Pink Camelia - Neil Perry x Reader/OC

'~ Chapter 2 - gather ye rosebuds ~'

~~~

Dione sat down in the cafeteria, faced with a sad tray of lunch that she wasn't too sure looked completely edible. 

"Oh. My. God. You guys will not be-LIEVE what I just heard from Anna Potts!!" Dione barely heard from her friend sat opposite her, Lilith.

"What is it?" another friend, Johanna, spoke up from her spot beside Dione.

"Okay maybe it isn't that interesting, but I thought you might want to know, the school's next play is getting announced in a few days!!" Lilith looked pointedly at Dione, who had entirely missed what she had said. 

"Hellooo, anyone in there?" Johanna snapped her fingers in front of Dione's face, waking her from her hazy state. 

"Huh? what was that? I got lost in thought sorry." 

"Di, you okay? you look like you need a holiday from your holidays..." Lilith observed. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just tired- first day back right?" the girl responded, her eyes drooping as the last part turned into a yawn. 

"You were up looking at that photo album weren't you?" Lilith inferred, knowing all too well Dione's habit of reminiscing. 

Dione had been, the photo album in question was one filled with pictures from before her life seemed to fall apart, when she didn't have to worry about her future, when it was just her and Neil against the world. She had a bad habit of working herself into spirals and escaping into the world of the album, it was stupid holding on to something that had happened 5 years ago, she knew that better than anyone, but yesterday had been the anniversary of her separation from him, and she felt obligated to just look at the album one last time- 'this is it' she had told herself- 'after this, I move on for good'- and she was trying her best, but last night's escapades were catching up to her. 

"Diiii... Di!" Johanna snapped her finger in front of her friend's face for the second time that morning. 

"Yep, sorry, what did you want to say?" Dione said, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.

"Not looking at the album, huh? Sure. Anyway, I said that the school's play will be announced soon- you should try out!" Lilith lightly shoved her shoulder from across the table. 

"Oh- no no I'm much more of a backstage kind of girl- besides, I'm in the running for stage manager this year, I can't just give that up!" 

"If you say so. I still think you should put that voice of yours to use!" Lilith nudged her. 

"Lili- it's a play- not a musical." Dione looked incredulously at the blonde. 

"My point still stands-" she tried to argue but was cut off by the tolling of the bell signalling the end of lunch. 

"Ah, saved by the bell!" Johanna teased.

"This isn't over Hawthorne!"Lilith called teasingly as Dione sped off to her next class. 

'~'

The eight boys walked into their class, arms laden with books, they sat down at their desks, looking around the room and noticing the distinct lack of a teacher. The class eventually noticed him in his office looking out the window, he then turned, whistling a merry tune, and meandered out of the classroom. 

The boys weren't entirely sure what to do, all looking around in confusion. The teacher then popped his head back into the classroom.

"Well come on!" he motioned with his head for them to follow. 

The boys all hesitated before following him outside to the wall lined with display cases, each filled with old pictures of the school in its' former iterations; achievements, awards, pictures of previous students, medals- all lined the cases. 

The teacher stood before all of this, facing the boys as they huddled around him. 

"Oh Captain! My Captain..." the man looked around- "Who knows where that's from? Anybody? No?" 

The boys all looked at each other, shuffling nervously as they waited for someone else to answer.

"It was written, by a poet named Walt Whitman, about Abraham Lincoln." he paused dramatically before continuing- "In this class you may refer to me as either Mr. Keating, or- if you're slightly more daring- Oh Captain! My Captain!" 

Mr. Keating paced around the gap in the convergence of boys.

"Now, let me dispel a few rumors so they don't fester into facts. Yes, I too attended Hell-ton and survived. And no, at that time I was not the mental giant you see before you. I was the intellectual equivalent of a ninety-eight pound weakling. I would go to the beach and people would kick copies of Byron in my face..." 

The boys snickered at this, growing more comfortable at Keating's seemingly laid-back attitude. 

"'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.' The Latin term for that sentiment is Carpe Diem. Now who knows what that means?"

Meeks raised a shaky hand.

"Yes- Mr..." Keating trailed off, looking for his name.

"Meeks, sir."

"Meeks... rather unusual name- go ahead Mr Meeks."

"Carpe diem... that's seize the day."

"Thank you Mr Meeks." he paused dramatically once again, gazing around at the students- "...Seize the day. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may. Why does the writer use these lines?"

"Because he's in a hurry." Charlie decided to pipe up from the back.

"No. Ding" Keating imitated a buzzer from a game show- "Thank you for playing Mr Dalton." 

Another dramatic pause.

"Because we are food for worms, lads. Because, believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day gonna stop breathing, turn cold, and die." 

On that grim note, he beckoned the boys closer. 

"Now I would like you to step forward over here and peruse some of the faces from the past. You've walked past them many times. I don't think you've really looked at them." the boys looked around with a mixture of curiosity and nerves, unsure what they were supposed to do. 

"They're not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you. Their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils." 

The boys were slightly disturbed at this, many shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably, Neil however gazed upon the old pictures, awe-struck by this fascinating new teacher. 

"But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen. Do you hear it?"

The boys all stepped in closer as Keating began to not-so-subtly whisper in a hoarse voice, earning a few odd looks from the boys. 

"Carpe... Hear it? Carpe... Carpe Diem.... Seize the day boys. Make your lives extraordinary."

~~~