I WANT TO BE WANTED | 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐎𝐍

𝒔𝒊𝒙

                    The group of students that occupied mr. keating's class all had subtle bags beneath their eyes from lack of sleep the previous night. mr. keating noticed this, but decided against an interrogation.

   "a man is not very tire, he is exhausted. and don't use very sad, use—" the man spoke proudly, awaiting an answer from his students. pointing to the back of the classroom he chose knox, "come on, mr. overstreet. you twerp" he squinted his eyes, emphasizing the insult.

   "morose?" knox answered, a bit unsure of himself. "exactly! morose. now, language was developed for one endeavor, and that is...? mr. anderson? come on! are you a man or an amoeba!" mr. keating smacked his hands together at the lack of participation. todd looked up nervously but ultimately said nothing, looking away so that neil could take on the question.

   "mr. perry?" mr. keating proposed. "uh, to communicate" the boy answered easily. "no! to woo women" charlie in particular liked this joke as a small giggle left his lips. "today we're going to be talking about william shakespeare" mr. keating announced, heavy groans and sighs filled the room.

   LATER

   after finishing some readings, mr. keating lept up onto his desk at the front of the room. "why do  i stand up here? anybody?" he asked triumphantly. "to feel taller?" charlie tried, earning a small chuckle from blair. despite his wrong answer, the sound of her laughter was enough to satisfy him. "no! thank you for playing mr. dalton" mr. keating tapped the bell on his desk with his foot. "i stand upon my desk to remind yourself that we must constantly look at things in a different way" he glanced around the room.

   "you see, the world looks very different from up here. you don't believe me? come see for yourself! come on" mr. keating urged, waving his hands up so everyone would feel inclined to follow his lead. naturally, charlie and neil were the first ones to get up. the rest of the class followed suit, making their way to the desk where they could stand on top of it for their shining moment. as blair looked down at the rest of the classroom, she felt a true sense of pride come over her. something about being higher made her feel good, looking down at the room she knew so well from an angle she hadn't seen it from before.

   suddenly the sound of an agitating voice filled the room,

   "come on baby, i'll catch ya!" malcom ritter, one of the more obnoxious boys in class outstretched his arms beneath blair. as he urged her to jump into his arms, a few of his other friends began to snicker. charlie's face twisted into disgust as he eyed the boy, standing from afar as he gathered his things to leave. he was just about to open his mouth to speak when blair cut him off. "thanks but no thanks" she rolled her eyes, hopping off the desk carefully.

   "atta girl! sit down malcom, you buffoon" mr. keating teased as the rest of the class finished their turn. the last to go was todd anderson who nearly fell and broke his neck. as the bell rang, mr. keating inched towards the back of the class. "now in addition to your essays, i'd like you to compose a poem of your own! an original work" the man beamed, not seeming to care much about the sudden chorus of groaning and complaining that filled the room.

"that's right! you have to deliver it aloud in front of the class on monday. bonne chance!" and with that, he was gone. blair already felt her heart sinking into her stomach as the thought of public speaking consumed her.

the girl quickly organized her belongings as alison came up to wait for her. they chit chatted about nonsense until the looming, insufferable presence from earlier presented itself in front of them. malcom ritter.

a boy built from his daddy's money and spoiled childhood, it was safe to say he had the biggest ego at welton academy. it didn't make him too popular with the student body, except for the desperate girls that wanted a chance with him. blair, on the contrary, was one of the few that wanted nothing to do with him.

   meanwhile, charlie bubbled with anger across the room as he watched malcom hang all over blair. his hands ever so subtly grazing the fabric of her sweater. he knew what he was doing, and charlie didn't like it. so he ignored everyone else in the room, taking strides towards the trio without a second thought.

   "get away from me, creep" blair spat, glaring daggers at malcom upon charlie's arrival. suddenly his mood lifted after hearing the disinterest in blair's tone.

   "hi ladies" the dalton boy smiled. "you don't mean that, right baby?" malcom cocked an eyebrow. it made blair's blood run cold. "ugh!" was all she could mutter before bolting out of the room, alison on her arm. charlie started to feel out of place as he was now left alone with the derelict, but that didn't suppress the anger that boiled inside of him as he glared daggers at malcom.

   "she doesn't wanna be bothered with a moron like you, dalton" the blonde seethed. "oh, and she wants to be bothered with you? i'm her best friend, so looks like you're wrong there..." charlie retaliated, folding his arms. he had never contemplated murder until that very moment.

   "and that's all you'll ever be" were malcom's last words before he disappeared from the bare classroom. every other student had flooded out by that point, leaving charlie in the room alone. the words stung like rubbing alcohol on a cut, but he tried to shake it off as he grabbed his things.

   while charlie headed off to rowing, blair off to golf... the two both had one thing on their mind. pure hatred for malcom ritter.

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hey guys happy new year!!! 🩷 sorry this chapter is short, the next one will be way longer i promise!!! thank you for reading <3 love youuu