The Beginning
by: Jan McDougherty

	Duo peered down at his watch and sighed. "I make a special point of waiting for 
him," he whined,"and he's late." Just then he heard a noise behind him and turned to see two
motorcycles stopping in the school parking lot. He watched as two girls stepped off of the 
bikes and mounted the steps to the school. Duo then turned his attention to the pounding of 
footsteps on the sidewalk and the blonde figure running towards him.
	"I'm sorry I'm late," Quatre panted when he reached Duo,"there were some...uh...
problems."
	"Like what?" Duo questioned as the pair headed for their first class.
	"Well...uh..."Quatre mumbled and focused his eyes on the floor.
	"You forgot to do your homework again, didn't you?" Duo laughed as they stepped into 
the classroom. Quatre kept his focus on the floor as he and Duo took their seats. Duo 
noticed the two girls from that morning sitting near the back of the classroom. 'They must 
be new.'he thought. Just then the bell rang and the teacher took her place at the front of 
the classroom.
	"Before we review last night's reading of "Romeo and Juliet," I would like to 
introduce you all to our newest members of Krestfield High: Jan McDougherty and Yasmin 
Figurez." the two girls stood and said hello to the rest of the class. Duo whistled, causing
the two girls to blush and the other members of the class to stifle giggles. As the girls 
sat, the teacher gave Duo a look that said she was not amused.
	"Just trying to liven things up around here," he stated. The teacher chuckled and 
shook her head as she sat down at her desk.
	"Now, where were we in our reading?" she asked the class. One of the other students 
raised his hand and stood up.
	"We just got to the duel between Mercutio and Tybalt." he answered and sat down. 
Without missing a beat, Duo stood and started acting out his own version of the scuffle 
ending with him being run through with the teacher's yard stick.
	"A curse on both your houses!" he yelled as he pretended to fall down dead at the 
teacher's feet.
	"Seeing as you are so passionate about the role of Mercutio," the teacher said as 
Duo made his way back to his seat and the rest of the class rolled around on the floor in 
hysterics,"you can play his part in our production." Duo froze and turned a pale shade of 
green. The teacher turned to the rest of the class, who was now silent. "Since you all find 
it so much more interesting to do hands-on assignments, I have decided that we shall put on 
our own production of Shaekespeare's "Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet." She began writing the 
names of characters on the board. "Do I have any volenteers for the part of Romeo?" No one 
raised their hands. "Fine then, Quatre will be our Romeo." Quatre released a squeak of 
surprise (actually it was more of an "eep"). "I feel Quatre will do the part of Romeo 
justice, don't you all agree?" The rest of the class quickly nodded their agreement and 
Quatre buried his head in his hands. Soon, the rest of the parts were assigned so that no 
one would be left out, and those with minor roles were assigned to stage crew as well. The 
part of Juliet went to one of the new girls (Yasmin) and the nurse was played by the other. 
The two seemed to be the most excited by the project. Trowa, Heero, and Wufei were also in 
the class and received the parts of Friar Lawrence, Tybalt, and the apothecary. Because 
Wufei's part was so small, he was also assigned to help with props.