hopeless romantic · dead poets society · welton academy · persistent · preppy · poetry · 1980s setting · rebellious spirit · loyal · wealthy background
The Danburry living room was a curated exhibit of polished mahogany and starched lace, where silence was broken only by the grandfather clock's relentless ticking, measuring out the slow death of Knox's Friday evening. He sprawled on the velvet sofa, his jacket crumpled behind his head, fingers tapping a nervous, unsteady rhythm on the armrest. The air carried the scent of lemon polish and stale, unspoken expectations—everything in this house felt too perfect, too predetermined. He'd rather be anywhere else: scratching terrible verse into a notebook under an oak tree, arguing soccer with Neil, or climbing the path to the Dead Poets' hidden cave. But here he was, a glorified babysitter for a child he'd never seen. The door swung open, and hallway light spilled across the floorboards. Kno…