❝her dance
was watched by
the heavens
but it was only
ever meant
for the moon❞
- Himanshu Goel
When Henley Hall's popular and passionate ballerina, Madeline Noyer, dances her way into the life of Welton Academy's in-secret aspiring actor, Neil Perry...
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Todd Anderson stood in front of the bathroom mirror of his floor with a sense of uneasiness starting to bubble at the pit of his stomach and creeping up to his chest.
It was already too late.
Just two doors, Meeks and Pitts were in their room trying to figure out which pair of socks to wear. Next to them, Cameron was moaning about how this plan was somehow worse than their usual late night adventures while Charlie pestered him and boasted about being Knox's ultimate 'wing-man'. The lover boy himself was just across from their room a door down, slicking back his hair carefully as his roommate, eyed him puzzled.
With his robe thrown over his shirt he eyed himself in the mirror carefully, not to look at his appearance but to glare at it instead for not being honest to his best friend sooner.
His first lie - or untold truth - was that he wasn't close to Knox at all to talk to him about Nancy. Now, at the time it wasn't a lie - if anything his word was nothing now in the turn of events - but now that turn of events dug Todd's dirt hole further.
He hadn't called Madeline to tell her he was coming.
For a few moments throughout the week he was second guessing himself and switching back and forth on his decision to go or not. One minute it was 'This is one of the few changes I get to see my best friend' and 'If the poets talk about me while I'm not there, then I'll be in even more trouble' then it was 'I have never been to a party and I don't want to go to one' and 'I would rather take the suffering from Madeline than the suffering of that many people in a room at once.'
He couldn't make a choice and eventually Monday turned to Wednesday and Wednesday turned to Friday night and he had no choice but to go. When Neil asked him if he was coming that Friday afternoon and was given a confident answer, the shy boy only muttered something about supporting Knox or whatever he was trying to say.
But right now, he had no idea what he was going to say to Madeline Noyer. Or the matter of fact, what he was going to say to Nancy for not helping her out sooner.
From the corner of the room, Charlie eyed Cameron with furrowed eyebrows, "Cameron, what the hell are you wearing?" he held out his hand gesturing to Cameron's outfit that comprised of his slacks, knitted sweater vest, and shirt and tie.
Cameron looked down at his outfit holding his hands up in confusion, "What?" he asked, seeing nothing wrong with his choice of fashion.
His roommate set him an irritated look, "What do you mean what?" Charlie spoke in disbelief, "We're going to a party not a Christmas family dinner!"
Cameron's puzzled look shifted immediately to distain, and his shoulder immediately slumped, "Well at least I'm not dressed like Elvis over here - that hillbilly cat-"
Charlie whipped a button up he held in his hands down at his desk, turning to point a finger at the ginger, "The ladies... like the King."
Next door, Meeks was able to hear the two through the walls as his side was directly against theirs, "I can't believe we're going to a party," Pitts piped up, stretching a striped sock over his foot, "A real party, Meeks," he said astonished.
Meeks smirked at him, "We gotta drink something, Pittsy and you have to wear those socks."
Pitts looked up from his socks with hope in his eyes and voice, "Oh we are gonna drink Meeks," he grinned, "Next thing you know, we're gonna be apart of some greek organization at the ivies," they laughed.
Neil walked out of his room nonchalantly, peering into the bathroom looking at Todd who was still to fixated on making his reflection his arch nemesis, "You ready?" he spoke, making Todd turn towards him.
He nodded, not really sure if he was ready because he had no clue what to prepare for exactly. Neil turned looking down the crowded hall as other boys were getting ready for bed, Todd following him into their room and shutting the door.
Neil opened his wardrobe, taking off his robe and fetching for his coat, "Okay so, we're gonna be a little late but I think that's how everyone goes to these things," he chuckled to himself, "But we just gotta do what we do every other nightly meeting and we'll be fine," he spoke nodding to reassure himself, "Do you think this entire party is just gonna be all girls - you know, because they're from Henley Hall?"
A part of the reason why Neil was asking was because in the back of his mind he had conjured up the idea that maybe the ballet girl that had caught his eye was going to be there. He pushed it far back into his mind once he thought about how they're far beyond sneaking out like the poets.
Todd shook his head, "Nah no... She went to public school before Henley," he answered and Neil eyed him curiously.
"I - Cause you know, that's what Knox said about her," Todd covered up.
"Ah, alright," Neil nodded before sighing, "It's no dead poets meeting but... this is a carpe noctem for Knox," he laughed at his joke but Todd only offered a smile for a split second before marinating back into his paranoid thoughts.
Night had fully fallen and dark had amassed the halls and corridors of Welton. The boys had just about made it off their school's campus, wrapped in their coats and talking with their breaths forming around them.
"Guys - I'm freaking out," Knox spoke.
"Knox, I'm fucking freezing my balls off," Charlie replied back, trying to humor himself to start some sort of warmth to emit.
Cameron piped in, "Whose idea was it to walk?" he groaned, shoving his hands deeper into his coat pockets.
Charlie immediately barked back, "Whose idea was it to come?" he glared.
Cameron held his hands up again, "You came too! You're the one complaining about how cold it is-"
Neil interrupted, "Come on, it's just a few more blocks down."
"You said that already a few blocks past!"
After a few minutes of watching the sound of rock and roll was starting to emit from up ahead and the boys saw a street full of parked cars near a very lit up house. The red bricked Georgian styled home was vibrant at first glance. The door light hanging from the pillared ceiling was lit up warmly and almost every single window had light emitted beyond the curtains.
It was definitely the place, and Todd already knew.
The boys glanced between one another, standing just before the brick pathway to the steps to the Rogers's front door. Sharing a last look at Knox who seemed to now be in the middle of them all, he chewed on his lips nervously as he took one last stretch to sweep back his hair before stepping onto his dream girl's property.
