CHAPTER EIGHT!
( TO INDEED BE A GOD. )

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

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

"Oh- no," he said quietly.

Joan took a seat and remained silent for a few minutes, she 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. Neil told me to read this one."

"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," Joan said. Todd's 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 her 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. Joan wished that she could see what was going on inside his head, he was so reserved. She wondered if he was born like that, or if some external force caused him to be so timid. Joan flipped open her sketchbook and continued drawing the scene in front of her as she sat wordlessly with Todd until rowing practice was over. She tried to focus on the movement of the lines, but found herself coming back to the face of Charlie. She kept looking up at him, trying to perfect the shape of his eyes and the curve of his jaw. Joan let herself stare when she saw that Charlie was telling off Cameron for something stupid he must've said, and she couldn't help but smile at the scene. She prayed that Todd hadn't noticed her staring at Charlie. Joan really wished she could just forget about him but for some reason she couldn't.

❦

The next day at rowing Joan had gotten all wet since the girl in front of her, Elizabeth Harris, apparently still didn't know how to paddle properly and kept splashing her. 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 the situation.

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

"It's not my fault, that's just what happens when you row a boat on water. We are literally in the middle of a river what do you expect?" 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," Elizabeth said, getting annoyed.

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

"Demerits, Ms. Levy!" her coach called from the riverbank as the team began to dock the boat.

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

After they finished practice, Joan began walking back to her dorm. Her hair and clothes had river water all over them and she really didn't feel like talking to anyone after Elizabeth put her in a bad mood. Really, just being in her presence made Joan aggravated. When Joan was her roommate, she sometimes had to leave her own room to get away from Elizabeth. Elizabeth was a prime example of what happened when someone's only focus was objective academics.

"Hey! Joey, get over here!" Joan looked to her left to see Charlie and Knox sitting on a bench.

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

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

Joan sighed but made her 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 Joan before they fell to his lap, he was visibly uncomfortable. Joan 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?"

Joan thought for a moment before coming up with a question of her 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."

Joan face palmed. "You're unbelievable," she 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," she shrugged sympathetically. Joan didn't really know what to say since she had never met Chris, although she almost felt like she 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," Joan said. "Okay, I've gotta go. See you guys later."

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

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

Her dorm room was empty when she returned, Violet was at the library for the morning. She quickly showered and got dressed for the second time that day before heading back outside. Joan had piece of charcoal and paper in hand and was planning on getting some quiet time to just draw in peace. She started walking towards the bleachers, seeing as the soccer field wasn't in use, it was just open grass. Joan drew the face of an old man from her dream for around hour before she was rudely interrupted by Keating and the boys' soccer team. They walked up towards the bleachers and Joan began packing up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Charlie running up to her.

"Wait, Joey," he said.

"Hi, Charlie," she greeted, deciding to just give up on getting him to stop calling her by nicknames.

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

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

Once everyone reached the bleachers, Mr. Keating turned to Joan. "Hello, Ms. Levy. Would you care to do us a favour?"

"Uh, sure," Joan 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 Joan as she stepped off the bleachers. "I want you to hand these out to the boys, one apiece." She nodded and began giving out the papers.

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

After Joan handed out all of the papers, Mr. Keating asked her to place the soccer balls in front of the boys after someone kicked it. She 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 Joan 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, Joan 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. Joan turned around to see a record player set up on the bleachers. Mr. Keating smiled broadly at her, a sort of twinkle in his eye. She 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 Joan.

"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. Joan almost grinned as he sent her yet another wink.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.
❪ ⋆࿐໋  𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒎. ❫

To indeed be a god! I love Joan's
and Todd's budding friendship,
in my mind that dynamic is just
adorable. But then again, Todd
is adorable no matter what.