A/n: Hey, everyone, it's your old pal Sam Mulder, back once more. Miss me? It's been awhile, hasn't it? So much craziness going on lately (college transfer apps, school projects, work, etc) that I haven't had a whole lot of time to get anything done. But fear not, you can't keep a good writer down. One quick note about the title: it's a bit of an homage to my favorite English teacher in high school who always used to refer to William Shakespeare as "Billy."

Here's to Billy Shakespeare

Act I, Scene i

"So, moving on, Taming of the Shrew, act two, scene one. Since I know most of you didn't bother to read it, I'll give you the rundown," Mr. Morgan said to his third period English class. "In this scene our friends Lucentio and Hortensio are masquerading as teachers again in order to get the attention of the lovely Bianca. Meanwhile, Petruccio finds himself in another battle of wits with Katherine who..."

In the back of the class, Phil Diffy doodled idly in his notebook. He, unlike most of his classmates, had actually read the play and found Mr. Morgan's review particularly boring. He stared at spot on the wall just above the teacher's head, spaced out, until a folded up square of paper hit him in the face. He looked up to see his best friend smiling at him from the seat in front of him. When Phil returned the smile, Keely turned back around.

As he unfolded the paper, Phil looked over at the seat next him where his friend Via had her copy of Taming of the Shrew open in front of her and was scribbling furiously in the margins. He rolled his eyes; Via loved this kind of stuff.

Phil turned his attention to Keely's note and read her loopy handwriting. Phil, it said, I forgot to tell you I made you lunch. At the bottom Keel had signed her name with a smiley face after it.

Phil smiled, feeling lucky to have such a sweet best friend. Staring at the back of her head, Phil let his thoughts drift to Keely and their relationship. He knew there had been definite more-than-friends feelings between them for quite some time. Well, he knew for a fact that he was in love with her and he was pretty sure she felt the same way. He also knew, however, that they had both been avoiding the issue. Both of them wanted something to happen but neither of them knew how to make it happen.

The more Phil thought about it, the more he knew he had to something. He had come so close asking Keely out on several occasions but on all those occasions, he had failed. He couldn't help it though; her smile made his heat melt and when he looked into her eyes, he lost all train of thought. All that aside, however, the more time he spent with Keely, the deeper in love he fell and the harder it was to keep up the "just friends" front.

Right then and there, sitting in the back of his English class, Phil decided he was finally going to make a move and take his relationship with Keely to the next level. He was going to ask her out and this time, he was going to succeed.

Just as Phil was trying to figure out how he was going to go about all this, he was jerked from his thoughts by Keely's voice. "Hey, Phil?" She said. "Class is sort of over."

He looked to see her standing next to him. The rest of the class had already filed out, leaving Phil, Keely and Via alone in the classroom. "Oh, right," he replied, gathering his books and following the girls out the door.

In the hall, Keely said, "I'll see you guys at lunch," before heading off down towards her next class.

Phil and Via started off in the opposite direction. "So," Via said with a sly grin, "what were you such deep thought about during English?"

"Uh, nothing," Phil said quickly.

Via's grin widened. "Oh I think it was something. Or should I say, someone? Someone named Keely maybe?"

Phil felt his ears turn red and before he could think of a way to respond, Via said, "Relax, Phil, I'm just teasing you. I think it's cute how you and Keely completely ignore your feelings for one another."

"Via, don't you have something better to do than harass me about Keely?"

"No," Via said, then, when Phil rolled his eyes, added, "Give me a break, will you? I have no love life of my so I have to live vicariously through you two."

"How's that working out for you?" Phil asked with a grin, stopping outside his physics classroom.

"Not too good," Via shot back, "since you two are too clueless to do anything about your feelings."

"Hey for your information, Via, I'm going to ask Keely out."

It was Via's turn to roll her eyes. "Oh, please, Phil. You've been saying that since I met you."

"This time I mean it. I'm going to ask her out today at lunch."

Via raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "Oh really? Are you sure you're not going to chicken out like last time?"

"I'm so sure I'm willing to bet on it," Phil said. "Loser buys winner lunch?"

"You're on!" Via shook Phil's hand, then turned to walk across the hall to her class. A second later, she turned back around. "It's not like I don't want to see you and Keely together," she said, "it's just that I don't think you'll go through with it." She shot Phil one last grin before ducking into her classroom as the bell rang.

A/N: All right, folks stay tuned for the next chapter: will Phil finally ask Keely out or will Via win the bet? Find out in Act I, Scene ii! Oh, and leave me a review if you'd be so kind.

D/c: We all know I own nothing.