A/N: Ok so this is totally unrelated to Twilight and this story but I wanted to give a shout out to my favorite blog, Cakewrecks ((dot)) com. It's the best! Check it out, and be sure to look at the older posts as well. There is a Tom Selleck cake that had me rolling on the floor in laughter. I also just realized I never put disclaimers up, but if you think these characters are my creation, you have been living under a rock for the last few years.
EmmettPOV:
I knew that Jasper would back my boy pageant idea, just to mess with Eddie, but now I had to get the coach and the team to agree to it.
"Hey Coach," I said, poking my head into his office, "Can I talk to you?"
"As long as you're not quitting the team," Coach Spenner joked.
"I have an idea to add to our fundraiser." I said, handing him the article I had printed off the internet, "I think we should add something like this, as entertainment for the night of the raffle drawing. We could charge admission and raise even more money. Jasper and I thought we could donate the extra to a school program or a charity."
Coach took the article from me and scanned it.
"Jasper agreed to this?" he asked me.
"Yep" I responded, grinning smugly.
"Well, I'll present it to the team after practice today, and if they all agree, we may be able to work it out." Spenner said, shaking his head at me ruefully, "Emmett you are certainly the most interesting person I have ever coached."
I headed to my locker to change into my practice clothes. My last period of the day was gym aide, and since Spenner also taught gym, he just let me lift. If I was going to play at Boston College I needed to bulk up. I was short for a center, only 6'8'', so I had to make up for it in muscle. Plus, if I was gonna be stripping down to my skivvies I needed to look good for the ladies.
EdwardPOV:
I can't believe Jasper sold me out like that. Couldn't he see that this Boy pageant thing had disaster written all over it? I had worked hard to keep the annoying girls at this school away from me, and in one night Emmett and Jasper were going to destroy all my hard work. There was no point in hoping this wouldn't happen. Once Emmett had a plan he was very convincing, and I could see Coach getting a kick out it. Not to mention, Bella was probably way above something like that, and would only look down on me for participating.
I headed to English Lit, my last class of the day. I sat two seats behind Bella, and I usually spent the whole class staring at her head and willing her to glance back at me. So far it had happened twice. Once when I had answered a question, and once when I had asked a question. Right now we were reading Romeo and Juliet, and we were at the end where they commit suicide. We had a paper due on the play and I was still working on mine. It was about how Mercutio was the only character in the play worth knowing in real life.
I slid into my seat just as the bell rang. Bella was hunched over her desk writing furiously. Were those note cards? We didn't have any speeches due.
"Class, may I have your attention!" Ms. White called from the front of the room, "Today we are going change our format a bit. Instead of you students reading out loud, I have brought in two of our drama students to read the death scene. Then we will watch that scene from both the 60's version of Romeo and Juliet and the 96 Baz Luhrman version. Pay attention, because the second half of class we will be discussing this scene and I expect well supported thoughts and arguments."
The door opened and Rosalie and a senior I only knew in passing, named Josh, came into the room. Rosalie is our resident drama queen, so I could completely see why she would be chosen to read this. This could actually be a very interesting class, I thought to myself, settling in to listen.
BellaPOV:
Rosalie was excellent at dying. The death scene is probably my least favorite in the whole play, but I was entranced by the reading. The idea to contrast the two movies was great, and I wondered in Ms White had come up with it on her own or read it somewhere. Don't get me wrong, I love her and English Lit. is by far my favorite subject, but Ms. White tends to get so wrapped up in passing her love of certain books on to us students that she comes off as kind of kooky.
In general I far prefer the 60's film, but in the case of the death scene I found I was actually in favor of the Leonardo version. I think because the dagger to the chest is effective, but the echoing of a gun shot is so tragic to listen to, it evokes all sorts of emotions.
"So class, any thoughts?" Ms White asked us when the second movie was over, "Yes, Edward?"
I glanced back at Edward, but his gaze was trained on the teacher.
"I used to hate this play. I never understood why a double suicide was so beloved, but I have to admit, I have never watched either of those movies, or seen the play preformed. Hearing the passion in their voices helped me gain some insight into how the characters felt. I still think it's dumb, but I understand it better." Edward said.
I gasped quietly. That was exactly how I felt. One the one hand, I loved the romance of the balcony scene and the excitement of forbidden love. On the other, I hated that Juliet, or Romeo for that matter, couldn't live without their lover. It seemed so unrealistic. It was, in fact, what my paper was about. I raised my hand.
"Bella" Ms White called on me.
"I agree with Edward. I always hated that Juliet killed herself. I am a firm believer that no one should love another person so much that they can't live with out them. But watching the movie made me realize that this play isn't just a love story that ends in suicide, it's actually a story about the power of love." I said, suddenly feeling shy, the entire class was staring at me like I had sprouted an extra head. I swallowed hard and finished my thought, "Its about the ability love has to make you act irrationally. Love isn't just blind, it's also kind of stupid."
A/N: I know Bella is supposed to LOVE Romeo and Juliet and she does, but not in the same way as Stephanie Meyer's character. I think I color each character with an aspect of myself, and these characters definitely have the same feelings about R&J as I do. On one hand I love it, on the other, it drives me nuts!
