charlie dalton 𝒙 reader

vii. WRONG FLOOR

CHAPTER SEVEN!
( WRONG FLOOR. )

   "A MAN IS not very tired, he is exhausted. And don't use very sad, use-" Mr. Keating scanned the room before pointing to the back of the class. "Come on, Mr. Overstreet, you twerp," he called.

"Morose?" Knox replied uneasily.

"Exactly! Morose. Now, language was developed for one endeavor, and that is? Mr. Anderson? Come on! Are you a man or an amoeba?" Keating exclaimed.

Mr. Keating strode towards Todd's desk. Todd glanced up at him anxiously but didn't say a word. Mr. Keating waited a moment more before moving on. You found yourself sympathizing for Todd once again.

"Mr. Perry?"

"Uh, to communicate," Neil answered.

"No! To woo women," Keating winked as the class chuckled, "Or to woo men! We don't discriminate," he added. "Today we're going to be talking about William Shakespeare."

Most of the class sighed in disappointment.

"Oh, god!" One boy groaned. You, for one, were excited. Unlike most you quite enjoyed reading in your spare time, and Shakespeare was never a chore to you.

"I know. A lot of you looked forward to this about as much as you look forward to root canal work. We're gonna talk about Shakespeare as someone who writes something very interesting. Now, many of you have seen Shakespeare done very much like this:" Keating held out his right arm dramatically and began to speak in an exaggerated, nasally British accent. "'O Titus, bring your friend hither.'" You laughed along with the class at Mr. Keating's impersonation. "But if any of you have seen Mr. Marlon Brando, you know, Shakespeare can be different. 'Friend, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears,'" he continued, speaking in yet another comedic accent. "You can also imagine, maybe, John Wayne as Macbeth going, 'Well, is this a dagger I see before me?'"

The entire class was giggling by the end of his performance, even those who were initially quite resentful towards Shakespeare. Every class your respect towards Keating grew.

As Keating continued to teach, despite his engaging and entertaining lesson, your mind began to wander once again. You didn't even really notice yourself replaying the sequence of events that took place last night. You couldn't help but wonder if Charlie actually liked you or if you had merely imagined the warmth of his smile and embrace. You reminded yourself that he was just a flirt, and you shouldn't let yourself think of him as anything more than a playful friend. You tried to focus on Keating, on anything but Charlie. Your own eyes betrayed you when they glanced towards Charlie who was leaning back in his chair, twirling his pencil. His eyes began to turn towards you and you quickly snapped your head back to the front of the class, trying desperately to appear natural.

The rest of the day passed slowly, and the evening brought mountains of homework which kept you locked up in the library until nightfall. You and Violet sat in the back of the library, pouring over your homework. You wanted nothing more than to shut your eyes and fall asleep right there. You felt not very tired, but exhausted.