CHAPTER ELEVEN!
( POETRUSIC. )

   THE FOLLOWING SATURDAY the dead poets met yet again. You made your way down through the mouth of the cave and took a seat near Knox. He was looking melancholy today. The rest of the boys were laughing as they lit their pipes.

"Attaboy, Pittsie, inhale deeply," Charlie said.

"How're you doing Knox?" you asked, nudging him lightly as the boys continued to talk about pipes. "It's Chris isn't it?"

He merely looked at you with downcast eyes and nodded. You decided not to prod and just patted him on the shoulder.

"Well, if you wanna talk girls, you've got me," you offered.

"Thanks, Y/N."

Charlie's attention was now turned to you and Knox.

"Come on, guys. Join in," he urged. You smiled at Knox one last time before moving to sit next to Charlie. Charlie put his arm over your shoulder and handed you his pipe. You took a drag before looking back to Knox. The boys all began urging him to speak up.

"We're here to help, man," Cameron reminded him.

"Yeah, we're from the government," Meeks added.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked. You turned around and gave him a pointed look, implying he already knew. "Oh," he nodded.

"It's Chris!" Pitts shouted, shoving a playboy centrefold in Knox's face. "Here's a picture of Chris for you!" The boys all began laughing as they teased.

"Smoke that! Put that in your pipe and smoke it," Meeks laughed.

"That's not funny!" Knox said. He clearly did not find their high very amusing.

"Knock it off!" Charlie finally said, shutting them up. "Smoke your pipes."

Just then Neil appeared at the mouth of the cave, he was carrying a beat up light post with him, which you thought was rather unusual.

"Neil!" Meeks greeted.

"Friends, scholars, Welton men and women," he grinned.

"What's that you've got in your hand?" you asked.

"Duh, it's a lamp," Pitts retorted.

"Oh shut up, Pitts," Charlie defended.

"Oh, right, gotta protect your girlfriend," he teased.

"Shut up, Pitts," Charlie repeated.

"Guys!" Neil interjected as he pulled the shade off of the lamp to reveal the shape of a man. Everyone shifted their attention to him as they awaited an explanation.

"This is no lamp, this is the god of the cave," he smiled excitedly.

Suddenly the loud blasting of Charlie's saxophone split the air. "What do you say we start this meeting?" he asked, winking at you.

"Y-Yeah, just- I need a light. I just gotta-"

"Got my earplugs?"

Charlie then stood up and cleared his throat, stepping into the centre of the circle of people. "Ladies and gentlemen, 'Poetrusic' by Charles Dalton." He began playing deafening erratic notes of the saxophone, causing you to cringe.

"Oh, no," Meeks groaned.

"Laughing, crying, tumbling, mumbling. Gotta do more. Gotta be more," Charlie said, before continuing to play his saxophone terribly.

"Chaos screaming, chaos dreaming. Gotta do more. Gotta be more!" he exclaimed. This time he played a beautiful, melodic tune. He kneeled down in front of you so that he was at eye level as he finished playing the sax.

"Wow!" you breathed. "Why didn't you tell me you could play the sax?"

He just shrugged with a slight smile on his face. He winked at you before taking a seat once again.

"That was nice. That was great. Where did you learn to play like that?" Pitts asked.

"My parents made me take the clarinet for years," Charlie explained.

"I love the clarinet!" Cameron chimed.

"Well, of course you do," you laughed.

"I hated it!" Charlie said, pointing at Cameron. "The saxophone. The saxophone is more sonorous," he mused.

"Ooh."

"Vocabulary," Meeks commented.

Suddenly Knox jumped up from where he had been silently sitting. "I can't take it anymore," he said, breathing heavily. "If I don't have Chris, I'm gonna kill myself."

"Knoxious, you've gotta calm down," Charlie stated.

"No, Charlie. That's just my problem. I've been calm all my life. I'm gonna do something about that." With that he started heading out of the mouth of the cave.

"Where are you going?" Neil called after him.

"I'm gonna call her," he replied, laughing menacingly. Everyone shot up to their feet and followed after him, excited to see how the scene would play out. Charlie began playing erratic noises on his saxophone again as you chased after Knox.

❦

Knox dialed the number, but after a few seconds he abruptly hung up.

"What was that?" you asked,

"She's gonna hate me. The Danburrys will hate me. My parents will kill me." You all looked at him with encouraging expressions, silently urging him to call again. "All right, goddamn it. You're right. Carpe diem Even if it kills me." He put another coin into the slot and dialled her number for a second time. "Hello, Chris?" Knox said, "Hi, this is Knox Overstreet." Charlie stepped away from you to stand next to the Knox. "She's glad I called," Knox whispered excitedly, covering the microphone.

"Would I like to come to a party?" Knox repeated for the rest of you to hear.

"Yes. Say yes," Charlie mouthed, nodding quickly. You grinned and exchanged excited glances with Violet.

"Well, sure," Knox agreed, rather nervously. "Okay, great. I-I'll be there, Chris. Friday night at the Danburrys'. O-Okay, thank you. Thank you, I'll see you. Bye," he hung up the phone and immediately leaned back against the wall. He threw his head back and let out a loud, barbaric yawp for all to hear. You laughed and went up to pat him on the shoulder. "Can you believe it? She was gonna call me. She invited me to a party with her!" Knox exclaimed.

"At Chet Danburry's house," Charlie reminded him.

"Yeah," Knox nodded.

"Well?"

"So."

"So you don't really think she means you're going with her," Charlie clarified.

Knox rolled his eyes after processing Charlie's remark for a second. "Well, of course not, Charlie, but that's not the point. That's not the point at all!"

"What is the point?" Charlie asked. Knox waited for a moment, thinking it over. Charlie stared at him, waiting for a direct answer.

"The point, Charlie, is uh-"

"Yeah?"

"That she was thinking about me," Knox smiled. I've only met her once, and already she's thinking about me. Damn it. It's gonna happen, guys. I feel it. She is going to be mine," he declared, stepping through the small crowd that you had formed around him. He threw his scarf over his shoulder and began to walk up the stairs. "Carpe. Carpe!" he bellowed gruffly.

You smiled broadly at Charlie who raised his eyebrows in surprise at Knox's new attitude.

"Well, that was quite something," you laughed, hearing Knox still singing in the distance. You all stayed for a moment before heading off to do your own things.

"Wait, Y/N," Charlie called.

"Yeah?"

"What do you say about getting coffee or something tomorrow?" he asked, striding up to you.

"Are we even allowed to do that? I didn't know we could go into town," you pondered, cocking a brow.

"Well... you see Y/N, I like to live life on the edge. We could just sneak out, nobody will notice," he said. You looked around to see if any teachers could hear you.

"Alright. Fine, but drop the bad boy act," you grinned. You stepped away and began to walk back to your dorm, unable to hide the smile on your face.

"It's not an act!" he said, chasing you up the stairs.

"Oh, alright. By the way, you should play me something on your sax sometime. You're great at it." Your compliment caused him to smile, he took off his beret and placed on your head.

"Can I play you something now?"

"Sure!"

You followed him back down the stairs and out the door to find a secluded area where he could play in peace.

❪ ⋆࿐໋ 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒎. ❫

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

Thank you for reading!! Sorry this was such a short chapter. Hope everyone's doing okay, and if you liked this chapter I would love it if you voted.

- s.