Beautiful ➳ Neil Perry.

vingt et un

There were no words anyone could have used to describe Neil's performance.

He'd been the star of the play. Shakespeare wouldn't have hoped for a better man to share his art on the stage that night. The audience was roaring loudly by the end of the performance, standing tall from their seats as they applauded. It was a standing ovation.

Alice stood from her seat, a few rows back from the stage. It was like her heart was beating hard right up against her chest when he smiled at her. He really did it. After months of hard work and rehearsals, he finally did it. He'd prove to the entire universe that he found his passion— the one thing he wants to do for his entire life.

The applause wouldn't stop. The whistling and cheering never did. It was like the entire room had fallen in love with Neil that night, and no one was to blame.

It was only when the velvet curtains came to a close that the audience seemed to calm.

"C'mon," Chris said, linking her arm with Alice's, "Let's go wait outside for him. If we stay any longer, we might get trampled on by all these people."

Letting her arm swing back and forth with Chris excitedly springing about by her side, Alice greeted the cold snowfall with a grin. The night couldn't get any better.

"How good was he?" Knox remarked, finding his place beside Chris, "I knew he could do it."

"Now Mr. Perry won't have anything to say against him for sure," Todd quietly added, to which Alice nodded her head.

Suddenly, Todd looked up from Alice, eyes darting past her shoulder. Alice turned her head, eyes lighting up as the hero of the night came into full view. As Neil stalked closely behind his father, his friends called out to him with praises and applause. But Alice found herself speechless when she'd seen his head hung low, a common habit for when ever he was in a low mood— a mood she hadn't seen in a while. Her eyes flickered to Mr. Perry, who looked red in the face more than anything.

"Hey, Neil," Knox shouted, "Why don't we go celebrate your biggest achievement yet?"

"Drinks are on him!" Meeks added as the other boys burst out in laughter.

"I can't, guys," Neil finally looks up, his voice low and quiet. The look in his eyes were almost begging for his friends to back away. Alice felt a knot in her stomach. Something was wrong. She looked at Neil for answers, or hints at least, but he just shook his head and continued to trace the steps of his father to the car.

"What's with him?" Chris whispers to Alice, to which Alice doesn't respond. This was not the outcome either of them expected.

"Keating," Mr Perry snapped at Keating, who had just managed to catch up to Neil before he'd been forced into the passenger seat of the car. Mr. Keating had just tried to tell Neil how wonderful his performance had been, but clearly, that wasn't the message Mr. Perry wanted his son to hear. "You stay away from my son."

Taking a step back, the English professor didn't speak another word.

"All of this is so wrong."

Before Alice could say any more, she felt Charlie tightly grip on the sleeve of her coat, pulling her back. In her place, Charlie took a few steps forward.

"Neil!" he said, in the attempt to gain his friend's attention. Neil only looked up from the window of the car, his lips pressed into a thin smile. His eyes travelled from left to right, watching as his friends helplessly called out to him and his father. And then his eyes stopped at Alice. She looked scared. Frightened. Oh, the things he'd do right now to tell her everything was fine. Neil offered her a smile, a genuine one. Alice knew how unforgiving Mr. Perry was, but he needed her to know. Right now, of all times, he needed her to know that he was alright.

"I'll call you later," she mouthed, her eyes still filled with no emotion but fear.

Neil nodded as the car's engine sounded.

"Mr Perry, come on!" Charlie yelled, but is stopped by Mr Keating.

"Don't make it any worse than it is."

Charlie ran his hand through his hair out of frustration, cursing under his breath as Mr Keating gathered his students around in a huddle.

"Hey," Charlie said, approaching Alice, "Don't lose sleep over this, alright? Neil will be alright. And he wouldn't forgive himself if you stressed yourself out over him."

"I know, I know," she sighed, "I just hope he'll be okay."

* * *

Alice shot up from her sleep, cursing herself for hurting her head against the bedhead in the process.

It was at least a couple of hours past midnight when she heard the phone ringing. She cursed herself, realising she had fallen asleep whilst trying to get into contact with Neil. He hadn't been answering the phone the first and few many times, but she decided she wouldn't give up on it so easily.

Elsbeth and her father had left town for the next two days to visit Elsbeth's sick mother, giving Alice an open window to a bit of freedom before the restrictions were to return. Shoving the comforter off of her legs and rushing towards the sounding telephone, Alice almost slipped when she suddenly forced to a stop. Catching her breath, she pulled the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Ah, thank god. Alice."

"Neil," Alice smiled to herself.

His voice was as composed as it had been every other phone call— she'd been relieved he didn't sound like he'd been crying for the past few hours. Everything must've been okay as Charlie had previously said.

"Is everything alright, Neil?" Alice asked, her voice softer now, "We were worried sick about you back there."

"I'm sorry," he said sooner than Alice would've liked, "Sorry about that. But I'm alright. I've talked to my father, actually."

"Really? What'd he say?"

Mr. Perry looked far from happy that night. For months now, Alice had prayed this performance would turn everything around. It was meant to be the moment Neil finally got the support that he deserved right from the very beginning.

"He wants me to," he paused for a while, his voice breaking midsentence, "t-to . . . He's sending me to military school."

It broke her heart to hear him like that. Alice never heard Neil cry before and perhaps the fact he'd been trying so hard to fight it hurt her even more. As much as she'd wish everything was okay, the last thing she ever wanted was for him to pretend.

"He can't do that," Alice scoffed, "He—"

"Yeah. Right."

"Neil," Alice said with more courage, but she couldn't quite find the words to say, "Neil, you don't have to do that—"

"Alice."

"He can't force you into anything. Remember what you told me?"

"This is different."

"Neil, we can find a way togeth—"

"Alice," Neil suddenly raised his voice, silencing her.

And it was like the silence brought her tears to the surface. Charlie was wrong. Neil wasn't okay. Nothing was okay.

"I just wanted to hear your voice," he said, his voice now softer than ever, "And Alice, you don't have to fight for me anymore."