Nushka - thank you for that lovely, long review, I'm glad you're enjoying it :)

Gueststarring- Thank you, haha I love Todd so much as well, he is a precious little cinnamon roll!

'Or where afar, the ship-lights faintly shine

Like wandering fairy fires, that oft on land

Mislead the pilgrim; such the dubious ray

That wavering reason lends, in life's long darkling way.'

~ Huge Vapours Brood above the Clifted Shore, by Charlotte Smith (1798)

Chapter Seven -'Lord, what fools these mortals be'*

"A Midsummer Night's Dream?" Kat plucked Neil's script from the breakfast table, flipping through it as she ate her toast.

"Open try outs," he explained between mouthfuls of cereal, "after school on Monday."

She threw him a reassuring smile, "you'll be great." Barely a second before she took a bite, a clump of wheat landed in the jam. Knox's spoon fell with a clatter, drowning out his apology as he tried to resume eating, only to fling food at her again. Her despairing gaze narrowed. "Wait, am I missing something, or did you all become left-handed over night?"

It had been difficult to identify at first, but the usual scene had been tainted by an almost imperceptible change. Every boy at the table was attempting to eat his cereal with his spoon in the opposite hand. Unsurprisingly, milk had puddled and cereal appeared in clusters across the surrounding space. Kathleen didn't bother to ask, obligingly, she switched her toast to the grip of her other hand.

"We're trying to look at things in a different way," explained Knox, slopping cereal down his front. "Damn." He broke off, struggling - for the first time since Kathleen had met him - to keep up conversation.

She bit back a smile, smug in the lack of complications accompanying her food choice.

"We saw this for you in mail," Meeks mopped up a patch of milk with his sleeve before sliding her an envelope.

"Thanks." She tore it open, choosing to ignore the raised brows and looks of amusement that the boys shot one another at her eagerness.

Dear Kitty Kat,

Tell me everything.

I arrive at the Noel's on Wednesday night, and I am counting on receiving a welcome fit for a president. The boredom has been driving me to edge of crazy, and over it. Being an only child is a curse. I shall be gracing you with my long-awaited presence on Thursday. You are sneaking me in, rules and Nolan be damned. Get those crafty boys to help and take the chance to be rebellious. I will be waiting outside the gates at one o'clock. Don't let me down, sugar!

I haven't seen Chris since last Christmas, and she was single then. She has mentioned a Ginny Danburry, but I don't remember any mention of a Chet. Perhaps they are related? We can play strategists on Thursday. This is honestly the most exciting thing I've done since my trip to France in July, it's now October. I am game for any crazy thing you need my help with. My sanity rests on it.

You better not let me get lonely! There must be some rule of friendship against it. I cannot wait to reunite and have sleepovers, and girl talk, and shop, and meet these wonderful boys who've rescued you from Nolan. They are knights in shining armour in my opinion, princes among men! I doubt the other girls got as lucky as you with their schooling. As far as I know, only Helen and Tara aren't returning, but that is a worry for the future. Our current concerns are absorbed by uniting. The cruelty of our separation is unfathomable.

Love forever,

Nancy xxx

Kathleen broke into a smile, biting her lip in an effort to contain her joy.

"You look like you've inherited a million," Charlie said, "what's the good news?"

She ran her hands over the creases in the paper, taking her time to fold it back in the envelope as she examined the eager faces of the group. "I know the club is about taking action, so who fancies doing something rebellious next Thursday?"

Neil's grin needed no words to affirm his approval.

"Hell yeah," whooped Knox, high-fiving Charlie.

"Nancy wants us to sneak her in," Kat explained, "she'll be waiting outside the gates at one o'clock."

"Another girl!?" Spluttered Meeks.

"Isn't that against the rules?" Cameron muttered, knowing that he would be ignored.

"Yes," Kat replied with a shrug, her excitement overtaking her usual sympathy for Cameron. "She arrives at the Noel's on Wednesday. That means she'll have news about Chris," she teased Knox, keeping clear of the splash zone she anticipated - correctly so - would be created by his abandonment of his spoon mid-air. It dropped once more with a heavy clang as it struck his bowl, disturbing the milk.

"Guys, we're doing it!" Knox cried.

"Doing what exactly, Mr Overstreet?" The booming voice of Dr. Hagar caused the teens to turn rigidly towards the teacher stood behind him.

"Finally figuring out the answer to question five. It's been evading us for days," Kathleen said earnestly, showing Hager Cameron's open Trig book. With a last suspicious look at the group, Hager moved on. It took almost two seconds for the entire table to dissolve into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

"That was brilliant," Charlie pretended to wipe tears of laughter from his face with pride.

"Question five. It's been evading us for days!" Pitts impersonated her in a high-pitched voice between guffaws.

"I don't sound like that!" Kat threw a cluster of oats at him playfully.

"So, meeting tonight?" Neil asked, finally managing to compose himself after being hit in the temple by a flying oat cluster.

The group nodded, and headed up to the common room, because all jokes aside, they really did have a ton of homework to do.

XXXX

"Truth or dare?" asked Charlie, lighting another cigarette. The tendrils of smoke swirled around before being swept away by the chilly autumnal breeze. Kathleen shivered and pulled her coat more tightly around herself.

"Dare," Knox responded, his courage rising despite the darkness staved off only by the firelight.

"I dare you to write your poem about Chris."

He leaned back against the cool stone wall, his arms crossed. "I already have," Knox shot him a challenging look, "dare complete."

"You've already written yours?" Pitts' mouth fell open, crumbs clinging to his lips. The cookie in his hands crumbled under the pressure of his increasingly tense grip.

"Haven't you?"

"No!" Echoed Neil, Pitts and Meeks.

"What did you do all day?" Kathleen asked, closing the book of verse in her lap, "and what if you don't get something down tomorrow?"

"Don't say that," groaned Neil.

Meeks glanced searchingly around the dimly lit cavern, his glasses sliding down his nose with the frantic movement. "What did you guys write about?"

"What do you think!" Charlie's answering laugh invited no further questions.

"Life," shrugged Kathleen.

"Well, that's helpful," muttered Pitts.

"Anyway, truth or dare," Knox asked Neil.

Neil paused, tracing the wood of the fallen trunk he occupied, weighing his options. "Dare."

"I dare you to...recite a poem from memory."

Neil stood up, gesturing for Kathleen to hide the book from sight. She dutifully slid it inside the folds of her coat as he moved to the centre of the cave. He stood beneath the small, upper opening which poured delicate beams of moonlight into the space. The glittering streams illuminated him like stage lights. "Can it be about anything?"

Knox nodded.

"Okay, A Glimpse, by Walt Whitman,"* he began,

"A glimpse through an interstice caught,

Of a crowd of workmen and drivers in a bar-room around the stove late of a winter night, and I unremark'd seated in a corner,

Of a youth who loves me and whom I love, silently approaching and seating himself near, that he may hold me by the hand,

A long while amid the noises of coming and going, of drinking and oath and smutty jest,

There we two, content, happy in being together, speaking little, perhaps not a word."

The society broke into a ferocious round of applause. Todd's bright smile was almost as dazzling as the moonlight.

"Thank you," Neil bowed. "Todd. Truth or dare?"

Todd's head shot up like a deer in headlights, "I-what?"

"Truth or dare," Neil repeated.

He swallowed, eyes flitting between his roommate's concerned eyes and the ground. "I-uh, truth," he blurted.

"Hmm," Neil tapped his chin, "have you ever kissed anyone?"

"Yes," he replied shortly, slowly turning crimson.

"You have?" Cameron's mouth hung open.

Even Neil looked shocked, unsure how to feel about the fact, not that it was anything to do with him, he just obviously had not anticipated that answer. It felt wrong somehow. He had thought it would be an easy question that would save Todd from embarrassment when the game inevitably got more invasive later. Perhaps he was making the same mistake that most people did with Todd, underestimate him.

"Who?" Knox leaned in.

"One question per turn Knox, and it's not your turn," cut in Kathleen. "Todd, it's your turn to ask."

Todd nodded, breathing a little easier. "Kat, truth or dare?"

"Kat!?" Charlie pivoted on his log. "Since when did you get a nickname?"

"Since forever," she replied, rolling her eyes, "anyway, I pick truth."

"Uh," Todd's eyebrows knitted together, "have you...have you ever had a boyfriend?"

She shook her head, "no."

"Seriously?" Meeks interjected, "even as a kid?"

"Seriously, but I am flattered by your surprise," she replied through a laugh. "Cameron, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Come on, Cameron. Take a risk!" Charlie heckled; his voice unnecessarily loud in the enclosed space .

"Fine, dare." He huffed.

Kathleen tilted her head, eyes fixed on him while she considered her options. "Have you written your poem yet?" .

"No, my study schedule allocates two hours tomorrow."

"Then I dare you," she said loudly - cutting off the comments on his study schedule - to perform a love poem in class on Monday." She flashed him an evil grin.

"And you thought she would be nice," chuckled Meeks.

"Shut up, Meeks. Truth or dare."

"Dare."

"I dare you to declare your love for somebody. Right now."

Meeks pushed his glasses up his nose and stood up, "Mrs Smith," he declared, "you were the prettiest math teacher that I ever laid eyes upon. I'll never forget my juvenile love for you, even though you were married, and Thomas McCarthy was your favourite student."

"Alright, Charlie," he continued over the laughs he had elicited, "truth or dare?"

"Do you even have to ask? Dare," he challenged.

"I dare you to...tell us a secret."

"A secret? What kind of boring dare is that?"

He rose an eyebrow at his indignation. "Something that's actually remotely challenging for a daredevil."

"Fine. What do you want to know?" He relented, feigning an air of nonchalance.

"Guys?" Meeks asked, opening the question to the group.

"What did you actually get in Tuesday's trig test?" Cameron shouted.

Knox groaned, "come on, Cameron. Get over that already."

"Fifty-two."

"You let him off easy," whined Kathleen.

"Easy, huh?" drawled Charlie. "Truth or dare, Kat," he emphasised her nickname.

She thought for a moment, "dare."

"I dare you to pretend to Fraser that we're dating," he said, the words rolling off his tongue without a thought. The air seemed to freeze. Each individual went rigid. Pitts' cookie dropped to the ground.

"What?"

Todd's eyes sought Kat's. Their depths shone with the same concern marring Neil's face as he spoke in a warning tone. "Charlie, where did that come from?"

Charlie's did not move his gaze from Kat. She stared back at him, her brain scrambling to regain its composure. She finally uttered the word the whole society seemed to be thinking, "why?"

"Why not?"

"Fine. Truth or dare, Dalton?"

He winced slightly but pushed on. "Dare," he declared.

"I dare you to tell me what the hell this weird thing going on between you and Fraser is."

"Why? What has he said?" Charlie sat up.

"It's a dare, you don't get to ask questions."

"You just did."

"Not the point!"

His eyes blazed, "what did he say?"

"What are you so worried about me hearing?" Kat countered, frustration raising her volume.

"GUYS!" Yelled Neil, "quit it!"

"Sorry," she muttered, glaring at Charlie.

"I think we're all tired. We should head back," suggested Meeks, looking cautiously between his two feuding friends.

Neil hastily agreed and the group trudged out of the cave, their footsteps heavy on muddy ground. Kat walked ahead with Meeks, Todd, and Pitts, while Neil interrogated Charlie in hushed tones from behind, with Knox bringing up the rear, eyeing them both nervously.

Several minutes passed in tense silence. They had just reached the top of the school staircase when Charlie broke their mutual silence and whispered, "I told him we had a thing going on."

"You what?" hissed Kat, her limbs locked into place.

"He was making bets with some guys in the locker room about who could get into your pants first. I told him that you were interested in me, so there was no point in even trying," he elaborated uncomfortably.

"Why didn't you tell me," she whispered icily, trying to make sense of the tension between the boys, and of Fraser's cryptic comments over the past week or so.

"I wasn't thinking, and I felt stupid after saying it. It was too late to take it back, so I just rolled with it, and I guess I figured you'd be better off oblivious."

"Well I'm not."

"I know", he admitted, "are you mad?"

"Yes, I'm mad. That was over a week ago, did you seriously not think to inform me!"

"I'll-err, I'll let you get to bed then."

She took a few steps, then froze, her traitorous body turning back. "Charlie?" She called hesitantly through the darkness, painfully aware of the anger still audible in her tone.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for having my back." She lowered her voice, "goodnight."

"Goodnight." The answer was a fading whisper as the pair separated, their brows furrowed in the moonlit corridors as they shouldered the weight of a burden they did not want, nor know how to navigate.

* 'Lord, what fools these mortals be,' A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act III, William Shakespeare (1595)

* A Glimpse, Walt Whitman (1860)