“Dad, I’m leaving!”  Taylor called up the stairs, listening for any sign that her father heard.  After a moment of silence, she called again.  “Breakfast is on the table.  Don’t be late for work!”  A muffled reply came from somewhere up above her.

Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, Taylor rushed out the door, jumping into her car.  She sent up a small prayer as she put the key in the ignition.  “Please start.”  Closing her eyes tightly, she turned the key.  At first, nothing, then her old car spluttered to life, choking and coughing until the engine finally caught and evened out.  “Thank you!”

The Dodge Neon had once been pristine and grand, a vehicle worth bragging about.  Taylor, of course, wouldn’t have any idea what that Dodge was like.  When she got it, it was a rusted tin can of a car that often shit the bed.  She lovingly named it her Pimp Mobile.

The clock on the dash told her she was about to be late for home room, so Taylor stepped on the gas pedal, pushing her car to move faster.  Normally she wasn’t so disheveled, but this morning had proved extra difficult for her father.  Taylor wondered if he’d even be able to function if she weren’t there to take care of him.  He was like a lost little boy, and today he’d needed extra coaxing to get out of bed.  Pancakes, he begged; he wanted pancakes.  “You have time before school,” he told her, pleading with those big brown eyes.  “You can whip up a batch.  It’ll be fine.”

So she did, and now she was regretting the weakness.

Tires screeching, Taylor whipped her jalopy into a vacant space, cutting off another car.  The driver honked, blasting the horn as he spewed profanities and flipped her off.  She just got out of her car and smiled, offering a little wave.  Some people could be so negative!

With seconds to spare, Taylor slipped into her seat in English, waiving as the teacher called her name.  Technically, she wasn’t late.

“Okay, Ladies and Gents, we’ll be starting our Shakespeare unit this week, so make sure you’ve got your books and your partners.  This is not an adventure you want to embark upon alone!”  Ms. Richardson, the English teacher, gave a maniacal laugh and rubbed her hands together in excitement.  This woman lived for Shakespeare, and it was common knowledge that her unit was the best at Union High School.  Everyone looked forward to this class.

Well, almost everyone. 

Taylor spotted Justin across the room, looking as if someone had just run over his favorite dog.  English was not his strong suit, and Shakespeare was worse than learning a foreign language.  Taylor knew this.  She knew a lot about Justin, even though she shouldn’t.  He was strictly off-limits, but it was difficult to resist someone with such a patent pout.  Even though Taylor knew she was asking for trouble, she tutored Justin quite often.  All he had to do was give her that look…

Like the one he was sending her way right now.  Taylor subtly shook her head.  Not a good idea, she said with her eyes.

But I need your help.  He pleaded right back.  The pout on his face switched to an evil glean and he slowly raised his hand, breaking eye contact with Taylor to look at the teacher.

“Yes, Mr. Timberlake?”

“Ms. Richardson, I don’t have a partner for the unit.”  Shit, Taylor knew she was stuck.  Frantically, she searched the room for someone else she could partner with, but all of the other students were happily paired up.

“Does anyone else not have a partner?”  Ms. Richardson scanned the room, her eyes lighting on Taylor, still sitting at her desk.  “Ms. Smith?  Are you partnered with anyone yet?”

Taylor let out the breath she was holding.  “No, Ms. Richardson.”

The teacher beamed.  “Perfect! You’ll be working with Justin.  Now…”  Her voice faded into the background, the rushing blood in Taylor’s ears blocking out the rest of the instructions.

Justin had plopped himself at the desk next to Taylor, giving her a triumphant grin.  “Hey, partner.”

“What are you doing?”  She hissed at him, glancing around the room.  “You’re asking for trouble, Justin.”

He shrugged and settled back in his chair, a cocky look on his face.  “The teacher put us together, Tay.  Nothing anyone can do about it.”  He looked as if he’d figured it all out, but Taylor was still worried.

“Right.  Just because she can’t change it doesn’t mean she’s not going to bitch about it.”  A scowl creased her brow.  “You don’t have to deal with her wrath, Justin.  She just holds out on you for a day.  I…”  Taylor trailed off.  The grin on Justin’s face faded, but he persisted.

“It’s not that bad, Tay, and I really need your help.  You know I can’t pass this class without you.”  He was pouting again.

“I fucking hate that pout,” Taylor ground out between clenched teeth.  Unfortunately, the class had gone quiet at that precise moment.

“What was that, Ms. Smith?  Something you’d like to share with the rest of us?”  Ms. Richardson eyed the pair, a slightly amused smile on her face.

“Uh…I said, ‘where for art thou?”

The smile grew.  “So you and Mr. Timberlake have chosen ‘Romeo and Juliet.’  Perfect!  That’s one of my favorites.”  The teacher moved on to the other pairs, writing down their choice of play to study.

Taylor scowled at Justin some more, sliding down into her seat and wishing the floor would open up and swallow her whole.  This was going to end horribly, she could just feel it.  After all, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. 

How fitting.

~*~

Taylor sat at the lunch table with an exaggerated sigh.  She picked a French fry off of Madison’s plate, getting a dirty look in exchange.

“Classes were that bad?”  She asked, sliding her plate farther away so Taylor couldn’t steal any more food.

Taylor shrugged, pulling her lunch from the brown paper bag.  “Shakespeare unit in English.  Guess who I’m partnered with.”

Madison’s eyes widened.  “No.”

Taylor nodded solemnly.  “Yeah.”  She unwrapped her sandwich and took a bite, chewing slowly.  “He tricked me, really.  I didn’t find another partner fast enough and we ended up being the only two left.”

“Jesus, Taylor.  I thought you were going to stay away from him?  I mean…you remember what happened last time.”

This time, Taylor was throwing around the dirty looks.  “No shit, Sherlock.  Of course I remember what happened.”  She took a long sip of her diet coke.  “We’re doing ‘Romeo and Juliet’ too.”  Madison’s eyes looked like they were about to jump out of her face, but before she could scold Taylor some more, Eric joined them at the table, sighing dramatically.

“Word has it that you and the Timbersnake are doing a Claire Danes and Leo DiCaprio.”  He cocked an eyebrow at Taylor, stealing a French fry from Madison’s plate.  She slapped his hand away.  Taylor nearly choked on her soda.

“How the hell did you hear that already?”

Eric let his eyes wander around the lunch room.  “Everyone knows already, Tater Tots.  He only has to tell one of his buddies that his favorite tutor is going to carry his fine ass through the assignment, and they’ve blabbed it all over.”  He leaned in closer, lowering his voice.  “Word also has it that Queen Bitch isn’t too excited about it, either.”

“Shit.”  Taylor slid farther down into her seat, trying to blend into the table top.  Becca Cooper was the most popular girl in school, mostly because she was the biggest bitch and people didn’t want to be on her bad side.  Unfortunately for Taylor, Becca hated her guts on principal.  There was a history between the two, something that both girls kept as a deeply guarded secret.  But their bad blood ran deep, and Becca made it a point to harass Taylor whenever she could.  When it came to Justin Timberlake, Becca was ruthless.  The two had been dating since the beginning of senior year, and since then, Taylor wasn’t allowed within twenty feet of the guy without notes being left in her locker, getting tripped in the hallway, or having a nasty rumor spread about her.  The last one had Taylor sleeping with all the male teachers (and a female) so she could get straight A’s. 

It didn’t help that Justin seemed to think Becca was “just being jealous” and if Taylor ignored her, it would “all just blow over.”  Of course he didn’t see half of the nasty shit that his girlfriend pulled.  He continued to ask Taylor for help in the three classes they shared, and Taylor was getting sick of trying to avoid someone she considered a friend.

“You should consider changing schools, Tay.  She’s gonna have your head on a platter after this one.”  Madison was giving Taylor such a serious look that she had to laugh.

“Right, like that will work.  She’ll probably find a way to torture me there, too.”

Eric and Madison seemed to think on it a while before nodding their heads.  “You’re right.”  The rest of lunch was spent avoiding any conversations about Becca, and Taylor was happy that her friends understood her need to talk about something else. It was easy to play it off, but the situation with Becca really hurt her.  She would never explain why, but it did.

“Did you study for that Pre Calc test today?  I totally spaced it last night.”  Madison walked with Taylor to their math class.  Luckily, it was a class Taylor didn’t share with Justin, so she had a change to take a breath and figure out her predicament.

“Yeah, I did a little bit.  I feel like I fail no matter what I do, so it seems useless to put too much effort in.”

“I swear Mr. Johnson changes the rules of math when he gives us these things.”

Taylor chuckled.  “I think he just forgets what he’s taught us.  I don’t think he remembers his own name anymore.”

Madison laughed with her, agreeing as they sat down at their respective desks.  Only three more classes and Taylor could jet out of school, hopefully avoiding Justin Timberlake before he could catch her.  She needed to come up with a plan first.