“Yeah, I’m trying to write a new song for you guys, but I’m stuck.”
He bends forward, intrigued, but when he sees I only have one line, his eyebrows furrow. “What kind of song are you thinking about this time?”
I rub the pen against my bottom lip. “A love song. I know I said I wouldn’t, but I kind of want to.”
“Okay, cool. That sounds neat.”
I nod. “Well, usually love songs do well. I think I’m having problems because I’m nervous it won’t be as good as the others.”
He places his hand on mine and a tingle zaps down my back. My instinct is to pull away, but I don’t want him to think I don’t like him touching me. Because I really, really do like it.
Did he feel the zap? It’s hard to tell because he’s wearing his usual sweet smile.
“Everything you write is amazing,” he says. “I believe in you.”
I let his words enter my brain and heart. “That’s really nice of you to say. Thanks.”
He nods. “It’s the truth. I’d offer to help, but I’m really bad at that sort of thing. Also, don’t feel pressured or anything to finish. Take as long as you need.”
“Okay.”
He scrolls through his phone while I continue racking my brain. I manage to write two more lines before he says, “Our views have slowed down, but that’s okay. I’m glad we’re not going super viral. I don’t want to be famous.”
I lift a brow. “Not yet, you mean.”
He chuckles. “I’m not even sure I want this career path.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to make any decisions now. Just have fun and everything will fall into place.”
He smiles. “Thanks. You always give good advice.”
I smile back, my cheeks heating up.
We’re quiet as we resume doing what we were doing.
As I read over my lyrics, I get this odd thought. “You know, writing these lyrics makes me think about Romeo and Juliet.”
“Yeah?”
“So far, I have the guy singing romantic words to the girl. Can you imagine Romeo living nowadays and singing to Juliet?”
He laughs. “That would be funny.” He starts singing in his bad British accent and a modern tune, “‘O, that I were a glove upon that hand. That I might touch that cheek.’”
I burst out laughing. Then I stop. “Wait a minute. Why don’t we do that?”
His eyebrows rise. “Do what?”
“Turn the balcony scene we were going to act out as a music video. The guys can play the music and I’ll put the lyrics together. And we’ll present it to the class. We can ask my friends and their boyfriends to be dancers or extras.”
He thinks about it, then smiles. “Yeah. I mean, just acting out the scene has been done, like, a million times. We can turn the music room into the balcony scene and perform it as a music video. That’ll get us an A for sure.”
We both stare at each other as we think about it, running the possibilities in our heads. Then Kylen says, “You think we could do it?”
“Why not? I bet the class and Mr. Lewis will love it. We’ll basically be fulfilling the requirements of the assignment. How Shakespeare’s play still affects us today. It’s perfect.”
“Sounds awesome. Let’s see if the guys are on board. Hey, guys? Can you come here?”
Jasper and Beck make their way over, but we have to wait a bit for Leo to get his butt here. He’s busy with his phone.
