A/n: Hey everyone! Sorry this took so long to finish, I've just been crazy busy lately. I've had final projects to finish, papers to write, finals to study for, usually end of semester. I did, however, get to go see Aly & AJ last week, which totally rocked. But enough about me...

Act II, Scene ii

The next morning when Keely didn't show up to walk to school with Phil., he didn't think much of it but when she completely ignored him when he tried to talk to her at school, he knew something was up.

He stopped Via at her locker during lunch and asked her, "Hey, do you have any idea why Keely won't talk to me?"

"I was just going to ask you the same thing," was Via's reply.

"That's a little strange."

"Yeah, I don't think-" Via cut herself off as a thought dawned on her. "You don't think she..."

Phil too realized what was happening. "...saw me kiss you?" He finished.

"Yeah."

"I think that's exactly what happened." Phil leaned against the lockers. and ran a hand through his hair. "Great, just great. Now what am I going to do?"

Via had quite a different reaction. She started laughing. Phil was appalled. "What's so funny?" He demanded.

"I was just thinking, this whole thing is sort of like one of Shakespeare's comedies, don't you think?"

"Oh good grief! How could you possible think of Shakespeare at a time like this?"

"Just listen would you?" Via paused for dramatic effect then, look of somewhere in the distance, started in her best movie trailer voice. "We open with our two star-crossed lovers: the beautiful Keely and the dashing Philip. They're madly in love but on the eve of their wedding disaster strikes! In order to dissuade the mislead affections of another girl, Philip kisses Keely's closest and most trusted friend, the lovely and intelligent Olivia. Philip's plan backfires, however, when Keely oversees and feels betrayed by the two people closest to her." Via turned to Phil and grinned. "So, what do you think?"

"What do I think?" Phil repeated as the bell rang. "I think I hate Shakespeare."

The next day, Phil was at the end of his rope. "Via, I can't take it anymore!" Phil said before school as Via put the finishing touches on her make-up using the mirror inside her locker door. "Keely's never going to talk to me again. She hates me. My life is over."

Via rolled her eyes. "Phil you are such a drama queen. Does Aaron Spelling know about you? I'm sure he could make you a star."

"Very funny. How you can you be so clam about all of this, Via? I mean, Keely's not talking to you either and she's your best friend."

"Yeah, but I didn't break her heart." Via grinned but when she noticed Phil looked like he was about to cry, she quickly added, "Just kidding!" When Phil continued to stare at the ground in silence, Via said, "Look, Phil, all joking aside, Keely could never really hate you."

Phil looked up at her. "Oh yeah? How do you know?"

"Because I know Keely. She really cares about you, Phil. She might be a little upset with you right now but she doesn't hate you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think if you just talk to her, you can work this whole thing out."

"Talk to her? I can't talk to her. It's like talking to a brick wall!"

"Then you're not trying hard enough."

"Not trying hard enough? What are you, insane? I've tried everything to get her to listen to me but it's pretty hard to get through to someone who wants to nothing to do with you."

"Methinks thou doth protest too much," Via said with raised eyebrows and a grin.

"Yeah well, methinks thou should keep thou's opinions to thouself," Phil shot back as the bell rang.

"'Thouself' isn't a word," Via said teasingly as she followed Phil down the hall.

"Hey, your boy Shakespeare made up words all the time, so why can't I?"

Via rolled her eyes. "Phil, Shakespeare was a literary genius. I don't see you writing any great love sonnets."

"Via, the woman I love won't even look at me right now, so I'm sure you'll forgive me if I'm not feeling particularly romantic."

Phil turned to duck into his classroom but Via grabbed his arm. "Phil, just talk to her. She'll come around, trust me." She let go of him and gave him a reassuring smile before heading towards her own class.

All morning, Phil thought about what Via said. He still wasn't sure she was right but he figured he might was well try, especially considering he was had no other real options.

At lunch, Phil waited for Keely at her locker and when she arrived, she completely ignored him, just as he predicted. This time, however, he didn't give up. When she tried to leave, he blocked her way and said, "Listen, Keely, I know you don't want to talk to me right now but at least hear me out. I think I deserve a chance to explain myself."

Keely sighed but didn't move. "Look," he said, "whatever you think happened, it didn't. Nothing happened."

Keely chose that moment to break her silence. "Didn't happen? Phil, I saw you kiss Via!"

"I didn't...well, I did kiss her, but it's not what you think."

"What I think is that you kissed her and that's all there is to it! I thought that we...well, it's not important what I thought. The point is that you kissed Via. Do you know how hard it was for me to watch that?"

"I can only imagine, Keel, but I can explain."

"Sure, go ahead. This should be good. I can't even begin to imagine what possible explanation you could have for asking me out then kissing another girl."

"I didn't want to kiss her, Keely. I did it out of desperation! This girl from my physics was, like, obsessed with me and I sort of kissed Via in order to get her to leave me alone. I'll be the first to admit that it wasn't the smartest thing to do but I was desperate."

"Wow, Phil, you're a regular ladies' man, aren't you?"

"You know that's not true, Keel. You're the only girl that matters to me."

"Gee, I bet you say that to all the girls."

Phil ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He looked straight in the eyes and said, "Listen to me, Keely: there is nothing between Via and me. You are the only girl I ever want to be with." He took a step closer to her and lowered his voice. "I'm crazy about you, Keely."

Keely took a step back. "I wish I could believe you, Phil, but I know what I saw."

By now Phil had just about reached his breaking point. "Just forget about all that will you? Via and I are just friends. You are the only one I have feeling for!"

"Phil, I-"

"Do you want me to prove it?"

Keely looked at him, a little dumbstruck. "What?"

The look on Phil's face was completely serious as he repeated himself. "Do you want me to prove it?"

Keely quickly regained her composure...and her resentment. "Yeah, I do!"

"All right then!"

"How could--"

Keely started to argue but was suddenly cut off. It took her a second to get over her shock but when she realized that Phil was kissing her with everything he had, something strange happened. As much as she still wanted to be mad at him, Keely couldn't ignore the fact that kissing Phil felt amazing. There was a voice in her brain telling her that she was supposed to be angry with him but the pounding of her heart and the electricity she felt quickly silenced it and she felt herself wrap her arms around Phil and kiss him back with equal passion.

When they pulled part, Keely just looked a Phil and whispered, "Wow."

"Now do you believe me?" Phil asked, taking both of her hands in his.

"If I say no, will you kiss me again?"

He laughed. "How about I kiss you no matter what you say?"

Keely laughed too and said, "Deal!" before leaning in to kiss him again.

Meanwhile, Via was down the hallway, on the way to her locker and spotted Phil and Keely sharing their second kiss.

"Well," she said as she approached them. "It looks like everything worked out, didn't it?"

Phil and Keely jumped apart, blushing. "Yeah, it sure looks that way," Phil said with a grin.

"Gee, Via, you sure were right, I should have listened to you from the beginning," Via said in a cheesy, melodramatic voice.

Phil threw up his hands in defeat. "Okay, okay, I get. You we're right, Via. You knew everything would work out."

"Yeah, and you know how I knew?"

"Oh no, don't say it."

"Shakespeare," she said with a smug smile.

Phil groaned, then said, "You know, Via, I'm starting to think you have a serious problem here. But don't worry I'm sure there's twelve step program for Shakespeare addiction."

"Ha ha, Phil. Very funny. You're just angry because Will and I were right and you were wrong."

Keely, who had been looking back and forth from Via to Phil, suddenly cut in. "What are two talking about?"

"You don't want to know," Phil replied, then to Via he said, "Why can't you be a normal teenage girl and be obsessed with Orlando Bloom or some boy band?"

"You know, Phil , someday you're going to need Shakespeare but because of your blind hatred, he won't there for you."

"Unless old Billy magically invented a way to get rid of psychotic sister, it isn't likely I'll need him anytime soon."

"I want to know what's going on!" Keely exclaimed, a little frustrated.

"No you don't," Phil said. "Not unless you want to hear a boring, far-fetched story about a couple of star-crossed lovers."

"My story was boring and far-fetched, was it? Well it was about you!"

"No, no it most certainly was not! You see, Via, I live here, in the real world unlike you, who seems to live in Shakespeare-land where everyone talks like idiots and has serious psychological problems!"

"Oh go read some pop fiction, you close-minded philistine!"

"Oh, I get it, just because I read The DaVinci Code and I hate Shakespeare, I'm a close-minded philistine, huh? Well weren't YOU the one I caught reading Bridget Jones's Diary the other day?"

Via was caught in her own argument. He was right. She decided to walk away with whatever dignity she had left. "This is ridiculous. I have better things to do that to stand here arguing with someone like you. Seeth thou later!" With that, Via turned and stalked off down the hall.

"Peace out!" Phil yelled after her before running off in the opposite direction.

With Phil and Via gone, Keely was left alone in the hallway, looking bewildered. "What just happened here?" She asked the empty hallway.

A few minutes later, Phil came back after he realized he'd left something very important alone in the hallway.

"Sorry, Keel," he said as they walked towards their class.

"What was all that about, Phil?"

"I hate Shakespeare," he muttered in response. Keely shrugged and slipped her hand into Phil's. She decided to leave it at that because figured she would never get the whole story and after Via and Phil's argument, she wasn't sure she really wanted to know after all. All she knew was that things turned out for the best for her and that was all she needed.

An: I never knew writing an argument between Phil and Via could be so much fun! Just for the record, I've read both The DaVinci Code and Bridget Jones's Diary and I love them both. Anyway, since school ends next week, I'll have a lot more time to get writing done so, my loyal fans, I'm all yours this summer. Except for work, but I've done some of my best writing whilst bored at work. Anyway, leave a review and I'll see you real soon with a new story!

--Sam Mulder