CHAPTER EIGHT!
( TO INDEED BE A GOD. )

   LATER THAT DAY you sat alone on the riverbank, watching the boys on the rowing team. Girls' rowing practice was tomorrow, which you were forced to participate in. You hated rowing, but since Mr. Nolan assigned extracurriculars at Welton, you never had much of a choice. You noticed Todd sitting alone as well, looking wistfully at the river with a book in hand. You decided to walk over to him and finally, try to have a real conversation with the boy.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" you asked him with a smile.

"Oh- no," he said quietly.

You took a seat and remained silent for a few minutes, you finally broke the awkward silence by pointing to his book cover.

"Hamlet?"

"Yeah, I uh- I got it from the library," Todd explained.

"I didn't know you were actually into poetry."

"Well, I read it sometimes. I just like the feeling of it."

"You should read something out loud at the next Dead Poets Society meeting. I know you're not really into the whole public speaking thing, and honestly, neither am I, but you should try it at least once. No one will judge you, I mean did you see Charlie's? You really can't get more adventurous than that," you said. His eyes were still trained on the boys rowing across the river.

"I don't want to read, I'm just not the type of person who does that."

"You could be. You don't have to though, I don't want to pressure you."

Todd finally turned towards you and smiled softly, "I just don't know what I'm gonna do on Monday," he said dismally.

"Oh! I forgot about that assignment. Just write something short and sweet. You can get it over with quickly."

Todd just shrugged and looked back at the rushing water somewhat sadly. You wished that you could see what was going on inside his head, he was so reserved. You wondered if he was born like that, or if some external force caused him to be so timid. You opened your book titled Wuthering Heights and sat wordlessly with Todd until rowing practice was over. You tried to focus on the words on the page, but every few sentences your eyes wandered up to a brunet boy in the boat. You finally gave in when you saw that Charlie was telling off Cameron for something stupid he must've said, and you couldn't help but smile at the scene. You prayed that Todd hadn't noticed you staring at Charlie. You really wished you could just forget about Charlie but for some reason, you kept looking back at him.

❦

The next day at rowing you had gotten all wet since the girl in front of you, Elizabeth Harris, apparently still didn't know how to paddle properly and kept splashing you. Despite her good grades, the girl couldn't play sports to save her life, and her utter carelessness towards the people around her didn't help your situation.

"C'mon Elizabeth, quit splashing me and keep the water in the river," you retorted.

"It's not my fault, that's just what happens when you row a boat on water," she hissed.

"Then why aren't you all wet, huh? Why am I the only one with a soaked sweater."

"Maybe you should try to dodge it," she said, getting annoyed.

"Holy shit, Elizabeth, are you actually dumb?" Now you were getting mad.

"Demerits, Ms. Y/L/N!" Your coach called from the riverbank as you began to dock your boat.

You heard Elizabeth giggle in front of you and you fought the urge to slap her. It was a miracle that you survived being her roommate last year.

After you finished practice, you began walking back to your dorm. Your hair and clothes had river water all over them and you really didn't feel like talking to anyone after Elizabeth put you in a bad mood. Really, just being in her presence made you aggravated. When you were her roommate, you sometimes had to leave your own room to get away from her. She was a prime example of someone who only cared about school and absolutely nothing else.

"Hey! Y/N, get over here!" You looked to your left to see Charlie and Knox sitting on a bench.

"Not right now, Charlie! I gotta go get changed," you called back.

"It'll just be a second!" he replied.

You sighed but made your way over to them anyway. You noticed that Knox looked a little uncomfortable.

"Knox just had a question about girls. I don't know what to tell him anymore because he said all my ideas were stupid. So maybe if you tell him then he'll finally shut up about this Chris girl. I mean seriously, Knox, it's all you talk about," Charlie smirked.

"Oh, c'mon Charlie! Like you're any better," Knox shot back.

Charlie's eyes flitted briefly to you before they fell to his lap, he was visibly uncomfortable. You looked at him in confusion. Charlie cleared his throat and motioned to Knox, prompting him to ask the question.

"What do girls like? As in, if I wanted to get a girl something, what would I get?"

You thought for a moment before coming up with a question of your own, "How did Charlie respond to that?"

"He said I should get her a- a,"

"A condom," Charlie laughed, "that way they both get a present."

You face palmed.

"You're unbelievable," you stated.

"You hear that? I'm unbelievable," Charlie said proudly.

"Knox, just figure out what she likes by talking to her. Everyone's different so I couldn't really tell ya," you shrugged sympathetically. You didn't really know what to say since you had never met Chris, although you almost felt like you had since Knox went on about her all the time.

"It's useless. How am I supposed to talk to her?" he groaned.

"I dunno, with your mouth?" Charlie offered sarcastically.

"Dude," Knox huffed.

"Well, now that I think about it, flowers are always a good bet. Just don't do something too cliche like roses. Maybe pair it with a poem? Only a monster would turn you away after that," you said. "Okay, I've gotta go. See you guys later."

"Wait, I meant to ask, why are you drenched?" Charlie called after you.

"Elizabeth can't paddle," you stated. Without any more explanation, you turned on your heel and started walking back to your dorm.

Your dorm room was empty when you returned, Violet was at the library for the morning. You quickly showered and got dressed for the second time that day before heading back outside. You had a book in hand and were planning on getting some quiet time to just read in peace. You started walking towards the bleachers, seeing as the soccer field wasn't in use, it was just open grass. You read for around hour before you were rudely interrupted by Keating and the boys' soccer team. They walked up towards the bleachers and you began packing up. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Charlie running up to you.

"Wait, Y/N," he said.

"Hi, Charlie," you greeted expectantly.

"Stay and watch," he said shortly before turning around to walk back over to Mr. Keating.

"Your sweater's on backwards," you called as he strode away. To this, he only turned around and winked with a smug smile on his face. You shook your head but didn't try to stop the giggle that escaped your lips.

Once everyone reached the bleachers, Mr. Keating turned to you. "Hello, Ms. Y/L/N. Would you care to do us a favour?"

"Uh, sure," you replied.

"Now, I want you all to come over here and take a slip of paper and line up single file," he said to the boys. "Mr. Meeks, time to inherit the Earth," he handed Meeks a slip, "Mr. Pitts, rise above your name." He then handed the notepad to you as you stepped off the bleachers. "I want you to hand these out to the boys, one apiece." You nodded and began giving out the papers.

Charlie quickly stepped forward, eager to be first in line like a second-grader. You chuckled and handed him one that you thought he would find fun. To indeed be a god.

After you handed out all of the papers, Mr. Keating asked you to place the soccer balls in front of the boys after someone kicked it. You obliged and Keating blew his whistle.

"You know what to do, Pitts," Keating shouted.

"Oh to struggle against great odds. To meet enemies undaunted," Pitts read nervously.

"Sounds to me like you're daunted. Say it again like you're undaunted," Keating remarked.

"Oh to struggle against great odds. To meet enemies undaunted," he said more vehemently.

"Now go on," Keating affirmed.

Pitts gave the ball a good kick and you placed a new ball in front of the line.

"Yes! Next," Keating cheered.

"To be a sailor of the world, bound for all ports," the next boy said. He kicked his ball and the line advanced.

"Next. Louder!"

"Oh, I live to be a ruler of life, not a slave."

Keating then began to walk away, you stood confused for a moment but then continued placing the balls.

"To mount the scaffolds. To advance to the muzzle of guns with perfect nonchalance," the next boy read. Suddenly classical music began to play loudly. You turned around to see a record player set up on the bleachers. Mr. Keating smiled broadly at you, a sort of twinkle in his eye. You turned back to the boys where Meeks was looking around, a little disorientated from the noise.

"Come on, Meeks! Listen to the music!" Keating shouted.

"To dance, clap hands, exalt, shout, skip, roll on, float on," Meeks stepped forwards and kicked the ball forcefully.

"Yes!" Mr. Keating cheered.

"Oh, to have life henceforth the poem of new joys," Richard Hopkins said, his voice devoid of any emotion. He half-heartedly kicked the ball, earning an eye roll from you.

"Oh! Boo!" Mr. Keating said, moving his attention to the boy next in line. "Come on, Charlie, let it fill your soul!"

Charlie held his hands up heroically as he yelled, "To indeed be a god!" He ran up and kicked the ball with full force, sending it forwards in beautiful arc. You grinned as he sent you yet another wink.

❪ ⋆࿐໋ 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒎. ❫

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

I wanted to take advantage of the fact that it was a weekend in the movie, and I absolutely love the soccer scene so I really couldn't leave it out. Thanks so much for reading. I swear something big will happen very soon. Have a great day/night!

- s.