Disclaimer: We don't own the Dead Poets no matter how much we wish we did. XD Enjoy!
Natalie McQuaid squirmed on the stiff wooden bench in the grand assembly hall of Welton Academy, surrounded by hundreds of young men with bright futures. Never in her whole life could she recall a chair as uncomfortable as the one she now sat in and the overbearing repressed ambiance of the ancient walls stifling the life of the people only made it worse. Somewhere behind her in the great hall a boy sneezed, jerking awake the older members of the assembly. At the podium, an old, weathered headmaster droned on in a lackluster tone like he had given this speech before, like he had stood in the same position in the same strictly pressed suit before the same bored sea of boys far too many times through far too many years.
Natalie couldn't even recall the old man's name. She leaned over to her sister, Nicole, and whispered, "What's his name again?"
"Dr. Nolan," Nicole said impatiently, dropping her tone as well as volume to sound more the part of her masculine disguise. "You know if we are going to do this right, you'd better act more interested and pay attention," She turned and stared pointedly at Dr. Nolan, who was rambling aimlessly about policies and no-nonsense.
Natalie scoffed quietly, "If we were doing this right, we would have forced our parents to come."
Mr. and Mrs. McQuaid were currently running an international business which took them to France for most, if not all, of the year. Natalie and Nicole had been in the care of their nanny Takahashi until one day, out of sheer boredom, they enrolled in the prestigious Welton Academy. To their surprise, they were accepted.
Welton Academy was indeed a prestigious boys-only school, catering to the wealthy and aspiring young men of Vermont; however, unbeknownst to the hundreds of young men around them and the ancient teachers before them, Natalie and Nicole McQuaid had, in search of higher education and more opportunities, dressed themselves like boys to infiltrate Welton Academy's high walls.
Natalie's green eyes scanned the back of the heads of the young men in front of her, all had the same haircut she now wore - thanks to a very expensive wig - and all the young men wore the same dark blazer she now sported.
Leaning forward slightly she glanced down the row. A tall young man with dark eyes and a pleasant face sat between his father and mother. He had thick dark eyebrows with a head full of thick brown hair, unlike his father who was balding and had a very stern countenance.
Suddenly, Nicole jabbed Natalie's side. Everyone in the audience was standing and she quickly stood as well, hoping no one noticed her tardy rise as the teachers and headmaster slowly departed from their seats, filed down the center aisle and up the stairs leading to the first floor. Once the elders had exited, the audience filled out one row at a time. A low murmur arose as boys greeted friends and parents rekindled old friendships.
Natalie straightened her blazer, heading straight for the door. Since her and Nicole's parents hadn't bothered to come, there wasn't any reason to stand around looking lonely and desperate, best to just check out the room assignment and pray she didn't get roomed with a perverted nerdy kid, like the red head with glasses that was talking to the bushy eyebrow guy.
Lowering their heads, Nicole and Natalie ducked through the hustle and bustle to the bulletin board beside the trophy cases at the entrance hall. Nicole ran her finger down the list, "Anderson, Cameron, Dalton. Ah here we are, McQuaid, Nathaniel and Nickolas. We are rooming in room 213."
"213? Oh, bad luck room," a haughty voice from behind them started the girls.
Nicole turned and came face to face with a young man with a pointed nose and a smirk plastered on his face. She cleared her throat, "Superstitions are for the simple-minded."
"Relax man. I was just messing with you," the boy gave Nicole a playful punch. "Hey, what's the room for Dalton, Charles?"
Nicole glanced at the paper, "211."
"Cool, we'll be neighbors. But don't call me Charles, it's Nuwanda alright?" He stuck out his hand, "And you are?"
Nicole smiled and shook Charlie's hand, keeping with her ersatz male tone as she replied, "I'm Nickolas McQuaid, Nick for short. And this is my brother, Nathan. "
Natalie smiled, also adding more depth and bravado to her voice for a masculine edge, "You want to walk with us to find our rooms?"
Charlie shook his head and took a step back, "Hell no, man. I'm not gay." He then turned on his heel and headed up the stairs.
Nicole glanced at Natalie, "Smooth. Now he thinks we're odd."
Considering the situation, Nicole couldn't blame him.
Room 213 was on the second floor of the east wing, otherwise known as the dormitory wing.
Natalie and Nicole stood at the threshold and took in their new room. It contained only the bare essentials; two iron framed beds, two oak desks, one large paneled window overlooking the autumn grounds, and a closet behind the door.
Natalie smiled as she put her hand against the off-white wall, "I guess they aren't much into interior decorating."
Nicole agreed as she dragged her suitcases to the center of the room, "I call the bed on the left." She threw her suitcase on the bed, which creaked as it sagged under the weight.
"Jeeze, what did you pack in there?" Natalie threw her own suitcase on her bed which groaned and sagged as well.
Nicole cocked an eyebrow, "I could ask you the same thing."
"Hey when you pack for two genders-"
Their bedroom door suddenly burst open and a young man with fire red hair that made his square face more prominent, freckles and a very pompous expression. He rested one arm against the doorway, "I'm Cameron, I will be your neighbor for this year."
Natalie and Nicole stared at Cameron, dumbfounded by this boy had just suddenly burst into their room without knocking.
"Cat got your tongues?"
Natalie cleared her throat and willed her voice not to sound high or squeaky, "Sorry, I'm Nate McQuaid, and this is my twin, Nick."
Cameron entered the room and straightened his tie. "Anyway, some of the guys and I are having a study group tonight. Latin. Would you two mimes care to join us?"
Natalie glanced at Nicole who answered, "Yeah, sure. That sounds good."
Cameron snapped his fingers, "Cool, see you guys later then." He turned on this perfectly polished shoe and shuffled out of the room as if he was the coolest thing ever.
Natalie pushed the door closed. "Seriously?" She dropped her bogus man-voice, "Do these guys think they can just barge in and out?"
Nicole shrugged as she pulled out her school uniforms from her suitcase and hung them in the closet, "I guess boys don't care all that much."
"Well, we need to figure out how to lock the door or something, so they don't barge in on us," Examining the door, she realized that there were in fact, no locks. "On second thought, maybe one of us could sleep in front of the door to hold it closed."
Nicole gave her sister a 'get real' look. She rearranged the remaining clothes in her suitcase then slid it under the bed. "It's probably safer to keep our feminine clothes and such under our beds."
When both girls had finished putting together their room, they ventured out into the hallway. Luckily, classes didn't begin until the next day, so Natalie and Nicole had time to roam around the halls and get familiar with some of the boys they would be going to class with.
Charlie spotted them almost immediately, "Hey McQuaids! Come say hi to some of the fellas." He put an arm around each of the girls and led them father down the hall. "This is my room here, you are free to enter whenever you'd like." He kicked the door wide with his scuffed shoe. "Yo, Knoxious."
Knox looked up from the corkboard over his desk, acknowledging his friend with a nod and smile. He was a well-mannered looking boy with light brown hair combed to the side and a shave so close, it put a baby's bottom to shame. He shot a questioning look to his friend when he saw two unfamiliar faces, "Charlie, who are those guys?"
Charlie clasped Nicole on the shoulder, "This here is Nick, and his twin brother, Nate." Charlie lowered his voice mysteriously, "They're in room 213."
"Ah, the bad luck room," Knox stuck out his hand, "I'm Knox Overstreet."
"It's nice to meet you," Nicole shook Knox's hand as firmly as she could.
"Why does everyone keep calling it 'the bad luck room'?" Natalie interrupted.
"Oh, you'll find out." Knox turned back to the corkboard, pinning up a Polaroid of a young woman with flowing blonde hair and grin plastered on her face as the sun sparkled in her blue eyes.
"Who's the girl?" Nicole asked.
Charlie groaned, "Don't get him started on her!"
"Christine Knewl," Knox sighed, "She is my future wife. We'll get married on the beach with her father's blessing and all our closest friends and family. We'll live in Suburbia and have ten perfect children that look just like their mother."
Charlie smirked, "Right. And someday we will land on the moon!"
Knox glared and tossed a pillow at his friend, "You'll see, man. Carpe diem."
"Carpe diem?" Natalie asked, "Is that some kind of boy band?"
With a grin on his face, Charlie responded, "Seize the day, it's our credo. Words to live by, my friends, learn them now and you're stay at Hell-ton will be greatly enhanced."
"I thought our stay was to be enhanced by Tradition, Honor, Discipline and Excellence," Nicole rattled off the four pillars. She had only been at the school five hours and already the brainwashing was taking affect.
"Puh-lease," Charlie scoffed, "That's just a bunch of junk they put on the brochures to lure the rich suckers into their death trap. Travesty," Knox joined in as Charlie chanted, "Horror, Decadence, Excrement. Now that is the true life of this place, fellas."
"Did I hear someone say 'Excrement'?" A cheery voice came from behind the girls as two young men entered the room.
Charlie smirked, "And how was your summer, Neil? Your old man make you take more summer classes?"
Of the two boys that had just entered, Neil was taller with thicker eyebrows. Natalie recognized him as the boy who was sitting down the pew from her and Nicole during the opening ceremony. "Indeed he did. He figures maybe I'll just get so overwhelmed I won't even think about trying out for the play again this year, but boy is he wrong." He glanced at Natalie and Nicole who were standing timidly to the side. "Oh I'm sorry, my name is Neil Perry, and this is Todd Anderson."
Blushing and praying that Neil couldn't hear her heart thundering in her chest she shook his hand. Her voice came out shrill when she tried to introduce herself. Clearing her throat to recompose herself she tried again, "I'm Nate McQuaid. This is my twin brother, Nick."
Neil looked back and forth between the girls, "You two don't really look like twins."
Nicole spoke up, "Fraternal."
Natalie nodded, "Exactly."
"Ah," Neil smiled. The girls found it contagious and they smiled right back. "I see."
Nicole looked pass Neil to Todd, "Todd right?"
Todd looked up with a look of dread at being spoken to. Surprisingly, the clock began to chime. Charlie jumped up and shouted, "Lunch time!" The boys simultaneously rushed out the door.
Natalie smiled at Nicole, "Well, I think we're going to fit right in. This is going to be easier than we thought I'm sure."
Nicole frowned, "Don't get so cocky. What about showering?"
"Psh. We'll just wait until they're all asleep, or get up extra early. No biggie." Natalie led Nicole out of the room and shut the door behind them.