Dead Poets Society ~ Charlie Dalton

Chapter Nine: An important talk

The Dead Poets are sitting in the lobby, studying. Charlie sighs frustrated, throwing his pencil onto the table.

"What the hell is this shit?", he curses, grabbing his hair. Mireille glances at him and then his paper. Math. Mireille smiles kindly, leaning over.

"What's the problem?" Charlie sighs again, laying his head on the table and looking at his girlfriend.

"Math." She chuckles, taking his paper and looking over it. Todd, who's sitting next to Mireille, glances over. Mireille scribbles down some equations before handing back the paper.

"At least look at it", she says after Charlie continues to pout at her. He groans, lifting his head. Mireille scoots closer, resting her head on his shoulder and tries to explain the equation. Todd looks at them. Those two really are soulmates. He looks around at his other friends. He sighs quietly. He's happy that he has them, but it's just different when Neil isn't with them. He's currently at Henley Hall at rehearsal. They all, excluding Mireille, Charlie and Todd, jump up and run out when they hear the bell ringing, signaling that it's time for dinner. The other three laugh at their friends before deciding to stand up and walk after them. On their way down the corridor, they come across Neil, lightly jogging to his room.

"Save me a seat", he says, passing his friends.

"Sure thing!", answers Charlie. Mireille glances at Todd, seeing that he looks after Neil.

"So, Todd. My dear friend", she starts, catching his attention. He looks at her questioningly.
"Yes?" Mireille smirks before continuing.

"Wanna tell me something?" He looks at her confused for a moment before he realizes what she means. He shakes his head, waving his hands around.

"N-No! No, it's not like that", he stutters. She raises an eyebrow, briefly glancing at Charlie who replies with a little smile.

"Todd?", she asks, making him feel nervous. He looks down, avoiding her eyes.

"What? It's true, I-"

"Carpe diem", she interrupts him, patting his shoulder before walking ahead, leaving the two boys behind. There is a short silence between the two before Charlie starts talking.

"You know, I was the same as you back then, Todd", Charlie says, crossing his arms and looking after his girlfriend. Todd looks at him confused.

"What do you mean?" Charlie glances at him, laughing a little.

"I didn't want to realize my feelings towards Mireille. I mean, we started as, of course, friends, evolved to best friends and to be honest... I always thought that she would end up with Neil since they were much closer than they are now", he tells him, looking at him again. He sighs, chuckling.

"When she told me- yes, she told me first- I didn't accept at first. I always thought that Neil and she are a couple and that's what I told her. Yeah... she laughed at me and then kissed me and... as it turned out, they were so close because Mireille came to Neil for advice about confessing and because Mireille was the first person Neil opened up to." Todd nods, listening intently. Charlie laughs.

"Yeah, it also turned out that Neil doesn't have any interest in girls, so that was... interesting." Todd comes to halt, looking at his friend in shock.

"So, Neil is-" Charlie nods, interrupting him.

"Yeah. The only ones who know are the Dead Poets. I know, I shouldn't have told you that. Just, like Mireille said. Carpe diem, Todd." He smiles at him, patting his back. Todd slowly nods, thinking about what Charlie told him.