Sam Singleton
English 4
09/26/11

Journal #2 – "How were the land-navigation exercises? What did you learn? What obstacles did you face? What sort of activities did you encounter? How did you spend your free time away from campus?"

Here I am again, writing in this dumb journal for the second time. Oh, and as it turns out, you actually are reading these, so sorry for everything I wrote last week that may have seemed offensive. I think I'm going to leave out any more details involving how I spent my summer recess, or else you might report me to be drug tested. Anyway, it seems that I'm the only one in this class that didn't qualify for the land-navigation exercises last week, so…I guess I'll just write about how I spent my time while everyone else was away.

There's really nothing much to tell, though. Everyone else in the school got to go on some giant field trip, leaving seven of us alone only under the supervision of T.A. Ken Lee, who freaking just graduated high school last year. He got to lead inspection and physical fitness, and appointed Glenn's cousin Carlos as his right-hand man. That is…until all of the problems started.

Alright, fine, you've got me started. The seven of us attended breakfast and inspection normally, and we heard from Ken Lee how the next four days were gonna go. He then led us into any empty classroom, and ironically enough, it was the English room where Josh and I first met freshmen year. I kept that thought to myself, but I secretly hoped Josh was reminiscing too. Ken had Carlos help distribute copies of Romeo and Juliet out to each of us. As a group of seniors who were prepared to bullshit our ways through the school year, we all couldn't help but laugh. Were they seriously expecting us to reread the play we were forced to learn in freshmen English over again? At first I wondered if we were going to be quizzed on it when the rest of the school returned, but it was obviously just busy work.

Ken let us divvy up the roles however we pleased. He sat back and watched us instantly split up into two groups, which would soon turn into the Montagues and Capulets. Josh immediately claimed the part of Mercutio. He played the same character three years ago in class and in his defense, he was the only one in the room who gave a shit about the play. Carlos and Omar, another Capulet, jokingly forced Glenn into playing Juliet because of his sexuality. Josh jumped right on board with that suggestion, completely refusing to do the assignment if Glenn didn't play Juliet. The two houses started feuding once Josh muttered "faggot" under his breath. Ken broke it up and assigned the rest of the roles himself. Gus and I got the roles on Romeo and Benvolio, me being the title character, solely because of the fact that we're cousins. The same deal happened with Carlos and Glenn, Carlos being given Tybalt. That left Omar as the nurse, and Adam as Friar Lawrence and a few other small roles. Ken read the Chorus and stage directions, and it was decided that if your character died you would take up a new, small role for the remainder of the play. And with that, we sealed our fates for the next few days…


xxx

That night, I sat on Josh's bed with Gus, discussing our plans for the following night. Josh was in the bathroom, but he'd be back shortly from his shower.

"So, Romeo, what do you think?" he asked.

"I mean, a party sounds fun," I began, "but Glenn'll be there…"

Gus, who was very much aware of my crush, replied, "Well maybe this is your chance to make a move!"

I shrugged. A party did seem fun, and if Glenn was there it would be easy to just get him alone. "True, but there's only seven of us, Gus. Everyone will be around. And what would Josh and the others think?"

"What would Josh think about what?" Josh himself asked, walking into his room and shutting the door behind him.

I panicked, not knowing what to say at Josh's sudden appearance. I'm a horrible liar.

"There's, uh, a…party tomorrow night," Gus chimed in, saving my ass.

"What the hell are you talking about – a party? There's only seven people here."

"It was Adam's idea!" Gus held up his arms in defense. "And if all of us go, it'll actually be fun."

I decided to keep quiet during this exchange, biting a fingernail and observing my friends.

"Right, except that we hate half of them…"

"True, but there are some advantages to this," Gus started, making a suggestive face at me while Josh's back was to us, changing out of his towel.

"Will there be booze?"

Sure, we're a "dry campus", mainly because we're all under the legal drinking age, but that wouldn't stop Adam.

"Even better."

"What's better than booze?" Josh asked turning back around to face us, and I couldn't help but snicker at his completely puzzled expression.

"Booze…and poker!"

Josh literally cheered. "Yes! We're gonna beat those assholes at their own game!" I rolled my eyes. I suck at gambling. "That's it," my friend continued, "we're going full-out Romeo and Juliet for this. Montagues versus Capulets!"

"You're seriously comparing this to our assignment?" I finally asked.

Josh looked at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course, Romeo," he replied, sending a wink in my direction.

I groaned, really disliking the fact that I had been referred to as Romeo twice in the past five minutes.

"Don't worry about not being the best poker player – we'll help you," Gus said, being completely genuine.

Josh came up to me and patted me reassuringly on the shoulder. "Definitely. Romeo, we must have you to dance."

No way. He quoted the play.

"You'll be fine, Sam," Gus added again.

I nodded at the guys before me. Poker was going to suck, but I had more important things to worry about…like somehow coming out to Josh before the party, where I'd hopefully get Glenn to go out with me.

"Alright, I'm kicking y'all out. I'm fuckin' tired," my cranky friend yawned out.

We said our goodbye's and headed down the hall to our room. I had a long day ahead of me, and definitely needed the sleep.

xxx


And that's how it all began. Once again, I waited 'till last minute to write this entry, so I gotta go wake up Gus so he doesn't oversleep and get ready for my day.