The Sweater Weather Society - s.meeks

Alice's Story - at Welton Academy
When I first set foot in Welton Academy's echoing halls, I wasn't looking for adventure, friendship, or love. I was just the new art instructor-the exception in a sea of tradition-bound boys-sent here under the watchful eye of my older brother, John Keating. He worried the academy would stifle me; I worried it already had.

But somewhere between the dusty library shelves, late-night talks under dim lamplight, and the whispers of "carpe diem" echoing in the cave, I met him-Steven Meeks. Not in the sweeping, storybook way, but in the quiet moments that became everything: his hand brushing mine over a chessboard, his head leaning toward me as he read aloud, his laugh tucked into my chest like a secret.

I came to Welton to teach. Instead, I learned what it meant to be seen, to be known-and to love without reservation.