✓ | FIAT NOX ✶ charlie dalton

⠀⠀⠀𝒊𝒗. to the virgins

⠀⠀⠀On the other side of the room, where Mr. Keating's office was, Eliza and John stood inside as the boys took their seats. It was just before lunch, and Eliza had been sitting in his office doing her studies.

⠀⠀⠀John had told her the day before that she would join one of his classes as he saw fit. Still, when he recognized one boy that Eliza seemed to get along well with during the Welcoming Ceremonies, he decided.

⠀⠀⠀"You will be joining this class, Eliza. Now, you will probably know a fair bit more than these stiffly wound boys, so you'll act as both student and teacher's assistant," John informed her.

⠀⠀⠀"That sounds fine with me," Eliza nodded her head. "As a teacher's assistant, would you like me to take roll?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yes, good, good," John cheered, spinning on the toe of his shoe before picking up the clipboard he had been using for the day. "There you are," he said, handing it over to her. "For now, stay in here. We're going to take a little field trip."

⠀⠀⠀John made his way to the door, looked outside as the boys tossed paper balls, and talked excitedly amongst themselves without a teacher to scold them.

⠀⠀⠀"To where?" Eliza asked curiously.

⠀⠀⠀"To their past," John grinned mysteriously, straightening his back and flinging the door open to the door.

⠀⠀⠀The door hit the wall and fell back into place as John walked amongst his students, whistling the 1812 Overture. Eliza made her way to the door and peeked out to see the boys straight like a board at the sight of their teacher. Their eyes followed along as the man made his way around the room and out of the door.

⠀⠀⠀Confused, they continued to sit, waiting for instruction. However, besides John sticking his head into the room, no one came and looked around at the students, still stiffened by tradition.

⠀⠀⠀"Well, come on," John called to the boys.

⠀⠀⠀The boys sat, laughing for a moment, believing their teacher to have a funny sense of humor, unlike the other ones at Welton. But a few more seconds passed, and he had yet to return, and soon it set in. They indeed were supposed to follow. So the boys gathered their things and hurried out of the room to follow.

⠀⠀⠀Eliza waited as the last few made their way out before leaving his office, finding Knox, one of the last few.

⠀⠀⠀"Knox," she whisper-yelled at the sight of him, rushing towards him and catching him off guard with a bone-crushing hug.

⠀⠀⠀Behind her, a low wolf-whistle emitted from one of the boys in the class. He had a look similar to Knox, but his hair was a little more unkempt, and his eyes held a mischievous light to them.

⠀⠀⠀"You must be Eliza," Charlie said, smiling ravenously at her. "Knox has told us all about you."

⠀⠀⠀"Like what?" she asked. "That my Uncle is Mr. Keating, and my name is Eliza?" she held a similar smile to Charlie's as she raised an eyebrow. "There wasn't much we talked about at the ceremonies to be talked about."

⠀⠀⠀"You're here, aren't you?" Charlie asked, his smile lowering into a smirk. "That's enough to talk about."

⠀⠀⠀Knox's eyes bounced between the two like he was watching a tennis match. Then, when the ball flew out of court, he interrupted, "We should get going," he stated, tugging Charlie's arm in warning. "The class has already left us behind.

The room Mr. Keating had led his class to began to settle as the boys finished filtering in. Charlie, Eliza, and Knox came in from behind the rest and lingered in the back.