Love as Strong as Death

Chapter 1

"Okay, people, let's settle down," Mr. Bidwell said. "Put a lid on it." Once the class had quietened down, he continued. "Thank you. Now," he clasped his hands together, "it is time to begin work on our play. As most of you know, we usually put on a play every school year in the spring. This year we will be doing one of Shakespeare's most famous plays: Romeo & Juliet. I will be the director, of course. Who would like to help out?" He stopped when he noticed a green-clad chipmunk had their hand raised. "Yes, Theodore?"

The chipmunk lowered his hand and said, "Are we going to be doing it based on the play itself or is it going to be an updated version?"

"We are using the original script, but with updated English," Mr. Bidwell replied.

"Just out of curiosity, how much does it cost to buy the rights to use the script for the play?" Theodore inquired.

"A lot of money."

"So, wouldn't it be much cheaper to have one of the students to write the script?"

"Are you saying that you'd like to write the script, Theodore?"

Theodore gave the teacher a hopeful look. "If you wouldn't mind."

Mr. Bidwell turned his head to look over at his partner, Ms. Carter, then turned to look back at Theodore. He nodded his head. "Okay, I'll give you a chance. How soon can you have the script completed?"

Theodore shrugged. "I could maybe give you a rough draft by the end of the week."

"Fair enough. Why don't you go ahead and go down to the computer lab to get started on it? The rest of you will be working on sets for the play. Okay, let's look alive, people!"

Theodore let out a breath of relief. "Oh, thank you, Mr. Bidwell."

"Just don't make me regret this."

"You won't, trust me."

"What are you still doing here? Go. Get to work."

Theodore nodded before rushing out the door and heading upstairs to the computer lab to start work on the play that, hopefully, would be made into a reality. After sitting down at one of the empty computers, he took out a flash drive from his sweater and plugged it into an unused USB drive. He liked the convenience of being able to work on essays and other writing projects both at school and at home, especially if said project was for school. This way he was able to get his work done more efficiently and faster while everyone else was working on their school projects only at home. It had actually been suggested to him via one of his teachers that he use this method so that he wouldn't lose all of his work when it came to present a project that he'd been working so hard on.

Of course, he didn't start writing the play immediately. In two hours' time, he worked on both the characters and the plot outline for the play. He decided that he would work on the actual play at home, seeing as how he no longer had any more time to work on it at school. He doubted that his other teachers would allow him to do his work during their classes, especially if it came to be an interference.

Alvin let out a bored sigh and rested his head on his folded arms. Really, he would have loved to be anywhere but in science class. It was so boring, not to mention all of those terms and definitions he needed to memorize. Honestly, why did Simon find this topic so fascinating? He looked over at his younger brother, who was feverishly copying down all of the notes that the teacher was currently writing on the board as she went about her lecture on particles. He heard Simon sigh in relief once th teacher finally stopped talking and put her chalk down. Though he didn't bother taking notes during class, Alvin guessed that all of that note taking really put a train on a guy's hand.

"Now," Ms. Warder stated, "don't forget that your science projects are due at the end of the month. For those of you who have not yet chosen a partner, I suggest you do so if you don't want to lose a good chunk of your overall grade."

Simon sighed and looked around the room for Jeanette, oblivious to the fact that Alvin was trying to get his attention. He got up and approached the bespectacled Chipette. "Hey, Jeanette, you haven't chosen a science partner yet, have you?"

Jeanette shook her head. "No. Why?"

"Well, I was kind of wondering if you'd like to be partners."

"Why don't you team up with Alvin?"

"No! Every year, it's the same story. I do all the work while Alvin lazes around. I am not going to allow that to happen this year. I'd be much more comfortable working with you."

Jeanette looked past Simon's shoulder to see Alvin approaching them. "Are you sure about that, Simon, because it looks like Alvin wants to talk to you."

"What/" The blue-clad chipmunk turned around to see his brother standing behind him. "You're tooo late, Alvin. I've already picked Jeanette to be my partner."

"Come on, Si, it'll be fun."

Simon glared. "No. All you're going to do is laze around and not doing anything and then take all the credit once I get the project done. Sorry. You're not going to get that chance this year, so I suggest you find someone else to mooch off of."

"But, Simon–"

Simon sliced his hand through the air. "But nothing, Alvin! I've made up my mind. Come on, Jeanette. Let's go."

"But . . ." Alvin started, only to stop short as Simon and Jeanette strode away.

It was during lunch that Theodore began work on his play, writing it via longhand. This wasn't a too unusual sight for the students of Warren Central, particularly Theodore's brothers and friends. They were quite used to seeing him either reading or writing during his lunch period, multitasking by way of eating while he was busy working. He guessed that he had picked up this ability through Simon, who could also be seen doing the same thing during lunch. He was just grateful that nobody bothered him during his time. He probably wouldn't have responded to them, anyway. When it came to a story that he was really passionate about, almost nothing could grab his attention until he decided that it was time to stop writing and return to reality.

Alvin was surprised when Simon sat down by him at lunch. Before he could question it, Simon started talking.

"Well, I've thought about it," Simon said, "and I've decided that if you're willing to put in the work, then I'm willing to work with you."

"So what happened?" Alvin took a bite of his sandwich. "Did Jeanette get together with someone else?"

Simon sighed dejectedly as he unfolded his napkin and rested it on his lap. "Yeah."

Alvin smirked. "I knew it."

"Look, Alvin, if we're going to be working together, I think it's best if we set up some ground rules."

Alvin nodded. "I agree."

"For starters, you have to help out with the research and with the project."

"Fair enough, but I have some–"

"No lazing around and making me do all the work. No cracking jokes or being a smart ass. I want to get an A on this project."

"Okay, but–"

"Because, to be perfectly honest, you're pretty much the last person I'd want to work with. I'd rather be with anyone else than you. So, can we please try to get along while working on this project for the next couple of months?" He extended a hand.

Looking down at Simon's hand sadly, Alvin grasped it and shook it. "Deal," he replied in a depressed manner.

"Good," Simon said, returning to his lunch.

Alvin stood up, tray in hand. "I think I'll go get started on doing some research for our project." Without another word to Simon, he dumped his food and carton of juice in the trash and walked out of the cafeteria. He made sure to quickly away any tears that might have escaped his eyes as he exited.

Theodore was still considering various plot twists and turns in his head as he and the others walked home from school that afternoon. As usual, Alvin and Brittany were arguing over something stupid while Simon and Jeanette were discussing the possibility of a particle that would finally allow man to travel at the speed of light, thus making time travel possible. The only other silent one, besides Theodore himself, was Eleanor, who seemed to be preoccupied with passing an exam that was to be administered the next day. He paid these distractions no mind, being consumed by the story he was currently writing.

Along with his brothers, he entered the Seville household. While Alvin went upstairs to their bedroom (Theodore assumed to play video games instead of doing homework), both Simon and Theodore went to the kitchen. Theodore grabbed a cookie and a glass of milk before asking Simon," Hey, do you mind if I borrow your computer? Mine's still at the shop, getting scanned for malware."

Simon nodded, also pouring himself a glass of milk and grabbing a chocolate chip cookie from off the plate. "Yeah, sure. You're okay with using a Mac, aren't you?"

"Uh . . . I'm more used to using a PC, but I've gotten used to using a Mac thanks to school." He was seated at the kitchen table by the time Simon came back downstairs with his laptop. With his notebook beside him, he set to work with copying down what he had written, then continued the story from where he'd stopped earlier. He was still working by the time Dave got home from work.

"Working on homework, Theodore?" Dave asked, walking in the kitchen.

"Something like that," Theodore replied. "When's dinner going to be ready?"

"About an hour and a half, maybe two."

"Hmm, okay."

"Has Alvin gotten his homework done?"

Theodore shrugged.

Dave sighed and walked to the base of the stairs. "Alvin!"

"What?" came the sharp reply.

"Is your homework done?"

No reply.

"Alvin?" Dave asked.

"No, Dave, it isn't," Simon replied.

"Get started on it, Alvin," Dave warned. He entered the kitchen yet again and began preparing dinner.

Meanwhile, Theodore continued to work on his play, never stopping. Oftentimes, he had to stop and delete something, only to completely revise it. He didn't bother with spelling, grammar, or punctuation. This was only the first draft. It wasn't suspected of him to pay attention to such trivial things; those things could wait and be corrected later on. He had to force himself to stop when Dave started setting the stable. He sprinted upstairs to give Simon back his laptop, then ran back downstairs to help Dave set the table. He had already saved all of the files to his flash drive, so he could work some more on it later once he had his laptop back.

Theodore seemed to be obsessed with his latest writing project. He barely paid any attention at all to the various conversations that were going on around him at the table. More than once Dave had to call his name in order to get his attention. Once he responded, he found that the usual dinner conversations were occurring. As usual, Dave asked them how their days had gone and what they had been up to lately, as well as anything they were up to outside of school. He was elated when Dave and his brothers said that he was eager to read the play that he was writing. He wondered why none of them knew about it until he realized that he hadn't told any one of them.

He helped Simon with the dishes after dinner, and even then he seemed to be distracted by his story. Thankfully, this didn't seem to bother Simon too much, as he was currently too busy with his own worries at the moment. Simon was currently complaining about how Alvin was supposed to be helping him with his science project, but the oldest of the Seville brothers would rather goof off and play video games than actually help him with anything. Such was the normal case whenever it came to relying on Alvin for help with anything related to school.

He didn't have the first draft of his play completed until Wednesday. Regardless, he still had many corrections to do. He'd been told that when it came to proofreading his work, it was always best to print out the work and read over it, as doing so via computer screen caused him to miss mistakes that he otherwise wouldn't if he was doing it through paper. Simon helped him in this regard. He knew better than to ask Alvin to help him; English wasn't exactly Alvin's strong suit. He was glad that Simon didn't question the content of the play and simply pointed out any mistakes that he may have made. This turned out to be quite a tedious process since not only did Theodore have to go through the entire play and correct it, but he had to add in these same corrections in the play again once he'd marked the mistakes with a red pen. He was just glad that he was able to completely get this all done by Friday.

On Friday morning, he walked into Mr. Bidwell's office and handed him his play.

Mr. Bidwell stared at the stack of papers he held in his hands. "Theodore, when I said you could write a play, I didn't mean a five hundred-page novel."

Theodore chuckled.

Mr. Bidwell thumbed through the script. "What's this play about anyway?"

"Romeo and Juliet, just as you requested."

"I see. I'll look over it and get back to you on Monday."

"Gotcha." Holding onto the shoulder straps of his backpack, he turned and started to walk out of the room until Mr. Bidwell stopped him.

"You seem to enjoy writing, Theodore," the teacher remarked. "You should consider going for a scholarship in English."

Theodore nodded in agreement. "Maybe. I'll think of about it."

"If your play's any good, I'll personally write a letter of recommendation for you. If the word of your English teachers is anything to by, you're an exceptional writer. Your brothers and friends also seem to think very highly of your writing talents as well. Who knows? I may just end up using this script. Like I said, I'll get back to you. Okay?"

"Okay. I guess I'll see you on Monday, then."

"See you then."