All summer, we just hurried…

"What the hell are you looking at?" Adam Montag hissed, staring down Greg Capp in the hall after class. His brother Bal backed him up, keeping Greg's brother Simon at bay.

"Definitely not you," Greg scoffed. "I don't waste my time looking at your kind."

"My kind? Do you know who the hell I am?" Adam asked, his voice and his temper rising.

"A fucking Montag, that's who, you ass," Greg snorted, pushing his chest closer to Adam's.

Adam laughed, winked at Bal, and swung. Greg took the blow straight to his jaw, cursing and spitting. Then, all hell broke loose. Simon reacted, grabbing Bal and slamming him into the wall. Adam continued to pummel Greg, the Capp breaking in with the odd elbow to the gut.

A crowd was gathering- sweaty high-schoolers with pent-up angst and small attention spans. Fights were a weekly occurrence at Verona High, especially with the bad blood between the Capps and the Montags. No one knew exactly how the feud had started, but something had happened during a case between the first generation of Capps and Montags, attorneys at law, and everyone in town had taken sides. The two family firms had represented competing companies, and someone had lost big. The rumors and mystique that surrounded the case had transcended the years, and the blowout was probably bigger than the incident itself. Even the youngest members of the families embraced the hatred, finding any chance they could to show just what they thought of each other.

Bal was having a hard time controlling Simon. Simon had him in a headlock, and his face was turning the color of a tomato. Adam was doing much better with Greg; he had him against a locker, knocking his teeth out to the rhythm of "Fight, fight, fight!" A steady flow of blood and swears came from the fighters.

"Adam! ADAM!"

Someone grabbed Adam from behind, pulling him away from his punching bag. It was his cousin Ben, another Montag. Adam tried to wrestle himself from Ben's grip to get back to the action, but Ben was too strong. He held Adam's punching arm with one hand, and shoved Simon from Bal with the other.

"Everybody calm the hell down!" Ben screamed. The crowd went silent. Only one person dared to speak.

"Quite the peacemaker, Benny," Tyler Capp snarled, the audience parting to let him through. "You sure have changed."

"What are you doing here, Tyler?" Ben asked darkly, letting go of him cousins.

"You know I never miss a brawl." Tyler smiled, and barreled towards Ben. The crowd roared, and the cousins of each family went at it again, starting right where they left off. Tyler's fist connected with Ben three, four, five times.

"I'm not going to fight you," Ben groaned, doubling over in pain.

"Good," Tyler laughed. "We wouldn't want you to embarrass yourself."

Suddenly, as quickly as they had formed, the spectators scattered. The principal, Mr. Escal, came marching down the hallway, followed by Officer King, police chief of Verona, Illinois. The six boys peeled themselves away from each other, panting and assessing the damage. Mr. Escal shook with rage, but Officer King just looked on with stern authority.

"Boys," the principal thundered, "my office. Now."

Tyler and Adam swaggered ahead, while the others followed glumly behind. Ben looked uncharacteristically murderous, like he could rip someone in half.

Dr. Capp and Dr. Montag sat in the principal's office in stony silence. Neither one would even look at the other. Even when their sons and nephews entered, they didn't move, only stared ahead. The principal and the police chief sat on the opposite side of the desk, and the fighters lined up against the wall. Montag shifted in his seat.

"Doctors," Mr. Escal began, "this is no longer boys being boys. Your children have been in three altercations in the past eight weeks alone. Each time, the authorities have had to be called in."

Officer King cleared his throat. "Mr. Escal and I have talked it over, and even though the school term has almost ended, we have agreed that, if any more… disputes," his eyes passed over the boys, "occur over the course of the summer, anyone involved will not only be expelled, but will be arrested and punished to the full extent of the law."

The boys rumbled their dissent, but the two feuding men only muttered agreement, grabbed their respective briefcases, and stood, smoothing their Italian suits. Without looking at their children, they left the office, the boys trailing behind.

"Benjamin," Montag whispered as they left the school, walking towards the Doctor's personal Rolls Royce, "have you seen Romeo?"

"If your asking if he was involved, he wasn't," Ben muttered. "He didn't come to school today."

"Still brooding over that Violet?" Montag scoffed.

"Rose," Ben corrected angrily, "and yes, still 'brooding.'"

"He's always been a frivolous boy." The attorney shook his head, evidently disappointed in his son's interest for love.

"I'll talk to him," Ben snapped. His uncle slid into the driver's seat and looked at him expectantly.

"I'm walking home."


Try, try, try, try…

I sat by the pool, staring into the clear blue water, nursing my second bottle of beer. I wanted nothing more than to jump in and float there forever, to escape the pain in my heart. How could she not love me? How could someone so beautiful hurt so deeply? I slumped in my plastic chair, savoring the uncomfortable distraction.

"Still moping, Ro?" Ben had snuck up behind me, taking a swig of my beer. "C'mon, cuz. Who cares about some broad?"

"She's not 'some broad,' Ben. I love her, with all my heart."

He snorted. "You don't even know what love is yet, Ro. I guarantee you'll forget her within a week. Two, tops."

"And I guarantee you're full of shit," I retorted, still staring into the pool.

"Geez, Romeo," Ben breathed, scratching his neck. "I'm gonna get you out of this funk, ok? The Capps have a summer kick-off every year. Rose'll be there, along with every other girl in Verona. And so will you."

"The Capps?" I shifted to look at him. "Tyler will murder us as soon as we walk in the door."

"We had a little, er, disagreement today. King got involved. Tyler wouldn't dare touch us after that."

"Can't you two keep your hands off each other for one day?" I chuckled, my mood lifting. I grabbed my beer and took a thoughtful sip. There was hope. I could convince Rose that I was worth it, if I got the chance. "Ok, we'll go. I'll let you tell Marc- he'll be ecstatic."

"Hell yes."