{ chapter five: no fear shakespeare.
“How do you feel about Shakespeare?”
I stared blankly at Marie, who was grinning in a way that I thought was impossible for her, before shutting the door to my locker. “I don’t.”
I almost felt guilty by how quickly her grin turned into a frown. “Not even a bit?” she nearly pleaded.
Resisting the urge to grimace, I shook my head. “Well, I don’t hate him, but I’m not that into him, either…” A faint glimmer of hope sparkled in her eyes. Instantly I groaned. “Marie, please don’t make me audition for the school play with you again. The last time that I happened I tripped on stage and made an idiot out of myself.” Needless to say, acting is neither my passion nor my forte.
“No no no, none of that. It’s just that, well, Papa got me tickets for Romeo and Juliet at the Newford Little Theater and I need someone to—”
“I hate Romeo and Juliet,” I interrupted, much to her horror. “Romeo’s an idiot, Juliet makes me want to punch myself in the throat, Mercutio’s the only good character and he dies…” Despite my unbridled hate for, what I believed was, Shakespeare’s worst play, I couldn’t help but gradually give in to the hopeful look on her face. It was rare that Marie asked anything of me, and turning her town just made me feel like a jerk. “I really hate Romeo and Juliet,” I repeated weakly, hoping that she would let me off.
“I hear Vick’s going.”
Any guilt I might have felt quickly dissipating upon hearing my ex-boyfriend’s name. His mom owned the Newford Little Theater, so it wasn’t that he was going that surprised me. “What does Vick have to do with anything?” I asked, sounding a little more offended than I meant to.
She looked genuinely taken back by my tone. “Huh? Oh, well I heard the two of you were on speaking terms again.”
The corners of my lips quirked downward. “Uh, sort of. We’re in the same group in English, so we’re forced to speak to each other, but… Wait wait wait. Where did you hear that from?”
Marie shrugged. “Lukas. A couple other guys on the soccer team who saw you guys talking.”
I raised a hand to my forehead to massage my temples, which were already beginning to throb from the ridiculousness of this conversation. “That? Well that was hardly a conversation, and in any case, me and Vick have nothing to do with—”
“Hey Vick,” Marie cut in, smiling to the tall presence behind me. Grateful for her indirect warning, I still couldn’t manage to control the burning of my cheeks.
“Hey,” the deep voice greeted, confirming his being there. “I was, uh, wondering if I could…”
She bobbed her head in acknowledgement and stepped away. “Well, I’ll text you about it later, Al,” she said, smiling apologetically in response to my look of absolute desperation. “See you later, Vick.” She raised a hand to wave before swiftly escaping the awkward situation.
Gradually, I turned to face Vick, who was simpering impishly. “Hi,” I said lamely, biting the insides of my cheeks uncomfortably.
“Hey,” he returned, visibly swallowing.
We stood there for a few moments, basking in the same bizarre, uncomfortable silence that always seemed to accompany us nowadays, neither of us sure how to proceed. Suddenly fed up with the entire scenario — not just our current situation, but everything that had followed our break up — I opened my mouth to say something.
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Flightless Bird
Romance"You've got everything you could ever want here -- friends, family, people who love you. Why are you so intent on getting out of here?" Trying to avoid the intensity of his gaze, I looked to the side. I wanted to tell him that he was worth it, th...
