Beauty and The Geek

The Perfect Score and The Play

I nod and shrug. "I'll consider it."

"No," he takes another swig and sets the bottle on his desk. "You'll do it." He leans up so he's sitting upright. "Be like a peacock, Boy. Spread your wings and fly."

I shake my head. "If I might add, Sir, but peacocks can't fly."

"Are you trying to correct me?" He narrows his eyes at me again.

"No, not at all." I say. "I'm just stating that peacocks are incapable of flying." We sit in an awkward silence for a moment. "Which, now that I think about it, it sounds a lot like I was correcting you."

"They could probably fly if they get a running start," he says. "They'll probably be like a penguin."

I raise my eyebrows. "Have you been waiting for the opportunity to quote The Other Guys or was that just completely coincidental?" I say.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He says. "My point is, be a potato."

"Are you drunk?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "No, no, no." He slurs, looking at me. "Okay, maybe a little."

"Really?" I sarcastically say.

"Alright, Sweetheart," he says bitterly. "You don't have to be a smartass about it."

"I was- ," I start.

"Nope," he cuts me off. "Shut up! Go to Ms. Trinket's class before you piss me off more."

"But, Sir,-" I say.

"Go! I don't want to see your face anymore. Go!" He says and throws a stapler at me, making me hop up from my seat and grab my stuff and run out the door.

***

"Oh, Mr. Hadley," Ms. Trinket says when I get into her classroom. "You're here."

"Sorry I'm late." I say. "I had to speak with- ."

"I know, Dear." She nods. "Take a seat." I sit in between Finnick and Marvel.

Marvel is supposed to be in the twelfth grade, but he was held back two years. You guessed it, he's an idiot.

"Hey, Cato." Finnick says, smiling.

"Hey, Fin." I say.

"Okay," Ms. Trinket says. "If everyone would look up here, we are going to put on a play." We look at the board, which has Romeo and Juliet written on it in big, bright, red letters. "Here are your scripts." She hands scripts out to us. "Any questions?" I look around the room frantically, looking for hands going up. Katniss's hand goes up. "Yes, Ms. Everdeen?"

"Are we practicing this today?" She asks.

"Yes, Dear." Ms. Trinket says. "I will be partnering you up so you can learn your lines better." This makes some people groan. She looks at her attendance sheet. "Let's see. Katniss, you are with Gale." I look over and see Gale cast Katniss a wink as she gets up from her seat and goes to sit with him. "Finnick Odair," she uses a thicker accent with his last name. "You are with Annie." He smiles at that.

"Come on, Ann." He says as she walks over to him.

"Marvel," she scans the sheet. "You're with Clove." Marvel looks around the room, searching for Clove, whom gets up and walks towards him. He looks at me and does an eyebrow dance, making me narrow my eyes at him. "Johanna, you're with Peeta." Ms. Trinket's words make Johanna scowl. "Glimmer, you're with Cato." I look around and see Glimmer. She smiles and waves at me.

"Hey, You." She says when she gets closer to me.

"Hey." I say shyly.

"You don't talk much, do you?" She questions.

"Guess I'm not much of a talker," I tell her.

"I'll say." She winks at me and I smile in return. "So, shall we practice the play?"

"We shall." I say and we open our scripts just to stare down at the words.

"Do you have any idea what these words mean?" She asks me.

Yes. The voice inside my head says. "Nope," I say aloud.

"Me neither." She giggles a bit.

Right then, the bell rings for us to go to lunch.

"Don't forget to read!" Ms. Trinket calls out. "Auditions are Monday!" After that, I walk out the door.