A/N: As of now, This Will Be Our Year has become my longest story, both in terms of chapter and word count... and we're not even close to finishing. I really don't even know what to make of this. I am actually blown away, because I really didn't think there was much to work with when I first started planning this story, but it seems to continue to grow the more we go along in the writing and collaborating process. At the same time, however, I would be lying if I said I wasn't just a little disheartened about this, because this now dethrones The Missing Loud (in chapter count) and Loud Triangle (in word count), both of which I've considered among my personal best stories.

If I had to make an educated guess, I would estimate that we still have yet to even reach the halfway point of this story... but, I do think we could be getting close, though.

Even in spite of the fact that the stroke of good fortune he had just received that had pretty much sealed the deal of theater being his permanent elective for what little was left of the current fall semester, which meant he would, indeed, miss out on football season in sports club due to the scheduling conflicts that this presented, Spencer still felt incredibly excited that he not only had been cast as Romeo in the next school play, but also because his own girlfriend, Ruby, had been cast as Juliet… not only would they now be lovers on stage as well as off, but, as everyone knows, one of the biggest and most memorable moments from Romeo & Juliet was the big kiss between the two titular characters… even after all of these weeks, Spencer and Ruby had yet to have their first kiss, and the very idea that the play would provide them with such a life-altering event had him both nervous and excited all at once - nervous because, obviously, this would be in front of an audience of spectators, but excited because if Ruby is as amazing at everything else as she is, surely she would be an amazing kisser as well.

Alas, whatever excitement Spencer had felt between being cast as one of the titular characters in the play along with his girlfriend, and their first kiss being on the horizon would soon be dashed against the rocks of cruel irony later that afternoon. During one of the very brief five-minute intervals that took place during class changes through the day, Horatio, Carlton, and Brandon trekked down the corridor on their way to their respective classes for the following period, but as they passed the bulletin board, the cast list happened to catch Brandon's eyes, which caused him to stop in his tracks.

"Hey dudes," he called out. "Check this out…"

The others stopped to take a look for themselves, where upon they saw the name Spencer printed next to the name Romeo on the cast list for the upcoming school play. At that very moment, Spencer himself had just turned the corner, as he, too, was on his way toward his next class for the period, but when he saw some of his fellow jocks looking at the bulletin board, he ducked back behind the corner to listen in on their reactions.

"Spencer's playing Romeo in the school play?" Horatio asked. "Spencer Banks? That Spencer?"

"You think this is the real reason why we he's not playing football anymore?" Carlton asked.

"Come on, man!" Horatio snorted. "I think it's pretty obvious Spencer's a bit of a sissy!"

"Yeah!" The others chuckled.

That cut Spencer like a knife; this was the one thing that he had tried so hard to avoid like a sickness, and now, he found himself faced with it as he continued to eavesdrop on his fellow jocks' commentary.

"I always thought it was weird the way he always ran on his tippy-toes whenever he'd practice sprinting," he heard Brandon remark.

"Well, I guess we know for sure now what kind of dude Spencer really is…" said Carlton.

"More like dudette, dude!" Horatio sparked laughter among them.

"Better keep an eye on him in the locker room…" Brandon remarked.

Moans and groans of disgust were exchanged among the jocks as they continued on their way to their next classes, while all Spencer could do was slide down to the floor in despair. Why must his appreciation for the performing arts dictate what kind of boy his peers perceive him as being? Just because he has an interest in theater, and was fortunate enough to be cast into such a significant role for any high school drama student, in no way should implicate or insinuate that he is any less masculine than his fellow jocks… what's wrong with a boy liking both theater and sports? He was so excited that he had been cast as Romeo in the play, now, it felt more like an anchor strung around his neck sinking him into darkened waters of despair; he just felt so devastated that an achievement he was so proud of now garnered him labels he did not deserve.

There was an electrifying excitement in the auditorium after school that day as the first day of rehearsals for Romeo & Juliet would commence; the thespians were scattered about the stage, those who were to play Montagues wore yellow scarves around their necks, while those who were to play Capulets wore fancy hats upon their heads – this was partly due to help visually distinguish one from the other until full wardrobe had been made available. Some thespians looked over their scripts to familiarize themselves with their lines, while others engaged in idle chit chat amongst themselves; although Ruby had chosen the former, she was about to engage in the latter as Shannon approached her.

"How are you feeling?" She asked Ruby. "Nervous? Excited? A little of both?"

"I am, like, soooo excited!" Ruby squealed.

"You're going to be great!" Shannon exclaimed as she placed a supportive hand on her friend's shoulder. "Just remember not to say, 'Like' all the time."

"I, like, totally got this!" Ruby proclaimed with a giddy chuckle.

The bespectacled brunette happened to notice that the Romeo to Ruby's Juliet was conspicuously absent from the rehearsal, as she inquired, "Where's Spencer? Isn't he here?"

"I dunno, I, like, haven't seen him since this morning," said Ruby with a shrug. "I'm sure he'll be along soon enough; he, like, totally wouldn't miss out on this for the world."

Sure enough, Spencer did eventually arrive for rehearsals, but much to Ruby's consternation, he did not look the least bit excited about playing Romeo as he did this morning when they saw their names printed on the cast list – he actually looked more as though was consumed with dread, which she found rather alarming. Before she could get a chance to figure out what may be vexing her boyfriend, Mrs. Bernardo saw that all thespians were present and accounted for, so she declared rehearsal officially underway; she started with vocal warm-ups, but in order to enhance the dramatic tension, she had decided to separate the Montagues and Capulets from each other. This did not appear to sit well with Luan Loud, and afterwards, the young comedienne began a rather bizarre series of trading off of parts; the first one she approached was her friend, Shannon, who, at that moment, was in the middle of updating her social media status to inform her virtual friends that day one of rehearsals for her next play was under way.

"Hey, Shannon! Would you mind switching with me?" Luan asked. "I can't be a Capulet… I'm, uh… allergic to hats! They make my head swell up, and then I… can't get the hat off… it's a viscous cycle!"

Shannon knew nothing about her friend possessing such an allergy… did she ever even notice if Luan had worn a hat before in years past? She couldn't even remember. Of course, she also knew nothing about Luan's allergy claims being a cover-up for another ulterior motive she had in mind. Nevertheless, to hear about her friend's little problem, Shannon was ready to oblige her with such a favor.

"That sounds awful; of course I'll switch!" She happily offered, until she realized this presented her with an entirely different problem. "Oh, wait… I can't be a Capulet if my arch-nemesis Amy is…"

It was true; on another part of the stage, the snotty, ginger-haired and freckle-faced girl in the green t-shirt who looked over her copy of the script also wore a hat, which indicated that she was also a member of the Capulet family, and there was no way Shannon was going to pretend she was related to the one girl who had treated her like she was less than a human being ever since they had first met this school year.

Upon the realization of this little drawback, Luan decided to engage in a little more wheeling and dealing, so that the switch would mutually benefit the multiple parties involved; after she stepped away from Shannon, she approached Amy with a proposition:

"Hey, Amy, how'd you like to be a Montague?" She asked.

"A what?" Amy asked as she peered away from her copy of the script. "Sure, whatev. But, only if my boyfriend, Rex, can be one too; he kind of, like, can't be without me…"

Amy became rather miffed when she happened to notice that Rex was, at that moment, off to the side with the pretty and stylish Asian girl known as Jackee… and both of them appeared to be flirting with each other to boot. The furious ginger grabbed her boyfriend by his elbow and yanked him back over towards her, much to Jackee's annoyance, while Rex attempted to laugh it off as though it was nothing but a little harmless fun.

Well, back to the negotiations; Luan dashed across the stage once again, and this time, she thought she would approach another friend of hers, Lyberti, as she figured she could easily persuade her into switching as well.

"Hey, Lyberti! You know, you strike me as more of a Capulet, they're so much cooler. How'd you like to switch with Rex?" She asked.

"Sure!" Lyberti was on board with the switch, but she, too, had one condition: "But, only if my B.F.F., Leo, can be a Capulet."

This was becoming rather complicated, but Luan got right down to business. Pretty soon, various different thespians found themselves being pushed from one side of the stage to the other; feet shuffled across the floor, hats and scarves flew through the air; Montagues became Capulets; Capulets became Montagues; and all so Luan could finally become a Montague herself, and for one very specific reason…

"Hey, Luan," said Benny as he approached Luan and saw she now wore a yellow scarf around her neck as did he. "So, you're a Montague now?"

"Yeah, Leo really, really wanted to be a Capulet," lied Luan. "So, what are you gonna do, break the kid's heart?"

Unbeknownst to anyone else in the club, this was all a scheme of Luan's; she so enjoyed playing alongside Benny as the king and queen of the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream, but Mrs. Bernardo's casting in Romeo & Juliet had the two of them at odds in separate families. This would not do with her; after all, one of the reasons she even enrolled in theater club was so she could get closer to Benny, so she traded off parts like this so she could be a Montague alongside him. Finally, Mrs. Bernardo emerged onto the stage to get today's rehearsals underway.

"THESPIANS ASSEMBLE!" She called out, as her thespians did as directed. "Now, we'll start with Act I, Scene V… better known as the kiss! Romeo, Juliet, center stage; the rest of you, take five…"

While the other thespians exited the stage to grab some empty seats out in the auditorium (Luan threw her ventriloquist dummy, Mr. Coconuts, into a seat from up on stage, for some reason), Spencer and Ruby took their positions in the center of the stage; for reasons unknown to her, Ruby was still struck by the grim look of dread that Spencer had on his face, and it greatly concerned her.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked him.

"Huh?" He responded when he was snapped back to reality. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine…"

"You sure?" She asked. "Seems like something's got you in a funk…"

"No, really, I'm fine…" he lied. In actuality, that word from earlier had chosen such an inopportune moment to return to the forefront of his mind to haunt him as he was about to rehearse a scene with his girlfriend…

Sissy… Sissy… Sissy…

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, ACTION!" Mrs. Bernardo exclaimed.

To the best of her capability, Ruby projected her strongest theatrical voice for all to hear:

"For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss."

From out in the auditorium, Shannon watched in pride at how well Ruby was doing so far; she knew what a challenge it was for the Indian valley girl to not say 'like' throughout her sentences, so it was clear to her that her best friend really did make a concerted effort to stay true to a character who was not herself, and therefore, did not speak like herself… not to mention, she had greatly improved in her ability to emote since the exercises they had engaged in prepared her for this moment.

It was Spencer's cue to recite the next line, however, he froze like a deer in the headlights; all his mind could focus on was that one less than desirable word...

Sissy… Sissy… Sissy…

"Spence?" Ruby whispered. "Spence?"

It wasn't until Mrs. Bernardo called his name aloud that Spencer was brought back to reality once again.

"Huh? Oh, sorry," he apologized. "Um, where were we?"

"I just said the part about being all touchy-feeling with pilgrim hands and holy palms?" Ruby pointed out.

"Oh, yeah…" Spencer then tried his best to follow with his next line, but he stumbled through it rather miserably: "Have saints no lips? I mean… have not saints lips, too?"

Mrs. Bernardo cocked an eyebrow; Spencer went over the line again in his head, and then it dawned on him he left off part of the line.

"Palmers!" He continued. "And holy palmers, too?"

Spencer's strange behavior began to have something of a negative effect on Ruby, as she, too, began to stumble through her next line: "Aye, pilgrim. Lips they must, like, use in prayer…"

Mrs. Bernardo's brow furrowed at this point, especially when she noticed Spencer quickly turned away from everyone and rolled up one of the sleeves of his jersey to scan over his next line, just to make sure he got it right this time… still resorting to the use of crib notes? This would never do. He turned back around to face Ruby again to deliver his next line:

"O, then, dear saint, let hips do what heads do…"

Ruby looked terribly confused; that did not sound like any line she remembered reading in the script. Spencer rolled his sleeve up once more and took another look at that particular line, of which he realized he got the two body parts wrong, and quickly corrected his mistake:

"Let lips do what hands do… they pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair…"

Spencer was certainly in some despair of his own, and unfortunately, that despair hindered his performance so much that Ruby had an awfully difficult time connecting with him in this scene; she, like, totally blew her next line:

"Like, saints do not move, like, though grant for, like, prayer's sake…"

The smile across Shannon's face quickly crumbled over the deteriorating performances she watched up on stage, so did Mrs. Bernardo's, as she approached the two thespians with a concerned look on her face.

"Ruby, Spencer… I think I can see what the problem is here…" she began, while the two exchanged glances of uncertainty. "Don't worry… it's nothing to be ashamed of… a serious production such as Romeo & Juliet is rather nerve-wrecking for many a young thespian… it's perfectly natural to feel a little overwhelmed in the beginning, but, it IS something that you CAN overcome! I'll tell you what, why don't the two of you take five, and we'll pick this up again tomorrow… in the meantime, let's try something else… Prop department? Get me the swords for Sampson and Gregory!"

Ruby and Spencer returned to the auditorium to grab a pair of seats amongst the other thespians, with Ruby, of course, taking a seat next to Shannon, who whispered to her…

"What happened up there? You did great your first line, and then it all fell apart after that."

"Like, I don't know," Ruby whispered back. "Something's totally up with Spence… like, he seems totally out of it for some reason, and it started to, like, totally throw me off…"

The two girls peered over to Spencer, as he merely sat and stared out into space… that word still echoed in the back of his mind… sissy… sissy… sissy… he could almost envision his peers from the sports club all laughing at and mocking him as he recites Romeo's lines up on stage, all of them calling his masculinity into question.

If anyone thought that rehearsals would go a little smoother after school the following day, they would have been sorely mistaken, because things were just as complicated as they were the day before – even before rehearsals had officially gotten under way, Spencer, once again, seemed awfully perturbed, and it continued to greatly concern his on-stage/off-stage girlfriend.

"Spence, what's up?" She asked him. "Like, seriously, what's buggin' you out?"

He stammered at first; he could not bear to bring himself to tell her the outright truth, but at the same time, the only explanation he could offer up may or may not have entirely been a lie…

"I… I just… can't… get… into this…" he finally said.

"Really?" She asked with an eyebrow cocked.

That seemed so strange. When they practiced together to prepare for their auditions, Spencer had no trouble whatsoever getting into this; why is it now that he suddenly can't get into it?

Once again, Mrs. Bernardo called rehearsal to order, and as the rest of the thespians took their seats in the auditorium, Ruby and Spencer took their positions in the center of the stage; he tried desperately hard to fight through his insecurities that were brought on by the gossip he heard his peers speak of him as he put on a brave face and pressed forward with the scene. Unfortunately, the odd vibes that Ruby picked up from him continued to throw her off, and as before, she had difficulty focusing on remaining in-character as she barely made it through reciting her line…

"Like, saints do not, like, move, though grant for, like, prayer's sake…"

Shannon still couldn't believe what it was she had witnessed… Ruby had somehow gotten even worse since yesterday… at least yesterday, she put up an effort to try to not say 'like' so much when reciting her lines, but today, it seemed as though she wasn't even trying at all… what was going on here? Spencer, meanwhile, tried to get through his next line with as little trouble as he could, but still continued to flub his words…

"Then move not… hang on…" he once again rolled up his sleeve to check the line he had scribbled on his arm, much to Mrs. Bernardo's disbelief. "While my prayer's effect I fake… no, wait, that's a 'T'… take, not fake…"

As she grew increasingly dissatisfied with how the rehearsal was going, Mrs. Bernardo called for cut again, much to Ruby and Spencer's disappointment.

"This is all wrong! I'm just not feeeeeeeeeling it!"

At that moment, she heard a pair of rather jovial and gleeful giggles out in the auditorium, which turned out to belong to Benny and Luan; the two comedy-loving kids had kept themselves entertained during their break from rehearsal by essentially goofing off with each other to the point that they were reduced to a fit of giggles over any little gesture or expression the other made. The more their drama teacher watched them, the more she began to feel like she may have found her saving grace (yeah, I went there) for this production; she stepped back over to Ruby and Spencer, wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders, and attempted to deliver a gentle termination to both of them.

"Ruby? Spencer? This is the hardest part of any director's job, but I've decided to go another way with my Romeo and Juliet. Don't be discouraged; if you keep working your craft…"

Ruby interrupted her flowery speech to ask, "So, like, I don't have to memorize, like, any more of this?"

Why did she say that? Why did she say that? Even Ruby herself could not believe that had just come out of her mouth – it was almost as if that wasn't even her talking… and yet, she still, strangely, felt a sense of relief when Mrs. Bernardo graciously nodded her approval.

"Phew!" Spencer sighed with an ever bigger sense of relief; he pulled up the hem of his jersey to illustrate the smears of ink that were littered all over his torso. "I sweated off the rest of my lines in gym class!"

With no more to say, the pair not only left the stage, but also left the auditorium altogether. Ladies and gentlemen, Ruby and Spencer have left the building. Many of the other thespians were completely surprised by this sudden turn of events, but their drama teacher assured that this would not deter them…

"Fear not, thespians, the show will go on; the perfect Romeo and Juliet have been with us all along…"

For a fleeting moment, Amy had hoped that their drama teacher meant she and Rex to make up for her not getting to play Hermia opposite his Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream – after all, she held a lot of confidence in their on-stage chemistry that she felt would make them a most perfect Romeo and Juliet to cast… alas, they were not who Mrs. Bernardo spoke of as she leapt from the stage to the floor below to point out who said perfect Romeo and Juliet really were: "BENNY AND LUAAAANNNN!"

"US?!" Benny and Luan gasped at the same time.

Mrs. Bernardo slipped behind, wrapped her arms around both of them, and explained, "I've been watching you, and I know you are going to be wonderful!"

She should have known they would be wonderful in such roles; they clearly possessed a strong and solid rapport with one another, and their playfulness had reminded her that she had previously cast them as the king and queen of the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream for that very specific reason. Meanwhile, with hints of pink in their cheeks, Benny and Luan shared an awkward smile with each other before their drama teacher practically dragged them up onto the stage to resume the rehearsal with her new stars.

"Now, Romeo and Juliet, let's pick up where we left off… the kiss!" Mrs. Bernardo directed.

At that moment, Luan nearly had a panic attack upon the realization that she actually had to kiss Benny; this had become such an awkward and uncomfortable situation for her as she quickly thought of an excuse to give everyone the slip…

"Uh, oh, I just remembered I have an… orthodontist appointment today… gotta get the old braces tightened, otherwise, this'll be Romeo & Drooliet!"

With that, Luan turned tail and fled the scene. This had turned into such an incredibly weird day of rehearsal, nobody even knew what to make of just what went on in this auditorium today, but the one person in the house who was the most confused about everything was Shannon; she could not make head or tails of why Ruby and Spencer seemingly flipped on a dime like this… they were so excited about being cast in those roles, they barely got through two days of rehearsal, and now they actually seem as though a weight had been lifted off of their shoulders when Mrs. Bernardo decided to release them from their roles? Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Out in the school yard, Spencer felt a lot more at peace with himself now; as much as he really did not want to have to let go of such an incredible part, he was happier with the fact that this was behind him - now, he no longer had to continue to live this secret, double life of his, and maybe return to the sports club full-time.

As the two of them casually strolled across the grassy area, Ruby pressed even harder: "Okay, Spence, so, like, now that we're out of the play, now can you tell me, like, what's going on?"

He still did not wish to divulge the truth of why his insecurities and the gossip about him hindered his capabilities during rehearsal – it probably would have looked just as bad to his girlfriend if he told her that he wanted out so his peers would no longer think of him as a sissy. Instead, he decided to downplay his reasoning with her…

"Ehh… I guess theater's just not my thing after all…" he lied.

"Really?" She asked.

Spencer could only shrug in response.

"Huh," was Ruby's flat response, in spite of how dumbfounded she felt. For a moment, she gave the matter some thought, and something about the look that her boyfriend had given her in the moment made it seem like he was hoping for her to fully support him in this decision. "You know what? Samesies…"

He smiled.

Shannon was still greatly concerned about just what was going on with Ruby; so concerned was she that just before it was time for her to go to bed later that evening, she wanted to check in on her friend to see if there was anything wrong, or that she was okay - and, if not, was there anything she could do to help her? Before she began to charge her cell phone over night, she sent out a text message to red_ruby:

hey Rubes, is everything ok?

She waited.

And waited.

And waited.

No response.

As you can see, there was actually far more to Ruby and Spencer's botched rehearsals than just them seemingly being poor actors... this is still probably going to lead to quite a bit of off-stage drama from this point, and it may not be pretty...