A/N: Hey all! Thanks again for a round of great reviews! I'm going to start responding to the signed ones, so here goes.
Veronica10: Thanks a lot! I'll update as much as possible!
Saraandgreg4ever: Thanks, you're great! Don't be miserable! Then I'll be miserable… sniffle
Totallly Random: Greg is an awesome character; I'll try to have him in there a lot! I don't think I'm going to add the minor characters because I don't have TV so I don't get to watch CSI as much as I'd like, therefore I don't think I know those characters well enough to write about them, but as the story goes on, who knows?
VeganCSI: Will do!
And of course, thanks to all my anon. reviewers! You guys all rock and are really the backbone of my writing! Kisses and virtual wads of cash for you all! As always, I do not own CSI or any of its characters, nor do I own Romeo and Juliet or anything by William Shakespeare. Now, enjoy chapter 3!
Sara couldn't focus. The teacher, Mr. Hocker, was talking about an important assignment that would take place throughout the whole year, but all Sara could think of was Grissom's bright blue eyes. The teacher passed out a survey for each student to fill out, and all Sara could think of as she half-heartedly filled in the answers is what Grissom was filling in. The teacher asked the students to get into groups of two, one boy and one girl and Sara found she was frozen stuff, hoping with all her might that Grissom would approach her.
Her heart seemed to do back flips when Grissom turned around and asked casually, "Partners?" Sara nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Grissom smiled and turned his chair so he could face her. Grissom looked across the room to see Nick had been paired with a red-haired girl who was giggling and flipping her hair at Nick, who was trying to hide an obvious look of disgust. Sara looked at the two unsurely, and then faced Grissom.
"Is he a friend of yours?" she asked. Grissom sighed and turned away from the two. "I don't exactly know, Sara. We just met. His name's Nick Stokes, and he seems like a nice guy. But…"
"Looks can be deceiving," Sara finished. "I know that too well for my own good." Grissom raised his eyebrows. "Explain." Sara nearly got snappy, but Grissom said it more as a request than a demand, so she pressed on. "Middle School, my first boyfriend. He carried book around all the time, wore glasses, so I assumed he would be a smart, safe guy. In the end, he wanted what all guys wanted." Grissom coughed, unused to someone being so honest and straightforward. The teacher interrupted them by clearing her throat.
"Today we'll read through one scene of Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. First we'll read it in our couples, then we'll have each person come up and read out loud with their partner, then the class will vote on the best boy and girl and they will read it for the whole class together. Everyone understand? Good!" Mr. Hocker passed out as script to people and told them to get busy. "Flip to page 50, please, and being with Juliet's 'Aye me'." Sara flipped to it and could quickly tell that it was a love scene, and then she remembered she would be reading it with Grissom. Unsure of how she felt, Sara cleared her throat and began.
"Aye me," she squeaked, and already she could feel her face burning.
"She speaks," Grissom said. His voice had an airy sound that he usually didn't talk with, and his face grew serious and entranced, as if he were hypnotized by a lovely dream. Sara couldn't take her eyes off of him. "O speak again bright angel, for thou art as glorious to this night being o'er my head as is winged messenger of heaven…" Sara watched, amazed, as Grissom transformed into a whole new person. Grissom, who had only met her today, was now looking tenderly at her with love shining in his eyes. That's when it hit Sara that she had only met Grissom today, and she probably had been throwing him those looks since the beginning of school. When she did it, though, she didn't even mean to. It wasn't acting. What's happening to me? She looked up at Grissom, who was just finishing. "… Sails upon the bosom of the air." He looked up at her, seemingly love-struck and astounded by every aspect of her. Sara looked sadly down at her script. It's all an act, she reminded herself. Don't let it go to your head.
Half and hour later, Mr. Hocker asked the class to stop reading. He looked around at his class, proud. He noticed one of his students rubbing at her eyes while her partner talked to another student who he recongnized as Nick Stokes, just transfered from Texas. He smiled, looking forward to a year of teaching this group of kids. "Will..." he looked down at his attendance sheet. "Sara Sidle and her partner please come to the front?" Sara rose, already feeling like her headwas about to explode from pressure. Grissom stood too, although he looked like he didn't have a care in the world. Sara bit her bottom lip nervously as Mr. Hocker said " Please begin." Everything went fine until Sara got to the part where she had to ask Grissom to marry her. She started stumbling nervously and couldn't seem to stop.
"If... um, if thy bent of love honerable... love... I mean, Thy purpose marraige... marraige? Oh, um, Send me word tomorrow..." A few soft snickers came from the back of the room and Sara bowed her head, trying to not cry. Suddenly, she feltas if a weight had been lifted off her shouders. She closed her eyes blissfully. Sheopened her eyesand saw that Grissom had placed his warm hand on her shoulder in comfort. Sara pushed away the feeling that nothing could go wrong panicked and shugged him off. "Mr. Hocker, may I use the restroom?" she said, a note of panic in her voice. Mr. Hocker nodded and she ran into the hall.
In the safety of a locked bathroom stall, Sara punched the wall bitterly. "What's wrong with me! I just met him today! This is RIDICULOUS! How can I be so stupid?" she shrieked out loud. "Grissom probably hates me anyway. God, what's WRONG with me?" Fighting tears, Sara slid to the floor silently. Someone outside her stall cleared their throat. Sara's eyes widened, and she remained on the floor in her stall. "Is someone out there?" She whispered.
"Look up," a voice above her said. Her head shot up to see a pretty blonde girl looking critically at her. "Hey, are you okay?" The blonde looked like she couldn't decide whether to feel sorry for Sara or to send her off to a loony bin. Sara wiped away tears she hadn't realized had fallen and stood.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Hey, sorry about that." The blonde kept staring. "You know, school's tough and all..." the blonde brushed hair out of her eyes and looked quizically at Sara.
"Who's Grissom? A teacher?" she asked, her voice not showing what she thought. Sara turned red for the umpteenth time that day.
"Well..." something about the girl made her want to spill everything, but she didn't even know her.
"Hey, you can trust me," the blonde said, jumping down from the stall and coming around to the front of Saras'. Sara eased open the door and came out to stand next to the blonde. She had stylish clothes and a no-nonsense face with a hint of a smile in her eyes. "I'm Cathrine, by the way. Catherine Willows." She stuck out her hand. Sara took it uneasily.
"Sara Sidle. And Grissom's just a boy..." Catherine laughed.
" Just a boy? He seems to have you pretty upset," she said, still laughing. Sara smiled weakly at Cathrine.
"Alright, so he's kind of... frustrating."
"Go on..." Catherine said, hoisting herself up onto the counter and sitting.
"Well, like you probably heard me, um, saying-"
"Screaming," Catherine corrected. Sara glared at her and continued.
"-That we had just met today, and well, he's kind of driving me crazy... I mean, when I'm around him, I feel so many confusing things, and I can't tell if it's making my life better or worse, but for the two periods were weren't together, he was all I could think of. But I think maybe I'm crazy or something, because we just met. And I don't even know if he likes me," Sara finished, looking sadly at the linolium floor. Catherine reached out at hugged her shoulder.
"Hey Sara, it's gonna be okay. Look, like you said, he's just a boy, and you can't let him get you worked up! Pretend you own the world, and turn on a bit of your feminine charms." Catherine jumped down from the counter and demonstrated by strutting around, flipping her hair over her shoulder and looking sweetly at Sara. She stopped and laughed at herself. "Just do some of that, get real close to him, and if the guy has any sense, he'll come running."
"Sara?" someone called from the door. Sara smiled at Cathrine.
"Thanks for all your help, Cathrine. You're really nice," Sara walked out the door.
"See ya at lunch!" Catherine called after her.
Greg was outside the girls bathroom leaning against the door, checking his watch anxiously.
"Hey Greg," Sara said, touching his shoulder gently. Greg jumped, startled.
"Hey Sara! Are you okay?" He asked. Sara was suprised to see he looked genuinley concerned.
"Did the teacher send you out here to get me, Greg?" she asked, looking into his eyes. Greg drew back a little.
"No. I was worried about you, so I came to check up on you!" Sara smiled at his kindness. "So Sara, I was wondering-"
"Sara?" Grissom came down the hall, looking worried. He seemed caught off gaurd to see Greg leaning in close to Sara and paused for a moment. Then the worry was gone from his face and he walked up to the two.
Awkwardly, Sara made introductions. "Greg, this is my friend Grissom," she said, unsure what they would think of eachother. Grissom gave Greg a small nod, and Greg looked like he could kill Grissom for inturupting. Sara suddenly pictured Cathrines' face and turned to Grissom, stepping closer to him so that their chests were almost touching. Sara felt her heart beatingquicklyand was afraid Grissom might be able to feel it. Please let this work. If it doesn't,all I will havedone is made a fool of myself. Grissom faltered, his face turning red and his eyes widening in shock. "Was there something you wanted, Grissom?" she asked, her voice raising a pitch and batting her eyelashes. Grissom stepped back.
"The period's over. They haven't chosen the best Romeo or Juliet yet. We ran out of time. What's your next class?" Sara pulled out her shedule, recluctant to pull away from the warmth of Grissoms' body. "Look like I have tech with Warrick," she told Grissom, abandoning the charm completley. Grissom nodded.
"I think Nick's in that class as well," he told Sara.
"Who's Nick?" Sara asked.
"The boy who walked into Lit. before I did," he informed her. Greg tapped Sara on the shoulder.
"Hey, I have tech too!" he said, trying to hold back his excitment.
"Well, we might as well go," Sara said, not ready to leave Grissom yet. Grissom, however, had already started walking down the hall.
"I'll see you at lunch, Sara. Greg," he said, waving and turning away. Sara watched him go until he was out of sight. Then Greg pulled her back into the real world and they walked together to their next class.
Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed it! BTW, I keep seeing things about challenges, like someone give you a first and last sentence and you write with that. Can anyone tell me how to find those? Remember, review review review!
Thanks! E