Pink Camelia - Neil Perry x Reader/OC

'~ Chapter 11 - thoughts and realizations ~'

~~~

It was silent in the Hawthorne household, or, about as silent as it could be. The sound of placid snoring wove through the house, the ticking of the clock on the kitchen wall tickled Dione's eardrums as she lay in her bed late at night, her eyes shifting over the pages of the green book as she mulled over the events of the last week...

'~'

Earlier that week, before the auditions, Dione had been talking to Miss Thompson. 

"You know, I was looking through that book you gave me earlier-"

"Oh yes, I do hope you've found it interesting!"

"Yes, I have- uhm, I was looking through it, and something fell out..." Dione trailed off, searching for a response, which Miss Thompson did not give. 

"Miss Thompson?"

"Yes Dear?'

"What was the Dead Poets Society?"

'~'

"LILI! JO!" Dione ran up to her friends at lunch.

"Di! Oh no- what is it this time?" asked Lilith, noticing Dione's fiendish expression.

"I was just talking to Miss Thompson- you remember the note from the book? The one that said 'The Dead Poets Society- Henley chapter'?"

"Yes?" The girls said in unison.

"Get this. Miss Thompson- was one of the founders! Of the Henley chapter at least."

"So what was it?" Jo asked, subconsciously moving closer. 

"The Dead Poets Society, was a group that lived and breathed poetry, it was originally founded at Welton- but apparently Miss Thompson and her friends wanted in, so they created their own chapter!"

"Awesome, what's the catch?" Lilith asked skeptically.

"Aw Lili, don't be such a party pooper!" Jo nagged.

"Um, well you have to be dead to be a member... Until then, you're only an initiate."

"Ah, there it is. So I'm guessing you want to join anyway?"

"Are you kidding? Yes! Are you in though?"

"Like there was ever any doubt?!" Johanna answered.

"Alright, I'm in." Lilith said, trying to hide how excited she was.

"I say we do our first meeting tonight, my place." Dione offered- "You aren't boarding tonight are you Lili?"

"Nope, let's do this." Lilith confirmed, as Johanna squealed happily.

'~'

And so, that night the girls found themselves holed up in Dione's room, with a platter full of cookies (courtesy of Mrs. Hawthorne), all wrapped in cozy blankets, trying not to fall asleep. 

Dione stood up with the green book in hand, ready to start the meeting.

"I, Dione Hawthorne, hereby reconvene the Dead Poets Society- Henley chapter. I will now read the opening verse by founding member Petunia Reed- 'I live not to survive, for survival implies labor; I live to thrive, to seek pleasure. Perhaps I may fall, but each time I will rise again. Perhaps I may face trials, but I will fight them... for living a life chained, is not living a life at all.'" 

"Whoa..." Johanna looked mystified.

"Hold on-" Lilith rather dampened the mood- "If she was a founding member... does that mean she's dead now?" 

"Oh come on Lilith you're killing the mood!" Johanna piped up, rather annoyed.

Eventually the girls moved past the hiccup, and spent the rest of the night dramatically reading out poems from the green book, which eventually just devolved into rounds of deranged giggling, and eventually the girls became exhausted, ruling that it was time to end the meeting and part ways.

'~'

Putting the book down, Dione finally went to sleep, her thoughts whirring around lazily, but one kept making its way to the forefront of her mind.

Neil.

'I'm just thinking about him because we have dinner soon.' she thought- trying to convince herself more than anything else. 

"Sure, and you're only blushing because you feel like it." she could practically hear Lilith's voice in her ear.

"God Lil, you can't even get off my case when you aren't here." she mumbled before drifting off for good. 

'~'

That wasn't the last time she found herself thinking about Neil though. 

All throughout the day at school, Dione caught her thoughts wandering- but why? It's not like she and Neil were anything special or anything... but what if they were? That would be interesting- no it wouldn't. What? 

When she sat down at the lunch tables that afternoon, Lilith immediately noticed that something was wrong. 

"Hey Di, you alright?" 

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Dione answered absent-mindedly.

"You thinkin' 'bout Neiilll?" Johanna teased.

"What? No!" Dione answered far too quickly, a blush creeping its way up her face. 

"Uh huh-" Lilith was extremely skeptical, as per usual- "so you gonna tell us about it?"

"Well there's nothing to tell, so no." 

"Riiight-" Lilith looked over at Johanna- "Looks like someone has a major case of denial."

"Oh- But- I- Ugh fine, maybe I'm a bit confused. But what are you gonna do about it?" 

"We could, I don't know, help? I mean I have a boyfriend, so, you know." Johanna offered, trying to be helpful. 

"I hardly think that makes you an expert Jo." Lilith rolled her eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't even know if I like him like that!" Dione wrung her hands trying to diffuse the assumptions being thrown her way. 

"Well, if he asked you out- I'm not saying he would- but if he did, what would you say?" Lilith asked. 

"Well, I mean I'd say yes, but that doesn't mean I like him!"

"Right... Well, if you imagine him, I don't know, kissing you- just on the cheek or something- how does that make you feel?" 

Dione looked down at the table, her face and ears beetroot red. 

"Ooooh shit! I think we've got her!" Johanna jumped up and hugged her flustered friend. 

"Don't worry Di, you're in good hands, I was the one who finally convinced Jo to do something about her horrific crush on Donovan, and I mean that went well right?"

"I think I hate you guys right now." Dione mumbled. 

The truth was, Dione couldn't have been more happy to have friends like Lilith and Johanna. 

The other truth, however, was that Dione Hawthorne, was head over heels for Neil Perry. 

~~~

Question of the chapter: how are we feeling about the book so far? Is there anything I could do better? Is there anything that you like in particular? 

OOooh boyy that was cheesy, but hey what's having a crush without a bit of cheesiness? Anyway- not me uploading 2 days in a row??? craazyy- anyway hope you enjoyed- oh also! I'm gonna start doing a little question of the chapter, because why not.

Peace and love <3