wherefore art thou » dead poets society

brahms

there was a rumour.

a rumour that buzzed and hummed in the late september afternoon air. a rumour that sparked hushed conversations and soft gasps of surprise. the hallways were livelier, chattier, as the boys of welton shuffled to their classes. it was a rumour that greeted listening ears like a grand beethoven symphony, the melodies carried into the classrooms.

"have you heard?"

charlie leaned keenly over the desk, presenting his friend, neil, with a faceful of toothy, smug grins. neil tried his best to ignore the rambunctious energy radiating like sun rays off of the mass of the untucked, wrinkled white shirt blocking his vision. after repeated (and unsuccessful) attempts to ignore the hand waving, in the most irritable fashion, in and out of his line of sight, he gave into charlie's pestering, albeit neil's response was half-hearted. his dark eyes flickered up for a moment from the unfinished line of his latin assignment.

"heard what?"

"the new student, ye dingus," charlie near-shouted, his exasperation apparent in the groan gripping onto the edges of his voice. he seated himself atop of neil's work, effectively crinkling the page, crushing the pencil and capturing neil's complete attention in one swift motion. charlie's lips were set in a firm, tight line, clearly displeased at his friend's lack of interest.

neil perry raised both eyebrows at that, a chuckle bubbling at his throat, "what about him?"

"it's not a him, neil! jesus christ, it's a girl!" charlie gripped both of neil's shoulders, a jubilant grin stretching out his mouth and a keen fire was ablaze in his unfaltering stare.

it was at this point that neil understood charlie's excitement, though the exact feeling of "excitement" wasn't reciprocated. his interest was peaked, certainly, but along with that came a rush of bewilderment. a girl? welton was strict with regulations, of course - it was common knowledge. the enrollment of a girl was absurd, unheard of, sacrilegious!

"hang on a minute - what do you mean it's a girl? since when did hell-ton start accepting girls?"

"heard she's here on a scholarship program or somethin'," charlie answered, lighting a cigarette. 

"there's a scholarship program?"

"yea i s'pose. some arts scholarship. heard she plays violin or something. paints, too."

"there's an arts program here?"

charlie heaved an exasperated sigh around the cigarette, blowing the pungent fumes into neil's face. his eyes stung and he squinted up at charlie who answered with a roll of his eyes, "if you're so interested about the arts program, neil, why don't you go talk to her yourself?"

"i guess i will."