poeta nascitur, non fit ~ steven meeks x fem!reader

splintered stanzas: study sessions

When Welton's dismissal bell rang an hour and a half early, The Dead Poets Society initiates were huddled around 'their' table in the library - as they often did on short school days, which fell on Thursday.

(y/n), as per usual was challenging her friends to chess matches, simply to stunt their egos, while the rest pretended to study their textbooks to avoid humiliation. The only person in their party that had yet to lose to (y/n), was Steven Meeks - boy genius. 

The auburn-haired boy frowned at the chess board, debating a move. (y/n) simply sat patiently, having completely emptied her mind of all chess plays. "Hmmm," he pondered, finger tapping his lips - which had distracted (y/n) enough to leave her Queen unguarded. "Aha! Thank you, I'll be taking this lovely queen now." the girl feigned unhappiness at seeing his victorious face. 

"Ah, you've bested me again, Steven." she sighed, knocking her King over to yield the win to her friend. 

"Hang on," A shake of his head "No, no, you let me take it again." (y/n) shrugged as if she didn't know what he was talking about.

"Wow, Meeks," Charlie drawled from his position lying across a sofa nearby while the two of them reset the board "excellent observation."

"(y/n), resident chess genius," Neil hummed, sitting beside Todd with an arm around him "loses to a certain boy with glasses? Again? Hmm, that's awfully suspicious." Todd smiled knowingly at his best friend, who stuck her tongue out at Neil in retaliation. 

"Getting weird vibes, (y/n)." Todd remarked, blue eyes playful. 

"Oh, please," she scoffed "I could absolutely scorch poor Meeksie in a match, don't make the mistake of doubting my finely honed skills." her pointer finger waggled in their faces. 

"Yeah, well," Cameron sighed "If you don't mind, we have studying to get back to." As always, Cameron looked onto (y/n) with distaste, truly not seeing what Meeks did in her. She was pretty, of course - it didn't take an idiot to see that - but the appeal ended there. Her personality was shit, and her accent annoyed the absolute hell out of him. 

"Okay, so, what's this one?" Pitts pointed to a Trig expression in his notebook, asking for help. The group peered over his tall shoulders, trying to get a better look. 

"I had trouble with that one too," Charlie spoke up from his spot, actually grabbing his notebook to get to work.

"Of course you did." Meeks commented boldly, earning a laugh from (y/n).

"He's got you there, Charlie," she noticed "those are the types of questions you struggle with. But as for quadratic functions, you're quite good at those." Her hands flapped around lazily, illustrating her point. Charlie winked at her.

"Now, now, princess," he chided "don't you go getting any ideas to try me. I've sworn off dating nerds - even pretty ones like you." the girl rolled her eyes. Sarcasm dripped from her every word when she said;

"Charming - truly." 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── 

While most of the other students spent their half day playing games outside or simply lounging in the grass before the weather got too cold with November quickly approaching, the group of friends continued their day from the comfort of the library. 

Their table was situated by a large bay window, overlooking the lake and forest beyond, where - a few miles away - laid their beloved and mossy cave. On either side of a cedar table, at this time crammed with books and pencils, were two comfortable leather sofas, with high winged backs and plushy cushions. The eight students were unable to fit all on the sofas, so they commandeered two identical leather chairs from a reading alcove.