Charlie Dalton did not come out of his room for hours. Or, rather, Nuwanda did not come out of his room for hours.
No matter how many times (y/n) knocked, pleading for just a peek at her lovingly infuriating friend's face. She would have given anything to see him smile, hear him crack another joke about stealing her from Meeks. It broke her heart, seeing him suffer for an honestly funny joke - even if that joke could cost her her education at Welton Academy.
"I still don't get it," Cameron thought out loud, while the group walked to their student lounge for an evening of chess and debauchery. "what does that article have to do with you? I mean, they won't kick you out - will they?" If (y/n) didn't know better, she'd say Cameron sounded almost sad at the thought of her leaving.
But, then again, she might be getting ahead of herself.
"Honestly, Cameron, use your mystical brains to figure that one out. Or are they just fantasy?" Her characteristic smirk that came with her sarcastic remarks and drawl was not present today, but replaced by a mostly blank expression.
"Actually, I'm confused too." Pitts admitted sheepishly, whose long stride forced (y/n) to speedwalk to keep up with him.
"Alright, here it is," she took a deep breath before launching into a long-winded answer "Mr. Nolan might think that Charlie is not being his normal, idiotic self, but rather is trying to take advantage of my admittance to study at Welton. Now, if Nolan thinks his outburst is my fault, then I'm pretty sure he'll try to cut the disease before it spreads." Meeks gently grabbed her waist, pulling her towards him for comfort. Cameron made an 'ah' sound, nodding along - eyebrows drawn close in further thought.
"I'm sure everything is going to be fine, sunshine." he whispered against her neck, taking notice of the goosebumps that arose in his wake.
The door of the lounge was pushed open, Neil and Todd running to "their" sofa and collapsing side-by-side. (y/n) noticed Todd was wearing Neil's favorite sweater, and there was a twinge of jealousy in the girl's heart.
"Oh, so Todd gets the most perfect green sweater, but I don't?" she feigned an outrage.
"Blasphemy." Meeks said in a very zen-like manner, nodding once slowly. His girl settled her legs on his lap, and leaned against the arm of the sofa. Todd flushed a deep red, and Neil's eyes glinted mischievously at the boy's expression.
"Oh, well if you must know," Neil leaned forward while looking around conspiratorially "he paid in late-night stolen kisses." Todd grabbed a notebook and swatted him on the shoulder.
"Well, actually," he mumbled, playing with the sleeve's hems "I just snagged it from his closet when he went to breakfast early." The brown-eyed boy gazed on the blonde with such love and admiration - (y/n) felt little tears prickle in her eyes.
"When do you guys think Charlie'll come out?" Knox asked innocently, causing (y/n) to glare at him with all the negative energy she possessed.
"Dunno." Pitts shrugged, grabbing the chess board and fiddling with a knight. "Nolan's made his move, let's just hope our boy doesn't call check mate."
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Their after-school lazy chess games that were accompanied by poetry readings out loud were quite rudely interrupted by the man himself. When (y/n) ran over the possibilities in her mind, nearly each of them involved yelling and harsh words dedicated to insulting her femininity on the basis of her gender.
This was not, however, the case.
Headmaster Nolan swept into the room with arrogance, mouth pressed into a very thin line. He stole a glance at the girl, who took her feet out of Meeks' lap and placing her lace up boots very purposefully on the floor to ground herself.
"Gentlemen," the ancient man nodded with a weird kind of respect to the young men. Each of them stood up, echoing a chorus of 'hello sirs', before sitting down and staring at the chessboard. Subconsciously, (y/n) reached over and took Meeks' hand in hers, right in the line of sight of the headmaster.
He was just another human being, essentially just extremist thoughts trapped in a wrinkly skin. His opinion of her should not matter, and so she expressed her affectionate towards the auburn beauty and tilted her chin up like the proud queen she was.
Lizzy Bennet would certainly be proud, she thought to herself. And she smiled pleasantly at the old man.
"Ah, professor. What might I do for you this fine evening?" A part of her delighted in the way his gaze lingered on their intertwined hands. Meeks thumb gently traced the back of her hand.
"Ms. (l/n)," he sighed, pointing to the door "Please, accompany me for a stroll." She stood, smoothed out her Welton skirt, and grabbed her leather satchel, laden with novels.
"Of course." she inclined her head politely. "Guess I'll catch the lot of you later. Cheers!" her positive energy flowed to them, the radiance too much to ignore. Her fingers drifted from Meeks' reluctantly, and she dearly wished to bring him with her.
The walk to his office on the second floor was brutal. Even the darling staircases she loved were unappealing - as were the stares she got from the other students. Whispers wove their way into her ears, unsettling her normally perfect outside façade.
"Please, have a seat." he gestured warmly to a leather chair opposite his rather large desk, one that creaked when she sat down. Offhandedly, (y/n) remembered that this was almost the exact spot that he had smacked Charlie just hours before. "Oh, and help yourself to some tea. I know you must be missing it, being so far from home."
(y/n) narrowed her eyes at him, before taking a cup in her hands and taking a large gulp, the liquid scalding her mouth. "Ah," she sighed "nothing beats green tea." She set her china down on the table with a quiet clack and crossed her legs, leaning back. "Now, headmaster, what is this all about? Surely you wouldn't distract a pupil from her studies." her voice drawled lazily, making her seem bored. The old man thought for a moment before speaking, tentatively.
"Well, as you know a rather obscene and horrific article someone weaved its way into our school's paper. I'd like for you to tell me exactly who you know is the culprit." She opened her mouth to answer, but he held up a finger to silence her. "Now, when we allowed you to attend this institution it was under the impression of trying to be more inclusive, but it appears the fact of your involvement is highly distracting and promotes bad behavior." (y/n) had to bite back her violent verbal retort, opting instead to show how she truly felt.
"What?" she yelped, pleasantly ticked with this man. Her fingers wove together, displaying her anxiety. "Sir, I apologize for seeming rude, but I don't quite understand how me being here can distract the boys. I'm simply another human, no?" Nolan nodded once, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples.
"These young men paid great amounts of money to be here, and I refuse to let anything stain their education like a soiled tablecloth!" he smacked his palm flat onto the desk, emphasizing his point.
"But, sir," she gasped "they are young members of society! Perhaps you should consider teaching them polite manners." The older gentlemen chuckled, a rough sound.
"Who wrote the article, Ms. (l/n)?" his voice this time ghastly monotone - more terrifying than any amount of hitting his poor wooden desk. She put a finger to her chin, pretending to be deep in thought.
"Hmm," she hummed thoughtfully, trying her best to encapsulate Neil's 'doing math' face. "Let's think. Ah, yes! I believe his name is , erm, well it's - oh, that's right. I forgot, I don't have the tiniest idea. Even if I did, I wouldn't dare tell you." Her jaw was set, a small smile curling up the corners of her lips to indicate the humor she was pleased to feel at his crestfallen face.
"I see," he muttered, stirring his tea that had gone cold. "Well, then perhaps I'll pay Keating a visit - simply to inquire." Withered hands rose up to show defense.
"He doesn't know anything either, you're wasting your time. Sir." the last word was added with mock sweetness, which only close friends would realize to be her sarcasm.
"We'll just see about that," he tsked, opening the door for her. "I trust you can find your way back to your chess game?" the older man asked, blue eyes sharp and unkind in comparison of her father figure's intelligent and sparkling ones.
"While I might be not be good enough to be here based on my gender, I can indeed recall from memory the way back to the student lounge, yes." Her tone was soft enough, but really all she felt in that moment was like crying in her mother's arms.
"Enjoy your evening." the words were brisk, more like a threat than a parting gesture. (Y/n) only beamed at him, which she imagined looked quite more like a grimace.
"Good luck on your search! May it provide to be ever so helpful." She made a mock bow, pleased at how the Headmaster's face looked liked he'd sucked on a sour lemon. Within the blink of an eye, right after she crossed the threshold - the wooden door slammed shut behind her.
In mild fury, she spun around and perfectly executed every obscene hand gesture she had learned since coming to America, with theatrical vigor.
"Asshole." she muttered, practically floating down the stairs.
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a/n: originally i was going to make this chapter part of the scene where nolan gets all mad at Keating, but i've been quite under the weather lately and so i cut it short! Hopefully you all are well and enjoyed this new chapter<3