Tybalt's Revenge
Couch Kent
"'Romeo and Juliet' is so stupid."
The glare from Dana and the other girls in his English classroom made Terry instantly regret his words, but so did the elbow in the ribs from Max. His best friend leaned over, whispering in his ear. "Oh no, you didn't."
"Yeah, well..."
"And why is it so stupid Terry?" Dana's lips pushed together, her arms crossing her chest as her fingers tapped her arm slightly.
Terry flinched, the corner of his mouth twisting slightly. "Um, well..."
He glanced over at Max, hoping she'd help him out. The response started with a glare but moved quickly to an eyebrow raise. "I am so not helping you on this one."
"What's so wrong with Romeo and Juliet?" Dana walked over, poking her boyfriend in the chest.
"So..."
"Come on Dana. The only reason he's saying it's stupid is that it is a girly thing."
Terry ground his teeth together, his arms crossing. "Okay. That's not right. That's not what I have a problem with at all."
"Then what Terry?"
The high-school freshman took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling thinking carefully, only for the easiest answer to slip out. "It doesn't make sense."
One of Dana's friends nudged her in the ribs. "Yeah. You really picked a bright one, didn't you? He doesn't get the old English."
"No, it's not. I'm talking about the plot." Terry let out a sigh. "It just doesn't work. Where's the subterfuge."
Dana's mouth twisted up slightly as her friends started to laugh. The friend who called him on not knowing old English almost couldn't speak, she laughed so hard. "Oh my gosh! McGinnis used a big word! I never thought I'd see the day!"
"Ha-ha. Very funny." He looked away. Academics was never his thing, yet he still didn't people mocking him for his lack of academic prowess.
"Hey, by the way, did you hear we have a new gym teacher?" The girls quickly switched topics from the class discussion, going unnoticed by the English teacher who seemed as if they couldn't care one way or another regarding what the students did. Terry wondered if the teacher – and others – cared about any of their non-gifted students.
"I heard he's hot." Another girl twittered, making Terry role his eyes.
Max leaned over, whispering. "You're the one who decided to get into a relationship with one of those girls."
"Yeah, yeah." Terry pointed his finger at her. "By the way, you'd better hope the new gym teacher isn't going to make you actually participate Max."
"Yeah. I'll deal with that when the time comes." His best friend continued to lean over. "Don't forget gym is the one other class you share with your girlfriend, but you also share it with Nash."
"Don't remind me." Terry took a deep breath. The teen honestly didn't look forward to school, but his least favorite aspect was dealing with Nash. A new coach, of course, meant a new teacher for Nash to be teacher's pet with. He hoped Bruce would call him out of school to take care of something important, yet he found himself going to gym class.
He skipped the locker room and went straight to sitting on the bleachers which were pulled out, not caring if he got demerits for not participating in gym class. Doing so was easier than dealing with Nash. Max joined him with her computer. He watched the other students come in, waiting for the couch to come in and tell them what today's activity would be. Nash came in without starting anything as well, though Terry didn't know how long that would last.
The bell dinged, meaning the class would start. The rumor regarding a new coach proved true. A man stepped into the classroom, his arms crossed and a clipboard in his hands. Terry watched the man look around, his piercing blue eyes take in every single student. Max rolled her eyes upon hearing the other girls giggle as the new coach looked at them.
"Ugh."
"I know. Another one of those." Terry frowned, only to realize the couch stopped looking over the students but stopped on him. There was something unsettling about the couch, but it felt almost as if the couch could hear him.
After five minutes, the coach spoke, looking at his watch. "I'm Conner Kent, and I'm the new coach at Hamilton Hill High School." The man then cleared his voice. "While I'm going to be lenient today, I expect full participation tomorrow from every one of you. Everyone is in gym clothes, on time, and no computers."
Terry took a deep breath, wondering how long this person would last. Nash glanced up at him, smirking as he did so. Terry found himself glaring at the guy, wondering how long it would take Nash to suck up to Coach Kent. Max took a deep breath, drawing his attention back to his friend. "What is it?"
"Albero Vitale,"
"What?"
Dana turned, looking up at him. "You really aren't aware of things, are you? It's the Romeo and Juliet project, bringing back people who've died, that kind of thing. Only the richest-rich can afford it."
"Did you just say Romeo and Juliet, as in..." Terry frowned. "And you know I hate science."
"You hate school, Terry." Dana sighed. "And yeah. As in that Romeo and Juliet. Apparently, they're real-life people."
