unbreakable heaven • awsten knight

1.4 not much for dancing

houston, tx
october 2008

Ellie moves seats in her English class, so that she can be closer to Awsten.

She bribed one of the other girls in class, by telling her that she can get her a date with Zakk if she just swaps seats with her— of course, her plan worked, since Zakk wasn't too opposed to the idea either.

Now, Ellie sits at the back of the room, in the opposite corner to Awsten.

They communicate across the classroom, behind the backs of the other students; occasionally even making paper airplanes to throw at each other, passing notes between the two of them, secretly.

Awsten likes the way she giggles when his aim is off, or when he says something stupid.

"Psst," he hears a hushed voice from the other side of the room, his head whipping around to see Ellie, leaning back in her seat, trying to get his attention.

"Yeah?" Awsten responds, quietly, glancing towards the front of the class, to make sure that Mrs Adams isn't looking.

"Are you going to that party tomorrow?" Ellie asks, chewing on the lid of her pen.

"Oh, uh, I'm not sure," he shrugs. "Are you?"

"Ah, Ellie," Mrs Adams forces a grin, catching her off guard. "Are you paying attention?" She raises her eyebrows, and Ellie subtly shuffles back comfortably in her chair.

"Oh, yeah, of course," she nods, confidently.

"In that case, you can answer the next question," Mrs Adams flips a page in her book, and Awsten cringes internally, hoping that Ellie doesn't feel too embarrassed. "In the extract we've just read, how is Macbeth portrayed as powerful?" She looks to her expectantly.

"Well, he's clearly being highly praised by the Sergeant," Ellie begins, sitting up in her chair, clearing her throat. "Macbeth hasn't even been introduced on stage yet, but we're already being told about all of the great things he's done, and so we're aligned with him from the beginning," she explains.

Mrs Adams looks slightly taken aback by the well-constructed answer, to which Ellie wears a smug, yet causal, expression.

"The King describes him as 'valiant', as well as a 'worthy gentlemen', and since he's royal, we're automatically lead to believe that he's also trustworthy, and are therefore also aligned with his opinion," the class remains quiet as she goes on. "An image is built of Macbeth before we even see him, almost giving us the sense that he is omnipotent, since even in his absence, he is being spoken of so highly."

"Yes, very good, Ellie," Mrs Murray nods.

"But, if you ask me, Lady Macbeth is way more powerful overall, anyway," she shrugs, relaxing in her seat once again. At this point, she knows she's overdoing it just a little; but, she's rather overdo it than let her teacher think she can get away with trying to embarrass a student this way.

"And why's that?" Mrs Adams asks, intrigued.

"She's the one who manipulates Macbeth into doing everything throughout the whole of the play," Ellie replies. "She ruins his reputation, this image that's built up of him from the start. She threatens his manhood, plays on their inability to have children," she lists, nonchalantly. "He ends up doing all of the dirty work, because she tells him to."

"Well, yes, I suppose you have a point," Mrs Adams nods. "I can see you've been doing some great work to come up with an answer like that," she says, finally, before returning her attention back to the rest of the class.