The City Is at War

When I wake up, I’m on my bed and William’s gone.

“Sabrina, you’re gonna be late!” my mom calls.

I glance at my alarm clock, 7:50a.m. Shit. I quickly shower, grab my bag and ignore all traffic laws only to realize, I haven’t done any homework.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?!” I yell, as soon as I see William.

My outburst earns a couple of stares but William just laughs, “You just looked so adorable.”

Patrick gives us confused looks, “What are you guys talking about?”

“Nothing really, just how Bill’s a jackass.”

“And how she loves me for it,” William finishes.

I roll my eyes and Patrick just shakes his head.

William grabs my arm and I groan, “I’m not going anywhere, I have homework, Bill.”

“So you’ll do mine too?” he asks innocently.

“What? N-”

“Thanks,” Bill kisses my cheek before and runs down the hall, before I have a chance to object.

I sigh and finish up our homework, just before the bell rings. I slide into my seat in English class, where Mr.Stertz is surprisingly early. He has a bright smile on his face and the word ‘projects’, is written on the board.

“Many of you complain that Shakespeare is too hard to read. So, I’m going to let you modernize it.”

I raise my hand and Gabe laughs, “Look, Sabrina’s gonna share her wisdom.”

“Shut up Gabe,” I hiss.

“Make me,” he retorts.

I stand up and so does Gabe and the class immediately stops talking.

“Sit down,” Mr.Stertz commands, but I ignore him.

I just take another step towards Gabe.

“You gonna beat me up now?” he laughs.

I shove Gabe, who only blinks in surprise, before pushing me back. I don’t hesitate, before tackling Gabe to the ground because, he’s still smirking. I get one good punch in, before someone pulls me off of Gabe.

“What the hell?!” Gabe exclaims, touching his cheek.

“Sabrina, wait in the hallway!” Mr.Stertz orders and I’m okay with that.

I mean, I practically skip out of the classroom, because, it was so worth it. Mr.Stertz walks out of the classroom ten minutes later.

“Sabrina, I can’t believe this! You’re my best student!”

“Point?” I ask irritably.

“The point is I don’t want you suspended, Sabrina. So I-” Mr.Stertz pauses and pull out his cell phone.

He smiles and texts someone, before shoving it back in his pocket.

“You know, that’s against school policy,” I scold.

“You’re in no position to be joking around, Sabrina.”

I just shrug, “I’m not the one breaking rules.”

Mr.Stertz opens his mouth to respond, but just shakes his head.

“Anyway, I was just going to give you an extra assignment, but one of your classmates just gave me a splendid idea. You and Gabe will work on the Shakespeare project together.”

“What?! You can’t-” I exclaim.

“All decisions are final. Now get back inside.”

“But I-” Mr.Stertz points to the classroom, “Go.”

I sigh and walk back into the classroom, where Gabe avoids my eyes. I look around and try to determine who gave Mr.Stertz that “splendid” idea. Nobody seems suspicious, except for one girl. I think her name is Amy and she’s in a couple of my classes. Her smile is way too bright. Amy, you are going down.