Dead Poets Society (2 page)

“Wonderful,” Nolan smiled briefly. “I hear it’s beautiful.” He patted the dog and gave him a snack while the boys stood awkwardly waiting.

“Mr. Anderson,” Nolan said. “Since you’re new here let me explain that at Welton I assign extra-curricular activities on the basis of merit and desire.

“These activities are taken every bit as seriously as your class work, right boys?”

“Yes, sir!” the others said in military unison.

“Failure to attend required meetings will result in demerits. Now, Mr. Dalton: the school paper, the Service Club, soccer, rowing. Mr. Overstreet: Welton Society Candidates, the school paper, soccer, Sons of Alumni Club. Mr. Perry: Welton Society Candidates, Chemistry Club, Mathematics Club, school annual, soccer. Mr. Cameron: Welton Society Candidates, Debate Club, rowing, Service Club, Forensics, Honor Council.”

“Thank you, sir,” Cameron said.

“Mr. Anderson, based on your record at Balincrest: soccer, Service Club, school annual. Anything else I should know about?”

Todd stood silent. He struggled to say something, but the words just wouldn’t come out.

“Speak up, Mr. Anderson,” Nolan said.

“I … would … prefer … rowing … sir,” Todd said, his voice barely audible. Nolan looked at Todd, who started to shake from head to toe.

“Rowing? Did he say rowing? It says here you played soccer at Balincrest?”

Todd tried to speak again. “I … did … but …” he whispered. Beads of sweat broke out on his brow, and he clenched his hands so tightly his knuckles turned white. As the other boys stared at him, Todd fought back tears.

“You’ll like soccer here, Anderson. All right, boys. Dismissed.”

The boys marched out, Todd’s face white with misery. At the door, Dr. Hager called out five more names.

As they headed across campus toward their dorms, Neil Perry approached Todd, who was walking alone, and offered a handshake.

“I hear we’re going to be roommates,” he said. “I’m Neil Perry.”

“Todd Anderson,” he replied softly. The boys walked in awkward silence.

“Why’d you leave Balincrest?” Neil asked.

“My brother went here.”

Neil shook his head. “Oh, so you’re THAT Anderson.”

Todd shrugged and groaned. “My parents wanted me to go here all along but my grades weren’t good enough. I had to go to Balincrest to pull them up.”

“Well, you’ve won the booby prize,” Neil laughed. “Don’t expect to like it here.”

“I don’t already,” Todd said.

They walked into the entrance hall of the dorm to find a confusion of students, suitcases, typewriters, pillows, and record players.

At the head of the hall a school porter stood watching a pile of unclaimed luggage. Neil and Todd stopped to look for their belongings. Neil spotted his bags and went to find their room.

“Home, sweet home,” he chuckled as he entered the small square space barely large enough to fit two single beds, two closets, and two desks. He plopped his suitcases on one of the beds.

Richard Cameron stuck his head in the room. “Heard you got the new boy. Hear he’s a stiff. Oops!” Cameron said as Todd walked in.

Cameron quickly ducked out. Todd walked past him, dropped his suitcases on the other bed and began to unpack.

“Don’t mind Cameron,” Neil said. “He’s a jerk,” Todd just shrugged, focusing on the task at hand.

Knox Overstreet, Charlie Dalton, and Steven Meeks then showed up at their room. “Hey, Perry,” Charlie said, “rumor has it you did summer school.”

“Yeah, chemistry. My father thought I should get ahead.”

“Well,” Charlie said. “Meeks aced Latin, and I didn’t quite flunk English, so if you want, we’ve got our study group.”

“Sure, but Cameron asked me too. Anybody mind including him?”

“What’s his specialty,” Charlie laughed, “brown-nosing?”

“Hey,” Neil said, “he’s your roommate!”

“That’s not my fault.” Charlie shook his head.

Todd continued unpacking his suitcase while the other boys talked. Steven Meeks walked toward him.

“Hi, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Steven Meeks.”

Todd extended his hand shyly. “Todd Anderson.”

Knox and Charlie walked over and extended their hands in greeting, too.

“Charlie Dalton.”

“Knox Overstreet.” Todd shook their hands formally.

“Todd’s brother is Jeffrey Anderson,” Neil said.

Charlie looked over with recognition. “Oh, yeah, sure. Valedictorian, National Merit Scholar …”

Todd nodded. “Well, welcome to ‘Hellton.’” Meeks laughed.

“It’s every bit as hard as they say. Unless you’re a genius like Meeks,” Charlie said.

“He only flatters me so I’ll help him with Latin.”

“And English, and trig …” Charlie added. Meeks smiled.

There was another knock on the door. “It’s open,” Neil called. But it wasn’t another of their buddies this time.

“Father,” Neil stammered, his face turning white. “I thought you’d left!”

The boys jumped to their feet. “Mr. Perry,” Meeks, Charlie, and Knox said in unison.

“Keep your seats, boys,” Neil’s father said as he walked briskly into the room. “How’s it going?”

“Fine, sir. Thank you,” they answered.

Mr. Perry stood face to face with Neil, who shuffled uncomfortably. “Neil, I’ve decided that you’re taking too many extracurricular activities. I’ve spoken to Mr. Nolan about it, and he’s agreed to let you work on the school annual
next
year,” he said, and then walked toward the door.

“But, Father,” Neil cried. “I’m the assistant editor!”

“I’m sorry, Neil,” Mr. Perry replied stiffly.

“But, Father, it’s not fair. I …”

Mr. Perry’s eyes glared at Neil, who stopped midsentence. Then he opened the door and pointed to Neil to leave the room.

“Fellows, would you excuse us a minute?” he asked politely. Mr. Perry followed Neil, closing the door behind him.

His eyes raging, Mr. Perry hissed at his son. “I will
not
be disputed in public, do you understand me?”

“Father,” Neil said lamely, “I wasn’t disputing you. I …”

“When you’ve finished medical school and you’re on your own, you can do as you please. Until then, you will listen to ME!”

Neil looked at the floor. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry.”

“You know what this means to your mother, don’t you?” Mr. Perry said.

“Yes, sir.” Neil stood silent in front of his father. His resolve always crumbled under the threats of guilt and punishment. “Oh well, you know me,” Neil said, filling the pause. “Always taking on too much.”

“Good boy. Call us if you need anything.” He turned without further comment and walked off. Neil looked after his father, feeling overwhelmed with frustration and anger. Why did he always let his father get to him like that?

He opened the door to his room and walked back in. The boys tried to look as if nothing had happened, each waiting for the other to speak. Finally Charlie broke the silence.

“Why doesn’t he ever let you do what you want?” he asked.

“And why don’t you just tell him off! It couldn’t get any worse,” Knox added.

Neil wiped his eyes. “Oh, that’s rich,” he sneered. “Like you tell YOUR parents off, Mr. Future Lawyer and Mr. Future Banker!” The boys studied their shoes as Neil stormed around the room angrily. He ripped the school annual achievement pin from his blazer and hurled it furiously at his desk.

“Wait a minute,” Knox said, walking toward Neil. “I don’t let my parents walk on me.”

“Yeah,” Neil laughed. “You just do everything they say! You’ll be in daddy’s law firm as sure as I’m standing here.” He turned to Charlie who was sprawled across Neil’s bed. “And you’ll be approving loans till you croak!”

“Okay,” Charlie admitted. “So I don’t like it any more than you do. I’m just saying …”

“Then don’t tell me how to talk to
my
father when you’re the same way,” Neil snapped. “All right?”

“All right,” Knox sighed. “Jesus, what are you gonna do?”

“What I have to do. Chuck the annual. I have no choice.”

“I certainly wouldn’t lose any sleep over it,” Meeks said cheerfully. “It’s just a bunch of people trying to impress Nolan.”

Neil slammed his suitcase shut and slumped onto his bed. “What do I care about any of it anyhow?” He slammed his hand into his pillow, lay back silently, and stared with glazed eyes at the ceiling.

The boys sat around glumly, feeling Neil’s disappointment and sadness. “I don’t know about anyone else,” Charlie said, again breaking the silence, “but I could sure use a refresher in Latin. Eight o’clock in my room?”

“Sure,” Neil said tonelessly.

“You’re welcome to join us, Todd,” Charlie offered.

“Yeah,” Knox agreed. “Come along.”

“Thank you,” Todd said.

After the boys left, Neil got up and picked up the achievement pin he had thrown. Todd started to unpack again. He took out a framed photo of his mother and father with their arms affectionately around an older boy who appeared to be Todd’s famous brother, Jeffrey. Neil looked at the photo and noticed that Todd was slightly apart from the family group, with them but not really a part of them. Todd then unpacked an engraved leather desk set and laid it out on his desk.

Neil plopped on his bed and leaned against the headboard. “So, what do you think of my father?” he asked blankly.

“I’ll take him over mine,” Todd said softly, almost to himself.

“What?” Neil asked.

“Nothing.”

“Todd, if you’re gonna make it around here, you’ve got to speak up. The meek might inherit the earth, but they don’t get into Harvard; know what I mean?” Todd nodded, folding a white button-down oxford cloth shirt. Neil held the achievement pin in his hand as he spoke. “The bastard!” he shouted suddenly, jabbing his thumb with the metal point of the pin and drawing blood.

Todd winced, but Neil just stared at the blood intently. He pulled the pin out and hurled it against the wall.

The first day of class dawned bright and clear. The junior-class boys dashed in and out of the bathroom, dressing in record time. “Those seventh graders look like they’re going to make in their pants, they’re so nervous,” Neil laughed as he splashed his face with cold water.

“I feel the same way,” Todd admitted.

“Don’t worry, the first day is always rough,” Neil said. “But we’ll get through. Somehow we always do.” The boys finished dressing and raced to the chemistry building. “Shouldn’t have slept so late and missed breakfast,” Neil said. “My stomach’s growling.”

“Mine too,” Todd said as they slid into the chem lab. Knox, Charlie, Cameron, and Meeks were already in the class along with some other juniors. In the front of the room a balding, bespectacled teacher handed out huge textbooks.

“In addition to the assignments in the text,” he said sternly, “you will each pick three lab experiments from the project list and report on one every five weeks. The first twenty problems at the end of Chapter One are due tomorrow.”

Charlie Dalton’s eyes popped as he stared at the text and listened to the teacher. He shot a disbelieving glance at Knox Overstreet, and both boys shook their heads in dismay.

Todd was the only one among them who didn’t seem fazed by either the book or the things the teacher was saying. The teacher’s voice droned on, but the boys stopped listening somewhere around the words “the first twenty problems.” Finally, the bell rang, and almost everyone from chemistry moved into Mr. McAllister’s classroom.

McAllister, probably the only Latin teacher in the history of contemporary education with a Scottish brogue, wasted no time in getting into the subject. He handed out the books and launched in. “We’ll begin by declining nouns,” he said. “Agricola, agricolae, agricolae, agricolam, agricola …” McAllister walked around the room, repeating the Latin words as the boys struggled to keep up with him.

After forty minutes of recitation, McAllister stopped and stood, facing the class. “You will be tested on those nouns tomorrow, gentlemen. You have your work cut out for you.” He turned and faced the blackboard as a collective groan rippled across the room. Before McAllister could begin round two, however, they were saved by the bell.

“That guy is nuts! I’ll
never
learn all that by tomorrow,” Charlie moaned.

“Don’t worry,” Meeks said. “I’ll teach you guys the system. We’ll study together tonight. Come on, we’re late for math.”

Mathematical charts decorated the walls of Dr. Hager’s classroom, and books were already waiting for them at their desks.

“Your study of trigonometry requires absolute precision,” Dr. Hager instructed. “Anyone failing to turn in a homework assignment will be penalized one point off his final grade. Let me urge you now not to test me on this point. Who would like to begin by defining cosine?”

Richard Cameron stood and recited, “A cosine is the sine of the complement of an angle or arc. If we define an angle A, then …”