"?" charlie annoyingly asked, banging on the bathroom door.

a flustered amélie quietly yelled back. "yeah, give me a second!"

she was quickly applying makeup. they were about to leave for neil's play. she was so nervous she could throw up. after neil had told her all the doubts he had, she was secretly so worried.

"jesus, girls take so long." charlie groaned, getting an elbow to the rib from marianne, who was equally as dolled up.

"don't be rude." she snarled, lightly kissing her boyfriend on the cheek.

"i'm not!"

suddenly, amélie's dad, walked into the living room, and was startled at the sight of the two. "hello, marianne!"

"oh, hi mr. laurent." marianne nodded, putting her arm around charlie's and smiling.

"who's this young fellow?"

"charlie dalton, sir." charlie spoke, putting his hand out to shake amélie's dad's hand.

"where are you off to?" he asked. amélie opened the door, and was shocked at the sight of her dad. she didn't realize he was home.

"hi dad." she awkwardly smiled, closing the door and standing by her friends.

"we're going to a play." marianne nodded. "neil's play."

"he's a friend of ours.. of amélie's.." charlie trailed off. amélie felt so much anxiety as he said that.

"he's my boyfriend, dad." she quietly admitted.

her dad said nothing. the group quickly left. there was a look on her dad's face, a look of such disappointment she feared it would haunt her forever. she stayed silent the entire car ride to henley hall. charlie and marianne didn't even bother talking either.

"neil!" amélie yelled, spotting neil backstage and running up to him.

"amélie." he smiled, pulling his girlfriend into a hug. she could feel his cold sweat. he was nervous, he was trying so hard to mask it but amé could tell. "you look great."

"thank you." she blushed, kissing neil on the cheek. it left a red lip mark.

"aw, you left a mark." he groaned, rubbing his cheek. he blushed with embarrassment.

"now when you go out on that stage, all the girls will know who you belong to." amélie grinned. he laughed at her comment, and pulled her into another hug. "you're going to do so great, i just know it."

"thank you." neil blushed, ruffling his hand through the shorter blonde's hair. she slipped a note into the front pocket of his jacket without him noticing. "i've got to go get into costume, but we'll talk later, okay?" he pulled away.

amé faked a frown at him. "okay." she nodded, walking back towards the audience. "break a leg." she smiled.

"kiss me one more time." neil smirked. amélie ran back to him, and kissed him lightly.

"okay, okay." she shook her head. "i'll go now."

"bye." neil smiled as he watched her go. he was dazed at how beautiful she was.

——————————

neil's performance was beautiful. amélie and the poets were in awe the entire time. their applaud was the loudest out of the entire theatre. amé couldn't hold back a smile the entire time. she was so happy for neil, how he was finally pursuing his dream. she loved him so much.

the red velvet curtains opened again, and all the actors began bowing. neil was last, and the crowd erupted into applause. he looked flustered by how many people were clapping for him. he truly stole the show.

the poets waited outside of henley hall, looking out for neil. their english teacher, mr. keating

was there too.

"mr. keating, this is amélie." charlie loudly said, grabbing amé by her shoulders and turning her towards their teacher.

"hi." she nodded, sticking her hand out for him to shake it.

"hello, amélie." he smiled, taking her hand. she could immediately tell why neil loved him so much. she could tell how truly nice he was.

"she's neil's girlfriend."

"charlie!" she groaned, a blush arising on her face.

"neil did amazing tonight." mr. keating exclaimed. amélie quickly nodded in agreement.

she was still in shock by how good he was. "i agree. he talks about you a lot."

"only good things, i hope." mr. keating joked. amélie's lips curled into a soft smile.

"of course."

neil exited the building, holding his head down. all of the boys tried approaching him, sharing the excitement, but he didn't look up.

"neil!" amélie yelled, running up to him.

"you were great." knox smiled, all of the boys nodding in agreement.

"let's celebrate."

neil finally lifted his head up. "i can't, guys." his eyes were red.

"you have a gift. what a performance! you even left me speechless." mr. keating congratulated him, placing a hand on his shoulder. neil weakly smiled, but wasn't fooling anyone.

neil's dad followed quickly behind him. neil scurried to get into the car before he could hear his dad yelling. "mr. keating, you stay away from my son." he angrily said.

"is he okay?" amélie asked, tears welling up in her eyes as she watched the car drive away. no one said anything.

once neil got home, his dad had already began reprimanding him, while his mom watched in the corner, teary-eyed.

"we're trying very hard to understand why it is that you insist on defying us. whatever the reason, we're not gonna let you ruin your life. tomorrow I'm withdrawing you from welton and enrolling you in braden military school. you're going to harvard and you're gonna be a doctor." his dad yelled. neil's heart dropped. he hadn't started to cry during any of this, but this got him.

"but that's ten more years. father, that's a lifetime!" he defended, his voice cracking as he spoke. he couldn't stop the tears running down his face. his mind was filled with thoughts of all his memories at welton, and everything he'd be leaving.

"oh, stop it. don't be so dramatic. you make it sound like a prison term. you don't understand, neil. you have opportunities that I never even dreamt of and I am not going to let you waste them."

"i've got to tell you how i feel." neil raised his voice. once he saw the look on his dad's face, the fear on his mom's face, he stopped, and didn't continue his sentence.

"is it more of this, this acting business? because you can forget that." his dad shook his head.

"it's nothing." neil smiled, through tears. he retreated back to his room.

he knew, when his parents were asleep, what he'd do. he snuck down to his dad's study, unlocked one of the drawers and grabbed his dad's shot gun. he brought it up to his room, and set it down on his bed. if he can't go to welton, life isn't worth living.

he stuck his hand in his pocket, and felt a folded up paper inside. confused, he pulled it out. he carefully unfolded it, and read the letter quietly out loud. tears soaked the paper as he read.

"my dearest neil, i hope this note finds you and doesn't get lost in your pocket. ever since i've met you, i've known how much of a great person you are. i've loved you since the first day we met, though i didn't show it. i can even picture us getting married someday. i'm so glad you've decided to pursue your acting dream. it'll definitely pay off. i know you expressed some doubts about going up on stage for the first time, but i hope you realize now it's all worth it. forget what your dad thinks. i love you so much. i will always love you. you are my one and only, forever and always."