CHAPTER SEVEN!
( WRONG FLOOR. )

   "A MAN IS not very tired, he is exhausted. And don't use very sad, use-" Mr. Keating scanned the room before pointing to the back of the class. "Come on, Mr. Overstreet, you twerp," he called.

"Morose?" Knox replied uneasily.

"Exactly! Morose. Now, language was developed for one endeavor, and that is? Mr. Anderson? Come on! Are you a man or an amoeba?" Keating exclaimed.

Mr. Keating strode towards Todd's desk. Todd glanced up at him anxiously but didn't say a word. Mr. Keating waited a moment more before moving on. You found yourself sympathizing for Todd once again.

"Mr. Perry?"

"Uh, to communicate," Neil answered.

"No! To woo women," Keating winked as the class chuckled, "Or to woo men! We don't discriminate," he added. "Today we're going to be talking about William Shakespeare."

Most of the class sighed in disappointment.

"Oh, god!" One boy groaned. You, for one, were excited. Unlike most you quite enjoyed reading in your spare time, and Shakespeare was never a chore to you.

"I know. A lot of you looked forward to this about as much as you look forward to root canal work. We're gonna talk about Shakespeare as someone who writes something very interesting. Now, many of you have seen Shakespeare done very much like this:" Keating held out his right arm dramatically and began to speak in an exaggerated, nasally British accent. "'O Titus, bring your friend hither.'" You laughed along with the class at Mr. Keating's impersonation. "But if any of you have seen Mr. Marlon Brando, you know, Shakespeare can be different. 'Friend, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears,'" he continued, speaking in yet another comedic accent. "You can also imagine, maybe, John Wayne as Macbeth going, 'Well, is this a dagger I see before me?'"

The entire class was giggling by the end of his performance, even those who were initially quite resentful towards Shakespeare. Every class your respect towards Keating grew.

As Keating continued to teach, despite his engaging and entertaining lesson, your mind began to wander once again. You didn't even really notice yourself replaying the sequence of events that took place last night. You couldn't help but wonder if Charlie actually liked you or if you had merely imagined the warmth of his smile and embrace. You reminded yourself that he was just a flirt, and you shouldn't let yourself think of him as anything more than a playful friend. You tried to focus on Keating, on anything but Charlie. Your own eyes betrayed you when they glanced towards Charlie who was leaning back in his chair, twirling his pencil. His eyes began to turn towards you and you quickly snapped your head back to the front of the class, trying desperately to appear natural.

The rest of the day passed slowly, and the evening brought mountains of homework which kept you locked up in the library until nightfall. You and Violet sat in the back of the library, pouring over your homework. You wanted nothing more than to shut your eyes and fall asleep right there. You felt not very tired, but exhausted.

After you were kicked out of the library, you and Violet decided to wander the halls for a while so that by the time you were ready to go to your dorm, the hallways had already cleared up. Younger kids were so loud and hyper, even at night, it was a battle to get to your dorm room some days. You chatted mindlessly about random things. You had come to the point in your friendship where you could start up a conversation about nearly anything and still feel comfortable.

You kept walking until you realized that you had no idea where in the school you were.

"Uh, I think our dorms are this way," you said uncertainly, pointing to the right.

"Why don't we just retrace our steps and go back to the library," Violet suggested.

"Wait, I hear people over here," you walked forwards, it sounded like students. The voices were too cheerful to be staff. You prayed they were students.

"Alright, but we better get back soon or else we'll be stuck in detention tomorrow," Violet muttered.

You rounded a corner and were met by the familiar faces of Charlie and Cameron.

"Oh, good it's just you two," you smiled in relief. The relief quickly turned to nervousness once you realized that you didn't know how to act around Charlie anymore.

"What the hell are you doing on the boys' dorm floor? Shouldn't you be in your room by now?" Cameron exclaimed.

"Oh, c'mon Cameron, relax. The ladies just can't resist me, had to see me one last time," Charlie smirked.

"This is the boys floor?" You and Violet asked. This was just your luck.

"Yeah, where'd you think you were?" Charlie said.

"We didn't know, got kinda lost honestly," you admitted.

"Well lucky you," Charlie winked.

"You guys better get out of here quick, Hagar's gonna show up soon. I'm leaving, have fun getting demerits Charlie," Cameron huffed as he opened a door and hurried inside.

"Sweet dreams, Cameron," Charlie said sarcastically.

"So, if we're in the boys' dorms that means we're on the second floor, and that means that we just gotta take the stairs up one floor. Right?" you said.

"Yeah, I mean you could stay here," Charlie raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh my god, Charlie. Okay, goodnight. We're leaving," you chuckled and grabbed Violet's hand before turning towards the stairwell.

"Goodnight ladies, thanks for stopping by."

You turned back and shook your head at him while he just laughed.

❦

"Why do I stand up here? Anybody?" Keating asked while standing up on his desk.

"To feel taller," Charlie suggested, smirking.

"No!" Keating rang a bell on his desk with his foot. "Thank you for playing, Mr. Dalton. I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way."

Keating glanced around the classroom from atop the desk.

"You see, the world looks very different from up here. You don't believe me? Come see for yourself. Come on. Come on!"

You look around before standing up, among the first to march up to the desk. Charlie and Neil were the very first to step onto the desk. Charlie chuckled as he looks down at you from the desk.

"You look so short from up here, didn't think you could get any shorter," Charlie teased.

"Oh, shut it Dalton, you're the short one here," you responded, pushing him off the desk. You stepped up as Keating continued to speak.

"Just when you think you know something, you have to look at it in another way. Even though it may seem silly or wrong, you must try! Now, when you read, don't just consider what the author thinks. Consider what you think."

You looked out at the classroom, noticing small details that weren't visible from the ground. The tops of the bookshelves and smallness of the desks. You hopped down and returned to your sad, little desk.

"Students, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, 'Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.' Don't be resigned to that. Break out!"

Spaz and another boy seemed to only stand atop the desk for a millisecond before stepping off.

"Don't just walk off the edge like lemmings. Look around you." The school bell rang as the boys continued to climb onto the desk.

Keating began to gather up his stuff. The clock began to toll as Keating walked to the back of the class.

"There! There you go, Mr. Priske. Thank you! Yes! Dare to strike out and find new ground. Now, in addition to your essays, I would like you to compose a poem of your own, an original work."

The students groaned at this. Keating started flickering the lights off and on while chanting ominously.

"That's right! You have to deliver it aloud in front of the class on Monday. Bonne chance, gentlemen," he smiled.

Keating stepped out into the hall before quickly peeking back in once more. Todd was the last one to stand on the desk, he lingered for a moment, looking anxious as always.

"Mr. Anderson? Don't think that I don't know that this assignment scares the hell out of you, you mole."

Keating flicked the light off, leaving Todd to jump down in the darkness as your classmates laughed. You sighed, Todd just couldn't catch a break.

❪ ⋆࿐໋ 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒎. ❫

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

Sorry, this is later than I planned. I honestly don't really have an excuse except for lack of motivation. I feel like this chapter was a little dull, but I'm just trying to establish how your character feels while still sticking to the plot? It's literally 2:49 AM where I live, so I'm pretty exhausted (not very tired lol... ok i'm not funny). Anyway, hope you're all doing well. If you're reading this, I love you.

- s.