WE ARE GOLDEN--DEAD POETS SOCIETY

CHAPTER ONE

"No way."

Charles Dalton was in shock. The Welton yard was filled with not just boys, as usual, but also with girls. Yes, beautiful, enchanting, girls.  At least twenty clad in new Welton uniforms dawdled around, laughing and talking amongst themselves. As Charlie made his way to the chapel, he saw them move en masse in the same direction he was headed. 

His prayers had been answered. 

There were girls at Welton Academy. 

Charlie was not the only boy taking an interest in the gaggle of girls. He saw one of his best friends, Knox Overstreet, observing the group. They two boys caught each other's eye and grinned, eyes sparkling. 

Lilith DuBarry hated attention. She hid between Azalea and Camille as she and her classmates settled into a pew. The girls could feel the judgemental stares of Welton parents burning into them, as well as the hungry glances the girl-deprived Welton boys were throwing their way. Lilith frowned as the headmaster, an old, balding man called Mr. Nolan, took the pedestal. She was only half-listening as he droned on and on about tradition, honor, discipline, and excellence. She snapped to attention when Nolan announced, 

"And this year, it is my pleasure to inform you that the senior class of Henley Hall will be joining us this semester. Ladies, if you would please stand."

Lilith pulled a bored-looking Scarlett to her feet. 

"Thank you," Nolan nodded curtly. 

"That man could eat a textbook and sound exactly the way he does now," Scarlett muttered in discontent. Lilith smothered her laugh as the girls sat back down. 

Nolan's monotonous voice continued. When the sermon finally ended, the former Henley Hall girls filed neatly out of the chapel. 

"Wonderful sermon, sir," Azalea told Nolan, shaking his hand and lying through her teeth. 

"Thank you, miss..."

"Knight, sir."

"Thank you, Miss Knight. We at Welton expect great things from you and your classmates."

She smiled dutifully and hurried past him, sharing an eye-roll with Lilith. 

"Does anyone else feel extremely objectified?" Scarlett asked, glaring at the gawking boys surrounding them. Lilith, Azalea, and Camille all made various noises of assent.

"Also, these uniforms are hideous," she declared, pretentiously smoothing down her navy blazer and red tie. 

Lilith laughed. Leave it to Scarlett to provide the comic relief. 

"Do we know where our rooms are yet?" Camille, ever the practical one, asked the group at large.

"Yes, Ms. Richards gave me a paper telling us everything," Azalea responded, flipping her hair over her shoulder. The group of friends and their classmates huddled around their appointed leader. 

"All of our dorms are at the end of the senior boys' hall."

Groans followed this proclamation. 

"They're just boys, darlings. We can handle them," she chided softly. "The roommates are as follows."

Azalea began listing pairs. To her and her friends' delight, she and Lilith were roommates, with Camille and Scarlett right across from them. Good ol' Ms. Richards, always looking after them.  

As the girls began walking into the building, they were unaware of Charlie and Knox standing shoulder to shoulder, eyes following them down the hall.