Todd, Neil, Charlie, Knox, Pitts, Meeks, and Cameron walked together with their books in their hands toward the dining hall.
"That was weird," Pitts said.
"But different," Neil said thoughtfully.
"Spooky if you ask me," Knox added.
"Do you think he'll test us on any of that?" Cameron asked, confused about what exactly he had learned in their first English class.
"Oh come on, Cameron," Charlie laughed. "Don't you get anything? The -"
Charlie stopped suddenly, eyes stilling on the girl standing a few steps away from them, a confused look on her face, and her eyes staring firmly at a crinkled piece of paper. He watched her, frozen in step, jostled by the boys who abruptly came to a stop behind him.
"What the hell, Dalton?"
She was dressed in a grey wool skirt, a white cashmere sweater over a white-collared shirt that Charlie had seen peeking up around her neck when he stood behind her during Keating's class. Her hair sat as light curls on her back with a hairband overtop her head. She looked up from the paper and toward the buildings around her, and then looked back at the paper again, still evidently confused.
"It's Keating's niece," Charlie said, nodding toward her. "Maria, right?"
"I believe so," Neil said, looking over. "She looks lost. Probably doesn't know where the dining all is."
"Well, then we should go help her, shouldn't we?" Charlie said, but he had already sauntered toward her. The other boys followed just a few steps behind him.
"Hello, doll."
Maria looked up, startled as a group of boys neared her. They were led by that same boy who had been leaning against the doorframe earlier in her uncle's class. She gave them an awkward smile. "Oh, hello. It's you again."
"Charlie Dalton," the boy said, giving her a broad smile. "You looked lost and so we thought it was in our gentlemanly interest to escort you to the dining hall."
"Oh, well that's rather nice of you, Charlie and..." Maria trailed off, eyeing the boys behind him.
"Neil Perry."
"Knox Overstreet."
"Steven Meeks."
"Gerard Pitts."
"Richard Cameron."
"Todd Anderson."
She nibbled on her bottom lip as they introduced themselves. "I'll try to remember all that," she mumbled. "Though there's quite a few of you so it might take some time."
"You can just remember my name, doll," Charlie said smoothly, lifting a flirty brow at her.
She rolled her eyes at him, already pinning exactly the sort of boy Charlie was. Back at her old school, these were the boys who wore Letterman jackets with a cigarette tucked between their teeth and would whistle as the girls walked past them, giggling into their school books.
Maria reckoned Charlie would've fit right in, imagining a Letterman in place of his current blazer.
"My name's Maria, not Doll," she said pointedly. "Maria Keating."
"We know that," Cameron - she thought - said.
"He means that we remember from Mr. Keating's class," Neil added to try and ease Cameron's rudeness.
Maria tried her best to mirror his kind smile, but she was certain it probably fell quite flat.
"Are you lost?" Neil asked.
"Well, I was trying to get back to my quarters and I know it's somewhere close to the dining hall, but all the doors look the same. You, boys, wouldn't mind directing me, would you?" She held out her map, hoping that they'd take a look and send her off on her way, but Neil gave her a confused look.
"Back to your quarters? But it's lunchtime."
"I'm having lunch in my room."
"Whatever for?" Neil pushed on. "You can have lunch with us. The tables are big enough, but we'll have to hurry if we want to actually have a table to eat at."
And before she could say anything else, Maria was ushered out of the courtyard by the group of boys and into the bustling dining hall where they quickly found a table.
Maria found herself settled between Charlie and Neil before she could even register which doors they had passed by and what corridors they had used. She caught sight of her uncle sitting up where the faculty members did and when he saw her, he gave her a supportive thumbs-up.
She held in a sigh.
Her uncle was enjoying this, he was. He was enjoying the sight of her being absolutely terrified by all the energy and voices around her. Absolutely mortified by all the eyes and ears turned in her direction with the hopes of learning a little about the only girl to ever be at Welton.
"So, doll. What lead you to Welton?"
It was Charlie who had asked her the question as they started their lunch and since he was still using that pesky little pet name, she replied back with a twinge of snark. "Well, you see. When your guardian goes somewhere and you remain underage, the law requires you to follow about."
Knox snorted while Charlie gave her a one-sided smirk.
"Your uncle was an alum here, right?" Neil asked her after swallowing a forkful of food.
"Uncle John and my father actually," Maria said.
"Your father?"
"Joseph Keating. He was a part of the Air Force after graduating from Welton. He died in the war."
Wide eyes looked up at her. "Thank you for his service," she heard from all of them and she nodded quickly, hoping to pass through this awkward part of introductions she always seemed to have.
"Are you liking Welton?" Steven Meeks, or rather Meeks as he went by, asked her.
"It's nice enough."
"Nice enough," Charlie repeated at her side. "That's code for 'I think this place is boring and a right hell-hole'." He grinned at her. "Don't worry, we all think that too. Welton, Hell-ton, you know."
"You should join us for study group," Neil said. "We're all meeting tonight in the study hall."
"Except for me!" Knox added quickly. "I've got a dinner at the Danburrys."
"Oh, the Danburrys," the other boys teased. "Big alums, how'd you score that?"
"Friend of my dad's. He wanted me to make some connections, get to know some important people."
"Good for you. Good for you."
"So, will you join us?" Neil posed the question to her again.
"I don't know," she said.
"What? You don't like us?" Charlie chirped.
"No," she gave him a pointed look. "I never said that. It's just that I don't know if I'm allowed to."
"Allowed?"
"Nolan's set out some special rules for me," she explained slowly. "I'm not to aggregate with you boys too much."
"Why not?"
"Nolan doesn't want me to encourage ungentlemanly behaviour," she said with a sour expression that made the other boys chuckle. "Though, I do think you boys have been absolute gentlemen thus far," she looked up at Charlie, "mostly."
He smirked at her. "See then? Nolan's words are absolute bogus. You've lucked out on meeting us, we're the most gentlemanly-gentlemen there is in Hell-ton."
"Is that so?"
"Stick with us, doll and no one else here will dare to bother you. And if they do, we'll just send Pitts to them. Just look at him."
Pitts looked up from his food with an offended expression. "Hey!"
Maria laughed.
"Are you even studying the same thing as us?" Cameron asked her. "Or is it an easier curriculum or something like that?"
"It's basically the same," Maria said, glancing at him briefly before focusing on her food instead. His comment annoyed her slightly. "My uncle set up a homeschool program based off of Welton's curriculum."
"Homeschooling, but in Hell-ton, sounds awful."
"It certainly is," she said, looking towards Knox. "It's the first day and I'm bored out of my mind in my room."
"Then come join us in study hall," Neil said again and all the other boys, save for one, nodded in agreement.
A bell chimed at the front of the dining hall indicating that lunch was over and it was time for the boys to move on to their next class.
Maria stood with the others, gathering her tray to clean up, and looked toward the boy who hadn't said anything during the entire lunch. She glanced at his white knuckles, gripping the lunch tray, took in his down-casted eyes and determined with great accuracy that she had found one another a bit like her.
"Todd, right?" She asked, startling him a little.
He nodded.
"Are you coming to study group?" She asked.
"I... don't... know. I have -"
"You should come," she said. "Us, awkward ones gotta stick together."
"You? Awkward?" Todd asked with wide eyes. To him, she had seemed to fit in more seamlessly with the other boys than he ever could've imagined for himself.
She smiled at him and showed him her hands, which were damp and trembling, not much different from his own. "I'll teach you how to hide it well," she said before parting from him and asking Neil which way she should go to find her quarters.
••●••
"Let's go boys, hustle up in here," the gym coach shouted, sticking his head around the corner of the shower room. "That means you, Dalton."
"What -" Charlie shot a glare in the direction where the coach had been before rolling his eyes and continuing to use the mirror's reflection to brush back his wet hair.
The boys had just finished gym class where they were practically worked military-style by their gym coach and were now in the shower room getting freshened up.
"What are you thinking there, Charlie?" Neil asked.
"Yea," Knox jutted in. "What's up, Charlie?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know."
"No, I don't know," Charlie replied, flicking his wet hair in Neil's direction. "What are you bash ears going on about?"
Neil, Charlie, and Knox had grown up close enough together that they had been friends for far longer than the other boys. They were best friends, though they wouldn't admit that to the others for fear of hurting some feelings, everyone understood that. They were best friends and that was partly why they were more at ease with taking the piss out of one another.
Neil wagged his eyebrows at him. "Maria."
Charlie straightened his back. "What about her?"
"You have a thing for her, don't you?"
"I do not," Charlie countered, glaring at his grinning best friends. "I've just met her."
"I didn't take you for a romantic, Dalton," Knox teased. "What? Do you need to really get to know her before you inevitably court her?"
Charlie grabbed his sweaty gym kit and chucked it in Knox's direction. "Fuck you."
"You do keep calling her 'doll'," Neil said.
"Because she looks like one," Charlie said, despite the pink colouring on his face.
"She's the only girl here," Knox said. "There's basically a giant arrow above her head. Probably everyone's interested in getting to know her."
Charlie kept brushing back his hair, something about Knox's truthful statement rubbing him the wrong way. He was good-natured in his teasing of Maria and judging by how she answered him, she had gathered that he didn't mean anything with his words whatsoever.
But the other boys at Welton, well, they probably had more unsavoury thoughts.
"You think if everyone thinks someone's taken dibs on her, they'll back off?" He asked Neil casually.
Neil didn't even bother to hide his grin. "Why? You taking dibs?"
••●••
"Thanks for the ride, Dr. Hager," Knox smiled. "The Danburrys said they'll bring me back to campus."
"No later than nine, my boy," the old teacher said solemnly.
"Yes, Sir," Knox said and turned to walk to the door of the large, white, colonial house and rang the doorbell. The most beautiful girl Knox had ever seen opened the door.
"Hi," she said smiling.
Knox hesitated, suddenly speechless and at a loss for words. "Ah... hi."
The girl smiled at him. "Are you here to see Chet?"
"Uh, what?"
"Chet, are you here to see Chet?"
"Mrs. Danburry?"
"Knox! We've been waiting on you," a middle-aged woman who Knox presumed to be the actual Mrs. Danburry and not this gorgeous girl in front of him swooped in and pulled him in through the doorway. "Come, Joe's been so excited to speak with you."
Knox moved in daze as Mrs. Danburry guided him in, his eyes not being able to leave where he had seen the gorgeous girl run up the stairs. Who was she?
Mrs. Danburry guided him into a library and called out for Mr. Danburry. "Joe. This is Knox."
Knox took the hand held out for him. "Spitting image of your father. How is he?"
"Great," Knox said absentmindedly. "He just did a big case for GM."
"Ah, I know where you're headed - like father, like son, eh?" Joe laughed and then pointed to a cute plain looking fifteen-year-old girl who stood up from the floor on the other side of the room. "Have you met our daughter, Virginia?"
"Virgina, say hello."
"It's Ginny," she said as she turned to Knox. "Hi," she said and smiled shyly.
"Hello," Knox said politely.
"Sit down," Mr. Danburry said. "Did your father ever tell you about the case we had together?"
"Pardon?" Knox said because his attention had already been drawn to the girl at the door who was walking down the stairs with a tall athletic-looking young man. He barely registered the conversation Mr. Danburry was trying to have with him while keeping his eyes on the girl that had entered the room with the young man.
"Dad, can I take the Buick?" The young man asked.
"What's wrong with your car?" Mr. Danburry asked. "Chet, where are your manners? Knox, this is my son Chet and his girlfriend, Chris Noel. This is Knox Overstreet."
Chris Noel.
What a beautiful name to go with such a beautiful girl.
The things he had said to tease Charlie earlier during the day flashed in his mind as he made conversation with Chris and Ginny.
Oh God, he was fucked.
••●••
Two hours later, Knox staggered into the student lounge where Neil, Cameron, Meeks, Charlie, Pitts, and Maria were. Pitts and Meeks worked on assembling a small crystal radio as the study session progressed onwards and the others continued studying math.
Knox collapsed onto a couch, grabbing hold of a cushion and holding it to his chest.
"How was the dinner?" Charlie asked, taking the moment to reprise from staring at the ridiculous numbers in his textbook.
"Terrible," Knox wailed, drawing the entire group's attention to him. "Awful! I just met the most beautiful girl in the whole world."
"Are you crazy? What's wrong with that?" Neil asked quickly.
"She's practically engaged to Chet Danburry, Mr. Mondo Jocko himself," Knox moaned.
"Too bad," Pitts said, adjusting one of the wirings on his radio.
"Too bad! It's not too bad, it's worse than too bad, it's a tragedy!" Knox shouted. "A girl this beautiful in love with such a jerk. Why does she have to be in love with a jerk?"
"All the good ones go for jerks," Pitts said matter-of-factly. "Right, Maria?"
Maria had been sitting at the end of the table with her school books and notebook and now wanted nothing more than to not be a part of this conversation.
Five sets of eyes turned to her inquisitively.
"Pardon?" She winced.
Pitts, not picking up on her uncomfortableness, asked again. "The good ones, the good girls, they always go for jerks, isn't that right?"
"Not necessarily..." She said slowly. "All girls are different and like different sorts of boys as well."
"What sort of boys do you like, huh?" Charlie was looking at her over the top of his propped-up textbook.
She flushed, knowing full-well Charlie was teasing her and riling her up again. He had somehow - between the moment he had met her to now - figured out that she flustered easily and had gotten too comfortable with the fact.
"That's for me to know," she said pointedly and turned to Knox. "Knox, there are plenty of other girls who I'm sure you'll find just as beautiful."
"That's right," Pitts said matter-of-factly.
"Forget her. Take out your trig book and figure out problem 12 instead," Cameron said, ready to bring the textbook to Knox. He, along with the others, had been working over this problem for most of the night and his frustration was growing.
"I can't just forget her, Cameron. And I certainly can't think about math right now!"
"Sure you can. You're off on a tangent - so you're halfway into trig already!" Meeks laughed loudly but was met with disapproving looks from the others. "I thought it was clever," he grinned sheepishly.
"Oh, sweetheart, it was," Maria gave him an encouraging smile.
Knox chucked the pillow across the seating area and into the opposite seat. "You all really think I should forget about her?"
"You have another choice?" Pitts said.
Knox got up from the couch and rounded the table, he clapped Pitts across the back. "Will it only be you, Pittsie? Are you the one for me?"
Pitts shook him off while the others laughed and Knox stepped to the edge of the table where Maria sat, dropping onto his knees as though he were proposing. "How about you, Maria? Will you take me? Are you the one for me?"
"I think you're lovestruck and projecting onto your friends, Knox," Maria said, giving him a teasingly pitiful look.
"You look like a loon," Charlie said right after, reaching under the table with his foot to try and kick Knox in the shin. "Get up before you embarrass yourself, oh wait..."
Maria laughed as Knox stood up, his expression still plastered with woe. "As a girl, Maria. You tell me, should I really just forget her? Is there really no chance?"
"I can't say, Knox."
Knox sighed dramatically, flopping back onto the couch in defeat.
A high pitch hummed suddenly and Meeks and Pitts jolted with joy.
"We got it," Pitts exclaimed.
"Holy cow."
"Five minutes, gentlemen..." Dr. Hager poked his head into the study hall room, "and lady." He blinked, a little disoriented at the sight of a girl amongst the crowd of boys. "That wouldn't be a radio in your lap, would it, Mr. Pitts?"
"No, Sir," Pitts smiled innocently, pressing his palm against the speaker making a humming noise. "Science experiment, radar, Sir."
Meeks held up the antenna in his hand to help in the lie.
Dr. Hager sniffed, unimpressed. "It's time to head back to your dorms," he nodded at Knox who was still sprawled depressed on the couch. "Mr. Overstreet, you can escort Miss Keating back to her quarters."
"Yes, Sir," Knox nodded sadly.
"How lovely to see that you're so excited to escort me back, Knox," Maria said, gathering her books.
"Oh, Maria," Knox shot her a wry smile. "It's not you, I swear."
"I know, sweetheart, I know."
"Did you see her naked?" Charlie asked, wiggling his brows as he gathered his books too.
"Very funny, Dalton," Knox said, shooting him a dirty look.
"Wait, what about problem 12?" Cameron asked as everyone around him packed up their gear and prepared to leave the room.
The others shrugged as they began to filter out of the room.
Maria waited with her books in her hand as Knox got up from the couch. Of the group, it was only Cameron, Charlie, Knox, and herself left in the student lounge. She looked toward Cameron, not forgetting that little comment he had made about her having an easier curriculum and so, as she turned to walk out with Knox, she looked over her shoulder and said, "The answer to problem 12 is negative three over four by the way."
"It...What?!" Cameron stared at her with wide eyes as she and Knox walked out.
Charlie howled with laughter as he followed. "Schooled, Cameron, by a pretty and smart girl."