Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Dead Poets Society... I am just inspired by it.
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As it turns out, we end up with a round dozen of us meeting at the soda shop in town on pass day. Me, Todd, Knox, Nuwanda, Meeks, and Pitts bike into town together. When we go into the shop, the girls are waiting... Amy, Tina, Chris, Ginny, and two unfamiliar girls. One must be Carol, and I can only guess that the other is a friend of hers, brought along for moral support or perhaps to be fixed up for the Halloween dance with me or Todd.
One of the strange girls, with red hair, grins when our group walks in the door. "Redheads of the world, unite!" she calls over to me. "We must bring about the downfall of blond supremacy!"
Chris, the only blond in the group of girls, laughs. "Sure, Carol, sure. Anything you say." She beckons us over and makes the introductions all around. The other girl is Carol's roommate Linda. As I'd surmised, Carol suggested she join the group so that we'd have an even number of couples planned for the dance.
It turns out to be an enjoyable pass day. Both Linda and Carol are quick to accept that Todd and I are taking them to the dance as friends, but they're pleased enough to be escaping the random draw that they have no problem with this. It probably helps that they're sophomores, too, and therefore less likely to be seriously thinking of commitment quite yet.
Naturally, the first order of business... after ordering ice cream sodas... is to come up with coordinated costumes that will also pass the decency codes of the schools' dress policy. Tina is already grumbling that she wanted to go as Altaira Morbuis and have Meeks be Commander John J. Adams from the movie Forbidden Planet, but the Henley headmistress already announced that no costume will be deemed acceptable unless the skirt is at least knee length.
"How about we go as Martians, then?" Meeks suggests.
Amy pouts. "But that was what Gerald and I were going to do!"
Pitts takes her hand with a smile. "We can all four be Martians... Marvin the Martian and his cousin Melvin, and their girlfriends Marcia and Melly."
Tina grins. "Oh, I like that one! With helmets like Commander X-2 in the Bugs Bunny cartoons?"
Meeks laughs. "Sure, why not? Between the four of us, we'll surely manage to find some way of making them."
Carol, who seems to have selected me in accordance with her redheads unite speech, smiles at her sister. "Who or what are you and Knox going as, Chris?"
"Um... I don't know... something romantic, though," Chris replies.
"You're both blond, how about Brunhilde and Siegfried?" Todd suggests.
Knox laughs. "It's a good thing I'm tall," he comments. "I suppose I can pull off a warrior's physique. Chris, you'll be beautiful as a Valkyrie."
Ginny twines her fingers with Nuwanda's. "Charlie, will you laugh if I say I want to go as Cinderella and Prince Charming?"
Before he can answer, Knox laughs again. "Him, charming? You've got to be kidding, Gin."
"Oh, hush, you," Nuwanda shakes his head. "Ginny, I'll be happy to be your prince for the evening, as long as you don't try to run away and drop a slipper."
Carol giggles. "Nothing so romantic for me, ick! I want to be someone strong. Rosie the Riveter, maybe. Will they let us wear pants, do you know?"
Tina thinks. "I don't recall hearing that we couldn't. Just no short skirts or anything with a lower neckline than the average formal gown."
"Great!" Carol smiles. "So, dungarees and a blue work shirt and loafers for me. I'll be a lot more comfortable than most of you. No high heels to worry about. But what will you be, Richard, if I go as Rosie?"
"I can ask my father to send one of his old Army Air Corps uniforms and wear that," I decide. "That should coordinate fairly well. What about you and Linda, Todd?"
They look at each other. "Um... I like The Wizard of Oz. Maybe something from that?" Linda suggests tentatively.
"How about you be Dorothy and I'll be the Scarecrow?" Todd seizes on her idea with a smile. "The ruby slippers will be the only slight problem, right? But not too bad. You can get an inexpensive pair of pumps... or maybe use an older pair that you'd be replacing soon anyway... and cover them with glue and red glitter. And you can carry a basket, and maybe put a stuffed dog in it for Toto."
"And you can get some old beat-up clothes at a thrift shop or a rummage sale, and maybe there's a farm around here that will let you have a little bit of hay to have poking out here and there," Linda grows more enthusiastic when her idea isn't immediately shot down.
We finish our sodas and move as a group to the pizza parlor for lunch. The conversation swings from the Halloween dance to the upcoming production of The Taming of the Shrew at Henley Hall and the parts that Ginny, Charlie, and Linda hope to land in it, to everyone's plans for next pass day. We decide to meet up as a group again, so we can let each other know how we're progressing on our costumes, just in case anyone runs into a problem and needs to rethink the plans.
After lunch, we split up. The four couples head off to wherever "their" spots might be for some time to themselves. Carol and Linda head for the clothing stores to start looking for what they will need for their costumes. Todd and I walk our bikes across the main road to the common, where a few old men are playing chess and some small children are flying kites.
It's a beautiful late September day, just a hint of crispness to the air but not yet cold, and with the blue skies and golden afternoon sunshine that can only be found in New England in the fall. It's not yet peak leaf season, but the trees are already sporting patches of color among the green. As we'd planned earlier, we settle in at one of the common's picnic tables and pull out our writing paper and pens.
Oh Captain, my Captain!
I'm pleased to hear that your wedding went well. I hope we'll get the chance to meet Mrs. Keating someday. After all, if she's your choice, she must be someone very special indeed.
Charlie Dalton is back at Welton. He's done some growing up in this past year the same as I have. I don't know if he and I will ever be close friends, but we're no longer enemies, anyway. He's rooming with Knox Overstreet this year, so he's back as a part of the study group as well. Dean Nolan wouldn't let him back on the school paper after that article he slipped in last year, so he's doing drama this year. He's also still dating Ginny Danburry, which I think is why he went for drama. I finally managed to get out of debate club, and I'm in the biology club instead now.
And... Todd and I have dates for the Halloween dance. Chris asked if one of us would take her sister Carol, to save her from the random draw. Carol will be going with me, and Todd is taking her roommate Linda. They're both sophomores, and we've made sure they know we're only going as friends. They don't seem to mind any, since it saves them from getting stuck with who knows what as partners. Linda and Todd are going to be Dorothy and the Scarecrow. Carol is going to be Rosie the Riveter, and I'm going to wear one of my father's old Air Corps uniforms so that we're a somewhat matched set. It ought to be interesting. Friends or not, this will be the first time I've ever had an actual date for a dance.
I hope your school year is off to a wonderful start, and I can't wait to hear back from you.
Your friend,
Richard
I seal my letter into its envelope and wait for Todd to finish his. While I'm waiting, I scribble off a quick note to Father, asking him to send one of his old uniforms. Once he's done, we head to the post office to send them out, then swing by the diner for BLTs to take back to school with us for dinner.