DRESS || ( charlie dalton )

0. prologue

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙

DRESS
(( — DEAD POETS SOCIETY — ))

—prologue: the fundamental beliefs of welton

LORAINE NOLAN sat in the rows of teachers, as the ceremony began. her father stepped into the middle of the stairs and began to speak, his voice echoing back from the walls.

she imagined the distaste that had probably already settled into charlie's features and had to hold back a giggle. her brother send her a disapproving look and she quickly looked down at her folded hands, that were resting in her lap.

overall she looked like she had been invented to an important event and not the back-to-school church service she was attending. the white dress, that had once belonged to her mother, was reaching down to her knees. it had short sleeves and was closed up to her neck. she felt like she was suffocating and she knew that she looked ridiculous, topping the whole outfit off with a hat that was twice as big as herself.

"gentlemen" her father spoke now "what are the four pillars?". rows of students stood up at the same time and answered in unison. "tradition, honor, discipline, excellence"

across the room, loraine caught the eyes of neil and eagerly smiled at him. she was about to raise her hand and wave, but the motion was caught by her brother, who gently moved her arm back to its original position, just shaking his head.

it wasn't to say that thomas and loraine did not get along. thomas was a good man, he was nice, but also strict and he was seven years older than his sister, dividing them even more. it was his ambition in life to scold her just as much as to be fond of her. in his eyes, she was only young and a girl, something she would grow out of eventually.. well, the first part at least.

neil rewarded her smile with a bright one of his own, nearly giggling at how ridiculous this ceremony was year and year again. neil and she had grown up together, knowing each other since they were children, as neil and his parents had lived right next to them, only a few feet between their windows. he and loraine went to the same preschool before they eventually both got into welton. loraine being the only official exception to the obvious gender rule there.

the students sat down again and nolan continued. "in her first year, welton academy graduated five students. last year, we graduated fifty—one. and more than seventy—five percent of those went on to the ivy league"

loraine pushed out her tongue at that in disgust. she couldn't imagine leaving a school full of boys, to go to a college full of boys. the last one not even forbidding girls.

"this kind of accomplishment is the result of fervent dedication to the principles taught here. this is why you parents have been sending us your sons. this is why we are the best preparatory school in the united states"

the room began to clap, while nolan nodded with pride. "as if proven the beliefs of this school, i have gone as far as to send my own children, to learn and grow within these halls. my son thomas graduated from harvard last year and came back to teach law until he eventually starts his career as a lawyer. my daughter loraine, the only girl who's ever studied at this school, is a prime example of elegance and restraint, which will one day give her the opportunity to marry a good man and become a great mother"

again the room began to clap, while thomas and loraine stood smiling at the crowd. internally loraine was screaming. thomas squeezed her arm as if he knew what was going on inside her, subtly telling her that it wasn't the place nor the time to discuss her future as a woman in a male dominated world.