AN: Hello everyone, I hope you all are enjoying your day. I will say this now, so I don't get in trouble. I don't own any of Shakespeare's plays, but since it is public domain, I am allowed to use it in my story as long as I'm quoting from the original text. I have two scenes in here where I have a couple of characters reciting and in a way almost rewriting scenes from two of Shakespeare's plays (the first is a famous tragedy and the other is a comedy). I don't own them, but I do own (and share) the character's feelings on the tragedy that is played around with in this chapter. This scene in this chapter does make one of the characters involved a little OOC, but in all honesty the movie doesn't give much to work with for character development and I thought it'd be fun for the character to have a hidden talent.
I hope you all enjoy the chapter.
Happy reading.
Chapter Eleven: Us
Layla's POV
The movie nights were put on hold for the next couple of weeks. With Miles and I picking up extra shifts for work and both of our roommates settling in, we didn't have the time. We ended up not hanging out until a couple of Fridays after both of our roommates moved in, so they could actually join us. The movie theme for tonight sort of went out the window, or at least it did for this week. It was mostly done so both of our roommates could pick movies and not feel restricted to a certain type of film.
"Yeah, think again." I told Ash as slid the bottle of Strongbow out of her hands, which she had gotten from the fridge, before she could open it. We had been putting dinner together for the four of us. It was simple, just frozen pizza and nachos. We didn't make a big deal of it. I put the cider back in the fridge and reminded her, "You're still nineteen."
"You're not my parent."
"No, I'm not, but I am the one who is paying for it." I responded, "I have butterbeer in the fridge."
"What?"
"Butterbeer?" I replied as I took out a couple of bottles, "You know the soda from Harry Potter? There's a candy store in the mall that sells candies and chocolates from all over the globe and they just happened to be there, so I bought a couple of cases."
"I never really got into Harry Potter."
"Oh." I replied after a few moments. I wasn't really sure what to say to that, it had never really occurred to me that that was a thing. It baffled me how anyone couldn't like it. "Well, the soda kind of tastes like butterscotch, you might like it."
A knock at the door saved me from the awkwardness of the conversation that was unfolding. I opened the door to a whole new awkward and uncomfortable situation, Johnny was Miles' new roommate.
"Hey, Layla." Miles greeted as he walked inside, "You know my roommate, Johnny."
"Hey." I greeted Johnny unsurely.
"Hey." He replied after a few moments.
"C'mon in." I invited him in.
"Thanks." He went inside and I shut the door behind him.
Tonight wasn't going to be weird at all.
Heather's POV
"If I can convince enough people to put on an outdoor performance, you would consider investing in the reconstruction of the theatre." I reiterated our deal to Nana to make sure that I understood her correctly when she agreed to my proposal during dinner.
This was step one of my plan, which I was still trying to put together. The first step was to get Nana behind the idea of possibly partially fund rebuilding the theatre. Once I got her on the project, I would find a way to get in touch with someone who might be able to get everyone else on board. If the show went well, then the theatre would be rebuilt and employees would be hired to run the theatre as it should be, and this go around, they'd also get a steady paycheck. If we were able to get the theatre up and running, all of the finances would go through me and the account would be going to a different bank.
"I will not be paying for the reconstruction, Miss Greyson." She stated, "I will donate to the cause if you are that adamant; however, you will be paying for the theatre. I'm sure you can find a way to do so anonymously as you do for many of your other charity cases."
"The Moon Theatre is not a charity case." I replied, "If it had had the funding that it needed and if department was running the way it should have been, instead of everything being done by three or four animals."
"What do you plan to do once the theatre is rebuilt?" She asked pointedly. With that question, I explained her the small chunk of the plan that I had so far.
Layla's POV
It only took about a half an hour for me to break out the alcohol. Nights like this make me wish I had stronger drinks. If all of us were having an awkward and uncomfortable night, we would have ended it sooner. Ash and Miles were having a great night though, both of them chattering away about different bands and movies while we were watching Hot Fuzz. By this point, Johnny was the only one paying attention to the movie. Miles and Ash were talking to each other and I had the Amazon Kindle app on my phone. In January, Disney released the novelization of their live action remake coming out in March. I've read it about three and a half times since I bought it and had the new film basically memorized except for the songs.
"It's movie night and you're reading?" Miles asked me, noticing the way I was positioned with my phone, "Seriously?"
"It's still movie themed." I responded, "It's a novelization of a film."
"You never read movie novelizations, you don't think there's a point if you can watch the movie." Miles said starting to connect the dots, "The only way you'd read one is if it's a movie coming out that you're nervous about and you wanted to make sure it was good and you happened to come across the book version on Amazon. There's only one movie coming out this year that has you anxious and that's-" He had finally connected the dots, "We were supposed to see that together. Have you already got the soundtrack too?"
"No, that doesn't come out till the 10th." I replied sheepishly.
"I didn't realize you guys were so close." Ash commented.
"We're not." Miles and I replied.
"No, you just eat together, hang out, go to movies…" Ash smirked. She already knew there was nothing there between the two of us. Anyone who had been a room with us for five minutes would know that.
"We're just two single people who hate to be alone." I replied before going back to my phone, which was slid out of my hands by Miles. "Miles!"
"No, we're here to hang out with each other." He replied, sliding the phone into his pocket, "I don't give a shit about what's going on between you two." He gestured to me and Johnny. He turned to Johnny, "Yeah, we lied about the money, but in our defense, those flyers went out before we even knew about the mistake made on them. We didn't know and to help Buster, we lied so you guys would stay. And I'm glad we did or we wouldn't know either one of you. We all had a plan to find a way to get the money for the winner. The two of us even had a bet going for who would win." Miles told him and then turned back to me, "You know we made a rule against being on your phone or reading during movie night. And not only did you break that rule, which was your own rule, you read the movie that we were supposed to see together." He paused for a moment, "Ash and I are going to have our own movie night since we are enjoying each other's company, you two can sort out whatever tonight, so next week we can try this again." Miles looked over at Ash, "You up for watching Avatar?"
She shrugged, "Sure."
They left, shutting the door behind them.
"That moron still has my phone." I shook my head in disbelief.
Johnny sighed, "One of us will get it back to you in the morning."
"I don't feel too bad about it though." I commented, "That movie sucks."
"I can't say that I've seen it."
"If you've seen Ferngully and Romeo and Juliet, or any movies like those, you basically have the plot of Avatar." I replied, "It's a poorly written movie that had good CGI and special effects for the time. I could never get behind it because of the plot. After a while, it just got boring. There were too many ties to other films that were much better. Not that Romeo and Juliet is that good, it's over hyped and everyone thinks it's about love when it's not."
Johnny looked at me as if I had grown two heads, "You don't like Romeo and Juliet?"
"I can't stand Romeo and Juliet." I responded, "There are too many things wrong with it."
"Please explain what's wrong with one of the most famous plays by one of the best playwrights of all time." He challenged. Not that I didn't have it coming, I guess it's kind of what I get for telling a guy from the UK that Romeo and Juliet is terrible. I turned around to face him, I never really get to go into this rant because Miles, Mrs. Crawly, and Buster all like the play.
"The play starts out with Romeo being in love with Rosaline." I started, "He's supposedly completely and hopelessly in love with her until he sees Juliet, whom may I point out is thirteen where Romeo is between 18 and 23. Anyway when he sees her, all of his feelings for Rosaline seem to disappear. So just from the beginning scenes, and I won't go into the creepy age gap because it was a different time period, Juliet is established as the rebound for Rosaline and Romeo is established as fickle. The only reason Romeo desires Juliet is because he likes how she looks and she's young and naïve and can mend his broken heart."
"What about love at first sight?"
"That doesn't exist." I answered and then moved on to my next point, "Another problem is that Romeo and Juliet only know each other for a day before they get married. Seriously, if you actually read the play, the whole thing takes place in a matter of days. On a Sunday night, Romeo goes the Capulet's party and meets Juliet, they get married the next day, and then they die a few days later. Love doesn't happen in a day. Physical attraction does. Lust most certainly can. Not love though, you actually have to know someone for much longer than a few days to love them." I explained and then moved on to my next point, "The balcony scene is monotonous and kind of creepy."
"Why?"
"For the creepy part, Romeo is a stalker." I told him, "He's standing under her balcony just listening to her and watching her actions. I don't care what the time period is or how much in love you think you are, you just don't do that. It's creepy."
"And why is it boring?"
"That's just my personal opinion." I shrugged, "If I was actually in a relationship where me and the other person were actually in love with one another and had our own balcony scene, I would do it differently and make shorter."
"Show me." He said slightly amused.
"What?" I asked confused.
"I want to see this balcony scene of yours."
"What?" I asked again, "Am I supposed to act it out?"
"Yeah." He answered. I'm not sure if it was the three bottles of Strongbow I had consumed or the long awaited desire to do this, but either way I agreed.
I stood on top of the ottoman, "Okay, so this is going to be my balcony." I told him, "And I'm going to need you to stand against that wall." I pointed on the opposite side of me.
"I'm in this?" He asked.
"I need someone to play off of." I reasoned. He did as I asked and went to the spot I had pointed to against the wall. "So, let's say we were in the play, you're standing under the balcony and I've just come out on to the balcony. And since you're Romeo, you would say your aside, which we can-"
"She speaks. O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,
As is a wingèd messenger of heaven
Unto the white, upturnèd, wondering eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-puffing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air." He recited.
"Okay, you know the play." I commented slightly impressed, "Although a tough guy like you reciting Shakespeare is a little surprising."
"We all have our hidden talents."
"Reciting Shakespeare?"
"I happen to like Shakespeare." He replied, "Go on."
"Okay, but I'm going with the translated version." I replied, getting back into character, "Oh Romeo, why do you have to be Romeo? Forget about your father and change your name. Or else, if you won't change your name, just swear you love me and I'll stop being a Capulet."
"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?" He recited.
"It's only your name that's my enemy. You'd still be yourself even if you stopped being a Montague. What's a Montague anyway? It isn't a hand, a foot, an arm, a face, or any other part of a man. What does a name mean? The thing we call a rose would smell just as sweet if we called it by any other name. Romeo would be just as perfect even if he wasn't called Romeo. Romeo, lose your name. Trade in your name and take all of me in exchange."
"I take thee at thy word. Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized. Henceforth I never will be Romeo." He recited, taking a small step forward.
"Okay, here is where we go off course." I told him.
"Alright." He replied, "How would you do it differently?"
"Just go with me, okay?"
"I'm going along with it, Layla." He responded genuinely, "I'm standing here and reciting Shakespeare, you have me."
"Okay, back in scene, just go with whatever comes to mind. We have to play off each other for this to work." I told him, "Can you repeat Romeo's line?"
He nodded, "I take thee at thy word. Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized. Henceforth I never will be Romeo."
"My love?" I asked.
"I am here, my darling." He reassured.
"I'll come down to you." I told him, and then explained, "Break from the scene, so my version of Juliet, who has known the version of Romeo that you're playing longer and they're much closer than age and there was no Rosaline, so anyway she climbs down the balcony to see her Romeo because their friendship has helped them fall in love."
"So, you're just rewriting the whole play at this point."
"Sure." I answered, stepping off the ottoman, "Okay, I'm down from the balcony and now were going back to the scene." I told him, and then softly placed my hand on his cheek, "What are you doing here? You know what could happen if you're caught."
He placed a hand on mine, "I needed to see you. I don't want us to be apart any longer." He improvised, taking both of hands in his.
"Neither do I." I responded to his line with one of my own, "If we left Verona tonight and eloped, we could be together."
"Where would we go?"
"Anywhere." I implored, "We could sail to England or traveled to France."
"Are you sure?"
"If you are willing to trade you're life, I am happy to trade mine, so we both can start anew."
"I love you."
"And I you." I told him, kissing him gently since that's what I had imagined next in the scene. I pulled away, "Um, end scene."
"Interesting way to change it."
"Yeah, this way no one dies." I responded, not knowing really what to say.
"So are there any plays that you do like?"
"Oh yeah, I love Shakespeare." I responded, "Just not that one, actually, I'm not big on Merchant of Venice either."
"What's your favorite?"
"Much Ado about Nothing." I answered, "It's the only one I know by heart."
Miles' POV
"Are we actually going to watch Avatar?" Ash asked me as I flipped through my movies.
"Not unless you want to." I replied, "I really only mentioned the film to get Layla talking. She hates it and every time she talks about Avatar, she goes on a tangent about Romeo and Juliet and all the things wrong with it. Johnny likes Shakespeare, so does Layla, but he actually likes Romeo and Juliet."
"How did you know he likes Shakespeare?"
"I was explaining the different movie nights, and as you know, Sunday is plays and musicals, and he happened to mention that he liked Shakespeare and performed it a lot for his drama classes in high school." I explained, "Romeo and Juliet was one that he happened to have been given to memorize, the other being Much Ado about Nothing, which just so happens to be Layla's favorite play."
"You just played them off of each other." She surmised.
"I did." I happily admitted it, "And with any luck, he'll be down there tonight." I changed the subject, "So how's that song you were talking about yesterday coming?"
We had actually run into each other in the mailroom yesterday. I was picking up a package and she happened to be picking up her and Layla's mail at the same time. We got to talking and I told her the whole spiel about the prize money, the theatre, and how we found out about everything. She was pretty chill about the whole thing.
"It's coming alright." She replied, "I'm just trying to figure out a couple of verses."
"Cool." I responded as a move caught my eye, "You like Die Hard at all?"
"Yeah, my brother and I used to watch it every year for Christmas."
"I've got the first three, if you're interested."
"Sure." Ash agreed, "Should we ask Layla and Johnny if they want to join us?"
I laughed, "No, I think they may be a little too busy reciting Shakespeare to one another."
"You don't think they'd really waste their time doing that?"
"Everyone has their turn-ons." I shrugged and put in the DVD
Layla's POV
"So who's your favorite character from Much Ado about Nothing?" Johnny asked seeming pretty happy we had some common ground again. We had been sitting on the couch for an bit just talking about the play.
"Beatrice and Benedick." I replied as if it were obvious, "They have the best relationship of the entire play, possibly in all of the works of Shakespeare."
"Even though they were set up and tricked into their relationship?"
"They had a long running battle of wits before they were tricked and by the end they were confessing their love to one another which was proven by Hero and Claudio." I replied, "Which is one of the best scenes."
"You mean this scene?" He asked, "Soft and fair, Friar.—Which is Beatrice?"
I smiled widely, "You know this one too?"
"Yes, it's one of the only two I have memorized." He responded, "Do you want to do the scene?"
"Yes!" I replied excitedly, "You know I think if the theatre had put on more Shakespeare, we would have probably had a bigger audience attending our shows." I added, and then went into the scene, "I answer to that name. What is your will?"
"Do not you love me?" He asked plainly.
I shook my head, "Why no, no more than reason."
"Why then, your uncle and the Prince and Claudio
Have been deceived. They swore you did."
"Do not you love me?" I asked.
He shook his head, "Troth, no, no more than reason."
"Why then, my cousin, Margaret, and Ursula
Are much deceived, for they did swear you did."
"They swore that you were almost sick for me." He laughed.
I smiled, "They swore that you were well-nigh dead for me."
"'Tis no such matter." He responded, "Then you do not love me?"
"No, truly, but in friendly recompense."
"And then Leonato tries to persuade Beatrice that she does." Johnny pointed out.
"And Claudio proves that Benedick does by showing off a sonnet written by Benedick for Beatrice." I added.
"And Hero does the same," Johnny responded, "Which Benedick sees the poem and says, 'A miracle! Here's our own hands against our hearts. Come, I will have thee, but, by this light, I take thee for pity.'"
"I would not deny you, but, by this good day, I yield upon great persuasion, and partly to save your life, for I was told you were in a consumption."
He smirked, "Peace! I will stop your mouth." He kissed me softly at first, however, as it continued it started to become more passionate.
I pulled away, slightly perplexed due to the intensity of the kiss, "Was that because it's in the scene or because you wanted to?"
"I'll let you figure that out." He replied and then changed the subject, "You wanna watch a movie?"
"Sure?" I responded, "Anything you had in mind?"
"Not really."
"You wanna watch Kingsman?"
"The spy movie?"
I nodded, "Yeah."
"Sure." He agreed. I went and got the blu-ray and put it in.
Heather's POV
It took most of dinner, but I was able to convince Nana to donate a little if I could convince Buster and all of the contestants to go along with the show. She would donate more if the show actually did well. I called Eddie as soon as I got back in my apartment.
"Hey Eddie, Nana's agreed to donate some money towards the theatre." I told him when he picked up the phone, "I'm just going to need to convince everyone to put on the show. Do you have Layla's or Miles' number?"
"I've only got Layla's, but she lives in the same building as he does." He replied before rattling off the number. I thanked him and then called Layla. I tried twice and both times it went to her voicemail. I left her a message to call me back on the second try and then tried to call Buster, it was mostly just to see if he would pick up. I missed talking to him, being around him, and working with him. I just missed him. He didn't pick up though, and after three rings, it went to his voice mail. I sighed and left a message, "Hey Buster, I just wanted to see how you were doing. I miss you and I'm here if you want to talk." I hung up the phone and sat down.
A few minutes later, my phone rang and I picked it up.
"Heather?"