The Buddies Rule | ✓

Chapter 20

I glanced up to see Alan with a wide grin on his face. He held out a small box to me, one with a little box on the top.

"Thanks," I laughed, taking the box from him. He nodded and shuffling into his seat beside me. "What is it?"

"You're probably going to have to open the box to find out," Alan quipped. "That's usually how presents work."

I rolled my eyes and pulled the top off the small box. Inside, sat a card and a small bracelet. I set the box down on my lap before picking the card out of the box.

To my sweetest Elisa, I give the apple of my eye.
Make sure to get to practice on time.
Lewis

"Why would Lewis give me a bracelet?" I asked, feeling a frown take form on my face.

"He had the prop guys make it for our characters, and he wanted our approval," Alan explained. "He kind of thought it would be funny to see your reaction to the card."

"That sounds more like Lewis," I laughed.

Placing the top back on the box, I slid it into my bag. Class would start in just a few minutes and I didn't want the teacher to come around to find a weird bracelet from my only platonic guy friend.

"Did you like the ball on Saturday?" Alan asked absentmindedly as he pulled out his notebook.

I shrugged and penciled in the date, "it was fine. Chase and I had fun, and Lewis seemed to be having fun with that new girl."

"Alex?" Alan questioned. "I think she thought they were just there as friends."

"Seriously?" I gasped. "He looked so helpless when he asked her to dance, I thought he was about to pass out."

Alan shook his head, a smile resting on his face. "He told me that he really liked her."

"How did they even meet?" I asked. "Lewis got all weird when I asked and wouldn't tell me."

Alan shrugged, "they have some class together, I can't remember which one. But they got paired up for a project, so they've been spending a lot of down time together.

"Well," I laughed. "At least he's trying."

"Yeah," he sighed.

We grew silent before the teacher began writing something up on the board. We'd only just gotten to the end Romeo and Juliet during our last lecture, so when seeing the words tragic romance written in chalk, it didn't phase me.

"What makes Romeo so certain that death is his only option when finding out Juliet is dead?" He started. "The certainty comes from the love he feels for Juliet. A love so strong can both make or break you, and in Romeo's case, it broke him, so badly in fact, that death was his only option. He couldn't live without Juliet, it would be far too painful."

I scribbled down what little I could into my notebook, ignoring for the moment that I knew all of this by heart. It was obvious, one of those read between the line type things. But it was still nice to know I was understanding what the professor was preaching.

"And why does Juliet proceed to kill herself after finding Romeo dead, just next to her?" The professor droned on. "She finds life futile without him in it. The love the two share is somehow larger than life itself, which makes living without her love, not worth living."

I fell back in my chair, ignoring my notes for the moment as I merely listened in on the lecture. I would remember all of this without notes, I was sure.

"A love this strong is rare," he paused for dramatic effect. "So rare, in fact, that most are never able to feel this way with anyone. The love, and the bond between these two, forged an instant connection; one so strong, that both felt compelled to end their time on earth, rather than live a life without that connection."