CAMERON SCOFFED AND muttered something under his breath. "what was that? you wanna repeat it louder? stupid bootlicker." charlie had to hold the shorter girl down on his lap so she didn't attack him. lenny became distracted with her attack when she heard that pitts and meeks had finally got their radio to work. pitts has to quickly hide it in his lap when mr hager walked into the room.
he'd come to inform them that they had five minutes until lights out. they each packed up their things and made their way to their respective dorms. lenny went round the boys, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek and telling them she loved them.
she thought it important to tell them that she loved them, as you never knew what could happen overnight. she grabbed charlie's hand, pulling him back to their dorm. she sent him in, telling him she'd be back in a minute. she knocked on neil and todd's door, waiting for one of them to open it. neil opened it, smiling and letting her come in.
she took a seat on the end of todd's bed where he was laid with a book in his hand. "like it or not toddy, you're one of my boys now, and we have a tradition before we go to bed." she leaned over to him, kissing his cheek lightly and telling him she loved him. she waved to neil and sauntered our of the room and back to her own.
she settled in her bed, stuck in the middle of cameron and charlie. she reached her arm over to charlie's side, latching onto his fingers. holding his hand always made her fall asleep, and he kindly obliged to let her do as she pleased. they all fell into a peaceful slumber, preparing for the next day.
the next morning, lenny found herself seated next to charlie, listening intently to mr keating. lenny could feel a stare on her, she turned her head towards charlie, catching his eyes taking over her. he had his bottom lip between his teeth, and lenny waited on him looking back up to her, eyebrows raised.
he finally made eye contact, winking and letting out a small chuckle. she was used to charlie checking her out, he seemed to do it quite often, but she thought nothing of it. they were studying poetry, like usual. she enjoyed poetry thoroughly, specifically being enticed by the works of elizabeth barrett browning, she thought her poetry about her and her husband was genuine, and special.
lenny wished to find a love like that one day, one that had the same passion that theirs did. she wasn't too fussed for now, she had her boys and that was all she needed. she wondered if she'd ever have romantic feelings for any of the boys.
she could see herself falling in love with meeks, he was a complete gentleman, but the two of them were practically siblings. she could see herself with charlie one day, they'd once had a late night talk about getting married when they were older. they'd have a couple of kids and a perfect life. charlie once called her his soulmate, to which she kissed his cheek and curled up closer into him.
in mr keating's class, they were studying 'understanding poetry' by dr. j evans pritchard. mr keating seemed to think that his introduction was utter nonsense, making the comment of, "i mean, how can you describe poetry like american bandstand. i like byron, i give it a 42 but i cant dance to it."
the class erupted in laughter, lenny clutching her stomach when she heard charlie snort. he demanded that the page be torn out of the book. he demanded the whole introduction be ripped out. the whole class looked at him like he was mad. surely he couldn't let them rip pages out of their books?
charlie and lenny gave each other a devilish smile, tearing the first page out and holding it up to mr keating. the whole class followed suit, ripping the introduction out of their books. mr keating disappeared into a supply closet to fetch a bin for all the pages. mr mcallister walks into the room, his first instinct to scream at the class.
charlie stuffed a crumpled page into his mouth, lenny shoving hers into her shirt. mr keating emerged from the closet, the bin in his hand, surprised to see mr mcallister. he sent the older teacher on his way, collecting the paper from each student. lenny pulled the paper out of her bra, throwing it across the room and straight into the trash can. she cheered for herself, smiling at charlie who gave her a standing ovation.
mr keating motioned them to gather around him at the front of the classroom. lenny took a seat on a vacant desk, what she believed to be meeks'. charlie quickly moved over to her, standing in between her dangling legs and resting his hands on her thighs. she wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.
neil was crouched in front of them, charlie kicking him lightly to make him fall on his ass. "we don't read and write poetry because it's cute. we read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. and the human race is filled with passion. medicine, law, business, engineering, these are all noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life. but poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.
to quote from Whitman: "O me, o life of the questions of these recurring, of the endless train of the faithless, of cities filled with the foolish. what good amid these, o me, o life? answer: that you are here. That life exists, and identity. that the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. what will your verse be?" the whole class listened intently to keating's speech, enthralled in his way with words.
she knew that he'd be her favourite teacher.
☆彡
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