Goes On // Dead Poets Society

three.

Ridge Academy, NY
1/14/60

The one thing that was good about a co-ed boarding school was the sports. Normal boarding schools consisted of only soccer and rowing for boys and nothing for girls. At Ridge there was every sport you could imagine and Evelyn's was basketball. At least when it wasn't soccer season. Yet wasn't that the beauty of it all, that neither sports overlapped at any point in time and she could love them equally. It wasn't the sport particularly that was her favorite but the attractive boys who played them. Like most boarding schools the girls weren't allowed to participate but they were provided volleyball in the spring. Evelyn tried out once. Safe to say she never made the team but she did get her very first black eye.

So like every Friday Evelyn made her way from the dorms in search of Violet who was sure to be front row and cheering on Marty. Laurie was more than likely cheering from the sidelines until the Dean pulled her away and she begged him for a cheerleading squad. It was Evelyn's normal routine, almost mechanical movements at this point. So it should've been simple sitting with Nathan and Violet when she entered the gym but when her eyes fell on the dough eyed boy at the top of the stands she couldn't stop her feet from leading her in that direction.

"Hey new kid" she spoke with a grin, plopping into the seat beside him. His eyes left his book for a moment, spotting her in a Ridgeway crew neck and black skirt. He wished she wasn't so beautiful.

"I've told you it's just Charlie" he tells her, briefly closing his book and leaning back against the cool wall.

"Well just Charlie, what're you doing here? Shouldn't you be off in whatever cave you hide in?" Charlie freezes at the words he knows she doesn't understand. He quickly tries to push flashes of memories away as he looks at her.

"I've never seen a basketball game before" he admits and now it's shock covering Evelyn's features that she quickly wipes away.

"Can't really watch it if you're reading-" Evelyn pauses as her slim finger lightly lifts his book. "Byron's most popular works, you like poetry?"

"Apparently more than basketball" his quick response has Evelyn snorting in laughter and a brief smile crosses Charlie's face before rushing away. He had just smiled, he couldn't quite remember the last time.

"You're something else new kid" Evelyn says before leaning back against the wall and Charlie realizes quickly that she's getting comfortable. She was planning on staying. It was at that moment Nathan looks up to spot Evelyn had abandoned her normal spot next to him for his reserved roommate.

"Oh don't pout" Violets voice pulls him away from the unlikely pair and Nathan looks at her a bit shocked.

"I'm not pouting" he defends and Violet quickly rolls her eyes before looking at him.

"You're pouting and getting all grumpy that Evelyn is showing interest in the new kid. It isn't cool, she's free to do what she wants" Violet tells him and Nathan instantly feels guilty. It's because it's true, she wasn't technically his. He's just loved her so long it felt like it.

"But-"

"But nothing dude, so what if shes got the hots for your roommate? You're the one who won't tell her you like her" Violet tells him before Marty makes a basket and she's screaming and cheering. Nathan is amazed at the way she can juggle a conversation with him and support for her boyfriend.

"That's not fair, she's never given me a chance either" Nathan defends after the cheering has calmed down and Violet chuckles.

"Of course she hasn't. You don't let her see you like that, you still act like a thirteen year old boy around her. The same boy whose voice used to crack during public speaking in english and threw food in her hair at lunch" Violet tells him and Nathan glares almost instantly. He was so not thirteen anymore.