"Neil's dead."
And it all went downhill from there.
Having to sign a paper acknowledging Mr. Keating was the responsible behind all of this. Charlie being expelled. Mr. Keating fired. Cameron spreading rumors about you, Knox, Meeks, Pitts and Todd.
The five of you kept meeting up in the cave, but it was never the same. No Neil reading poetry and cheering you all up. No Charlie playing his saxophone and making jokes. Dammit, you didn't even know where he'd gone. You hadn't heard anything from him - not a single phone call, not even a letter. The meetings felt devoid of life - only nostalgia reigned.
And then slowly, the Dead Poets Society began tearing apart.
Pitts was the first who stopped attending the reunions. His grade were dangerously low and he needed to focus on studying. Reading poetry every night and reminiscing the good old times wasn't helping him.
Meeks followed. He had to help Pitts, of course, and his own grades, usually so high, were starting to waver. You wouldn't even see them outside of class, the two of them were always busy studying.
So it was just down to you, Knox and Todd. You still had hope that once Pitts and Meeks' grades had recovered, the meetings would continue. But then Knox often had dates with his girlfriend Chris, and he became a ghost as well.
At this point, the Dead Poets Society reunions didn't feel like they had any sense anymore. As much as you enjoyed spending time with Todd, as much as you encouraged the others to come back, deep down you knew the group had died.
Time passed. The five of you graduated. Made promises to keep in touch. You got accepted in your dream university.
Even more time passed. You got your degree and moved to New York where you found a well-paid job and a loving partner. Made new friends. You hadn't heard anything from any of the guys in over three years.
Still more time passed. You got married, moved from your cheap apartment to a lovely house in the suburbs. Anyone in your position would've been happy - you had a job you loved, a caring family and were financially secure. Yet you felt like part of yourself was missing - a part that you left at Welton Academy.
Suddenly ten years had passed since that dreadful night where you were awaken by Charlie in the middle of the night, only to see his eyes red with tears and to hear the words, "Neil's dead." Ten years. Life has gone by dangerously fast.
And then one day, as you checked your mailbox after coming back from work, you noticed you'd received a letter. Not just any letter, though. One that had a special handwriting that rang a bell inside your memories.
One that invited you to a meeting of the Dead Poets Society at the cave of Welton Academy.
One that was signed: Your old friend, Todd Anderson.
A/N: wow I've only started writing this a week ago and there are already over 100 reads! Thank you so much!
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