Zelda12343 - Yep, they did. She talks about it a bit later. Umm...as for writing romance, I don't usually intend to write romance when I start writing a story (my original stuff), it just usually creeps up on me if the characters have good chemistry. I have written a sci-fi thing where two characters fell in love when they were meant to be just friends. It's ironic, isn't it? I enjoy writing it, that's for sure.
Emy - Thank you! Since reading the play, my favourite pairing has always been Tybalt and Rosaline. Have you read the rest of my stuff? I have the two sequels to this story, and the original Untold Tale.
So, now Rosaline has finally met her father, who is she going to talk to about it? Um, about this chapter, sorry if you are Catholic or waiting until marriage, I don't mean to offend you. As I stated in ALYN, I am an atheist, but I don't mean any offense. Any opinions expressed are those of the characters, not mine. I needed to include this as to explain the whole 'Rosaline is a sworn virgin' storyline that was in the play.
Also this chapter used to be two seperate chapters, but I combined them.
After a frantic morning trying to get to school on time, both sisters made it. After her maths lesson, in which her teacher did nothing but bang on at her to take maths for A Level and try to persuade her to hang out with the disgustingly creepy nerds (which was social suicide, in fact) she soon found herself in her French class. Tybalt was half-French. His father came from a French family, and his grandparents owned a farm in the countryside. He stayed with them every August. Tybalt was therefore fluent and had taught her all the swearwords eons ago.
Whilst Shari and Kaila, her entourage, sat struggling and trying to copy her work, Rosaline zoomed ahead. She was lost in her work when the door banged open and a young teacher stood there.
"Excuse me, Mademoiselle Stevens, but ziz boy 'as not done 'is 'omewerk. Again! I cannot cope weth 'im, 'e ez too badly behaved"
"In trouble again, Tybalt?" snapped Mademoiselle Stevens.
"I said, my mum was sick last night, it wasn't my fault" growled Tybalt.
"I'll take him so you can get on with the rest of your class, who actually want to learn" said Mademoiselle Stevens, with a frown at Tybalt. Rosaline knew what this meant. She turned to Shari and Kaila.
"Move" she commanded.
"But, we always sit next to you!" protested the girls.
"And I want to sit next to Tibby. So move. There are two seats behind you. Get to it!" she snapped.
The girls got up, and moved before Mademoiselle Stevens caught them. When she turned to direct Tybalt to a seat, the only two seats left were next to Rosaline. Rosaline smirked at Tybalt, who smirked back.
"Go and sit next to Miss Oftmoro. Perhaps she'll set you on the right track. And get to work. Monsieur Hernandez? You can go and teach now"
"Thenk you, Mademoiselle Stevens"
Tybalt slumped down next to Rosaline.
"What now?" whispered Rosaline.
"I had to look after mum last night. She's acting up again" Tybalt whispered back. Rosaline was one of the only ones to know about Tybalt's mum's manic depression.
"Is she ok?"
"I cleared up and gave her her tablets and she seemed all right this morning. I hope it's not going to be a bad turn. I don't know what's upset her"
"Do you think it's the prank calls?" asked Rosaline. Tybalt suddenly looked furious.
"I bet it was. I'm going to effing kill Montague one of these days. Anyway. What about you?"
Rosaline rolled her eyes "You won't believe what happened last night"
"What?" asked Tybalt.
Rosaline sighed "My dad turned up"
"Your dad?"
"Yeah. My dad. You know who he is?"
"Who?"
"Only the bloody Deputy of Verona!"
"Angelo Fulgencio?" gasped Tybalt "But...I've met him! He's dead rich! And he just left you? The ****! And he has a son too. He just left you!"
"A son? My mum mentioned a kid. What's he like?"
"Trust me, you do not want to meet Gabriel Fulgencio" warned Tybalt "What happened with Angelo? What did he want? Why now? After all these years, what on earth did he want?"
"I have no idea" Rosaline shook her head "He just turned up, gave us some money, and left, after criticizing our house and the way my mum has brought us up. I just don't know..."
"What a prick" seethed Tybalt "He gave you money, after fifteen odd years of being absent whilst you and your family struggled? ****ing prick! You're worth more to me than a wad of cash!"
Rosaline recoiled. She looked into his stone grey eyes, but they were deadly serious "What did you say?"
"I said, you are worth more to me than a wad of cash. You're greatest friend I have" Tybalt lent across the table, and clasped her hand, which had been resting on her work. It tingled at his touch. Rosaline remembered when they were children, and had hugged and played, and held hands then. It felt very different now. It felt nice.
"Thanks, Tibby" said Rosaline, unsure of what to say. Tybalt tucked a strand of her golden hair behind her ear.
"That's enough over there!" snapped the teacher. Tybalt and Rosaline sprang apart and pretended to get on with their work.
"Tell me about my half-brother. What's so bad about him?" Rosaline whispered again "Is he friends with the Montagues?"
"Not a chance" muttered Tybalt "He doesn't care for the feud. He cares for himself. He flits between either as he pleases. He just puts himself first. I mean, he has friends, but he's very independent. He probably doesn't care about them that much"
"He'd be...fifteen, right? I know he was born in the January after me. There's just less than a year between us"
Tybalt chewed his lip, considering "Yeah. Because he's in the year below you. Year ten. He's at this school. Perhaps we could go and spy on him at lunch"
"When did you meet him?"
"He was having a fight with Benvolio Montague"
"Benvolio? He can't fight!"
"I know. He's a wimp. I didn't particularly care who won or not, I just felt like having a go at a Montague. So I scared Benvolio off. And he wasn't even grateful. He has the most horrible high-pitched voice I ever heard. It went right through my brain" Tybalt shuddered.
"So, what happened to Hermia?" asked Rosaline.
"Hermia?" Tybalt laughed "Oh. I hauled her all the way home. Once you were gone she started saying horrible stuff about you, and also saying we ought to watch our backs because she was going to get us back for getting her in trouble. So I carried her upside down and she threw up and I just laughed at her. Then we arrived at Uncle Egues'. I dragged her up the path and told him what she'd done. Luckily Juliet was busy doing her homework so she didn't have a chance to see what the bad influence had done this time"
"What did Uncle Egues do with her?"
"He told her off. He made her get changed and give me my stuff back. Then he yelled at her again and I gloated. And you know what else? He even threatened to throw her out. In the end, she ran upstairs crying. Uncle Egues turned to me and assured me she won't do it again. He also said if I see her with Mercutio and his chums then I am allowed to use whatever force I see necessary to remove her from such company"
"And about time too!" finalised Rosaline, slamming down her pen. Mademoiselle Stevens cleared her throat, so they lowered their voices again.
"I still can't get over that time she gave Allegra itching powder and then she put it down your trousers. She is such a bad influence on her"
Tybalt shuddered with anger.
"Let's not dwell on it" said Rosaline quickly "It's nearly break. What say we go out?"
"Great plan" said Tybalt "I'll treat you to lunch"
About ten minutes later, Rosaline was wearing Tybalt's spare hoodie to keep herself warm in the cold air, and he had wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Together, they headed towards the school gates.
"Rosaline!" called a stern voice. Rosaline turned, and saw her least favourite teacher – Sister Agnes, who took them for English. As Verona was mostly Catholic, there were a few teachers within each school who were nuns or friars. Sister Agnes was one of them. She was notorious for disliking friendships between the different sexes, short skirts and coarse language. This, of course, conflicted with everything about Tybalt and Rosaline. They both swore, Rosaline prefered short skirts, and they were friends.
"Yes?" said Rosaline, turning away from Tybalt. Tybalt rolled his eyes irritatedly and wandered a couple of paces away down the corridor.
Sister Agnes looked warily at Tybalt. When she had taken his English class, he had made rude comments about the texts they were studying, received consistent D's, refused to do his homework and paid people to do his coursework, took the name of the Lord in vain, and on several occasions, fought with many of the other students in the class.
"One of our best students. Just the sort of person I have been looking for"
"How can I help you, Sister Agnes?" asked Rosaline.
"As I'm sure you're aware, the Verona Belle's Chastity Ball is coming up"
Tybalt choked with laughter. Rosaline glanced his way. She knew Tybalt was certainly not chaste. He got around a lot. He'd slept with heaps of girls. Most of them lived on her estate. There was a rumour that two were sisters!
"Yes, I know some other girls who will be going. Some of them are making speeches about why they are, um, staying chaste" replied Rosaline, trying to be polite. This wasn't something she wanted to discuss with anyone.
"Exactly. But I am afraid we are a bit down on the numbers this year"
"I wonder why" Tybalt said loudly, pretending to read a display board. Sister Agnes glared at him. Rosaline pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh.
"And I just thought...you're a sensible girl. You're a girl who knows how to behave. I just wondered if you'd consider taking the pledge and then speaking to the audience. You're already an asset to this school. You could even be Head Girl someday. This would be a fantastic opportunity, and make you such a role model for the younger students"
"I see" said Rosaline.
"What do you say?"
"I'll think about it" mused Rosaline.
"Oh, definitely do! You're such a smart girl. It's only the sensible thing to do"
Tybalt was chortling with laughter. Sister Agnes lowered her voice.
"And if I were you, I'd change the sort of company you keep. Boys like Tybalt Capulet are no good for girls like you"
"But he's part of my extended family"
"And that's as far as he should stay" Sister Agnes glared over her glasses "You could be brilliant, Rosaline. Don't hang back with uncivilised animals"
"Thank you, Sister Agnes" said Rosaline coldly. She turned, and stormed over to Tybalt "Keep walking, let's get out of here"
"Did she just call me an animal?"
"Yes. Be quiet"
"If she called me an animal, I think it's high time I reminded her who my family is. I'm a Capulet, not an animal!"
"We know that, but she's just a frigid bitch who had to become a nun because she never got any. You can get her back later, after I've had lunch. No use plotting on an empty stomach. How about putting something in her coffee?"
"Yeah, great idea. I think I have some ecstasy left over from the weekend"
They both chuckled, knowing that Tybalt was just joking. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and they headed out of the school again. Tybalt didn't do drugs. He smoked, he drank, he ran rampant around Verona causing chaos and was the bane of the existence of many adults, but he had never done drugs.