"Man, look at this weather," grumbles Cameron as thunder booms outside, covering for a few seconds the sounds of the raindrops crashing onto the ground. "There's no way we can go to the cave tonight."
"What's the matter?" asks Charlie as he rolls his eyes. "Afraid of getting wet?"
"He's right," objects Neil. "If we go tonight we're all gonna get a pneumonia - "
"Good, at least we won't have to suffer through latin classes anymore," groans Pittsie.
"How about we just sneak into someone's dorm?" you suggests. "It'd be easier and at least we'll be dry."
"Sure," mumbles Charlie.
"Yeah, why not. That's a good idea," points out Neil. "Say... eleven o'clock in Charlie and Cameron's room? It's the farthest from the main hallway, so even if we're a little too noisy we can't be heard from the teachers' dorms."
"Sure." After a general nod of consent, the eight of you head to the cafeteria to have dinner.
As you slowly eat your food, you discreetly glance at Charlie from time to time. He is sitting opposite from you, one seat to your left, and he is laughing at a joke that Meeks has just told. You close your eyes for a second, wishing that you were the one who made him laugh that way... Yeah, you have a huge crush on him. Ever since your best friend Neil had introduced you to him four years ago, you'd liked Charlie a lot. You feel butterflies every time he's nearby - which is pretty often given that you hang out with the same people. He is funny, daring, and you love that little anarchist side of his.
Neil is the only one who knows about your massive crush on him, and he often teases you about it. Even though your bestie says the opposite, you're certain Charlie doesn't like you back. The small consolation you find is that since you aren't very close to Charlie - or at least, not as much as with the other guys in your friend group - you technically haven't been friendzoned.
"Hey Y/N!" Someone snaps their fingers in front of your eyes, pulling you out of your daydream.
"What is it, Cameron?" you ask in a slightly annoyed tone, startled.
"I asked you a question! Did you hear what Keating said this morning?"
"Keating says a lot of things, Cameron," you groan, and take a bite of your food.
After dinner you attend the study group session, before heading back to your dorms. All the time you keep glancing at Charlie from the corner of your eyes.
Instead of changing into pajamas like everyone else would have, you wait for the time to join the Dead Poets in Meeks and Pitts' dorm. The needles on the dorm wall's clock seem to move so slowly that you begin to wonder if you might fall asleep.
But then suddenly it is eleven, and you jump up from your bed, your heart beating in excitement. Thunder booms outside, covering the squeaky sound of your door opening, and you join Charlie, Todd, Neil, Knox and Cameron in the hallway as all of you tiptoe your way towards Meeks and Pitts' dorm.
A wave of relief submerges you once the door closes shut behind you. The only light in the room comes from Meeks' desk lamp, and as the storm continues raging outside the eight of you settle down, giggling.
"So, who's got the book?" asks Neil as he lets himself collapse on Meeks' bed, comfortably ajusting his head posture against the pillow.
"Right here," announces Pitts as he pulls it out from his pocket.
"No, no, no, no," interrupts Charlie, and all eyes turn towards him. "Dead Poets Society meetings are in the cave. As far as I'm concerned we are presently not there. Let's do something else."
"Well, what did we come here for, then?" you frown.
"Yeah Charlie, I mean we might as well go back to bed at this point," starts Todd, only to be cut off.
"Go back to bed ? But, my dear gentlemen, the night has just begun!"
He sits down, crossing his legs and leaning against Pitts' bed. Soon everyone who isn't already sitting imitates him.
"I say we play dare or dare, by Charles Dalton!" he dramatically proposes as he lights up a cigarette.
You can't help giggling a little - seeing him so joyful and so full of life makes your heart warm up.
"You mean truth or dare?" corrects Cameron hesitantly.
"You heard me, Cameron." He rolls his eyes.
"All right, what's this all about?" asks Neil.
As an answer, Charlie blows out a thick cloud of smoke. You turn away, trying not to inhale it - if there's one thing you dislike about him, it's his smoking habit.
It started three years ago after the winter break. He'd had a huge fight with his parents about his future - while they wanted him to become a banker, his dream was to be a saxophone teacher. Charlie never told you exactly what had been said and done, but when he came back on the first day after the Christmas holidays, he was carrying a package of cigarettes and a lighter inside his pockets.
Ever since, he's been smoking. And you really hate it - not only do all of you need to stand the smell of tobacco, but more importantly he's destroying his own health.
"So?" insists Neil, getting impatient.
"It's simple. Whoever picks the dare for you actually comes up with two. You're given the first one. If you refuse to do it, you're given the second one, and you have to do it. Otherwise you will be called and labeled JellyBrain by everyone else for the coming week."
"Not that original," grumbles Cameron, but a death glare from you shuts him up.
"That's not it, though." Several pairs of curious eyes look up to Charlie. "The dares need to be... exciting. If the dare you give isn't good enough, then you're the next victim."
"Okay, but how good a dare is is actually subjective," Knox argues.
"I'll be the judge of it," retorts Charlie.
"Sounds cool," grins Pitts. "I'm hyped."
"Okay sure, let's do this," you agree.
The only two ones who seem reluctant are Cameron - but that's normal because he's always as joyful as the Grinch - and Todd, who seems absolutely terrified at the idea of being called JellyBrain for seven days.
"All right!" claps Charlie, earning several shhhh! from everyone. After all, it is past eleven and you're supposed to be asleep. "Who wants to volunteer?"
"I'll go first," declares Neil confidently.
"Cool man. Anyone got an idea?"
After a few seconds of thinking, a hand shots up in the air.
"I do," says Knox. "Neil, I dare you spend the rest of the evening without your shirt on."
The rest of you giggle quietly.
"Not bad," agrees Charlie. "Neil?"
"Are you bloody kidding me?" whines his friend. "I'm gonna be freezing!"
"I'll take that as a no," declares Charlie, and turns back to Knox. "What's the other dare?"
"I dare you to do a handstand in the middle of the room."
"I'd rather break my neck than freeze to death," laughs Neil as he gets up and you all move away from him. He nails his handstand, holding for a solid five seconds, before perfectly landing back, earning a quiet round of applause.
A few rounds pass. Meeks has to twerk in front of Pitts' face because he refused to step outside in the hallway and whistle. Knox has to speak like Mr. Nolan for two more rounds - good thing, because otherwise he would've had to lap dance with poor Todd who would've probably died of embarrassment. Cameron has to spend the rest of the night with a blindfold on - which he refuses to do, of course, so instead he needs to do seven pushups. An impossible challenge for him as he can barely do one, thus earning himself the nickname Jellybrain for this coming week. Todd has to overcome his shyness and talk about himself for three minutes straight - which, surprisingly enough, he accepts to do, with Neil's encouragements.
And then it's your turn to give a dare to Charlie.
"Make it interesting, Y/N," he smirks.
"Lemme think." You search for a good idea, but only cliches come to your head. Right when you're asked to come up with a dare, nothing comes to your mind!
And then suddenly, it clicks.
You want to dare him to throw away his lighter and his cigarettes.
But obviously he'll never accept. So you need to make that his second dare, and for the first one, come up with something he'd never, ever do.
"Charlie?"
"Yes?"
His eyes pierce through you, awaiting the challenge.
"I dare you to strip completely naked."
Several oooh!s erupt, and Meeks whistles. Neil glances sideways at you with a knowing smile but you shake your head, giggling. It's not what you think! you mouth, but you have no idea whether he understood it or not. Meanwhile Charlie's face turns completely red - he clearly wasn't expecting that kind of dare! And, as expected, after a few seconds, he declares:
"I'm not doing it."
"Aw man," complains Neil, "this was your chance to seduce us!"
"Yeah, well not like that, no thanks," he chuckles. "What's the other dare, Y/N?"
"I dare you to throw away your cigarettes and your lighter."
Everyone turns towards you with their eyes widening. Charlie's mouth opens in shock, but nothing comes out.
"You have to do it," you firmly state.
"I - I - " Then his look darkens and he glares at you, shaking his head, his mouth twisted. "I can't do that."
"Why not? Would you rather show us your butt?" teases Neil. "Or let us call you JellyBrain!"
"Y/N is right, man," sighs Pitts. "Look, we all know how much you love smoking, but this is for your own good. You're destroying your own health."
"Thanks, Pittsie." You warmly smile at him.
"Do you guys have any idea of how hard it is for me to acquire cigarettes?" he angrily whispers. "Let alone get the stupid lighter! My entire allowance went on this!"
"Yeah, we do," says Knox. "That's why Y/N is giving you this dare. Do yourself a favor. At least you won't be dying of lung cancer in ten years."
Charlie looks at all of you, one after the other, searching for someone to back him up. But all he gets is stern, serious looks. Then, he lets out a loud groan.
"Fine! I give up."
He stands up, brutally opens the window, then pulls out his package of cigs and his lighter, before hurling them outside as hard as he can and slamming the window shut.
"There!" he spits out. "Satisfied?"
Your eyes dart to the ground. Now he's going to hate you, but at least he won't be smoking any soon. An awkward silence settles, until Neil clears his throat.
"I've got a dare for you, Y/N."
"Huh?" You look at him. "What is it.
He smirks.
"I dare you to stand on the windowsill for five minutes."
Several protests erupt from the group.
"What? Neil, that's too dangerous!"
"It's pouring outside!"
"Neil, there's no way she - "
But Neil ignores them, his gaze fixed on you, waiting for your response. Beside him, Charlie seems pleased with the dare, which is procuring him some sort of revenge, and is observing you as well, as if he was about to judge you according to your answer.
You bite your lip. On one hand, it's really storming outside and even five minutes can turn into five hours when there's a bad weather like this one. Also, you're at the third floor, which means that the slightest slip can send you tumbling down to your death below. And the second dare can't be worse than this, right?
On the other hand.... you really want to impress Charlie and perhaps even reconcile with him - well, you haven't officially fought but the look in his eyes says everything. As scared as you are, you don't want him to think that you're a coward.
But is it really worth it?
"I'll do it," you declare calmly.
Everyone turns towards you, their eyes widening.
"Now wait a minute, Y/N," starts Cameron, only to be cut off by Charlie.
"She gave her answer, Jellybrain. Gents, open the window."
"I'll do it myself." As you stand up and go open it, the guys are whispering in disagreement.
"She could get badly hurt, Charlie," objects Meeks.
"She can hang on to the border," he nonchalantly says as he rolls his eyes.
"But still! Charlie I swear, if Y/N gets hurt, both you and Neil are gonna regret it."
"Yeah, Neil," angrily snaps Knox, "why did you chose this dare?"
"Y/N, please, just do the other one!"
Instead of answering, your best friend smiles, like he's keeping something to himself.
But you don't let it distract you. You pull the window wide open, letting in the cold air from the storm and some of the pouring rain. The curtains begin flying, and in the distance you see a bolt of lightning illuminate the sky, shortly followed by a boom of thunder.
"Y/N, please be careful," begs Todd, and you reassuringly smile.
You climb over the small, horizontal iron bar that goes from one side of the wall to the other, tightly gripping it, and step down on the small brick ledge. There's barely enough room for both of your feet - after that, it's the fall to death.
Trying to ignore the fear creeping up your back, you close your eyes, feeling the cold rain splashing your face.
"Time starts now!" calls Charlie behind you.
The iron bar you're gripping to is already wet, and just gets slippier and slippier as the seconds go by. Your eyes shift down to the black void beneath you, and suddenly you realize just how high up you are standing. Both your legs and arms begin shaking as a wave of panic submerges you. You have the impression that the ledge is going to collapse under you at any moment, and your heart starts pumping faster.
"How much longer?" you ask in a tremulous voice.
"Four and a half minutes."
You try distracting yourself by looking up, only to receive an attack of raindrops in your eyes. Your clothes are soaking wet and you're now shivering from the cold AND the panic.
You helplessly look down again, suddenly seeing your own broken body falling and crashing below.
And that's where it becomes too much.
You turn around slowly, gripping the iron bar so much that your knuckles are turning white, before enjambing it and letting yourself fall on the ground, still shaking.
"Y/N!"
The boys immediately regroup around you, kneeling down to your level.
"Are you all right?" asks Neil, reaching for your hand, but you push him away.
"You - why did you do that?" you furiously whisper.
"Because I knew you'd give up."
"Well, there! You got what you wanted!" you nearly shout, and a wave of shhhhhh emerges from the others.
As Meeks closes the window behind you, Charlie goes through his wardrobe and pulls out a t-shirt and some sweatpants.
"Here, put this on. You're gonna catch a cold."
Your cheeks redden. "Oh - are - are you sure - "
"Yes!"
They all turn around to face the wall as you quickly change. Charlie's clothes are way too big for you, but you don't care. You've warmed up, your fear is gone. You deeply inhale his scent in the t-shirt before saying, "Okay, y'all can turn around now."
You all settle down again, and a short silence passes before Meeks declares:
"I think we should not go for any other dangerous things like this. Really."
"Yeah," agrees Todd. "I - got really scared for a moment."
"Fine," says Charlie as he rolls his eyes.
"So, Y/N," says Neil, "you gotta do the second dare."
"What?" you blurt out, shocked. "Excuse me? I almost died over there and you want me to do this?"
"It's the game, Y/N," he insists. "C'mon."
"No, Neil, I'm done playing."
"Y/N, you're gonna regret it, I swear."
You look over at your best friend, still shocked and infuriated by the fact he gave you such a dangerous dare.
"For the sake of the game, Y/N?" asks Knox shyly. "Please?"
You glance over at Meeks, then Charlie, then Pitts, then Cameron. They all seem kind of disappointed that the game must end here.
After all, it can't be worse than what I just did, you tell yourself.
"Ugh. Fine."
"Yay!" claps Neil, and he clears his throat.
Your eyes meet his, and suddenly it hits you - you know what he's about to say. You know why he did the whole stand-on-the-windowsill scheme, you know why he wants you to continue playing.
He's doing to you the same thing you did to Charlie.
A sly smirk grows on his face. Don't you dare, you mouth furiously, but it only widens his smile.
"Y/N, I dare you to kiss Charlie."
You feel your heart drop inside your chest, and a dead silence settles inside the room as everyone realizes what Neil just did.
Suddenly it's like the world has stopped around you. Time stretches eternally inside this small dorm, as all attention falls on you, waiting for you to do something.
Your eyes meet Charlie, and surprisingly, they don't give you a look of disapproval. In fact, he half smiles and nods slightly, signaling for you to do it.
"I - I - " The words are stuck inside your throat. You sense your cheeks burning. Jellybrain -
Then, slowly, you stand up and go sit next to Charlie on the bed as he turns towards you. You notice how close he is to you - you can literally feel his breathe on the corner of your mouth. Hesitantly, you let your eyes lock themselves in his as your heart begins drumming faster than ever - if anything, you're even more terrified right now than when you were standing outside!
"You don't mind, do you?" you ask in a barely audible voice, entranced by his gaze.
"Let's find out," he whispers back.
And so you lean in, grazing your lips to his quickly before pulling away, your eyes darting away and your cheeks burning.
That felt... amazing. The kiss was perfect, like your lips were meant to perfectly fit onto his. You already miss the taste of his mouth, but you didn't dare to linger too long, fearing that he wouldn't be okay with it.
Then you hear the whooping of the other guys. Knox even lets out a whistle, before Neil urges them to be less noisy.
"Y/N," he declares, turning towards you, "that kiss was not nearly long enough."
"Yeah!" added Cameron, his eyebrows creased. "You call that a bloody kiss?"
The heat creeps up your face again, and you stare down at your feet as you listen to the guys grumblings.
Then suddenly, you feel someone grabbing your hand gently. You look up to Charlie, who's got his eternal smirk lingering on the corner of his mouth.
"Say, Y/N, why don't we shut them up?"
"What do you m- "
You don't have time to finish your sentence that his lips are already on yours again, and this time you don't part from it. You slide your arm around him, pulling him even closer, while his tongue make his way inside your mouth, lighting up a fire inside your stomach.
It's like the others don't even exist anymore - you're pretty sure they're snickering but you hear nothing. In fact you don't even hear the storm anymore. It's just you and Charlie in your own little bubble, and it feels like heaven.
Without breaking the kiss, he pushes you back so that you're lying down with him over you.
"Guys, seriously, not on my bed, please," whines Cameron, but his voice never reaches your ears.
Charlie nibbles on your lower lip, earning a quiet moan out of you, and he slides his hand under your - well, his shirt, technically. His fingers light up fire on your skin as he explores every inch of you.
Meanwhile, the guys are either dying of laughter, like Pitts, Meeks and Neil, or looking away because they're too embarrassed to watch, like Knox and Todd, or rolling their eyes because you happen to be making out on their bed.
"Erm, guys?" calls out Pitts, but Charlie and you are too occupied to pay attention to him. "Guys?" he repeats. Still no answer.
"All right, I think we should give them some privacy," giggles Neil as he gets up. "We can always continue the game in my dorm."
"Yeah, let's leave the lovebirds," snickers Knox.
"But - " starts Cameron, only to be interrupted.
"C'mon man, you can sleep somewhere else. We've got some extra blankets. Worst of cases, just sleep in Y/N's dorm."
The six of them slip away, still giggling and carefully shutting the door behind them.
"It's about time," groans Charlie against your lips. "I thought these idiots would never leave."
"Mmm."
Then suddenly he pulls away, resting on his forearms - each on one side of you. He plays with a streak of your hair, his head slightly tilted as he admires every curve of your face, and you lose yourself in his eyes in which you can read infinite love and tenderness.
"You're the most gorgeous person I've ever met, Y/N. Inside and out."
Charlie leans down and softly kisses you. "And such a daredevil, too."