Taming Petruchio
By Lady Mac
Summary: Like Petruchio in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Howl Jenkins has had his share of women – and he's only a junior in high school! But this time, it is he who must be tamed. It will take a very special girl to curb his "mad and headstrong humor" – does transfer student Sophie Hatter have what it takes?
Alternate Universe, romance/general. Rating for language, may change.
Inspiration from the movie and the book.
For future reference: "Woczieowski" is pronounced "wa-ja-how-ski." Yes, it's a real name.
Chapter One
This One Time, At Band Camp …
Sophie Hatter sat by herself on the top step in the Band room at Porthaven High School. It was nearly six forty-five on Wednesday morning, and the stereo system was blaring while upperclassmen and new freshmen mingled within their groups, socializing while they waited for the Drum Majors to call the chaos to order.
Sophie wondered how she had gotten herself into this. She and her family had just moved to Porthaven that June, and already she was at the August band camp for new members. She was two years older than all the freshmen, and didn't know any of the upperclassmen. No one had seemed to notice her except for the tall boy with long, dark hair who had pointed out the table of name tags to her. Noticing that his was so full of doodles and stickers that his name wasn't even legible, she quickly found the one that read "Sophie, flute" and sat down quietly.
She looked over at the clump of students that the dark-haired boy was in the middle of. They were all laughing about something, and her heart gave a strange flutter at the sight of his glee-filled face. He flipped his hair back, and she caught a glimmer of something near his neck. Did he have an earring?
The music suddenly stopped, and a short girl in a green tie-dye shirt climbed onto a chair and clapped her hands authoritatively. "Okay, everybody! Quiet down, sit down, look up here!" The noise died down, and the girl smiled. "Okay. I'm Jenny Beattie, your senior Drum Major this year."
"I'm Andy Woczieowski," said a tallish boy in a matching shirt, and Sophie realized he was the one who had turned off the stereo. "I'm a junior Drum Major."
"And I'm Nick McFarlane," said a boy with bright orange hair that clashed terribly with his shirt. He stepped up beside Jenny and Andy. "I'm also a junior, and I'll be working closely with the Percussion section." He waved his index finger at a bunch of freshmen in the back, and they laughed at him.
"These," said Jenny, indicating the bunch of people behind her, "are the Vets. They represent most of the sections, and they'll be helping us teach you everything you need to know for marching. Go around and introduce yourselves, your instrument, your grade."
Sophie paid close attention as they all listed their name, grade, and part, but she lost her focus when the dark-haired boy stepped forward. "I'm Howl Jenkins. I'm a junior, and I play euphonium and sousaphone. And no, I'm not English, I'm Welsh."
Half the freshman girls tittered headily. Sophie might have joined in, had she remembered to breathe. His accent – now that she noticed it – was amazingly dreamy. She thought he might have been making it stronger on purpose just then, to get the attention of the girls. She hadn't noticed it when he had fist spoken to her. How long had he been in the States to have that kind of control?
"Okay!" Jenny clapped her hands, startling Sophie out of her trance. "Mr. Salentine is here now, so he'll take attendance."
Sophie's name came halfway through the flutes, and she raised her hand meekly. She thought she caught Howl looking at her, but he looked away quickly, and she averted her gaze as well.
When Mr. Salentine had finished, they did a few strange warm-ups, then headed outside to the parking lot.
The game was called "Do You Know Your Neighbor," and Sophie sincerely hoped that she didn't get caught in the middle. The first time someone answered "yes," she nearly panicked in the melee and ran right into Howl. He grabbed her arm to keep her from toppling over, then flashed her a quick grin before disappearing. In the end, a short, blonde freshman was left. "Michelle!" prompted Jenny.
"Michelle! Do you know your neighbor?" Sophie could barely follow along with the rest of the group, she was breathing so hard.
"No," said Michelle, beaming. "But I think Howl Jenkins is super-fine!"
At least a dozen girls poured into the center of the circle, and over the top Sophie saw Howl's own dark head, in with the group. He was laughing so hard that he could barely stand up, and a few seconds later was alone in the center of the circle. The drum majors and several "vets" were nearly rolling on the ground with laughter, and when they finally regained control of themselves the game continued, though with a few added snorts and chortles.
"Howl! Do you know your neighbor?"
"No," he said, winking at Michelle. "But I was born in a different country!"
No one moved. He looked around eagerly, then slouched. When he spoke again, his accent was much less pronounced. "Oh, come on, you guys. Fine. I … quit the swim team!"
Still nothing.
"Whatever. I play brass!"
Half the group moved that time, and Sophie actually did stop breathing when Howl appeared beside her. "What, you don't think I'm super-fine?"
Sophie stared at him, speechless and doubtless bright red.
"I mean, you didn't move when Michelle said that. Not that I'm offended or anything." He waved it off easily. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen you move much at all. Are you feeling okay?"
Sophie suddenly felt like she was drowning in a pot of boiling water. Her vision swam, her stomach lurched, and Howl's voice came from far away. "Sophie?"
She moved rapidly in and out of consciousness, lost in a labyrinth of blurry images, until she gave up fighting and let the darkness take over.
Her eyes opened a split second later, and she looked up into Howl's face. He had managed to grab her in the moment before she hit the ground, and now was clutching her to his body at an angle that must have been very uncomfortable.
"Oh my God! Are you okay?"
"No," she whispered.
People started to gather around, and the drum majors and Mr. Salentine pushed through.
"Do you think you can walk?" Howl asked.
She shook her head slowly and raised a hand to her burning forehead. "No."
One of his arms went under her knees, and he lifted her swiftly off the ground.
"Can you handle this, Howl?" Mr. Salentine asked as he walked swiftly past. "I can have someone go with you."
"It's fine," Howl said. "She's just dehydrated, probably. I've got water inside."
"You just wanna be alone with her!" called a voice from the band.
"Jeff, 'ch re 'n gyfryw hysg!" Howl spat, and continued into the building with Sophie.
"What?" she asked faintly.
"Never mind," he said. "I was just telling Jeff what a bastard he is."
When they reached the Band room, Howl set her down on the chair in the middle. "Put your head between your knees," he said. "I'll get you some water, okay?" He wet a paper towel from his bottle, then carefully pushed her long braid out of the way and set it on the back of her neck. "That feel better?"
"A little." She struggled to control her breathing. Being alone with Howl wasn't helping her nerves, but she knew the last thing she wanted to do was pass out for real. "Thanks for helping me."
"No problem. Here, drink this."
She sat up slowly and accepted his water bottle. The liquid was blessedly cool, and she began to feel better. When she set the bottle down, she noticed he was watching her and blushed again.
"You gotta stop being embarrassed," he said, quickly pressing it to her forehead. "You'll overheat again. And there's no reason to be shy around me."
She smiled and averted her gaze. "I can't help it. You're …" She couldn't bring herself to say what Michelle had. "Really attractive. And nice. And … well, you're the first person who's talked to me."
He pulled up a chair in front of her and straddled it. "I told you, don't be shy. You won't make any friends that way, and you're probably a really great person."
She looked down at his legs, which were thin and covered with dark hair.
"Admiring my chicken legs?"
She looked up hurriedly. "I – chicken legs?"
He laughed. "That's what the guys on swim used to call them. They look real gross when they're shaved."
Sophie made a face. "That's wonderful."
He crossed his ankles and leaned on the back of the chair, smiling at her. "You're cute."
She turned bright red. "What!"
He laughed and stood up. "Never mind. If you're feeling better, we can go back outside."
Hurriedly, she finished the water and followed him out the door.
To be continued …
Okay, and now I'm gonna explain all the names and stuff of the supporting cast, if you care. Jenny Beattie is a combination of TW's senior drum majors from the last two years, Andy Woczieowski is the two junior DMs (both Andy) and last year's sophomore (who resigned) combined with an old friend of mine. Nick McFarlane is sort of someone I co-starred in Macbeth with, only given an Irish last name. His personality is that of the sophomore DM (see above), only not jerky and actually responsible (wow, imagine that). Howl is kind of a cross between the Howl we know and love, Mimi (short for Mini-me, real name Paul) who is a sophomore sousaphonist, and Jeff (as described below). That makes for a lot of arrogance. Mr. Salentine's name comes from the artistic director at a community theatre I work at sometimes, as does Mr. Desper (not introduced yet). Michelle is any random preppy freshman, and Jeff is Jeff. You'd have to know him.
In a future chapter, Howl's whole colorful past love life will be laid out! Look forward to it!
"Ten kisses short as one, one long as twenty./ A summer's day will seem an hour but short/ Being wasted in such time-beguiling sport."
William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis.
