Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Dead Poets Society... I am just inspired by it.

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I look up from my letter with a smile, to see Todd beaming at me over the pile of paperwork in his lap. "The scholarship information?" I ask.

"It certainly is," Todd chuckles, scooting closer so we can look at it together. There's quite a bit of it to go through... full general scholarships as well as some major-specific ones, plus some additional information about the health program and the English department.

"The Captain's a careful reader," I grin, leafing through the health booklet. "He certainly paid attention to my whole letter."

Todd slips his arm around me while perusing the general scholarship requirements. "I'm just glad he's not put off by us. That we're together, I mean. For all he was our teacher, he... he always felt like a friend to me. The first adult I felt like I could trust at all. So I'm glad he's all right with us."

I lean over and give him a kiss. "So am I."

We read in silence for a while, savoring the last of our frappes. "This isn't going to be easy," Todd says at last.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it for a minute, Richard. We're both expected to go to Dartmouth. Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are acceptable alternative schools. But the University of California? They'll need official transcripts and probably letters of recommendation from teachers here... Nolan or someone is bound to tell our parents, even if we raised the application fees ourselves. You know they'll ask why were applying to... to some upstart school all the way across the country," Todd reasons.

Hmm. I hadn't thought about that. "Well... we can always say we wanted to apply to a... a good quality public school as a backup? And that we chose this one so that if we did end up having to fall back on it, we would get the experience of the travel and the unique surroundings on the West Coast?"

Todd chuckles. "All right, I guess that will do. It should satisfy the teachers here, anyway. Although we'll still have to deal with our parents, once the time comes for... oh. No we won't, will we? If we're going on scholarship, we won't have to pay more than a nominal fee to hold our places, right? I've got almost a thousand dollars in the bank, and it's my own account. My father won't have to sign for me to take the money out, I mean. It's from all the savings bonds my grandmother gave me, every birthday and Christmas, before she died two years ago."

I frown. "Well, I don't have nearly that much saved. Grandad tends to give things for my birthday... like, a new bike every couple of years, and stuff like my microscope in between bike years."

Todd laughs at that. "Not bad stuff, though. Better than that damned desk set of mine that my parents sent me two years running. Eh, we'll figure out the money as we need to, right?"

"Right. Although, we are going to have to find out the application deadlines and such soon. We might want to work on our essays over the summer, don't you think? Or at least figure out what we'll want to write about. Senior year isn't going to be any easier than this year, and they aren't going to reduce the homework any just because we'll be filling out college applications." I grab the general scholarship booklet and look it over. "Look, Todd, we have to apply by November 30th. Applications may be requested as early as September 15th. Ick... well, I guess we could still start our essays. I remember when AJ was doing college applications... he said practically all of them just wanted a little bit of a biography and why you wanted to attend that particular school."

Todd gives an evil grin at that. "Heh. We could always write some drabble over the summer, and use that on all the Ivy League applications, to make sure we don't get into any of them."

I nod. "Maybe. It sort of seems like cheating to me."

"Yeah, I guess it is, kind of," Todd agrees. "But if it takes some of the pressure off... My father expects me to fail anyway. I'll just be living down to his expectations if I don't get into Dartmouth. I don't know. Maybe it's not such a great idea after all."

I can't help but agree. "Probably not. I'd almost suggest going for a scholarship to Dartmouth... in English... to prove to him that you are worth way more than he gives you credit for. But if you do that, we'll have to hide for another four years at least."

Todd snorts. "If the scholarship is in English, and not a pre-med program, he wouldn't give me the credit anyway. Either I'm exactly what he wants, or I'm worthless."

I shake my head once more. "How does your mother stand being married to him?"

He shrugs. "She likes the prestige of being a doctor's wife. And she never really wanted kids anyway. She was prepared to give my father an heir... Jeffrey... but even he was left mostly to a nanny when he was young. So she wouldn't have to give up her clubs and all that."

"Not exactly the maternal type, I see." I look at Todd for a long moment.

He blushes. "What?"

"Nothing. I'm just trying to figure out how you got so nice with your parents," I tell him.

"Ah, I'm not that nice," he protests. "Am I?"

I nod and give him a hug. "Absolutely. After all, you gave me a chance."

He smiles and kisses me gently. "I'm glad I did. I'm glad we talked that night. And glad you had changed enough to make it all possible."

Now I'm the one blushing. "Oh, Todd... come on, now..."

He chuckles and messes up my hair. "It's too nice to stay in all day," he says. "How about we go to the lake and sign out a scull? I still want to try to do rowing next year, and I know you do rowing."

"Sounds like a plan," I agree.

We head out to the lake and the boathouse. Mr. McAllister is on duty and looks a little surprised to see me at first, since it's a pass day. But then he spots Todd and gets an understanding gleam in his eye. "Nice of you to consider your roommate, Cameron," he says in an undertone as he opens the storage chest and pulls out a couple of oars. "It's not every lad who would even remember that his friend couldn't go to town, much less would stay on campus with that friend." He cheerfully holds the little craft steady as we climb aboard, then he gives us a shove away from the dock.

We spend the better part of the afternoon rowing all over the lake. Then we headed inside and had our reubens and our still-cold Cokes for dinner. We thought about rigging a booby trap with the icy water in the wastebasket from the melted ice, but decided against it when we realized we'd be the obvious culprits, just for having been on campus when nearly everyone else was gone. So instead, we showered early and settled in to go over the UC-Berkeley information in depth.