Diana Bennet, the Welton-famous pessimist has had an interesting time at the prestigious academy she attends. But with a new English teacher and an alter in rivalry things begin to change.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. And don't use very sad, use-" Keating began, interrupting himself with a snap of his fingers.
Knox looked up from the noise, solemnly, uninterested in the world around him. He looked a mess. His eyes were haunted with bags, half his face hidden in his palm. His hair was scattered around his head unevenly, his usual neater appearance left with his optimism.
"Come on, Mr Overstreet, you twerp." Keating demanded, clicking his fingers more to gain the boy's full attention.
"Morose?" Knox responded meekly, preoccupied with fiddling his pencil.
"Exactly Morose!" Our English teacher exclaimed, content with the surprisingly good piece of vocabulary.
I flicked Knox's arm, raising an eyebrow at his unusual behaviour. He met my eyes, immediately avoiding eye contact.
I leaned in closer to whisper to him, "What's up Knoxious?"
"Nothing, I'm fine," he responded, nodding his head towards Keating as if he were telling me off.
I turned back around, glancing at Neil who had already noticed. He gave me a questioning expression, causing me to simply shrug in reply.
"Now, language was developed for one endeavour, and that is? Mr. Anderson? Come on! Are you a man or an amoeba?"
Keating pauses at Todd's desk, grinning wildly at the boy who sat before him. Todd didn't say a word, his head simply tilted up to meet the man's eyes, a look of pure desperation on his face. Keating scans his expression, immediately turning away from the boy.
"Mr Perry?"
"Uh, to communicate," Neil guessed, pressing his glasses closer to his face.
"No, to woo women!" Keating exclaimed, sending me a wink.
I chuckled lightly, feeling far more superior than the boys for a moment as they shot me glances.
"Today we're going to be talking about William Shakespeare."
A ripple of protest dissipated through the room, some boys going so far as to throw their hands up in the air in disapproval.
"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 coughed loudly, clearing his throat and outstretching his arm dramatically, "O Titus, bring your friend hither."
We all began to laugh, his fake British accent even more amusing to me as an Englishmen.
Suddenly feeling more confident, Keating continued with his performance, "But if any of you have seen Mr. Marlon Brando, you know, Shakespeare can be different. 'Friend, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.' You can also imagine, maybe, John Wayne as Macbeth going, 'Well, is this a dagger I see before me?'"
