CHAPTER FOUR
A CRY TO CHRIS !
AFTER that night's dinner of the perfectly balanced protein, vegetables and fruit so that their diets were in order for maintaining thought process, focus and agility, the boys were quick to shove Eliza off to the student lounge.
Eliza sat with Neil, Charlie and Cameron in the corner of the room to do trig since none of them were the best at it.
"If I could kill a subject, I would," Eliza muttered, erasing most of her work from the first question. She stared at the hand written questions her Uncle had given her as she made a face at it.
Sadly, her trig was different than the boy's since they didn't have trig with Keating, only English and it was starting to grate her nerves when she continued to figure out what was going on and unable to ask for help.
Neil, Charlie and Cameron had made it to number five in a snap and then were stuck for twenty minutes.
Eliza leaned over to look at Neil's book and try to help. If she couldn't even figure out her own she wasn't sure how much help she'd be.
"The numbers become x and then... I don't know after that," Eliza shrugged at Neil, her hand brushing against his arm as she pointed at the long stream of numbers.
Neil nodded, his glasses perched on his nose as he followed her finger. "Okay, thanks," he muttered, eyebrows furrowed.
"This is why I like English," Eliza said, still watching Neil's face. "Even if you don't get it, there's a good chance that you can chance the answer and still be right."
Neil looked over at Eliza, his lips turning up impishly at her statement.
"That's true, although you could be catastrophically wrong," Neil shrugged, twirling his pencil between his fingers.
"If you two are done..." Cameron called, trying to finish his sentence but just ended up flinging his hands up. "Then can we continue with this. What did you get for five, Neil?"
"I didn't," Neil responded bluntly, his mouth turning into a frown.
Cameron looked appalled by Neil, although Cameron didn't have the answer either. "What? Come on, why not?"
"I don't get it!" Neil exclaimed, leaning back in his seat.
For a moment, Cameron turned to Charlie who was staring at his paper, completely lost. Cameron let out a long sigh, and stood up with his textbook so he could stand in between the two.
"Just replace these numbers with x, for x and y," Cameron explained, pointing with his pencil.
Neil looked up at the red head with a dissatisfied look, Eliza looking up as well. She had at least gotten that much.
"Of course," Neil agreed.
"Of course, so what's the problem?" Cameron asked, looking over at Neil clearly confused by him.
The door opened, letting a breeze come in as Knox closed it again and leaned against it with a heavy sigh.
"How was dinner?" Charlie asked.
"Huh?" Knox asked in a daze.
"How was dinner?" Charlie repeated.
"Terrible," Knox muttered, slouching his way over to the table. "Awful," he continued, pulling out the chair beside Eliza, flopping down into it with a frown.
"Why? What happened?" Charlie asked, pulling himself up in his chair and leaning forward.
"Tonight, I met the most beautiful girl in my entire life," Knox told them in a steady beat as he looked between everyone. Except Cameron was paying more attention to his textbook.
Eliza's smile widened as she took Knox's hand and squeezed it sweetly.
"Are you crazy?" Neil asked softly, removing his glass. His grin was soft and delicate. "What's wrong with that?"
Eliza glanced over at Neil to see him doing the same and both returned their gazes to Knox with slightly red cheeks.
"She's practically engaged," Knox moaned, taking a breath as her enunciated the name that dripped from his lips like venom. "To Chet. Danbury."
Knox's brown eyes rolled into the back of his head before returning to normal.
"That guy could eat a football," Charlie announced, trying to lighten the mood.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Eliza asked.
"It's poetry, dear Eliza, you must understand," Charlie smirked, his voice raspy from the cigarette he had burned earlier.
"That's too bad," Pitts called from his table with Meeks, the two working on a radio to try and get signal since they were banned at Welton.
Knox turned on Pitts, desperate for him to understand.
"'Too bad?' It's worse than 'too bad', Pittsie. It's a tragedy. A girl this beautiful in love with such a jerk," Knox sighed, blinded by this Chris girl.
"All the good ones go for jerks, you know that," Pitts declared, leaning back into his project.
Eliza leaned over to Knox with a teasing smile. "It's true, that's why I've been pursuing Charlie," she stated with a small chuckle escaping from her.
"Really?" Neil asked, a little too distraught while Charlie's tipped chair fell backwards.
"Of course, Neil. Why wouldn't I?" Eliza rolled her eyes, leaning her head on hand as she looked into his deep brown eyes.
Neil rolled his eyes back, catching on while Charlie returned to his seat slightly embarrassed.
"Ah, forget her," Cameron called. "Open your trig book and try to figure out problem five," Cameron told his lovestruck friend seriously, motioning apathetically to his own book as an example.
"I can't just forget her, Cameron, and I can't think about trig," he spat, watching Cameron huff in annoyance.
A shrill beep cut through the room, silencing a few of the students as they turned to Meeks and Pitts, their radio finally coming to life. But, Dr. Hager stepped into the room, calling for their five minute mark.
"And would one you more respactable boys," Dr. Hager called, eyeing Charlie pointedly, before continuing, "take Miss. Keating to her room, please?"
Knox nodded before anyone else, standing to his feet to help Eliza pack her things away.
Charlie stood as well, hitting Knox on the side of his arm to grab his attention between the hustle and bustle. "Did you see her naked?" Charlie asked, and was immediately hit in the arm by Eliza.
"Very funny, Dalton," Knox said sarcastically, putting Eliza's bag over his shoulder.
"Good night, everyone," Eliza called, looking between everyone and smiling kindly. Neil gave her a small smile in return and waved, Cameron didn't say anything and Charlie gave her a wink and a good night back. "See you tomorrow in English," she said as she rounded the door with Knox, the two walking down the halls to the teacher's quarters.
"So," Eliza drawled, turning to look at Knox with a large smile. "What was her name?"
Knox smiled, as if just the name on his tongue appeased his need to be with her. "Chris Noel."
Eliza grinned at the sight of him, all love struck and soon to be heart broken.
"It's beautiful, even if this Chet Danbury who could eat a football is in the mix, maybe you have a chance. Most high school relationships don't last long anyway," Eliza shrugged, trying to reassure him.
"Really?" he asked, his hope rising with her words.
"Really," she agreed. "Maybe you'll see you're the one worth the time."
The two made it to the front doors of her room and she quickly kissed Knox's cheek even if it was a struggle because of his height. "Good night, Knoxy."
"Night, Ellie," he grinned, turning back to the boy's dormitory and sent her a wave before he turned at the end of the hall.