Something Like Romeo and Juliet

Chapter 1

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean...

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I was in a terrible mood. I was sitting in my hard plastic chair, my chin rested on my palm and my eyes scanning the various posters dispersed throughout the room. "To thine own self be true," read the black and white one by the windows. "A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet," claimed the floral patterned one in the back corner.
All very cheesy, very cliche quotes in Old English that made me feel like I would break into hives. Shakespeare, my greatest enemy. And yet here I was, sitting in a semester-long course entitled none other than "Shakespeare."

I resisted the urge to huff in frustration as I recalled the totally unhelpful meeting I'd had with my counselor the day before.

    Me: "But, see, I didn't forecast for Shakespeare."
Ms. Walsh: "I understand that, Miss Strasburg, but the fact is you turned in your forecasting sheet late. We had to put you in whatever was left over."
Me: "But that can't be right. I mean, I turned in the paper the day after you handed them out. There must have been a mistake."
Ms. Walsh: "Well, I suppose it's possible that it may have been misplaced for a time..."
Me: "So it's not my fault! Shouldn't I be able to at least get a class from my top eight choices?"
Miss Walsh: "I'm sorry, Zara, but we can't change courses once the semester has begun. Architectural design and Shakespeare are fine classes that many students enjoy. Your grades suggest that you're plenty bright and I'm sure you'll be quite successful."

And thus the dreaded Shakespeare.

Now, don't get me wrong: I'm a good student, and I usually tolerate all my classes just fine. But I had despised Shakespeare since I was forced to read Henry IV in my freshman English class. The plot moved excruciatingly slow, the "exciting" parts were completely watered down, the characters were dull, and the whole thing was overall just a torturous experience. I barely made it through one play, and could hardly imagine how I would bear a whole semester of it.

"...For our first unit, we'll split into partners and each get assigned a play, which you'll do several reading comprehension assignments and reports on, as well as choosing a scene to act out together in front of the class. It may sound tedious, but I'll have you know that many of my students really enjoy..."

I tuned the teacher out, not particularly interested in hearing her trying to convince us that Shakespeare would be something we'd "enjoy."

"Okay, now listen closely. For partners, I've randomly paired you guys up. Here we go: Katelyn and Jayson, Lauren and Kara..."

I looked around the room, trying to work out who looked like the smartest classmate.

"...Zara and Jonathan..."

I snapped my head up.

Jonathan...which desk had that name tag? The case of the mystery partner was solved when a dark haired boy in a navy blue hoodie slumped into the chair next to me and started shuffling through his backpack. I looked quickly down at my lap, not wanting to partake in any human interaction at the moment. My eyes wandered up to the poster in the front of the room:

"Presume not that I am who I was. -Henry IV."

I sighed.

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Here's the very short first chapter to my very first book on Wattpad! :)

I'm using Julia Goldani Telles (as portrayed in the show Bunheads) as my model for Zara, and I'll figure out what other actors to use in the story as I go along.

I'm really excited for this book! I've written a good amount of it already, so I should be able to update pretty regularly. I'll start out with publishing a couple chapters for today. ★☆