as students rushed down the hall for dinner, neil perry was walking up the stairs. he had returned from another day of rehearsal and wanted to clean up before dinner.
"save some for me!" he grinned as boys rushed by him.
upon opening the door to his dorm, neil sees his father sitting at his desk.
"father." neil muttered, his blood running cold.
"neil." his father said sternly.
"wait a minute." neil pleaded. "before you say anything, please let me ex-"
mr. perry rose from his seat, his face scrunched in anger. "don't you dare talk back to me! it's bad enough that you've wasted your time with this, this absurd acting business. but you deliberately deceived me!"
neil looked down at his shoes as his father scolded him. he couldn't bare to look his father in the eyes.
"how, how did you expect to get away with this? answer me. who put you up to it? was it this new man? this, uh, mr. keating?"
neil quickly lifted his head.
"no. nobody--i thought i'd surprise you. i've gotten all a's in every class."
"did you think i wasn't going to find out?" mr. perry hissed. "'oh, my niece is in a play with your son,' says mrs. marks. 'no, no, no,' i say, 'must be mistaken. my son's not in a play.' you made a liar of me, neil! now, tomorrow you go to them and you tell them that you're quitting."
neil nervously shakes his head. "no, father, i can't! i have the main part. the performance is tomorrow night." neil's voice dripped with desperation.
"i don't care if the world comes to an end tomorrow night." mr. perry spat. "you are through with that play. is that clear?"
neil stood still, his face soft with sadness.
"is that clear?" his father repeated loudly.
neil reluctantly nodded his yead. "yes, sir."
mr. perry walked to the door, but turns around.
"i made a great many sacrifices to get you here, neil, and you will not let me down."
"no, sir." neil squeaked.
his father left his dorm, leaving his son standing in the center of the room, destroyed.
✰
scarlett had spent her afternoon with her father in his room. she sat on his couch, a copy of the beautiful and damned by f. scott fitzgerald lied opened in her lap.
john was seated at his desk, writing a letter to his wife. he occasionally looked up at a framed photo on his desk of a woman playing the cello. scarlett noticed her father's sad smile when he looked at the photograph.
"i miss her, dad." scarlett smiled weakly.
"me too, darling." john said. "but we'll see her soon enough."
the end of the term was approaching fast and the two keatings could barely wait. the two had planned a trip back to london over the winter holiday to see the woman they both had been longing to see since the beginning of the term.
as scarlett and john return back to their work, a soft knock echoes throughout the small room.
"it's open." john said.
the door opens to reveal a distraught neil perry.
a huge grin formed on scarlett's face at the look of the boy she adored. "hi, neil."
"neil, what's up?" john asked, looking up from his letter.
"can i speak to you for a minute?" neil glanced at scarlett. "well, both of you."
scarlett nodded as john ushered for the young boy to sit down.
neil goes to sit in a chair that was next to john's desk, but it was piled up with books. he begins to pick them up as john gets up from his desk to help him.
"i'm sorry. here." neil said as he handed a few books to scarlett, who placed them next to her on the sofa.
"excuse me. would you like some tea?" john offered.
"tea?" neil questioned. "sure."
john makes his way to a table in the corner of the room and begins to pour two cups of tea for him and neil, none for scarlett since the blonde was drinking a cup of coffee.
"like some milk or sugar in that?" john asked.
neil shook his head as he politely denied john. "gosh, they don't give you much room around here."
"no, it's part of the monastic oath." john explained, which made scarlett grin. "they don't want worldly things distracting me from my teaching."
john gave neil a cup of tea and the two return to their seats.
as john sipped his tea, neil glanced at the framed picture on the desk.
"she's pretty." neil said. "her and scarlett look alike."
this made scarlett blush. she always admired her mother's beauty.
"she's also in london." john replied. "makes it a little difficult."
"how can you stand it?" neil asked.
"stand what?"
"you can go anywhere. you can do anything. how can you stand being here?"
"'cause i love teaching. it also gives scarlett an amazing education and a wonderful group of friends. i don't wanna be anywhere else."
john and scarlett noticed that neil seemed off, his body more tense than usual.
"what's on your mind, neil?" scarlett asked as she shut her book and put it to the side.
"i just talked to my father."
scarlett frowned. she knew that no good came from that sentence.
"he's making me quit the play at henley hall. acting's to me. i--but he doesn't know. he--i can see his point. we're not a rich family like charlie's, and we--but he's planning the rest of my life for me, and i--h-he's never asked me what i want."
john nodded. "have you ever told your father what you just told us? about your passion for acting. you ever show him that.
neil quickly shook his head. "i can't."
"why not?"
"i can't talk to him this way."
"then you're acting for him, too. you're playing the part of the dutiful son." john explained. "i know this sounds impossible, but you have to talk to him. you have to show him who you are, what your heart is."
neil sighed. "i know what he'll say. he'll tell me that acting a whim, and i should forget it. that how they're counting on me. he'll just tell me to put it out of my mind, 'for my own good'."
"pardon my french, but your father doesn't know shit, neil." scarlett interrupted.
"you are not an indentured servant. if it's not a whim for you, you prove it to him by your conviction and your passion." john encouraged. "you show him that and if he still doesn't believe you, well, by then you'll be out of school and you can do anything you want."
a tear falls down neil's cheek and he quickly wipes it away.
"what about the play?" neil sniffled. "the show's tomorrow night."
"well, you have to talk to him before tomorrow night."
"isn't there an easier way?" neil sighed.
"sadly, there isn't." scarlett chimed in.
"i'm trapped." neil smiled, tears falling down his cheeks.
"no, you're not." john assured the sad boy.
scarlett got up from the couch and crouched down next to neil. she pulled the sobbing boy into a hug, letting his tears soak her blouse. her heart broke as he tightened his grip around her.
she glanced up at john, who was already looking at the two.
the two felt terrible for the young boy. he was being held down by his father, as much as he wanted to be free.
author's note:
i wrote this maybe three days ago and i haven't read over it so i am just hoping it isn't a travesty. i have a lot of faith in myself.