Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this fic...If I DID own the characters, I'd have Charlie all to myself! And Neil would still be alive...and Charlie would be mine...and Mr. Keating would still have his job...and Charlie would be mine...and Chet Danbury would have his but kicked by Knox...and Charlie would be mine...and it would have been Cameron that would have been expelled...and Charlie would be mine...and Todd would have a back bone...and did I mention Charlie would be mine? I did? Oh...Okay! Well then. It's settled. Charlie would be mine if I owned the characters.
HOWEVER...I have this affinity for Todd Anderson and decided to every once in a while write a drabble from his 'journal'. Of course they'll be short. I sort of think these would be the words he'd write if he kept a journal. Hope you all enjoy!
New teachers are amazing. They have this idea that they can change us. By being fresh and young and exciting and funny. But, can they really change us or just our knowledge of things? Do they separate us from ideas or are we the ideas?
We have a not-so-new new teacher. His name is Mr. Keating. The first class he talked about 'seizing the day. Carpe diem!'. This, of course, I would love to do. Why? Because I'm always planning. Always scared. Always who everyone else says Todd Anderson should be.
I have to admit I'm intrigued by Mr. Keating. There's something fresh about him that…well, he reminds me of nothing more than an overgrown youth.
In today's class, he told us that the powerful play goes on and we can contribute a verse and what would our verse be. I sighed. My verse? Not sure. I don't even know if I'm allowed to have a verse in the powerful play. Everyone else writes it for me. I never have a say.
But maybe one day…uh, I better not think it. I get in trouble if I think. No one ever allowed me to think of anything but schoolwork and soccer (both of which I hate!)
My roommate, Neil Perry, seems to have grasped this whole 'Carpe Diem' to a tee. He doesn't wait for permission. He just does. It's hard to believe it's only been a couple weeks since first meeting him. Jeez! He's the golden child! Everything he does…everything he touches turns to gold.
My touch turns things to shit. Is there a verse in this powerful play that I can write? Will I ever truly have the chance to seize the day?
I feel so small and inadequate…especially in English. English was Jeffery's best subject. He always got A's in English. He never failed to do an assignment. He never failed a test or got below a 90 in English.
(I look outside my window and I see the leaves changing. I shouldn't be writing in my journal, wasting time looking at leaves, and hating them because they get to die and start afresh. I go to sleep and wake up the same Todd Anderson I was the night before. The leaves, however, get to become new leaves and no one questions them.)
I need to get to studying. Carpe Diem is only for those times that isn't taken up by school work or parents dictating lives.
Carpe Diem, Todd, but do your homework before you do.