“Alright, class” Ms. Smith clapped her hands to get her students’ attention, “I know you’re excited for the new semester. Reading and analyzing books, writing reports, pop quizzes… loads of fun!”
Alex plucked out her earphones and placed them inside her jean pocket, followed by her phone. She tucked her hands inside her gray hoodie’s arm holes. She slid her bottom closer to the edge of the chair and slumped against the backrest. She had her right ankle placed above her left knee.
Unlike her, the rest of the students began to groan.
Ms. Smith cackled. She had predicted the same reaction and none of them could dampen her mood. Her voice remained loud and cheery, “But! We’ll be kicking it off with a bang! So, new project!”
On the first day of their Junior Year, the class erupted in surprise and in complaints. They had expected to do nothing. Normally, teachers would brief about classroom rules and about the coming lessons but after that, they let the students have some free time until the end of the class. Now, here they were about to receive their first project.
Safe to say, none of them looked forward to it.
Alex rolled her eyes. Teachers always gave projects. From what she heard, Ms. Smith happened to be the only one who gave the major project at the start of the year. The rest of the faculty liked to hand them out at the end of the year. That meant the students had one less major project to cram in the few weeks left of school.
Why didn’t they understand that?
“Oh, shush!” Ms. Smith stomped down any protests and wrote on the board. Her curly hair swayed with her movement, “I do know a thing or two about teenage classic favorites. So far, the most popular would have to be Romeo and Juliet.”
At that, a few girls squealed and gushed about the movie adaptation with Leonardo DiCaprio. Alex shook her head. Of course, it had to be Romeo and Juliet. That play happened to be every English teacher’s favorite topic.
At least, that had been her observation.
Meanwhile, the male students mocked the fangirls for being so cheesy.
“You guys are just jealous because you would never be as good as Leo” a girl scoffed in their direction.
“Who even wants to be like Leo? Didn’t you see how long it took before he won an Oscar?” The boy next to her snickered, “Besides, Romeo? Really? The guy was such a nerd, speaking in poems and crap.”
“Oh, don’t give me that.” Ms. Smith interrupted, “Don’t act like you haven’t used this classic in any way to pick up girls.”
The boy merely rolled his eyes in answer.
“It’s not like that, Ms. Smith. Who needs Romeo when I’m around?” Max, a basketball jock, announced to the room. A few girls laughed while some boys threw paper balls at him. The guy deserved some credit for that confidence but he deserved a knock in the brain more like any other playboy.
“Ah, Max” Ms. Smith sighed, “Maybe you could turn that into good use for this assignment.”
“Oh, yeah? Am I gonna get an A?”
“Sure, if you can pull off playing Juliet.”
“What?”
Ms. Smith ignored him and addressed the whole class, “Now, here’s the project. All of you will be divided into two pairs, one boy and one girl. Each pair would choose a part to role play. Each scene must consist of one female character and one that is male. It doesn’t necessarily have to be Romeo and Juliet unless you have the guts because… the catch? The catch is cross-dressing.”
Alex scrunched her eyebrows. A project done in pairs? And with cross-dressing? That sounded like a double blow. Around her, murmurs started to fill the air. It seemed like she wasn’t the only one who had troubled thoughts about the project.
Ms. Smith grinned at the sudden change. She may be in a room full of teenagers that thought they already knew everything about life but she could overpower their mischief any day, “That’s right. The female would be the male character and the male will be the female one. You have a week to prepare. Props are allowed but make-up and costume is a must. Don’t be cowards, gentleman, this play was created during a time when only men performed in the theater. If you’re a real man, you’d be able to pull this off.”
The boy from earlier turned to the girl next to him, his eyes filled with horror. The girl saw him move from the corner of her eye. On reflex, she also looked over his direction with the same expression on her face.
He said, “I’m gonna be Juliet?”
“And I’m gonna be Romeo?” She shot back.
Ms. Smith’s perked up at their conversation. She walked over to them and placed a hand on their backs, making both students jump in surprise.
She smiled at them, “I’m glad to see your enthusiasm. You two will be the first pair for the project.”
The two students gulped. They glanced at her only once before they shared another silent conversation with each other.
“Any questions?” She provoked. Ms. Smith’s smile was friendly but neither of them spoke up. She had a way with people that made it almost impossible to reject her.
“Sorry for being late, Ms. Smith. Am I in trouble?”
All eyes turned towards the door. A male student stood by the door with his dark hair disheveled and a backpack on one shoulder. Ms. Smith let the two students go and walked back to the front of the class.
She stared at the newcomer with calculating eyes, “Well, well, Logan. I do not tolerate tardiness but there will be no detention for you.”
“Whoo, thank you, Ms. Smith” Logan sighed in relief. He tried to smile but Ms. Smith’s eyes made it hard for him to do so. They pierced through him like he hadn’t gotten out of trouble yet.
“But…”
“But?” The word came out with a hint of fear. Logan cursed in his mind. He knew it had been too good to be true. Did another punishment exist worse than detention? Hopefully, there wasn’t so he’d have nothing to worry about.
“But you can’t go unpunished. Instead, I’m taking your lateness as your consent to volunteer”
“Volunteer?”
“We have an assignment and it calls for a pair composed of one boy and one girl. Unfortunately, our class’ female and male students aren’t equal. Two boys would have to be one pair.”
The class erupted in laughter, considering the egos men—even blossoming young adults—had plus the idea of two guys forced to act intimate was just plain comical. If Logan was lucky enough, he’d be paired up with a friend and it would be easier for him.
“Ah, gee, Ms. Smith. Do I have to?” Logan scratched the back of his head, his ears tinted pink. He didn’t dare to look at the rest of the class. He just had to be late for his first day of school. This was just perfect.
“Yes, Logan, but don’t worry. I’ll pick out the best partner for you so don’t be too upset.”
“Ooo—pick me, Ms. Smith. Logan and I could do some loving” Max naturally offered. He turned in his seat to fake make out with himself. He wrapped his arms around his own torso and wiggled.
Logan already felt terrified—even if he could only see Max’ back.
“Ew, that’s disgusting, Max” Lauren, the girl behind him, said. She sat in the wild zone where Max’s kissy face was only inches away from her.
He dropped it immediately and smirked, “So you try to say, baby, but I know you want some.”
Lauren gripped the pen in her pocket and aimed it at him, “Want me to skin you alive, pervert?”
“I like to see you try, snookums.”
Before anything else could happen, Ms. Smith ceased the fire, “Alright, that’s enough and, no, Max. I already had someone in my mind for Logan’s partner.”
Max, with his drama queen attitude, clutched his wounded heart and asked, “Who?”
Ms. Smith smiled. Then, her eyes scanned the room. She looked at each student. She watched as the faces she gazed on turned pale. It amused her to see how the boys pretended not to be nervous until she made eye contact with but… only one student met her interest and that student happened to sit at the very back.
She had only heard rumors about this student before. Since she taught juniors, she hadn’t had the chance to meet the student until today.
From her viewpoint, she could tell that the student had a small face and a fair complexion. She could see a pair of stunning gray eyes barely peeking out underneath cropped black hair. With the gray hoodie on, the student looked like a character from a black and white film.
Out of all the students Ms. Smith looked at, this one didn’t avoid her stare.
Dread filled Alex’s mind. The moment Ms. Smith talked about the perfect partner, her flesh had turned into stone. She noticed the innuendo of the statement right away.
Unlike what Ms. Smith had said earlier, the class actually had an equal number of male and female students. What the rest didn’t know was that one of the ‘male’ students happened to be a female. The project called for one boy and one girl, it made sense that Ms. Smith would pick this ‘male’ student.
When Ms. Smith smiled, Alex’s veins turned into ice.
“Alex, you’ll be Logan’s partner.”
Forget about what she said earlier, this project turned out to be a triple blow.
