I kind of thought I was a genius when writing this chapter. In fact, I was pretty sure I was a genius throughout the whole ditty. When I look back, though, they're mostly just embarrassing. Are any of you writers the same way?

Changes: I don't know if he's tried out for the play already. Gah. I've watched it six times and I still don't know the order of the plot. It's no fun being an idiot. :/ Anywho. For the purposes of this fiction, I'm going to say he already tried out for it.

Bahaha, here's my diary entry for the next day: "Well? Huh? Was that good? I thought it was good. Did you see it coming? I should post this online. Damn, I feel good. 12:00." Then in the next paragraph: "Actually it sucks." Then I rambled on about my personal life. XD

~Kachow~

Two boys in their room lounging on their beds. One leaning against the headboard, the other curled underneath the blankets. Both waiting for the other to broach the subject of what had just happened. Realizing slowly that Todd would never initiate a conversation such as this, Neil plunged in. "Did you see it coming?"

Too quickly, as if he had been waiting on tenterhooks for the moment Neil would speak, "No." A pause. "You?"

"No." More silence. Awkward, stilted silence. Todd couldn't stand it. He broke the silence, saying, "I just don't understand why he told us so artlessly."

Neil frowned thoughtfully. "I guess he's trying to tell us that we shouldn't treat it as a big deal. And he thinks there's a lesson to be learned in this."

"What lesson? How to alienate a classroom in the space of two seconds? How to become an outcast? How to get expelled from the school?"

Quietly, Neil said, "How to act upon what you believe in no matter what others think of it."

"But do you still see him in the same way? Does he remain your hero?" Todd insisted.

"Of course. Mr. Keating is a man I'll always look up to- regardless of his chosen sexual preference."

There you have it. Earlier that day, John Keating had announced he was gay. Charlie had been rifling through a playboy magazine in his usual place at the back of English, which sharply got confiscated by the teacher. Angry and embarrassed of being caught by the only elder he admired, he had spat, "Why're you stealing that? Get your own porno to wank off to."

Keating didn't miss a beat. "Sorry to disappoint, but I don't "wank" and if I chose to partake in the activity, it certainly wouldn't be to women."

The sound of an entire classroom's jaw dropping made no noise. Keating's weary smile made no noise. Staring at the unfamiliar man made no noise. Cameron's derisive "Ew" made a noise.

Return back to the present, if you will. Todd was a bit bothered by something Neil had said. "Chosen? I don't think a guy can choose to like other, um, men like Knox can't choose to love women. Er, I suppose just Chris for now."

Neil cocked his head thoughtfully. "You really think so? I'll believe that too." Todd felt a rush of affection for his dark-haired friend. He didn't get to bask much in the sunny glow of changing someone's mind, but most of the moments when he did included Neil. The mercurial boy continued, "That's funny that he picked a DPS meeting day. D'you think he knew?"

"No, I think it just was the right moment. He does know that we'll talk about it, though. And that we'll spend a good deal of time wrapping our minds around it," Todd said.

"My mind is trying to wrap around it, but it's not big enough. Like your blanket of truth that couldn't cover both toe and chin," he teased lightly.

"Knit yourself a bigger mind blanket." The blonde surprised himself by how natural his response sounded. He was even more astounded by how he hadn't been planning that for weeks.

"As if I knew how to knit yarn, let alone mind threads."

"There's this magical thing called a book, filled with all sorts of information."

"Oh, can it, you. I doubt they have many books at knitting at Hilton."

"Hellton, I believe you meant."

"You're getting as bad as Charlie." He took up an over-exaggeratedly manly voice in mocking spirit. "It's Nuwanda, not Charlie."

"Damn right it is," proclaimed the authentic Charlie Dalton who had just stepped into the room. Todd and Neil jumped and relaxed in the same breath. Neil asked, "What're you here for? We're not leaving for another hour."

Charlie glowered. "We're apparently not leaving at all. In fact, we're not leaving ever again according to Dick the dick. 'Do you seriously want to follow in the footsteps of a fag?' he said to me."

Thunder and lighting shone in Neil's eyes as he opened his mouth furiously to let out a storm of words. Todd perceived it brewing and saw fit to intervene for a moment. "H-have you talked to the rest of us about it yet?"

"Some. What do you think about it, Anderson?"

Put on the spot like that, Todd wasn't so sure he wanted to commit in a word. He shrugged noncommittally. Neil shot daggers out of his eyes and said with a certain degree of vehemence, "Todd Anderson, you were just talking about how he couldn't choose to be gay. How can you blame him for something he had no power over? He's hindered by his sexuality- a simple matter of what he loves. We have no right to judge him."

Charlie piercingly commented, "Like how your dad has no right to judge you for going out for the play?"

It was too far. "Go, Charlie. We'll talk tomorrow." Todd was a bit frightened by the tone of voice Neil chose. Nonetheless, mumbling an obstinate "Nuwanda", Charlie made a hasty exit.

Immediately, Neil turned an accusatory glare at Todd. He angrily asked, "What the hell was that for? Of all the dirty rotten times to completely lose your voice, you pick the time to stand up for what you believe in. I know for a fact that you still want these meetings and still respect Keating."

Todd briefly contemplated holding his ground and fighting back. He even had the words picked out: 'I'm saving it for when we're all together. No use trying to convince someone who's already convinced.' Instead, he meekly murmured, "Sorry."

The fight hadn't left Neil yet. "'Sorry'? 'Sorry'? That's all you got? Give me a break. You heard what he said. Stop letting life pass you by!"

Even more submissively, he hushed, "Shhh. Nolan'll hear us."

"I will not 'shhh'." The thunder and lighting could barely be contained in the barrier of Neil's eyes now. Soon it would spill into the room and incinerate the poor boy on the opposite bed. Neil got out of his covers to sit sideways on his bed with his back to the wall, cross-legged. All the better to face Todd, who was doing a fantastic job cowering. "Spineless. Aren't you upset?"

As much as he was loathe to admit, that hurt Todd. A lot. He mirrored Neil's position so that they were on the same eyelevel and facing each other. "I may be a coward, but I will not be a coward that lets his friend rage at others when the friend in question isn't quite sure what he feels on the subject."

"What are you talking about? Of course I know how I feel about Mr. Keating."

Todd shook his head. "No, you don't. You didn't have a clue until about 10 minutes ago. You need to sleep on it."

A soft smoldering filled Neil's eyes rather than the violent electric storm. Good, he was calming down. He weakly protested, "But they're trying to disband the club over all this."

"We'll talk to them tomorrow. Nothing is permanent," Todd soothed. Boistered by success, he made a bold move next. "And, if we're being perfectly honest, I think that this isn't the real issue you're dying to scream about."

A wary, guarded look filtered through Neil's ever-changing eyes. "Oh really."

"Look, I know you've been really stressed about the play and your father if he ever found out, but that's no reason to look for a go with Charlie."

Instantly, Neil's eyes turned into unreadable obsidian. Even though a small, sinking party of him registered the fact that there could be truth in the advice. "Good night. We'll both be calmer in the morning."

Todd discontentedly ran a hand through his hair. "'Night."

Both boys slid under the covers and curled up with their faces to the wall. The rustling of covers made noise. Their minds fraught with disturbing, new thoughts did not.

~Kachow~

How about this for a change: I'll leave a few questions in each of the ends of these and if you're reading, you don't have to review about the story at all but instead answer the questions. I'd like to know a) if I have any readers and b) what type of people they are. If you're reading this after it's all been completed (or it's in the middle), then please leave comments answering whatever questions you liked at the end of reading. This'll be fun, right? Right? I feel like this isn't going to work out as well as I had planned. Oh well. It doesn't hurt to try.

Questions:

~Do you know any foreign languages?

~What's your favourite fanfiction?

~What's the cutest thing that's ever happened to you?