𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 || ( charlie dalton )

vii. of girlhood and soccer wins

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙

DRESS
(( — DEAD POETS SOCIETY — ))

—chapter vii: of girlhood and soccer wins

"TO CHRIS", knox read, standing in front of his classmates. "i see a sweetness in her smile. blight light shines from her eyes. but life is complete; contentment is mine, just knowing that.. just knowing that she's alive" knox scrunched up the paper in frustration "sorry captain, it's stupid"

"no, no" keating exclaimed "it's not stupid. it's a good effort. it touched on one of the major themes: love"

knox sat down in his desk and charlie clapped his back. loraine leaned forward "i liked your poem, knox" she whispered and he smiled gratefully

"mr hopkins, you were laughing. you're up" keating said

hopkins walked to the front of the class. "the cat sat on the mat" he read and loraine rolled her eyes.

"congratulations mr hopkins" keating voiced "you have the first poem to ever have a negative score on the pritchard scale" charlie, knox and loraine laughed at that

"i don't mind that your poem had a simple theme. sometimes the most beautiful poetry can be about simple things, like a cat, or a flower, or rain. you see poetry can come from anything with the stuff of revelation in it. just don't let your poems be ordinary. now, who's next. ms nolan?" keating asked and loraine looked up at the calling of her name.

she nodded softly and got up from her seat. "you'll do great" charlie whispered and loraine smiled at the boy, before she walked to the front of the class.

"being a girl" she read from her paper. "my hair is long, my dress is pretty. don't you dare and act so witty. be a good girl, follow the rules and you can wear your mother's jewels" she paused

charlie adjusted himself in his seat, locking eyes with her across the room.

"keep all your thoughts inside your head, no one cares what you would've said. there's nothing you may offer us, besides your beauty, well of course. you will lead a quiet life, be a mother, cleaner, wife. you will die as nothing more, but isn't that worth longing for?" she took a deep breath, noticing that her classmates had grown silent at the sudden shift in tone.

"there is no choice for me to make, there isn't more in life to take. if mother isn't what i see, how can i build a life for me? a woman can't be on her own, it's what we learn upon to frown. words and ideas can change the world, but yours, not mine, i'm just a girl" she finished and the room was so quiet, you could've heard a pin drop.

keating rose from his seat and slowly applauded the girl. his mouth was opened widely, astonishment flooding his features. "wow, ms nolan" he said "what a great work" his hand moved quickly across his cheek, getting rid of the single tear.

loraine smiled and went back to her seat. charlie looked at her. "that was amazing, ray" he said and she could hear his voice break a little "you're amazing"

"thank you" she smiled

"ms nolan chose a rather complicated theme. even today women don't hold the same position in our society as men do. i'm proud that ms nolan could put her feelings into such a great work, thank you loraine"

loraine nodded at the teacher.

"what about you, mr anderson?" keating kneeled in front of the boys' desk "i see you sitting there in agony, and i give it to you, following ms nolan's work won't be easy, but i'm sure you'll manage"