Cheeky ➻ Louis Partridge

1 | An Unfortunate Meeting

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"GOD, I HATE Shakespeare," I mumbled, kicking the ladder off of the wall, "if he was alive today, I would give him a piece of my mind."

It was probably bad luck to say that in the Globe Theater, where Shakespeare put on his most famous plays, but I meant what I said. I literally did. When it came to visual arts, I wasn't afraid to express my opinion on anything.

"You just got here," Sadie laughed, holding out her hands as I passed her the ladder, "why would you hate him?"

Sadie was one of the two friends I made while I was in London. We were both in the Shakespearean Arts Program, which was basically a paid summer camp for people who liked to put on plays, and I pretty much met her yesterday. We shared the same dorms too.

"Because I hate that he always ruins a good story," I huffed, "like Romeo and Juliet!"

"What about them?"

"He killed them!"

"Yeah..." the redhead laughed, "it's one of the most famous endings in all of literature."

"But why would he kill them?" I yelled out into the theater, clutching my heart, "it's infuriating!"

"Are you going on another 'I hate Shakespeare' rants?" Another voice said, strolling in from the wings.

I recognized Caleb's face, the second of the two friends I had made at the program. He also lived in the dorms with me and Sadie, and was probably the calmest guy I've ever met.

"Yes, I am," I huffed, "I just wish he believed in love, and didn't make everything so star-crossed."

"You can't really do anything about it though."

"Why not?"

"Because he's dead, and the plays are already too famous to change."

"Ah, minor complications," I frowned, dusting off the front of my pants, "anyways, my shift is over."

I had the afternoon shift, and Caleb and Sadie had the evening. Our job was mostly to design the sets for the current production, build it, and then work the lighting and cues. Pretty fun stuff, if you ask me.

"Already?" Sadie sighed, glancing at her watch, "dang, I envy you."

"You're the one who picked evening!"

"And I regret it," she laughed, "we'll meet you back at the dorms at five, okay?"

"Sounds good."

Saluting them with two fingers, I yelled my goodbyes and snatched my backpack up from one of the seats in the audience. Bolting down the aisle, I ran out of the circular theater and out into the bustling street of London.

Besides my disliking for Shaespeare's play endings, I liked his taste in cities. London was beautiful.

Even though I had only spent less than two days here, I knew exactly how to get back to the dorms. Take a left from Park Street, head to Scorseby, and then you'd get to the SouthWark Station. British people called the Metra a Tube. I found that fascinating.

As I followed my own directions, I hurried towards my destination with an extra skip in my step. Something about walking in a foreign city always appealed to me. I passed through the lines of shops, underneath a mossy bridge, and past the River Thames, and finally made it to the station with time to spare. Yes!

Sliding down the concrete stairs, I disappeared into the busy crowd of people, slapped my Oyster Card down on the scanner, and made a beeline for the next train.