Pretty poetry

Neil (chapter 6)

The next day after classes I see a poster.  It's a sign up sheet for a play.
A midsummer nights dream

This is it. This is what I've needed to do all my life! I have to tell Todd!!
I run into our room to see him erase something in his notebook angrily. I kneel by his bed and shove the paper towards him

"I found it"

"Found what?" He asks, looking at the paper

"What I want to do right now. What's really, really inside of me!"

"A midsummer nights dream? What is that?"

"A play, dummy!" I laugh

Todd gets a little flustered
"We-well I know it's a play, but what's that have to do with you?"

"I'm going to audition! I'm going to act!!"

I get up and step up onto my bed with a huge grin on my face. Apparently my enthusiasm rubbed off on Todd because he's smiling too.

"Yes. Yes! I'm going to be an actor! Ever since I remember, I've wanted to try this!! I even tried to go to summer stock auditions last year, but my father wouldn't let me!"
I pull a blanket over me like a cape and walk off my bed and onto Todd's
"For the first time in my whole life, I know what I want to do! And I'm going to do it!!"
I grab papers and throw them all over the room

"CARPE DIEM!!"

Todd's happiness fades and he's back to his calm self
"Neil, neil, hold it, how are you going to audition if your father won't let you?"

I pause. A flaw in my plan that I haven't thought of. What shall I do?
"First I have to get the part then I deal with that." I say confidently

"Won't he kill you if you went to auditions without permission?"

"No, no no, he doesn't have to know about this. I won't let him find out!"

"That's impossible." Todd says flatly

"Bullshit! Nothings impossible"
I get off his bed and face him while standing next to the window.

He tries to convince me to just tell my father.  Gosh, I really like Todd don't get me wrong, but he's acting as if he's on my dad's side!

"Whose side are you on, Todd?!"

He stops what he was saying and his gaze falls onto his hands in his lap.

Shit what did I do?! I'm so mean why'd I yell at him!? Say something else you dimwit!!

"I haven't even gotten the part yet, can't I even enjoy the idea for a while?"

He looks up again and nods ever so slightly, then goes back to writing whatever he's writing.

What's wrong with me?? Why did I just snap at him, he did nothing wrong.

"... you're coming to the meeting?" I ask

"I don't know, maybe." Todd says, sounding uninterested in our new topic

"Nothing Mr Keating says means shit to you, does it, Todd?"

His eyes flash a slight hint of annoyance. "What's that supposed to mean-"

"You're in the club!! Being in the club means getting stirred up by things!! You're as stirred up as a cesspool!"

"What, do you want me out?" He asks frustratedly

"No! I want you in!!"
I really do want him in, I love it when he's there.
"Being in means you gotta do something, not just say something."
I take a step towards his bed.

"Listen Neil, I mean, I appreciate the concern but I'm not like you alright?"
He pauses and stutters before he actually says something again
"Y-you say things and people listen. I-I-I'm not like that."

"Don't you think you could be?"
I ask, leaning on the corner that sticks out of the wall. (Apparently sticking out corners are called quoins.-author)

"No- I don't know, but that's besides the point! The point is that there's nothing you can do about it, so butt out. I can take care of myself just fine. Alright?" Light red hits the tip of his ears.

Wow, He's really cute when he's flustered. I study his face before I speak again.

"No" I say

"... what do you mean,'no'?"
The red spreads to his face now.
I smile and repeat myself more confidently.
"No."

I wait for him to try and think of something to say, so while he's distracted with that I grab his papers off his lap
"Give me that!"

"Neil!"

I run around the room on and off beds and around stuff on the floor.

"Neil, Neil give that back!!"

I start reading his poem as he tries to grab for the paper.
"This is really poetry, Todd!!"

"Give it!" We both start laughing as he still tries to get the paper in his grasp.

"I'm being chased by Walt Whitman!!"

Cameron opens our door with an annoyed look on his face.
"What are you guys doing!? I'm trying to do my chemistry-"

I grab his paper too and he starts chasing us as we both start laughing harder at Cameron's attempts to grab his homework. Eventually the whole gang is in our room and chasing eachother.
We start throwing a random book around. All of us laughing at this point.

Eventually everything dies down and everyone leaves, but me and Todd are still laughing. He falls onto my bed and I collapse onto the bed as well, my head falling onto his lap. chuckling and all. We gradually stop laughing and then he just looks at me. Wonder in his eyes, as if in a daze.

"Yknow you have beautiful eyes." I say

He snaps back into reality and blushes profusely.

I sit up and chuckle at his expression of surprise.

"I-um-uh- tha-thank you"

I smile and move a strand of his hair behind his ears. He turns away and smiles awkwardly.
"Um- I- I have to get back to writing."

"Oh, yeah, ok."

I watch him walk over to his bed and then I say: "I.. uh.. I have to go get a book from the library."

"Oh, ok."
He waves as I walk out the door.

What's going on?! Why is my heart beating so fast?? It's definitely doesn't have anything to do with Todd, right?

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Hola! I sry I was gone so long, I hope you guys liked this chapter and thanks for reading!!