WRITER IN THE DARK , neil perry

21

cindy stood at welton's gate, where she knew neil would be minutes later. the bell rang, and boys started pouring out of the door. some went to the courtyard, but others left the gate. cindy quietly waited until neil's friend group came up to where she was standing until she spoke.

"hey neil, can we talk?" she quietly asked, her hands neatly together behind her back.

"cindy? what are you doing here?" neil lowered her eyes at her. he was sick of cindy. she just wouldn't leave him alone.

"i need to talk with you." she pleaded, charlie stepping in front of her.

"he doesn't want to." he scoffed, shaking his head.

neil bit his lip out of guilt. "charlie, i'm sure me and cindy can be mature about this, right?"

"yeah of course." cindy quickly nodded, leading neil away from his friends and under a tree. it was lightly snowing.

"now what is this about?" he scoffed, eyeing his friends. they watched the pair, attempting to listen in on the conversation.

"i know that you and amélie are a thing now, and i had to ask you something about it." cindy rolled her eyes. as much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't over neil. she wanted to grasp onto their relationship as much as she could.

"go on.."

cindy took a breath before she spoke, hesitant. "will you go to the sadie's with me?"

"cindy, you asked me about the girl i liked, and then asked me to a dance." neil chuckled sarcastically, furrowing his eyebrows.

"yeah, so what? it's not like amélie has asked you." cindy pouted, defending herself. sadly, she had a point. amélie hadn't even hinted that she wanted to ask neil at all.

"she has. and i've graciously accepted. so no, i'd never go with someone like you." he quickly lied, making cindy cackle with joy.

"last year you would've." she raised her eyebrows.

neil knew she was right. "but i'm different now." he shook his head, closing his eyes.

"mhm." cindy sarcastically agreed.

"i'm over you. you have to accept that." neil slightly raised his voice, his tone switching from laid-back to serious. cindy gulped quietly.

"i do." she lied, her facade slipping. she was as vulnerable as ever speaking those two words.

"no, you haven't yet." neil shook his head, tears forming in his eyes. he didn't know why he was so emotional over this.

cindy quickly changed her demeanor. "yeah, i have. i've got loads of options who aren't you."

"then why do you keep trying to get me back?" neil quietly asked. cindy tried so hard to think of something to say, but she couldn't.

she stood there silently, looking up at neil. i'm sorry. that sentence echoed through her mind, but she just couldn't bring herself to say it. she wanted to keep up her 'mean girl' reputation.

"no. that is my final answer." neil sternly said. he didn't even wait for cindy to come up with some witty response, he just turned around and walked back towards his friends.

"that's your loss." she shouted out behind him, hoping he would at least turn back. nothing. she sat there, quietly, tears filling her eyes. she held them back, and quickly made her way back to aurela.

"what'd she say?" cameron asked with curiousity. all of neil's friends listened with anticipation.

neil was hesitant. "she asked me to the sadie's."

"what?" meeks asked in shock, looking over at pitts who was equally as shocked.

"you're kidding."

"you said no, right?" charlie asked cautiously. he was the most protective over neil, since they were the closest.

"of course i did." neil nodded. he wasn't sure why the poets thought he'd say yes. they knew what cindy had put him through.

"are you going to tell amélie?" knox added in. neil wasn't sure what to do. he knew it'd feel amélie feel really bad that cindy had asked him, because she didn't want to feel like she had "competition".

"do you guys think i should?" he muttered, everyone around him sharing whispers.

"of course you should." todd piped up. surprisingly, he knew amélie the best. they didn't talk much, but he was so good at analyzing people he knew just what to do.

"we're still meeting the girls tonight." cameron shrugged. they were meeting at some diner near both of their schools.

"yeah, we'd better hurry." meeks nodded, checking his watch.

"marianne will kick my ass if we're late." charlie chuckled, picking up his pace. "neil, you're still popping the big question tonight, right?"

"jeez, you're making it sound like i'm asking her to marry me." neil laughed. he was thinking about asking amélie to be his official girlfriend. he wasn't sure if he would actually go through with it, but his friends though this would be the perfect time to.

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once the group got to the diner, everybody went inside, leaving amélie and neil standing awkwardly alone. i guess without saying anything, they knew that the couple had to talk.

"hiya." amé spoke up, giving a tiny awkward wave to neil.

"hi." he nodded, waving back.

"can we talk?" amélie tucked her hair behind her ears, nervously waiting for neil to speak again.

"yes. i need to say something." he agreed, making amé exhale with relief.

"me too." she grinned, her eyes moving to her shoes.

"you first?"

"yeah, okay." amé nervously nodded. "will you go to the sadie's with me?"

"well, what i was going to say is that.." neil began, watching amélie look back up at him with curiosity. "cindy asked me."

"oh, i see." she looked back at her shoes, nodding. she was quick to accept defeat.

"i said no, amé." neil stopped her before she could walk away.

"okay.." she cautiously asked, waiting for what neil was going to say next.

it was on the tip of his tongue. he quickly paused before he asked, but it felt so natural when he finally said it. "will you be my girlfriend?"

amélie was confused, in a good way. a smile grew on her face. she wanted to stop herself from blushing, but she couldn't. her first real relationship. "yeah, i think so."

"come on, we're basically dating already." neil grinned, pulling amé into a tight hug.

"yeah, you're right." she said, her mouth covered by his neck. when they pulled away, amé still had one question on her mind. "so?"

"so what?"

"about the sadie's?" she nervously wondered. she knew the answer, but couldn't help but ask, just so she could hear that sweet response for herself.

"a million times yes."

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hello guys!!! sorry that this was a lot of dialogue, i am just trying to further the story + cindy and neil's plot line. NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THE DANCE !!! don't worry, i do know how i'm going to wrap this up and there are going to be a couple more chapters including an epilogue. i have been trying not to drag this out as well as make it kind of slow burn but i feel like i have failed at that lol. I will slowly be writing chapters but expect the story done in like early october. again, i don't wanna make any promises on when it'll be done because i am also starting to write another book. i'm not gonna bore you all with writing what it's going to be about, so if you want to know what it is comment on this and i will gladly tell you!! sorry for a super long message, thank you to everyone who reads this and voted on it, love you all! ☺️🫶