𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑

00. 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆

Tradition, discipline, honor, excellence. 

These were the four pillars of Welton Academy; the four core values that kept the fragile institution afloat.

You sat in the very front row of the Welcoming Ceremony, fiddling nervously with the thick program in your hands. You never liked the ceremony much and most years you either faked sick or skipped it altogether. It baffled you how the teachers managed to put it on every single year without fail. It was far too stuffy and repetitive for your liking.

But this year, your father insisted that you come. He said it was about time you learned your place at Welton Academy, the school you had lived at since you could remember. Professor Aufiery was your father, an honest man who made an honest living teaching Chemistry to the snooty rich boys of the school.

Before Welton, when your mother was still present in your life, you all lived together in a quaint little country house in Southern California. You remembered it vaguely, but sometimes you convinced yourself that you could feel the summer sun beating against your young face. That was before your mother died and your father decided that the country house had to go along with all of the happy memories that took place within it.

You were sent off to a girl's school across the state where you remained, miserable, for two years. But then a miracle came in the form of a job offer at Welton Academy in Vermont. You'd lived on campus ever since, attending the co-ed public school down in the center of town.

Mr. Nolan, the headmaster of Welton, was standing behind the tall wooden podium at the head of the room. He addressed the boys and their families with a booming voice that hadn't quieted even in old age. You always felt out of place there, but you still found it within yourself to clap at the end just like everyone else did.

You could feel the heat of the ceremonial candles against your face. It was near boiling in the Great Hall and you tried to discreetly fan yourself with the pale green program book. The front row was reserved for the professor's families and was mostly occupied by their wives.

They all looked relatively the same with their short wispy hair and sagging faces. You worried that if you sat there for too long, you would start to look like them too. Old, hopeless, their faces blank and bleary-eyed.

As the headmaster droned on about the success rates of the school, you zoned out and unintentionally caught the eye of one of the boys standing just behind him, holding up one of the four pillars of Welton Academy. There were four flags, but the other three boys were staring blankly at the back wall, discreetly chewing the sticks of gum they had snuck in minutes prior. 

 They were probably just as bored as you were, but at least they got to play a part in it all. The boy winked in your general direction, smiling though he tried desperately to contain it. His name was Neil Perry.

He was charming and sweet, due in part to the fact that unlike every other boy at Welton, he wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He got accepted on good grades alone and his parents even insisted that he attend your father's summer school program. That was where you met and became relatively close over the three short vacation months. He had been the only other young person on campus at the time, which made it so perfect that you got along famously. It also helped that you tutored him on weekends per the request of both your fathers.

The belltower chimed, signaling the end of the ceremony and you swore you'd never stood up so fast in your entire life. The uncomfortable wooden pews creaked and groaned as people began rising to their feet. You made a beeline for the exit, eager to leave the piping hot room behind you.

It was still early morning outside. The gathering usually doesn't let out for a good two hours after it started but this year it went by relatively quickly. Not as many new students to initiate, you supposed without a second thought.