It was nearly an hour past midnight on the campus of Welton Academy, and the all of the boys were nestled deep in their beds, huddled against the cold autumn air, and sleeping peacefully.

All of the boys…except the Dead Poets Society.

It was understood, as the boys were randomly assigned to their roommates, that they had to make certain sacrifices to co-exist. One of those, clearly outlined by Charles Dalton to his roommate, Richard Cameron, was that "If I ever hear you beating off I'll take pictures and sell 'em for five bucks a pop."

But Cameron was horny.

He had lain awake for hours on end, his hand pressed between his thighs but not daring to move, until he heard Charlie's breathing grow soft and slow, and then, as fast as he could, Cameron started rubbing himself, exhaling quickly and shallowly. "OhGodohGodohGod, ohhhhhh mother…" escaped him in the form of whispering.

Meanwhile, next door…

Stephen Meeks was already into it, grinding furiously into his fingers. A few feet away his roommate Gerard Pitts was facing the other wall, his breath whistling through his teeth as he thrust into his own hand. It was an unspoken agreement between them that neither would mention his best friend's self-pleasuring habits. For Pitts, it was quite often; for Meeks, only when he had a headache. "It really helps," he'd said, pointing at a medical book. "Studies have demonstrated…"

Pittsy had rolled his eyes. Now his eyes were rolling, back in his head, his long face clenched into a tight ball. "Yessss," he hissed.

And across the hall…

Knox Overstreet, too, was making the best of his night. His roommate, Hopkins, was away for the weekend and so he had the pleasure of being completely naked, and taking his time as he thought about Chris. Her soft white-blond hair, her doelike eyes…the way she'd grabbed his arm at the Danburry's…

"Ohhhhh….Chris…no, you don't have to. But go ahead. Yeah. Okay…ohhhhhhkay…."

And next door…

Todd Anderson lay wide awake, thinking. He was happier here, at Welton, than he was at home, but it was still a little awkward, having such a charismatic roommate. Todd felt left out, even lonely, at times.

He thought Neil was asleep, but when he heard the slight, quick breathing and heard Neil's squeaky bed shift its springs, he realized in a flash what Neil was doing. Trying to block the sound out without making any noise or movement, Todd squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

Cameron was so close, so close to climax, he could feel the tension pushing its way through his scrawny body and out through thin fingertips and there he was…he clenched his jaw and came. A bright light flashed across his vision and he went limp, panting.

"Wow…" he said softly to himself. "That was intense." Especially the bright light. He'd never seen that before.

He shifted to get a tissue, and there was Charlie, holding a Polaroid camera in his hand. "Good night, Cameron," he said, and grinned.

Cameron screamed.

Next door Pitts had come and was drowsing off to sleep, but Meeks was still hard at it.

"Come on…" Meeks moaned in frustration, moving faster.

Then Cameron screamed and Meeks jumped up in bed, as did Pitts.

"What the hell was that?" Pittsy whispered.

Meeks looked down at his lap, frowning. "Wasn't me."

Knox heard the scream and it pushed him over the edge, Cameron's girlish voice sounding eerily like Chris, Chris, screaming for him, Knox. Shuddering he came, and a row of sparks exploded in his brain…

Neil was getting into it, now, breathing faster and faster, as if he'd just finished rowing. Despite himself, Todd was getting excited about the idea of Neil, at the mercy of the touch of fingers, at the mercy of his need for release. Finally, Neil, not bright and shining. Todd stroked himself in time with Neil's breaths, and pretended it was Neil's fingers touching him. So absorbed was he that he didn't notice when the noises from Neil's bed stopped and the floor creaked, until he heard Neil's voice over him as the tall boy bent down.

"Todd," Neil said, hot, in his ear, and that was all it took – Todd came, eyes wide, his mouth gasping for breath.

Shamefaced, Todd sat up and drew his blanket over his lap. "I – Neil – I – "

Neil grinned at him. "I guess we never discussed this, huh?"

Todd gulped.

Then Cameron screamed from across the hall and Neil quirked his eyebrows at the sound. "Ah, well, it could be worse."

With this he patted Todd on the shoulder and returned to his own bed.

Todd rolled over and tried to go to sleep, but all he could think was…Oh, my God, he did NOT just touch my shoulder with the same hand that he…

He was better off, Todd decided, not knowing.