𝓘 𝓰𝓸𝓽 𝓸𝓾𝓽 of the shower and took note of the time as I put on my pyjamas. It was only 10:05 and curfew wasn't until 10:30.

I put my hair in a ponytail as brushed my teeth. Once I was done with that I noticed that the glass beside my bed was empty so I pulled my dressing gown on and my socks before pulling open the door.

It was like walking around a playhouse here sometimes. I noticed the boys, excluding Todd, were all standing outside Charlie and Cameron's room. Upon seeing me Neil put out his arm pulling me into his side in a hug.

"Hey Sophie" they greeted as I muttered back hi to them before yawning.

"Where are you off to Phi?" Neil asked letting me go as I lifted my glass earning an 'oh' of understanding in return

"Is poor Soph tired" Charlie sneered from his door making me glare at him

"Leave her Charlie, she spent most of her morning trying to get that bird out of her room" Pitts said to him, making me look up and smile

"Thank you Pitts"

"Sophie maybe you should shut your window tonight" Knox said trying to be helpful as I looked up at him smiling

"Yeah ill take that into consideration Knox, thanks" I said as I rubbed my eyes looking down "I'm going to" I raised the glass letting out another yawn "yeah" I said walking away.

     I got to a drinking tap, that was used for filling up bottles and glasses unlike the one by Knox's room that was used to directly drink from.

      I filled my glass up and made my way back down the hall towards where the boys were and looked up just as Hager was coming towards me. The boys moved into their room and I put my head down hoping he would pass me and he did but then.

     "Ms. Perry" he said making me turn back to look at him

     "Sir" I greeted back as he stood in front of me with his arms behind his back

      "I just wanted to congratulate you on the exams you did at the end of last year. Perfect scores on almost everything" he said a ghost of a smile crossing his face

     "Oh, thank you sir" I said. I hadn't been expecting that

     "Sophia, if you keep going the way you are now I could see a potential scholarship in your future for an Ivy League" he told me as my mouth fell agape. It wasn't my much but still a bit noticeable as my Mr. Hager's smile widened and he tapped the side of his nose "keep up the hard work" he said before turning and walking past the boys bathroom "cut out that racket in there"

     I made my way back towards my room when Charlie stood in the doorway of his room "what was that about Soph? Hager tell you to stop sneaking into my room?" He said leaning in whispering the last bit, not allowing cameron, who was fussing about something as the top of his bed, hear.

   "No actually. He was telling me how he saw you coming into my room this morning" I told him, whispering back as his face dropped. "Yeah something about you facing expulsion but I dont know" I shrugged my shoulders. His face was almost white as a ghost when the corners of my mouth etched up. He visibly relaxed as he shook his head

     "Not funny, Perry" he said as I walked back abit

     "Wasn't trying to be Dalton" I said and moved away from the door towards my own.

     Getiing back to the room, I made my way into the bathroom and began to wash my face. Excitement was beginning to build in my stomach at the thought of tonight

     "Shit" I said reaching for the towel when my eye began to sting as a result of getting the soap into it.

*𝗸𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗸*

     "Just a minute" I called out drying my face before turning and making my way to the door.

     I wasn't expecting to see Todd standing outside my room but there he was. He was wearing his robe and pyjamas with a flashlight in his hand. "Hey Todd" I said as he shifted on his feet "you okay?" I asked him getting a nod in return.

     "Yeah N-Neil wanted you to know that he would come and get you tonight and this is for you" he said nervously holding out a silver flashlight which I kindly took from him

     "Was he too lazy to come and tell me himself?" I asked, smiling a bit as he looked down

    "N-no, I offered to come and tell you" he said taking me back. "I just wanted to say thank you" he said as I pulled my eyebrows together. "For earlier. I saw that you were the one that said it was okay. And well I- I just wanted to thank you" he stuttered out as I crossed my arms

     "Jesus Todd. You dont have to say thank you for that. Your part of the group now. You have just as much of a right to go tonight as anyone else does" I told him as he looked at me, his eyes gleaming.

     "5 minutes boys, Sophia" Hager shouted making Todd turn to look at him.

    "I better go. Ill, uh, see you tonight" he said beginning to walk backwards as I nodded

     "See ya, Todd" I shut the door. Smiling to myself as I grabbed my Welton coat from my wardrobe with some clothes and laid them out on my chair before getting into bed

✍︎✍︎✍︎

      It was a little after 11 when the small knock came to my door. I threw my legs out from under the covers and slipped on my shoes and coat, before opening the door. Neil was stood with the flashlight shining up agains his face, a bright smile showing "ready?" He asked quietly.

    I nodded and grabbed the torch "where are the others?" I asked him, whispering when I noticed only Todd stood behind him, looking around for anyone who may have been coming.

    "We have to get them" he whispered back. "Go get Charlie and cameron" he told me while Todd went over to Meeks and Pitts' door.

    I opened the door slightly, the lap between them was on as the sat on the side of there beds "cmon" I whispered looking between them.

     "I'm still not sure about this" cameron whispered. I rolled my eyes and looked at Charlie who was shaking his head at cameron

     "Fine then stay" I said turning back towards the hall where Knox was now stood with Pitts "where's Meeks?" I asked when Meeks came out of his room pointing at his glasses.

     We all went towards the stairway, as quietly as we could "lets go" charlie said when we got to the stairs but I cursed when chance, Hager's dog, began barking at us.

     Charlie dropped some dog treats and chance stopped barking immediately as we all crept down the stairs. We got to the main hallway, our footsteps echoing as we walked through it and out the front door.

    "Let's get out of here" Meeks whispered back to us while we shushed him. I held onto the door shutting it quietly before turning and running across the lawn to where the boys were. Once I got to them we all began running towards the woods with Neil in the lead since he knew where it was.

      I'd underestimated how cold it was and the fog was creeping across the floor of the woods as we got out of reach of the school. A flock of birds got disturbed and made a noise behind us making both charlie and I stop and shine the light, making sure no one was following us. "Soph cmon" charlie said pulled me by my waist as I turned and continued on behind the boys.

      We passed the waterfall and got to a small clearing. Neil stopped, shining his flashlight around his face contorting in confusion as he turned back, looking at us

    "So its got be around here somewhere" he said as my eyes widened

    "I thought you said you knew where it was" I said looking at him

"I do know where it is"

"Okay then show us where it is. lead the way, wise one"

    "Well not the exact location" he said as I let out a huff. "Look its here somewhere" the boys looked between each other silently agreeing to leave as Neil and I began to bicker

     "Neil I'm sure theres loads of little caves around here. How are you gonna know which is the right one?"

"Ill just know"

     "Oh just like you 'knew' where the cave was?" I said turning away from him

"Bitch" I spun on my heel facing my brother

"Dickhead"

     "Dont talk to me like that. I'm your older brother"

"Were the same age" I raged.

     "Can you guys come help?" Pitts shouted, pulling Neil and I out of our little bubble.

    "Oh yeah, sorry" we muttered, beginning to walk down the small hill on the side. Neil put out his hand reluctantly, while I took it trying to stay annoyed but couldn't as we walked to the bottom.

     "Watch your step" I said motioning to the small vine.

     "I see it I'm not blind" we got to the bottom, letting go of each other.

"Thanks" I said earning a smile from him.

     "What was that?" He asked me as I pushed my tongue into the side of my cheeks shaking my head

"Dont push it" I said walking away from him.

      I checked behind a few hanging branches. It was only now when I listened to the silence and rustling that I realised how freaky the woods actually were. An owl hooted from above me and a beach snapped beside me. The others were over the other side so I checked to see if there was anyone around. Not seeing anyone I walked about to the left.

      I let out a sigh still looking around when someone grabbed onto my waist from behind and pulled me back into them "arrr, I'm a dead poet" Charlie said shining the light up to his face

     "Jesus, Charlie" I said, leaning my head back a bit, trying to catch my breath while he laughed at me

     "Guys over here" he said as his arm dropped from my waist and I turned pushing him a bit

    "Oh your funny, your really funny" I followed him into the cave while the others made there way across to me.

     There was light from the moon coming in through an opening at the top. I took a seat over to the left of the opening when the rest of them came in and tried to start a fire.

    "It's too wet" Meeks said. He wasn't wrong the only thing coming from it was smoke. I swatted it away coughing

     "God, are you trying to smoke us out of here?" I asked when Charlie began coughing beside me

"Yeah, Jesus Meeks"

    "No no no the smoke is going up this opening" Meeks said pointing up at the hole in the top of the cave.

   A loud bang and yell came from my right and when I looked up Pitts was holding his head. I grimaced looking at him letting out an 'ouch' while the others laughed.

    Pitts tried to make him way to the other side still holding his head "you okay?" Neil asked him as he let out a groan

    "Oh god" Knox said from the other side of the cave while Meeks looked back at Pitts

"Clod"

     Neil was holding the book in his hand, reading something while holding the light on it before waving the smoke away and standing up. "All right, all right, forget the fire"

    "Forget it, forget it" Meeks repeated and sat back into a spot beside Pitts "its like trying to light a swamp"

    "Let's go, gentlemen. Sophie" Neil said making me sit up a bit more as I rested my elbows on my knees and held my head up with my hand. "I hear by reconvene the Dead Poets Society"

    The boys left out whoops as I scowled at Neil smoking the cigarette "its worse than the fire" I said looking at the cigarette in Neil's hand, he smirked taking a puff before blowing it out close to my face.

    "Welton chapter" He said handing the cigarette to Charlie "the metings will be conducted by myself and the other new initiates now present. Todd Anderson, because he prefers not to read, will keep minutes of the meetings"

    I looked over to where Todd was sitting. He was quiet but was starting up at my brother. I looked between the two squinting my eyes. 

     "I'll will read the traditional opening message by society member Henry David Thoreau. 'I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck all the marrow out of life"

    "I'll second that" Charlie said from beside me, laughing a bit with his tongue between his teeth, earning a laugh from us all

    "To put to rout all that was not life, an not, when I had to come to die, discover that I had not lived" Neil finished.

   I took in the words of the opening and thought to myself 'have I actually lived yet? What have I don't that's so extraordinary, that makes me feel alive. I suppose everyday that I'm surrounded by these boys I'm living. I've never felt happier than when I was with them. Especially him' I looked to my right to look at him and almost like he could read my mind, Charlie was already looking at me.

    "And Keating's marked a bunch of other pages" Neil told us flipping through the pages of the book.

     Charlie shone his light in circle from beside me sitting up abit "all right, intermission. Dig deep right here. Lay it down"

     "On the mud?" Cameron asked. I'd only noticed his presence now since I thought he wouldn't have came "we're gonna put out food on the mud?" His eyes widening a bit.

     "Meeks, put your coat down. Picnic blanket" Charlie told Meeks who stripped the jacket off him

"Use Meeks' coat"

     "Yes sir, use Meeks coat" Meeks and Pitts said simultaneously as Meeks lay his coat down infront of us.

     "Don't keep anything back either. You guys are alway bumming my smokes" Charlie said making me look up at him

    "Well you know a solution to that?" He raised his eyesbrow in question "stop smoking" I told him earning an eye roll in response

    I threw a packet of chewing gum down onto the coat while the others threw down cookies, fruit and a box of raisins.

"Raisins?" Neil asked warning a nod from Pitts

"Yeah"

     I groaned when I looked at the next thing this was thrown down "Wait a minute. Who gave us half a roll" I asked looking around at the boys, before noticing Pitts was chewing

     "I'm eating the other half" he told us, earning a sigh from Charlie

"Come on" Charlie said as I chuckles a bit

   "What? You want me to put it back?" He asked as mine and Charlie's eyes widened

    "No" we both said, Pitts smiling at his accomplishment. 

    After a while we wear all sitting around while Neil stood infront of us with his flashlight shining up on his face like it had been when he came to get me earlier.

     I was now sitting on the opposite site of Charlie as I leaned back. My knees were brought up to my chest as I rested my chin on my knee.

     "It was a dark and rainy night and this old lady, who had a passion for jigsaw puzzles, sat by herself in her house at her table to complete a new jigsaw puzzle" Neil told us as I leaned back into the wall a bit.

     "But as she pieced the puzzle together, she realised to her astonishment, that the image that was formed was her very own room" Charlie put his head down laughing "and the figure in the centre of the puzzle as she completed it, was herself."

    I stared at Neil with a small smirk. Our uncle had told us this story a few years ago at a bonfire our family held. It freaked me out then and it freaked me out now.

     "And with trembling hands, she placed the last four pieces and stared in horror at the face of the demented madman at the window"

   Neil shone the torch in my face focusing on me as he told the last part "the last thing that this old lady ever heard was the sound of breaking glass" Neil finished as I shivered

    "Ooh" the boys said as Charlie looked down at me.

"You scared?" He asked as I shook my head

"No. Just cold"

     "This is true, this is true" Neil defended making cameron sit up

    "I've got one that's even better than that" he told us as Charlie laughed as I put my legs down and leaned forward to hear him. "I do. There's a young, married couple and they're driving through the forest at night on a long trip. And they run out of gas, and there's a madman on the-"

"Oh the thing with the hand"

"And he cuts off the husbands head"

    "And the scratches" we all finished as his face deflated

"I love that story" he defended

     "I told you that one" Charlie told him beside me as I pulled my teeth between my lips to stop from grining

"You did not. I got that in, uh, camp sixth grade"

    "Yeah were you in six, last year?" I asked, he scowled in response when Pitts started speaking from the book

      "In a mean abode on the shankill road lived a man named William bloat; Now, he had a wife, The plague of his life, who continually god his goat. And one day at dawn with her night shift on He slit her bloody throat" Pitts told us as I grimaced

     "Jesus what ever happened to divorce" I asked, shivering thinking about it

"Oh and it gets worse" Pitts said.

    "You wanna hear a real poem?" Charlie asked from beside me, taking his arm from around me.

     "Want this?" Meeks went to hand him the book But Charlie pushed it away

     "No I don't need it. Get this out of here" he said standing. My face contorted in amusement.

    "Did you bring one?" Cameron asked when we all looked up at Charlie.

    "You memorise a poem" Neil asked from my side making me scoff. As if Charlie Dalton would memorise poetry.

    "He didn't memorise a poem are you crazy?" I said looking over to Neil.

"Move up" he said to Neil

     "You didn't write one did you?" I asked, earning a smirk from Charlie. He made his way over to where Neil was and Neil moved over beside me, both of us looking at each other in

    "An original piece by Charlie Dalton" Neil said, looking at me. Turning to face Charlie who nodded

    "An original piece" Neil turned to me, a broad smile across his face, shaking me

     "This is history Soph, we're making history" I laughed at his enthusiasm. Looking towards Charlie I saw him pull out a piece of paper from his pocket. He began unfolding it. And all I had to see what the woman's face to know what followed. I rolled my eyes refusing to look at the page while the other boys face lit up like it was Christmas morning. 

    "Where did you get that" Cameron asked from beside me.  I scoffed, looking between the boys.

    "You guys are so immature" I said shaking my head.

     "Teach me to love? Go teach thy self more wit" Charlie started looking around at us "I chief professor an of it. The god of love if such a thing there be, May learn to love from me" he finished, winking at me.

     "Wow. Did you write that?" Neil asked as the boys began clapping for him.

     "Not unless hes changed his name to Abraham Cowley" I said as Charlie turned the page showing the boys where he wrote it. 

     "Soph is right. Abraham Cowley. Okay, who's next?" He asked coming to sit back down beside me.  I took the book from Meeks. 

    "Here gimme that" I handed my flashlight to Charlie for him to shine on the book while I found a poem.

     "Here" I found one and took the flashlight back off Charlie "Alfred Lord Tennyson. 'Come, my friends. Tis not too late to seek a newer world. For my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset. And though we are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are. One equal temper of heroic hearts made weak by time and fate but strong in will. To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield" I finished looking up from the page to see all the boys staring at me with open mouths. 

     "Who's next?" I asked as Meeks took it from my hand. He stood in the middle of the circle as