action. "i don't have any black clothes, do you?" diana sighed in annoyance as she rummaged through her closet. blair was on the other side of the room, zipping up the extra cloak that neil had given to her. "here, i have an idea!" blair announced triumphantly, rushing over toward her bed where a black throw blanket laid. she picked it up, tying it around her best friend to form a cloak like hers.

   "now you're all set" the blonde smiled, turning around to walk over to her desk. "flashlight, books, chewing gum..." she muttered quietly to herself, repeating a checklist of essentials she needed to bring with her. "ready?"

   the pair moved swiftly throughout the girls dormitory, their hearts in their throats as the fear of getting caught only got more intense with each new step. "come on" blair whispered as they neared the exit. the burst of cool air that filled their lungs was like a reward as they made it out of the building. it was then that blair saw a pack of boys off in the field, waiting for her.

   "there you are! and.. diana?" neil smiled as the two met up with the group. "she insisted on coming when i told her i was sneaking out" blair smiled as she glanced over at her best friend. "i like poetry too! i'm a good addition to the group, trust me" she nodded with a grin as the pack set off into the woods. diana was never one to turn down a good time, despite how much of a goody two shoes she could be.

   the air was quiet except for the sound of leaves crunching beneath their feet. that was, until the feeling of hands crashed down on blair's shoulders and a loud voice rang through the forest. "arghh! i'm a dead poet!" charlie teased with his best old timer accent. the blonde shrieked before spinning around to smack his arm. "you nearly killed me, charlie!" she grabbed her chest.

   "sorry" the boy sheepishly apologized, giggling to himself as they finally made it to the cave. "here it is" neil announced, leading them down into the secluded area. blair cozied up in between charlie and diana as expected. the rest of the boys spread themselves out across the hole.

it hadn't even been ten minutes before the boys began trying to start a fire, and because the cave was so wet— it wasn't long before it filled up with smoke. "hey, hey, blair's got asthma– you idiots" charlie seethed, fanning the clouds away from the girl's face. blair's cheeks turned red at the gesture. a few boys noticed, but decided against teasing them.

   "it's fine, charlie. the smoke is going right out this opening" meeks waved his hand to motion it. "all right, all right. forget the fire. let's go gentlemen... and ladies" neil smiled, a cigarette hanging from his lips as he held a tight grasp on the book.

   "i hereby reconvene the dead poets society"

   the group in the cave cheered and the sound echoed loudly. nothing but the sounds of their screams and water droplets hitting the ground.  it was beautiful.

   "welton chapter. the meetings will be conducted by myself and the other new initiates now present. todd anderson, because he prefers not to read, will keep minutes of the meetings. i'll now read the traditional opening message by society member henry david thoreau... 'i went to the woods because i wanted to live deliberately. i wanted to leave deep and suck out all the marrow of life'" neil announced proudly.

   blair sat quietly, still trying to process the words. diana on the other hand, was admiring neil with large glossy eyes. "i'll second that" charlie snickered. it was hard for him to take things serious, to no one's surprise.

   "keating's marked a bunch of pages..." neil thought aloud, flipping through the many worn out pages as everyone watched. it didn't take long before charlie and the other boys decided they needed a break.

   "intermission! okay, lay it down right here" charlie conducted, patting the ground. "already? we've only been reading for ten minutes..." blair furrowed her eyebrows slightly. "i'm hungry! plus, i cant focus knowing we got all this stuff and haven't eaten it yet" charlie protested, watching as everyone emptied their snacks onto meek's coat. a few chocolate chip cookies, a few apples, an orange, raisins and a half eaten roll.

   "raisins?" neil scrunched up his face. "yuck" blair looked away. she hated them. knox took the box and began to shake them by her face. "cut it out! even the smell of them drives me nuts" the girl whined, plugging her nose. "don't be a baby..." charlie lightly shoved the girl before huffing in annoyance, "wait a minute– who gave us half a roll?"

   "i'm eating the other half" pitts smiled, a mouth full of bread. "come onnn" charlie and the rest of the boys laughed. "you want me to put it back?"

A BIT LATER

"...and the figure in the center of the puzzle, as she completed it, was herself. and with trembling hands, she placed the last four pieces and stared in horror at the face of a demented madman at the window. the last thing that old lady heard was the sound of breaking glass" neil relayed the scary story with an entertained grin. some of the boys sported faces of horror.

   "i don't like that one, neil" blair whined, covering her face with her mittened hands. charlie looked down at her with rosy cheeks. "well it's true" neil snickered. a few boys began to argue with him whether he was lying or not. no one seemed to notice in the darkness of the cave, but charlie moved his hand over to blair's. he grabbed it tightly, bringing it down in between them. he stroked the fuzzy pink material on the mitten, offering his comfort to her. it didn't take long for her heart rate to slow as a calm washed over her.

   "i've got one that's even better than that!" cameron smiled, no one really believed him. "ha!" charlie scoffed.

   "i do! okay, there's a young, married couple and they're driving through the forest at night on a long trip. and they run out of gas and there's a madman on the—

   "the thing with the hand—" charlie cut him off, earning a reaction from the group of boys. they all began to recall the story, mimicking the sounds of scraping on the roof of the married couple's car. "i love that story" cameron sighed. "i told you that one" charlie rightfully took his credit to which the redhead argued. "you did not! i got it from camp in sixth grade"

   "maybe we should get back to poetry" diana piped up. she wanted neil to know she was interested in his little charade. "alright. i've got one" charlie smiled, loosening his grip on blair's hand so he could grab the paper in his pocket. "oh god" knox snickered as everyone's eyes became glued to the dalton boy.

   one of the many things blair adored about charlie, was how he could captivate a room. almost everyone either knew or wanted to know charlie dalton. he really was perfect in just about every way, from his humor down to his dimples. blair found it impossible not to love every single thing about him.

   the boy began to open the ripped out magazine page, a photo of a playboy model unraveled for the whole group to see. blair rolled her eyes as she shared a look with diana. the boys began to hoot and holler. "teach me to love? go teach myself more wit. i, chief professor, am of it" he took a small breath, eyes lingering over the group before he finished.

   "the god of love, if such a thing there be. may learn to love from me" he pressed his lips together, folding the paper up again as claps erupted from the group. "did you write that, charlie?" neil asked in disbelief. "abraham crowley. okay, who's next!" he answered shortly.

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