Page 23 of Make You Mine

MADELYN

“Okay, guys. Put your books and pens down. Let’s discuss some of the questions I gave you together.”

I’m in class, holding my own copy of Romeo and Juliet, the current read assigned to my ninth graders.

“Let’s start with one question I consider very controversial. And that is whether Romeo and Juliet were doomed from the start, or if their tragic ending is the consequence of their actions.”

I put the book down on my desk and fold my arms over my chest, ready to occupy my thoughts with something other than my own secret book, lying God knows where.

“Callie, your thoughts?” I point at a student in the front.

Callie grabs a streak of her long curly red hair and straightens in her seat, her round glasses sliding slightly down the bridge of her nose.

“In my opinion, Romeo and Juliet’s tragedy was caused by fate. Even if they had resisted their attraction, something would have tweaked in the narrative, and that’d cause them to end up together. Their ending would have been the same. Some forces, you can’t play with, no matter how much you try. And their love was stronger than their willpower. They would find their way to one another eventually. It was their fate.”

“That’s an interesting thought, Callie.” I nod. Her words make me think of Kayden and I. No matter what we do, we can’t seem to really get away from each other. “Thank you. Yes, Amanda?”

I point at another student, a row after, raising her hand.

Amanda smiles. “I think Romeo and Julie are idiots.”

I raise an eyebrow. “I’d like you to elaborate, please.”

“They obviously could have found someone else to hook up with. There were other people in Italy. And their families were enemies. I can see the appeal of doing something your parents don’t want you to do. But why push it?” She rolls her eyes.

A few other students agree with her, voicing their yeses.

“So you think their tragic ending is the consequence of their actions?”

“Absolutely,” Amanda says. “You don’t jump into the ocean if you know you can’t swim, do you? Or touch fire and expect it not to burn? Same with you doing something you know is wrong. Why do you keep at it when everything around you is screaming at you not to? They totally brought it to themselves.”

I smile, warmth expanding throughout my chest. It’s days like these that I’m proud of being a teacher. Allowing students to have deep and interesting conversations about books, stories, and transport themselves to different worlds. Develop their way of thinking.

Though I can’t help but see myself in those words, too. What she’s saying is hitting close to home.

“Hey, Miss A’gosto?” A boy with short blond hair, sitting in the last row of desks and leaning back on his chair, raises his hand.

“Yes, Chad?”

“I think the important question and the one we’re all dying to know is…” He pauses.

Chad is an attention seeker and usually likes to make trouble, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt this time. A smirk lifts the corner of his lips. “Do Romeo and Juliet have sex?”

“Dude.” The curly-haired boy from the desk next to him slaps his shoulder.

“What? I’m just curious.” Chad shrugs. “Would kinda suck to have died without getting any action.”

I compose myself. The question is a bit rough around the edges, and the delivery is poor. But I don’t want my students to think asking such a question will get to me. Or that we can’t discuss things like this civilly.

“That is a valid question, Chad.” I clear my throat. “There are some mentions of Romeo and Juliet consummating their marriage before the tragic events, yes. Do you want me to look up the passage for you?”

Chad is taken aback by my seriousness about the subject.

He straightens in his seat. “Umm…yes?”

“Good. I’ll write that down for you, and I’ll also ask you to write a report about the consequences of disrupting a class for tomorrow. Since you’re so interested in contributing to that, too. Does that sound okay to you?”

The frown on his face gives me all the reaction I need. Kill them with kindness—and with homework—I’m an expert at it.