Guess who managed to get into their dream university for English Literature! When I began writing this chapter I was leaving home in two weeks, and now as I amend this author's note, I have been here for a week. The last few weeks have been manic in terms of preparation, goodbyes and settling into a flat with three strangers in a new city and adjusting to being completely independent for the first time. Thank you for your patience. I know this update is over a month late, and now that it's finally finished I hope it was worth the wait.

'The boy I love, the same becomes a man not through derived

power, but in his own right,

Wicked rather than virtuous out of conformity or fear,

Fond of his sweetheart...'

~ Song of myself, Section 47, Walt Whitman (1855)

Chapter thirty-nine - Tis proper I obey ...

"And finally-" a harsh clang cut through Hager's droning voice. He paused, scowling at what the students could only assume was the bell. It seemed even inanimate objects were incapable of escaping his wrath. Kathleen yawned, grateful for the opportunity to perk up before Keating's lesson. No matter what time of day it was, trig never failed to make her sleepy. Perhaps it was the deadly combination of confusion, lack of confidence and silence that made her brain cells shut-down four times per week; or perhaps it was simply the security of having Cameron as her tutor. The boy had finally found a method which enabled him to teach her the material in at least half the time it took her to understand Hager. Shaking herself awake, she began to pack up her books, rolling her eyes behind her curtain of hair as she tuned into Hager's dulcet tones once more, "sit down! The bell does not dismiss you. I do, once your assignments have been submitted." His cold eyes surveyed the students for further movement before he began to take their papers in.

Dutifully, Kat laid her completed assignment on the desk.

"No, no, no. Idiot!" Kat looked sideways, her eyes narrowed at Neil's mutterings. His widened eyes met her own. Panic dripped from his features. "I forgot to do it!" His high-pitched whisper attracted the attention of several others who eyed Hager anxiously. It was common knowledge that his threats to remove a point from their final grade for each incomplete assignment were to be taken seriously.

He stared blankly at his untouched question paper, "my father is going to kill me."

"You were sick," Todd said lowly, "surely he will understand."

Neil shook his head. "And I have rehearsal tonight. I can't get detention!"

Pushing her homework to the edge of her desk, Kat looked pointedly at Hager who was fast approaching their end of the classroom. "Do it now."

Without hesitation, Neil copied the answers down, mumbling his thanks before beginning to scribble down the method. His rapid glances in Hager's direction increased in frequency with every stroke of his pen.

Todd worried at his bottom lip, his eyes never leaving Neil's flustered form. Only the last seven questions remained incomplete by the time Hager reached Todd's desk. With the boy's assignment in hand, Hager was about to turn towards Neil when a series of garbled words tumbled from the quiet boy's mouth.

"Sir, pleasemayiusetherestroom?"

The old teacher blinked owlishly. Kat caught Charlie's eye as he bit down on his fist to smother his amusement. It wasn't every day that someone left Hager speechless, much less Todd Anderson.

Todd took a deep breath in the following silence and repeated his question, hands trembling beneath the desk. The harsh muttering of his peers roared in his ears, but he ignored it, desperately willing himself - for the first time in years - to maintain his hold on the class' attention.

Charlie leaned forward, jabbing Neil in the shoulder with his ruler, hissing, "he's distracting him, you moron. Write!"

Instantly, Neil's pen began to zig zag erratically across the page.

"No, Mr Anderson," Hager responded, his eyebrows knitted together. "At the age of seventeen we expect our students to have adequate control over their bladders."

"Sir?" Kathleen inquired innocently, a split-second before he turned away from Todd, "forgive my disrespect for it is not my intention, but I believe Todd is still feeling unwell. I doubt he would ask if was not urgent."

Behind the polite facade, she braced herself for the punishment.

"Although your concern in admirable, Miss Murray," Hager admonished, "I strongly advise that you leave the running of this classroom to me. Mr Anderson has suddenly shown himself capable of speech. Therefore, you have no need to speak on his behalf." She bowed her head in false contrition which quickly faded into anxiety as she glimpsed Neil's progress.

Hurricane Hager was about to hit when Pitts called out from the back "Sir, I think I forgot what the angle of a right-angled triangle was. May I have my homework back?" His ridiculous question elicited smothered laughter, but more importantly it inspired more participation in the unspoken plot for the last crucial minutes until Neil's hands shot up in triumph, knocking his inkwell to the ground in uncoordinated, light-headed relief. The noise caught Hager's attention, putting a stop to the class' efforts just as his temper reached boiling point.

"My apologies, Sir," Neil handed his completed assignment to Hager, "I spilt ink over the last question." Hager ignored him and dismissed the class who were now late to their next lesson. Frowning, he stepped over the inkwell, shuffling the papers into order as he thought about all of the ways he would have caned the ineptitude out of his students if he only had the time. In his wonderings he missed the radiant smile on Neil's face as threw his arms around Todd in the doorway.

"You're brilliant!" Todd's heart stuttered as the words sank into his skin. Shivering at the warmth of Neil's whisper on his neck, he let himself sink into the embrace before slipping his arm through Neil's and pulling him down the empty corridor.

"Come on, we don't want to be late for the Captain." They flew down the stairs. Todd slowed as they approached the door, but Neil leaped at it.

"Mr Keating!" The door flew open, revealing the lanky teenage boy. Neil almost catapulted himself over several desks in his haste to reach the Captain. "You'll never guess what Todd did!" His hundred-watt smile appeared to blind the man as he fumbled for an answer.

In surrender to his student's charm, the Captain sat obligingly on the edge of his desk. "Why don't you clue me in."

Neil bounced on the balls of his feet, hands shoved into his pockets as he struggled to contain himself. "Oh, Captain," he shook his head, "it was amazing! There I was, sat in trig when the bell sounded, and I realised, to my horror, that I had forgotten the homework assignment. Hager was stalking around collecting the work, getting closer and closer to me. By this point I was panicking, because I can't have points taken from my final grade otherwise I couldn't be in the play! And of course, Father would kill me! I thought for certain that all was lost. I couldn't copy Kat's homework fast enough. All of a sudden Hager was seconds away from catching me when Todd...well, he...he," Neil paused, letting out a cry of joy as he slapped the desk beside him, "he looked right at Hager and asked permission to go to the restroom!"

Whatever Mr Keating had expected him say they would never know, but clearly it was not this. Neil babbled on, oblivious to the conflicting expressions of confusion, amusement and in Kat's opinion, a look of pride, flittering across his face.

"It was nothing," Todd insisted quietly, watching Neil act out the morning's dramatic event to Charlie. The usually snarky boy watched amiably; despite witnessing the event itself from a mere seat away no more than two minutes ago.

Keating gazed past the shell of the docile boy in front of him, seeing the growing fire burning within the trembling vessel. "It was not nothing, Todd. Look at his smile. That boy has the expression of Atlas when he thinks nobody is watching. In a moment when it counted most you took the weight of the sky from his aching shoulders." He lay a gentle hand on the Todd's shoulder. "That, son, is never nothing."

XXX

When sunset finally arrived, the students of Welton Academy had claimed the common room as their safe haven from the trials of the day. Fire crackled in the hearth, keeping the troublemakers occupying the upper common room warm and sheltered from the melancholy, winter wind screaming around the stone structure.

Kathleen chewed on the end of her pen as she considered the position of Desdemona.* Since the Captain's analysis of the limited female sphere in class today, the actions of Emilia had been at the forefront of her mind. The unexpected heroine had emerged from Iago's hold amidst the tragedy rapidly unfolding, only to die revealing the truth. "Good gentlemen, let me have leave to speak: 'Tis proper I obey him, but not now..." The words swam through her mind, filling up the void until her pen began flying across the page in wave after wave of ink forming a tidal wave of exploration on the shores of both the familiar Elizabethan society and it's Venetian counterpart, before sailing the seas of deception and perusing the prisons of oppression.

She was pulled abruptly from her thoughts by a jeering shout.

"Hey, this is the senior common room, run back to kindergarten!" The society turned their heads at towards the taunting. A short, pale-faced boy shrunk back from the hollering group of older boys, his body mostly hidden by the door which he seemed to be using as a shield against the onslaught.

Charlie growled, "the poor kid looks like he's about to cry." He stood up with the intention of intervening, but was stopped in his tracks by the young boy's strangled voice asking for Kathleen. Immediately, her essay was thrown aside, and she was smiling warmly at the kid who was too frightened to loosen his grip from the door.

"Phone call," his stammered in a voice barely loud enough to be heard over the unpleasantries spewed from the mouths of their classmates, "the-the student phone in the foyer."

With a nod, she rose gracefully from her seat in manner quite unexpected from someone with such a distinct frown.

"Who is it?" Asked Todd, watching sadly as the scene escalated with the launch of paper planes.

"I have no idea," she replied, her expression clouding further. "I already spoke to Nancy an hour ago."

Cameron shrugged, glaring in the direction of the shaking adolescent in the doorway. "Maybe it's an urgent family matter. Let's just be thankful it isn't the hooligan Nolan sent to find you last time." He observed the boy through narrowed eyes, oblivious the deepening creases on her brow with every word he spoke about the family she had left hundreds of miles away in the remote Scottish countryside.

Todd fidgeted, appalled by Cameron's insensitivity. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I'll be fine. I'm sure nothing's wrong." She spotted Fraser sat amongst the rabble with a pool cue in hand from the game abandoned by his friends in favour of verbal amusement at the expensive of a first year. When he noticed her, she ignored him and came to a halt between them and the messenger whose discomfort was palpable. "Thank you for finding me" she said, allowing him to retreat into the hallway while she blocked the tormentors from view with a swift slam of the door.

Without a word the boy turned on his heel and began to walk briskly down towards the student telephones. Kat followed, struggling to keep pace. When they arrived, there was another boy chatting on the phone who held the receiver out towards her.

She took the phone from the younger boy with a small nod of thanks, "hello?"

"Kat! Hey."

The two boys left. "Gin?"

"Yes, it's me," her velvet voice crackled down the line. "I'm with Neil at rehearsal and we had the most fantastic idea!"

Her eyebrows flicked up, "oh?"

"Tell her!" She heard the faint echo of Neil's nagging tone before it was buried beneath Ginny's hissing for quiet. Kat tapped absently on the wall supporting her weight, amused by the mini argument unfolding which sounded comically like the verbal sparring she engaged in with her brothers at home.

"I will if you shut it for five seconds," she heard Ginny mutter, followed by the rise and fall of Neil's voice. Although she couldn't decipher his words, she knew that teasing lilt well enough. Ginny's response was all the confirmation she needed.

"Are you finished?" Kat laughed, "I've never heard Neil called an 'unlicked cub' before."

"Really? It's a common expression and quite fitting," she said mildly, "but I digress. I wanted to talk to you about the next society meeting. I mentioned to Neil that I wanted to attend at least one, and he suggested that Nancy, Chris and I come to the next one as my birthday present since I turn sixteen on Friday. What do you say?"

"I say we should have done this sooner" her smile could be heard by pair across town. "The boys will be thrilled."

Ginny hummed in agreement, "Knox especially."

"You know about that?"

"Oh, anyone who claps eyes on them for even a second knows about that. The poor boy isn't subtle."

Neil's snort rang down the phone line.

"Besides, I thought we could do something a little different to mark the occasion," she continued, "a meeting dedicated to female poets."

"Smashing idea, do you have any in mind?"

"A few. You're probably the expert anyway."

Kat let out a mock sigh, "I guess I could scrape a few together."

"You're the best, Kat! Unfortunately, we have to go, Shakespeare calls. See you soon."

"Bye." She placed the phone back with a resounding click. Her body slumped back against the wall as she rested, breathless against the cool, solid structure. Her heart beat wildly against the constraint of her ribcage. The scattered pieces of her life seemed to be falling together again, but time's winds were gathering. Soon the most sentimental pieces would be blown away...but she didn't need to concern herself with the future just yet. Tonight, was for celebration she told herself, as she pushed off the wall and made the journey back to the common room. The light from under the door shone brighter as she drew nearer, following the boisterous chatter which fought its way out from behind the door. Breathing in, she entered the student's hangout and picked her way through the fun until she reached the corner occupied by the dead poets.

"I come bearing good news," she announced, slipping back into her spot, "Ginny and Neil rang from rehearsal, they had an idea for the next meeting."

Todd's head shot up from behind his notebook, "what did he say?"

"He's invited Ginny to the next meeting for her birthday," she grinned, looking directly at Knox, "along with Nancy and Chris." Knox's mouth fell open despite the lack of words accompanying the action.

Meeks reached out to pat his shoulder "words, Knox. You'll have to use words if you want to impress her at the meeting."

"Oh, and only female poetry will be read. So perhaps you need to borrow a book from me later," she suggested, "I'm sure you'll find a poem to inspire her with."

"A serenade," Knox whispered, "this is my shot." Meeks and Charlie exchanged a worried look.

"No. Absolutely no singing," Charlie said firmly. Pitts' sniggering turned into a yelp as Meeks' elbow jabbed his ribs.

Pitts rubbed the sore spot on his side. "Knox, you can't sing. Recite a pretty poem or say nothing."

He inclined his head sheepishly, "uh, yeah. That might be a better idea."

"And please, Knox, for the love of God stay sober," Kathleen implored, her nose wrinkling at the memory of his last encounter with Chris. The ghost of the evening still haunted her every time she saw her blue dress, and seemingly each time Knox came up with another questionable plan 'to win 'his angel's affections.'

"Don't worry," the corners of his mouth sunk down at his foggy recollection, "I'm not in a hurry to repeat that night - well, what I can remember of it."

"Not so fast, Knoxoius," Charlie smirked, "think of the society. It would certainly be entertaining for us."

"And entertaining for you clean up afterwards," Kat cut in drily.

"Carpe Diem," he shrugged, "it's a small sacrifice."

Meeks rolled his eyes, "for me. You always get me to do your chores."

"Friendship, Meeksie."

"Friendship won't get Knox a date," he fired back.

"Who knows," Charlie shrugged, fixing his gaze on the lamp above Kathleen's head, "it might be exactly what he needs."

Knox watched the colour rise in Kathleen's cheeks at his words, the scarlet tint only intensified when his gaze swept over her, focusing fleetingly on the lamp shining about her head. Suddenly, the exchange he had witnessed between the pair last night came flooding back. He studied them, watching them sneak glances at each other when the other wasn't looking, smiling softly when their eyes met. A contented smile slid onto his lips at their dance. Perhaps Charlie did have a point, he thought, friendships grew and sometimes flowered into something new."

* Desdemona & Emilia - characters from Othello, William Shakespeare (1604)