Much Ado Part 2

It was no surprise to Mr. Freeman when Ben, Pat, and Chris walked in together, sitting in the front far corner and huddling over their desks in discussion.

“You think they would learn to separate you boys,” Mr. Freeman said with a smile, shuffling some papers on his desk.

“You know you love us, Mr. Freeman,” Ben said with a goofy smile that made the teacher laugh.

“Just keep telling yourself that, boys.”

They turned back to their own conversation as other students began to file in. The bell rang to mark the beginning of home room and Mr. Freeman began to take attendance while the general announcements rolled in over the loud speaker.

“Seriously? Hannah? The quiet one?” Ben was asking Chris, who looked about as red as his shirt, refusing to make eye contact with either of them.

“Yes, that Hannah. It isn’t that crazy Ben, I don’t know why you are making such a big deal out of this,” said Chris.

“But she’s so… plain!” Ben said a little too loud, making Chris sink further into his desk.

“Do you always have to pick on him?” Pat asked, flicking Ben in the arm. “I think it’s cool that he likes Hannah. I mean, he’s Leo’s little sister, so she gets some points there. And she’s good looking. A little quiet maybe, but I don’t know, I think that sort of fits Chris.”

“I don’t see it, but whatever you said, captain,” Ben replied, giving Pat a mock solute.

“Just because you’re never going to date doesn’t mean you should make fun of the rest of us,” Chris said, making Ben laugh.

“Look, I’m thankful to my mom for having me and raising me. But forgive me for not wanting to be hung over some girl,” Ben said bitterly.

“Oh, I know someday we’ll see you sick with love,” Pat laughed.

“Ha! Sick from the flu or from hunger or from anger at you two, maybe. But not love, trust me on that one,” Ben said confidently, crossing his arms and slouching in his seat.

“Keep telling yourself that, Ben,” said Pat with a wink. Ben rolled his eyes and looked away, suddenly pulling out his phone as an excuse to leave the conversation.

Pat and Chris laughed, and Ben continued to ignore them. Pat turned to Chris at this point, whispering even quieter now.

“I have an idea, to help you with Hannah,” he began. Chris groaned.

“It better be one hell of a plan. I’m useless with girls, I get all tongue-tied… you’ve seen me in action, you know how I get,” Chris said, obviously flustered by the very thought of having to actually talk to Hannah.

“I know, I know, that’s why I figured we’ll do it at the party. We’re all suppose to wear masks, right? Like Ben said, it’ll be hard to tell people apart. We wear similar outfits, get the same mask, and at the party, I pretend to be you, talk to her, and once she’s hooked, I make an excuse to leave, and you come back and step in. I’ll have gotten the hard part out of the way, the rest should be smooth sailing.”

Chris listened carefully to Pat’s plan, running it over in his mind. A grin slowly began to form as Pat’s words continued, and by the end, Chris was smiling.

“There are so many ways this plan could go wrong,” said Chris, “but I like it.”


In the back of the room a boy was sitting by himself, seemingly distracted by the comic book in front of him. While his eyes were on the pages, his ears were tuned into the quiet conversation a few desks in front of him. The bell rang and everyone quickly rose from their seats and fled the classroom and into the hallway, hastily making their way to first period.

The boy was very tall and dark. He looked like a linebacker with his size, and the strange grin on his face only made him appear even more frightening. He was quick in the hallway, unafraid to push a smaller student out of the way. It didn’t take him long to get to his class, hesitating in the doorway only a moment before making a beeline for the back row, sitting down beside two other guys. They were all dressed in dark clothes and had a strong melancholy disposition about them. Though nearly every seat was filled, no one sat in the desks immediately beside any of them.

“I don’t get why you care so much about him. Sure, he’s your brother, but he’s a prick. I think it’s better to just stay on his good side and avoid trouble. Next year he’ll be gone and we won’t have to worry about him,” a smaller red-headed boy said. He was doodling on the back of his new notebook absently, unaware of the look the other two were giving him.

“You’re a wuss, Connor, you know that?” the large boy who had just stepped into the room said evenly. Connor looked up.

“Say whatever you want, Brad. I just think John should stop worrying so damn much about what his brother thinks,” said Connor.

“I don’t care what he thinks. That is exactly my point.” John’s voice was low and had an eerie tone that gave Connor chills every time he talked. “I do what I want, not what other people want me to do. I don’t care what my brother thinks, or his stupid friends.”

“Yeah, sure, that’s why you’re always messing with them,” Connor frowned, still eyeing his drawing.

“Just because I don’t care what he thinks doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to screw with him sometimes,” said John, a blank expression on his face.

“Speaking of which… I have an idea,” said Brad, leaning forward. “I was listening to them talk in homeroom. Turns out Chris has a little crush on Hannah, Leo’s little sister,” he grinned. John didn’t seem intrigued. “They’re planning to trick her into liking Chris at Leo’s party, you know, Pat pretends to be Chris, gets Hannah’s attention, the Chris gets the girl, yada yada,” he continued, and John sat up, slowly becoming interested. “So what do you think? Pull a little switch-a-roo of our own?”

John managed a wicked grin. “This could be fun,” he said, giving Connor a case of the chills again. Connor looked up at them and shook his head, seeming to have no real opinion on their plan. The bell rang and class began, and the three of them spent the majority of it perfecting their plan.