Identities

Billy Shakes' Total Bud

There's a guy at school who speaks Shakespeare? Who could it be? It's not Beck. He's dating Bree, plus, he can't understand that "wherefore art thou Romeo" means "why are you Romeo." It's not Adam. He spelled pizza wrong... and wallet... and ceiling. I honestly don't think Chase would. He's in his own little cocky geek world where he's the smartest guy on earth. Leo definitely wouldn't. He thinks I'm an evil spy. So who could it be?

That letter keeps me up at night, but at 4:27 in the morning, I finally get a plausible answer. I had asked a guy next to me in math for a piece of paper, and after class we talked a little bit about circles and pi and pie. It must be him. He sounded smart enough to speak Shakespeare. Plus, he was really cute! His name was something like Roland, Rover, Rowan! His name was Rowan! Rowan Olsen. Awe! Rowan O. sounds like Romeo. It must be him.

Now that I've got a hypothesis, I put my head back on my pillow until Uncle Vic comes in to wake me up. He doesn't do it as gently as Doug. It's just a "Get up, Adelaide, or I'll zap you." What he planned to zap me with, I have no clue, but any kind of zapping sounds painful.

I get ready for school, making sure to slip the letter into my backpack to show to Bree. Maybe she won't drag me on our boy-shopping adventure once she sees that I have a secret admirer. I really hope she won't.

The bus drops the kids off, and I meet Bree in the hallway. "You'll never guess what I found last night."

"Did you find a boyfriend?" she asks, all giddy. She's also standing on her toes. She's way more excited about this whole dating thing than I am.

"No, but I did find a secret admirer letter on my balcony, and I think I know who sent it. Rowan Olsen." Bree begins jumping up and down, and she begins to get a bit blurry. "Are you okay?"

She stops jumping, and leans against the wall. "I'm fine. But Rowan Olsen! He's so cute! He's smart too. He's near the top of the honor roll, like, every semester. You two would be awesome together!"

I smile and feel my face getting hot. She's practically yelling that I got an admirer letter, and I don't want everyone to know about it. I shush her, and calm her down. "I'm planning to write back to him tonight, but not ask him who he is."

"Why? Don't you want to know if it is Rowan? You can't know for sure."

"Fine, but I want to be left alone at my locker after school tomorrow when he reveals himself." She nods frantically, then the bell rings for homeroom.

In all of my classes, I can't keep my focus. I keep thinking about the letter and Rowan. Rowan. I've always really loved that name. It sounds so official, yet cool. Officially cool. Is that a thing? "Miss Baker. Miss Baker? Your answer please," Mr. Gonnel says.

"Um... Taft?"

"That is correct. Taft did get stuck in the White House bathtub." I'm so glad I studied last night.

By the time math rolls around, my stomach knots up. Should I talk to him? We have a lot of group work in geometry, figuring out the problems in pairs. Should I ask him to be my partner? I decide to have some backbone and just go for it. What's the worst that could happen?

Sure enough, we split into pairs, and before I can say anything to Rowan, he asks me to be his partner. "Um, I, uh, sure."

"Cool. I'm pretty sure we use x over pi times the radius squared set equal to the angle over three hundred and sixty. That's the equation for angle sectors right?" I nod. He writes it down, and I point out little mistakes I notice like a wrong number written down or a parenthesis missing. We're the first group finished with the worksheet.

Mrs. Angor says that we may talk quietly while everyone else finishes up. Here's my chance. "So, Rowan, do you like Shakespeare?"

"I love Shakespeare. I was actually in A Midsummer's Night Dream in the summer. I played Nick Bottom, so I was turned into a donkey, but at least it was a part."

"Yeah. Actors always start at rock bottom, or Nick Bottom as the case may be." Where is this coming from? I'm suddenly not nervous anymore! This is great!

Rowan quietly chuckles. "So I'm guessing you're a fan of Billy Shakes too."

"Billy Shakes? I've never heard anyone refer to him as that. Ever."

"Well, you see, William and I were total buds back in the day. We were tight." I snicker, trying not to burst out into spontaneous laughter. He really can't pull off street talk. He's way better at speaking Shakespearean.

I'm almost sad when math class ends. That was a sentence that I would never in a million years think I'd say, but I just did. Math shouldn't equal fun, but add Rowan to that equation, and it's very possible.

I tell Bree the news about Rowan being into Shakespeare, and she was going through the roof with happiness for me. She's very, very optimistic. Afterwards, Mrs. Davenport drives us to the mall this time so Bree, Chase, and I can go to work. Well, so Chase and I can go to work. Bree's still got her date.

Out of habit, Mrs. Davenport drops us off near Tech Town, which means I have to walk all the way over to the other side of the mall to get to Cupcake Corner. I end up running to make it in time. Wouldn't want to be late on my first day.

"Are you Jaime?" a girl a little older than me asked. She has pink hair, a bit shaved on one side, and her make-up was super sparkly. This place might make me sick. There's way too much pink!

"Yeah. Are you Vienna, the girl I'm supposed to be training with?"

"Yup! Come right this way, and I'll show you the kitchen." She beckons me behind the counter and through a door (yes pink) and into the kitchen. I take a sigh of relief. Everything in here is white or stainless steel. It still sickens me, but way less so than everything else.

Vienna gives a very dramatic gesture, moving her hand around the room. "This isn't where you'll be working. If you're lucky, one day, you might be able to work back here. Sadly for me, that day hasn't come, but I'm hoping to get a promotion, and then I'll be actually making the cupcakes!" This girl is psycho about the kitchen.

"Can you please just show me where I'll be working?" I'm acting rude right now, but I can't help it. This place is driving me bonkers.

She obviously doesn't sense the edge in my voice and gives me a giant smile. "Sure! It's right in the front. You'll be taking orders. There are a few rules. Always be friendly, always smile, and never ever get frustrated, no matter how much they annoy you. Trust me. There are some really annoying people." Oh I trust you, but not in the way you're thinking, Vienna.

Business is kind of slow, but I do get three dollars, fifty cents, and an arcade ticket as a tip. Bree and Beck stop by to say hi, and Chase whizzes by to get some part from the Radio Hut store near the food court, so I'm not totally alone. On my break, I take some time to try and come up with ideas for my letter. I want to continue it in Shakespearean, but it's really hard.

"Whatcha writin'?" asks a voice from the other side of the counter. I look up to see Rowan.

"Oh, just a letter to Romeo. You know, English. My group's not much help."

"I know how that is. Hey can I get a choco-nana chip cupcake?" I open the display case, put on my rubber gloves, then grab his cupcake. "Why do you have to wear those? You know me."

"It's mandatory. If Vienna saw me, I'd never hear the end of it. Germs are her worst enemy. By the way, that'll be three dollars, plus a tip for your math buddy." He pays, then puts twenty dollars in my tip jar. I gape at him. I was thinking he'd put in a penny just to tease me.

"What? Twenty dollars is nothing for my math buddy." His phone plays a song I recognize. It's by a band named Accidental Harmony, and it's really catchy. He talks on the phone for a while, then shoves it back into his jeans pocket. "That was my mom. Apparently I have a dentist appointment. I probably shouldn't have ordered that cupcake. Oh well. I'll eat it anyway. Later, Juliet!"

"See you in Geometry!" He just called me Juliet. Eep!

----------

AN:// Accidental Harmony is a band I made up. It's not an actual band, so don't go looking it up.

Question: What do you think of Rowan? Yay or nay?