CHAPTER TWO!
( MR. DALTON. )

   LATER THAT DAY, you and Violet walked into the student lounge. With heavy book bags and heavy hearts, the two of you sat down at an empty table and began your trigonometry homework. There were plenty of students around, studying, playing darts, you even noticed Meeks and Pitts working on something that looked to be a sort of radio. Upon seeing Meeks you were reminded to ask him about Latin. You hadn't spoken to him since you got back to school.

"I'll be right back. I just gotta ask Meeks over there for some Latin notes, because if I'm being honest, I didn't write much down, and Meeks is the best in the class," you told Violet before approaching Meeks and Pitts.

"Hey, guys."

"Hi Y/N. Good to see you again," Pitts smiled warmly.

"Likewise," you smiled back.

"Oh, hey Y/N! What's up?" Meeks greeted, adjusting his glasses.

"Not that I'm just using you for your notes... but I was wondering if I could copy whatever notes you took in Latin, I wasn't paying attention," you said hopefully.

"Sure. By the way, who's that new girl you're sitting with?"

"That's Violet Moore, she's my new roommate. I think you'd like her, you should come say hi. You too, Pitts."

"All right," Meeks grabbed his Latin book and stood up. Pitts followed.

The three of you sat down at your table and Violet looked at you, confused. "Violet, this is Steven Meeks, and this is Gerard Pitts," you motioned to the boys.

"Hi, I'm Violet Moore. Nice to meet you." She held out her hand formally to each of them.

"Nice to meet you too. Just so you know, if you ever need any help with Latin, you can always ask me," Meeks offered.

"Yeah, he's a whiz at Latin," Pitts paused, "and Trig, and Chem, and English."

Violet laughed. "Well I'm alright at math and science, but I might need some help with Latin. I don't know how I'm supposed to memorize this by tomorrow," she looked down at her notes in exasperation.

"Here, I'll teach you the system." Meeks leaned over and began explaining, a soft blush dusted his cheeks.

You shared a knowing smirk with Pitts before turning back to your own homework.

Before you knew it, you were joined by Cameron, Neil, and Charlie.

"Hi, guys," Neil smiled, taking a seat.

"Wow look at you two, getting all the ladies," Charlie teased Meeks and Pitts as he took a seat beside you. "Hey Y/N," he smiled, nudging you playfully with his elbow.

"Hey, Mr. Dalton." You nudged back.

"Mr. Dalton? What are you, my teacher?"

"Okay fine. Hello, Charlie," you rolled your eyes in mock annoyance.

"Hi guys," Meeks said, but it seemed he wasn't interested in a conversation, as he turned back to Violet and continued explaining.

"So are you gonna introduce us?" Neil asked, looking to you.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry. Guys this is Violet Moore, my new roommate, she just moved here from New York. Violet this is Neil Perry, Richard Cameron, and this is Charlie Dalton." Each gave a smile and a nod. Meeks looked a little irritated, but stopped talking to her to allow others to meet her.

"New York huh? What's it like?" Neil inquired.

You all engaged in a lively conversation, it was nice to talk to people freely after a full day of a strict schedule.

Everyone's attention turned to the doorway when Knox entered the room and closed the door behind him, leaning up against it heavily.

"How was dinner?" Charlie inquired.

"Huh?" Knox had a faraway look in his eye.

"How was dinner?" Charlie repeated.

"Terrible. Awful," Knox groaned.

He pushed off the door and sat down at the table. He seemed to just now notice you and Violet, he smiled at both of you. It was pretty clear that his mind was preoccupied with something else though.

"Why? What happened?" Charlie asked.

"Tonight, I met the most beautiful girl in my entire life," Knox said dismally.

"Are you crazy? What's wrong with that?" Neil looked at Knox incredulously.

"She's practically engaged. To Chet Danburry."

"That guy could eat a football," Charlie said resentfully.

"Y'know Knox, that guy's known for moving on from girls quickly. I don't know this Chris girl but I do know that Chet probably won't be keeping her long," you said, trying to lift his spirits a little.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I do."

"It's just, she seems to really love him. The way she looks at him, it's like- it's like he makes the world spin or something," his head fell into his hands. Your attempts were obviously futile.

"That's too bad," Pitts sympathized.

"Too bad? It's worse than too bad Pitsie, it's a tragedy. A girl this beautiful in love with such a jerk," Knox cried.

"All the good ones go for jerks, you know that," Pitts replied.

"Ahh, forget her. Open your trig book and try and figure out problem five," Cameron said handing Knox a pencil.

"I can't just forget her Cameron. And I can't think about trig."

"Sure you can. You're off on a tangent- so you're halfway into trig already!" Meeks laughed loudly. Violet chuckled as well, while everyone else just looked at them.

"Oh Meeks, that was terrible!" Cameron said shaking his head.

Meeks grinned sheepishly. "I thought it was clever."

Knox brought the conversation back to his girl problems. "You really think I should forget her?"

"You have another choice?" Pitts said.

Knox dramatically dropped to his knees as if he were proposing. "Only you, Pittsie," he implored, with an exaggerated sigh. "There's only you!" Pitts pushed him away and Knox slumped back into his chair.

"Did you see her naked?" You heard Charlie ask Knox. Oh, Charlie, always gotta be that guy.

"Very funny Dalton," Knox muttered.

After a few more minutes of homework, Dr. Hager walked into the room. "Alright, five minutes. Let's go." Everyone began packing up their things and preparing to leave.

"Say, what happened to Todd?" Cameron said as he gathered his things.

"Wait, who's Todd?" You asked.

"Todd Anderson. He's new here, a little shy. To answer your question Cameron, he said he wanted to do history," Neil said.

As you parted ways with the guys, Charlie sent you a wink. "See ya later Y/N."

"See you, Mr. Dalton," you joked. He gave you an exaggerated sigh as you turned away.

❦

Back in your dorm, you noticed that Violet had a little more spring in her step.

"Found something to be happy about, huh?" you laughed.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"I mean Steven Meeks. Are you kidding? He totally likes you."

"No, I just met him today. He does not and I don't like him either," she said, struggling to fight back a smile.

"I call bullshit."

"Okay fine, I do kind of like him. But not like how Knox likes that girl."

"Well, Knox is a little excessive, don't you think?" You chuckled, remembering his melodramatic performance in the study lounge.

"I think it's charming, but at the same time, yes it is a little much," she agreed. "Well, what about you and that Dalton guy?"

"Oh my god, Charlie Dalton? No. Definitely not. That guy flirts with every girl he sees," you sighed.

"Really? Well, I'm glad to say that he did not flirt with me, or any other girl in the room for that matter."

"That's because Meeks was clearly enamoured with you, and who's to say he didn't flirt with someone before we came," you shot back.

"All I'm saying is that he doesn't seem so bad, and I think there is something there. I'm not blind Y/N, I know you feel at least some attraction to him. He's attracted to you too."

You shut off the light, ending the conversation. "Goodnight, Violet."

"Goodnight, Y/N. Think about it."

❪ ⋆࿐໋ 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒎. ❫

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

Hello everyone, I hope you're doing well. Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed and I will see you next chapter.
- s.