WE ARE GOLDEN--DEAD POETS SOCIETY

CHAPTER TWELVE

Lilith sat against a tree, looking out over the lake. Several canoes were being propelled across the water, but her eyes only followed one. Charlie sat behind Cameron, throwing profanities in his direction every time Cameron messed up the stroke. He caught sight of Lilith and her book, and grinned as she blew him a kiss.

"Eyes ahead, Mr. Dalton!" Nolan barked through his megaphone. "Take a power train in two! Three!"

Lilith laughed at Charlie's impertinent expression and buried herself back in her book, joining Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy through their tangle of troubles.

Meeks, Azalea, and Pitts were perched on the campus rooftop, fiddling meticulously with their hi-fi system.

"We got it!" Azalea cried as music began blaring out of the machine. Pitts climbed down from the antenna and joined her and Meeks.

"Radio Free America," Meeks grinned.

The trio began to dance around, grabbing hands.

Meanwhile, Camille, Scarlett and Todd were in Todd and Neil's dorm, working on their poems, Scarlett draped luxuriously across Neil's bed, Todd huddled in a corner, and Camille sitting pretty at Todd's desk. Todd found the girls much easier to write with. Sure, Neil and Charlie and the rest were wonderful, but when Todd needed help with English, he found himself wandering down the hall to the girls' rooms. Lilith was more than happy to read his poems and Scarlett contributed her many strong opinions to any essay. Camille could always be counted on for a good cup of tea and Azalea listened to him rail about his parents for hours.

"What do you think of th-"

Neil burst into the room, eyes alight with excitement. The poets quickly turned their respective papers over.

"I found it," Neil announced, brandishing a sheet of paper in all of their faces.

"Found what?"

"What I wanna do right now. What's really, really inside of me."

Camille plucked the paper from his hand.

"'A Midsummer's Night Dream'."

Todd read over her shoulder.

"What is this?" He asked his over-excited roommate.

"It's a play, dummy."

"I know that," scoffed Todd, rolling his eyes at Scarlett.

"They're putting it on at Henley Hall."

"Henley?"

Camille sounded surprised.

"Yeah. Open tryouts. Open tryouts!"

Neil pulled a blanket out from under Scarlett, causing her to tumble to the floor as he wrapped it around his shoulders like a cape. Huffing, the blonde picked herself up off the floor.

"You better have a good explanation for that, Perry," she growled.

"So, I'm gonna act. Yes, yes! I'm gonna be an actor! Ever since I can remember, I've wanted to try this. I even tried to go to summer stock auditions last year, but, of course, my father wouldn't let me. For the first time in my whole life I know what I wanna do. And for the first time I'm gonna do it whether my father wants me to or not! Carpe diem!"