song of the chapter: my kind of woman ~ mac demarco
3rd person pov...
Welton was bustling with life at this time of day. The end of the first day of the term left many scholars with mountains of homework no easier to scale than Mt. Everest, so it was not uncommon to encounter younger children having panic attacks in corners and older students calming them down.
Down the upperclassmen hall, while he knew his acquaintances were having much more fun 'studying' than himself, Todd Anderson sat at his desk, writing. Mr. Keating's words - seize the day - had resonated deeply with the boy, arguably the most than any other student in that room. The blond had grabbed a notebook and a pencil, set them upon his infamous desk set, and scribbled them down boldly on the center of the page.
He intended to seize the day, to get past his anxiety and truly live. He would, just - not now. Not while he was still discovering who he was and he was more focused on surviving his first year at Welton first.
Todd sits, appreciating the beauty that his English teacher had brought into his life that day, but felt overwhelmed after a single glance at his stack of textbooks - a reminder of his homework. With agitating certainty, the young boy rips the page out a crumples it, feeling a whirl of emotions that could only be described as mild internal turmoil that was only increased the second he looked at the first Chemistry problem.
Not so far away from the confused boy, Knox awaited Dr. Hager who was set to be his escort for the evening. He wanders aimlessly, looking at the photos Mr. Keating had instructed them to give their attention to earlier. Like Todd, his young mind was still reeling from the lesson.
"Ready, Overstreet?" the older man asks gruffly, not really caring much for the boy's preparedness in the slightest. Knox gulps and responds, following the man out of the oak doors.
"Ready to go, sir."
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In the upperclassmen's lounge, the atmosphere was light. It was the closest any of the boys felt to home; a place where they can play chess, build illegal radios, and spend jovial time together. Cameron, darling that he is, insisted that the gentlemen actually study, not just unwind. So, Neil and Charlie found themselves being instructed by the straight-backed redhead. (y/n), from her spot near the dartboard, looked over at the trio. Charlie, as if sensing her eyes on him, looked over with a look on his face that screamed 'help me'.
"Just a minute" she called while she aimed to launch a dart at the skeleton on the wall. Charlie rolled his eyes as she readied up to throw it. It was not common in the slightest to see a young girl sporting a pleated skirt, Mary jane's, and a knitted sweater throwing darts, and yet there (y/n) was. Although none of the boys present would admit it, they were intimidated by her bravery - her unwillingness to conform. She drew her arm back and let the dart whistle through the air before it met the wall with a satisfying thunk. Much to (y/n)'s dismay, however, hers was a hair to the left and just barely missed the plastic target's hat.
"Alright, then" she drawled "what do you need my help with, hm?" Charlie motioned frantically to his math work, clearly very stressed out.
"Everything, this idiot over here makes no sense." Cameron scoffed at the insult
"It would be easier if you were smarter!" (y/n) sat down on the chair beside Charlie's and bent over the open book, but not until she had reached over and grabbed the pen that hung from his shirt.
"Hey, I'm not stupid - you're an awful teacher." The pair bickered quietly while Neil was desperately trying to decipher the foreign mess that is Trigonometry. The girl sighed, and looked over at Meeks who sat with Pitts, the two of them working on a radio. The light bounced off his glasses, which for whatever reason (y/n) thought gave him a very intriguing profile. He smiled and very, very faintly, (y/n) noticed her heart flutter for a brief moment. She left the two boys bickering and sat next to the tech whizzes.
"Oh, hey, (y/n)" Pitts says distractedly while fiddling with their little radio. The girl notices that Meeks is waving around an odd-looking mechanism, obviously of their own creation.
"Steven, um, what've you there?" she questioned. The aforementioned boy played back the sound of his name being spoken in her accent multiple times before answering.
"Hmm, oh uh," he stuttered slightly before ranting "Well, we can't exactly leave an antenna to pick up the signals from town lying around otherwise Hager'd have our heads in the trophy case. So, I jerry-rigged some old scrap rods we found with a soldering iron and attached it here," he paused to point to a little auxiliary space on the machine. "so that if we do, in fact, pick up a nearby station, we can listen to it and not get in trouble. Do you like music, (y/n)?" she laughed at his short science lesson.
"I've loved music since I was old enough to understand how it made me feel. My personal favorite for classical is probably Chopin, but I do love Patsy Cline as well!" Meeks beamed, happy to share a common interest with the girl.
Suddenly, Knox barges into the room, exhausted, and leans against the door for what the boys immediately figured with his usual dramatic flair. (y/n) recognized his body language to be that of a boy who had fallen heads over heels.
"How was dinner?" Charlie asks, ignoring his overwhelming trig homework.
"Huh?" Knox says, somewhat idiotically
"How was dinner?" the blue-eyed embodiment of chaos repeats himself. Knox shrugs with his Welton blazer thrown haphazardly over his shoulder. The other boys and (y/n) look up, trying to be attentive to their friend
"Terrible. Awful" the boy in question complains before coming to join them at the table. Charlie tenses up, feeling concerned for his best friend.
"Why? What happened?" he interrogated, demanding to know who had hurt him so that he might kill them.
"Tonight, I met the most beautiful girl in my entire life." he confesses, throwing a glance a (y/n) who scoffed playfully.
"Ouch, my feelings." she feigns hurt, which makes Knox embarrassed. The rest look on in curiosity and amusement, all save for Meeks - who frankly thought Knox was a bloody idiot if he didn't see the girl sitting close to him.
"Well, no offense, you're cute," he stutters "but this girl she was, guys she was, like a goddess."
"No offense taken," (y/n) shrugs and examines her nails "you're not my type anyways!" Neil turns around and arches an eyebrow at the girl.
"Well," he says trying to cause drama as always "do enlighten us on your ideal type." The girl rolls her eyes and looks them both up and down before giving her answers. Finally, she utters one word:
"Redheads."
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a/n: ooooooooooooo y'all have no idea how much i loved writing that chapter it was probably my favorite! also i hope you thought the "redheads" bit was as clever as i did, otherwise it would be such a waste LMAO
lastly, i've decided to start including a song chapter at the beginning, for you to listen to if you'd like the right vibes. ily <3