A CRUEL TWIST OF FATE (My Bad Entirely)

8 FEBRUARY, MONDAY, AFTER SCHOOL

In a cruel twist of fate, Mr Devon was thinking that a reversal of roles might make for a more interesting twist on the play. So for our play, we would have a highly comical Romeo, and a very manly Juliet.

"That's twisted." Marcus joked.

"Precious highschool memory, huh?" Henry grumbled.

Marcus might just have he gift of foresight. Either that or he had the ability to cast curses through text messages.

But minus Pearl, we were all running together.

Sam as Romeo

Henry as Juliet

Marcus as the nurse

Liam as Lady Capulet (Juliet's mother)

Jasmine got the role of the Friar who I felt was the true villian that killed the two lovers for "innocently" hatching out this entire stupid plot.

Just like it was my fault that we were all now stuck together every Wednesday afternoon for the rest of the term.

Yes. I'd admit it. That was my bad.

To make things worse, Jasmine was rather disappointed about the role she got. I don't think playing an old friar in an ugly monk's robe was something she wanted to be known for.

"Why the hell do I let you talk me into these things?" Henry growled when it was decided by vote that the guys will wear dresses.

And then Marcus piped, "Both your betas are waiting at the porch wondering where you are. Should I tell them?"

"S***." Henry went immediately onto his mindlink.

Oh no! I forgot about poor Ki! Who had met up for some business for Bell, but was still otherwise stranded here just to pick me up on time after school.

"Ki says he will wait on your leisure." Marcus informed me.

"Oh yeah. Thanks." I said.

Who's stupid idea was it to stay back anyway?

Yeah, this one was all on me.

Oh, and did I mention that it had been painfully awkward between Jasmine and Liam. So much so that Jasmine went to make friends with the kids from other classes. And Liam was just kicking back against the wall not smiling at anyone.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. I raised up my hand, "Mr Devon? I have an idea."

"Oh no." Henry said.

"Here we go." Marcus groaned.

"Yes, what is it?" Mr Devon asked with a frown that indicated 'this better be good'.

"I think your idea to add a twist to the play is really cool." I started, because I've seen how Henry always telling teachers what to do with a compliment, "But it's not quite fair that only Henry and I get all the twisty bits. So maybe we can put a twist into all the characters like a urm... For example, like the friar can be like a super beautiful and kind character. And the boys can wear boys clothes."

"But we already voted!" One of the girls said, "The boys wear dresses."

That's because there were way more girls than boys, and girls could be evil like that.

"Okay, let's vote again, but if the guys dress as guys, then in the balcony scene, Henry can appear shirtless." I tried to negotiate.

"Hey, wait a minute..." Henry tried to stop it at first, "Who says I would strip on stage?"

No one said anything about stripping...

"Would you rather wear a dress on stage?" I asked.

One point for Sam.

The girls considered this, "Yeah, okay. But Henry goes shirtless on the balcony."

"Yes." I agreed.

"Hey!" Henry protested.

Marcus laughed, "Sam... How could you?"

But the girls are thinking that the guy rumored to have the hottest body in our grade was going to go topless for the balcony scene. And the guys are thinking that they won't have to wear a dress. Overall, I could see how it was tipping in my favor.

"So like a modern Romeo and Juliet?" Mr Devon asked.

"Yes. It'll be so cool, Mr Devon. Romeo and Juliet meets Highschool Musical!" I announced.

The other kids were getting excited now. Mr Devon raised his hand for quiet, "Although that sounds like an intriguing idea, I don't think we have the budget."

"Henry can sponsor that." I offered.

"Hey!" Henry protested, "Arugh, what the hell, Sam!"

Two points for Sam.

"But we only have a few weeks. There isn't time for such a large rework." Mr Devon said.

"We can improvise." I suggested.

"Yes, because Sam is a master at improvisation." Henry muttered.

"I cannot direct such a ad hoc play." Mr Devon said.

"Hen-" I was about to say, but Henry cut me off, "No. I'm not directing this s***."

But you're starring in it?

And then I smiled, "I know someone who can direct us."

"You're replacing me?" Mr Devon sounded somewhat shocked.

"No, no... we're..." I looked at the guys.

"We're promoting you." Henry said while giving me a I-hope-you-know-what-you're-doing look, "To producer."

"Who will direct the play then?" Mr Devon wanted to know.

"Yes. Who will direct the play, Sam?" Henry asked.

"Ki will take care of it." I decided.

"Ki?" Henry asked.

"My betas can do anything." I decided. Probably. I mean, how bad can it get?

And that was how Ki came to join us. Mostly I mindlinked him the SOS and he was all, "I live to serve you, goddess."

I mean with lines like these...he had a natural flair for drama.

So Ki entered the Black Box, his charm in full force.

He introduced himself as Beta of the Lorent Pack, which impressed Mr Devon because Mr Devon was the kind of man who liked things like titles and prestige.

Ki was very humble and all but admitted that Mr Devon was naturally the more gifted and trained director, but he'd like to help Mr Devon lighten his load. Perhaps Ki could help by bringing in a Madam Silvia, the theater director at the Lorent Girls's Academy, which boasted one of the finest theater programs in the continent?

Mr Devon had heard of Madam Silvia and the Lorent Girls' Academy outstanding theater program. For the past five years, the school had produced countless classical performers. In fact, he just watched from the box seats of King's Theater the most amazing performance, where the leading lady was played by a high school student from that same school.

Ki had to say that Mr Devon was very knowledgeable and updated about the theatre world . And those tickets were sold out for months! Mr Devon must be terribly lucky to secure box seats.

Mr Devon was blushing at the Beta's praise, he would be delighted to let Ki help run the production, but only if members from his theater club could also come attend Madam Silvia's sessions. Such a opportunity was rare to come by.

So now we were going to have a modern and cool version of Romeo and Juliet with Mr Devon's gender twist. It would be directed by Ki, managed by Pete (who volunteered on his own accord, much to Henry's exasperation...), with special consultation with Madam Silvia, and guest appearance from the official members of the theatre club - but only in the background and minor roles as this play was for the introduction of newcomers to the stage.

We had a lot to do: paraphrasing the script (nobody else wanted to just ad-lib), redesigning the costumes, building the set.

Yes, I know. My bad entirely.

As I write this, I start to wonder whether I was making thing better or worse for everyone.

But Jasmine's role was now a really nice one - Ki proposed a kind and beautiful angel type of character.

He knew someone who could help with make up and hair. (If you guess Alaric, you're right.)

Everyone was going to be good looking and cool because Romeo would be the clown of the show.

I was the alpha. I could take it. I was all out to acting Romeo as a ditzy kind of guy who was also on the melodramatic side.

Henry suggested that I take on the ditzy cheerleader persona to play Romeo, and I tried it out. The other kids laughed a lot and after that more kids wanted to make their characters funny too.

Even Liam was smiling his lopsided grin from the back of the room at the silliness.

So it was not all bad. I mean, if we're going to be stuck at this, might as well give it our best shot and have fun while doing it right?

Mr Devon and Ki confirmed the casting list, a few roles got switched around. And then they let us go, reminding us that the first read would be this Wednesday so we needed to go back and rewrite all our parts by then. Like I needed to make Romeo say everything in a way a ditzy cheerleader would.

Mr Devon did happen to have printed copies of a modern abridged version which he had meant to use anyway. So I guess it could've been worse.

And I was lucky that everyone else was excited to do this different type of Romeo and Juliet. I mean, it could've swung both ways, everyone could have hated the extra work we had to do now.

But I heard some of the girls talking about ideas for the play.

"Our play is going to be so cool." One girl said.

Our play. Yeah. I guess that was the difference. It used to be Mr Devon's play, but now it's our play.

I did feel bad about dragging Ki into the whole thing though. It was pretty late by the time we were heading back. The traffic was slow, and Ki's expression was unsmiling.

The sun was setting, so that put us right smack in the middle of peak hour on the road.

"I don't think we're going to make it back in time for you to make dinner." I said.

Ki smiled, "That's quite alright. Fluffy is helping me."

Fluffy?

"Or at least he's trying his best. Don't worry, I've just mindlink Ben to go over and help him." Ki managed a smile for me, but his frustration was palpable.

Ben?

"I don't think Ben can cook." I said.

"But he can probably set a digital oven." Ki said, "Fluffy has a very specific skill set, which doesn't include using digital devices."

"I kind of dragged you into something troublesome." I told Ki.

"It was my pleasure, goddess." Ki smiled his usual Killion dollar smile, "I was happy to be included."

But... I frowned, remembering how I made Ki heal Flynn and Hank back then even before I knew how much each heal would cost him, or how he had lost his Mum.

How should I put it? I didn't know how, but I opened my mouth anyway, "You know...if I ever drag you into something, and if it's going to hurt you or cost a lot... I mean... I'm just a kid. I don't know how much things cost - like that Madam Silvia, how much would she cost?"

Ki raised a brow, "Madam Silvia is a personal friend. I will take her out for a nice dinner after each session she is able to do as thanks."

"But do you want to take her out for dinner?" I asked. What kind of "personal friend" was she - someone you liked to hang out with? Or someone you had to put up with?

Ki smiled gently, "You don't have to worry, I'm an adult, I know how to take care of myself."

"Ki, I'm the alpha. I will protect everyone's happiness - including yours. So... I don't know how to say it, but you're important to me, and I don't... I don't want you to die like your mum did, or be hurt till you hate everyone around you... And I definitely don't want you to hate me one day." I felt the tears on my eyes.

Ki froze, "Goddess... how much of that conversation did you hear?"

I rubbed the tears out of my eyes.

"Pop. Nevermind goddess." Ki sighed, he handed me a clean handkerchief, "Excuse me a moment though, your Luna Bell requires an immediate response."

Ki went onto the mindlink. I waited, wiping my eyes again with the white square of cloth. I wasn't sure what came over me, my eyes felt hot. I guess... I guess I was afraid but not of a gyara or something I could just hit away, or shift and kill. I was afraid of draining those around me.

Like Henry... I mean, it was fun using him as a bargaining chip. Hahaha, but mostly because his reaction was so funny. Like it was really fun to poke him into exasperation. But would he hate me one day for it? Was there a certain number of times I could mess with him before I ran out of his goodwill?

I had NEVER worried about this before. I mean, Mum's patience with me had always been never ending, and when she had enough, she was quite clear about it. Dad was the same in his own way. Savy never really said no directly to me, but most times, I felt I was just playing right into her hands anyway. Not that I ever minded. Everyone was happy. I was happy. Ben followed me. I mean he was always the first to point out all the flaws in my plans but he would also help me make it work. Dean would say he can't do it, so I'll help him till he could... I mean, I had always assumed they were perfectly happy in playing my games or undertaking my missions.

Suddenly, I didn't feel that same security anymore. Especially with Ki. I felt like I'd never know when I'm being too much until it was too late.

Ki sighed. Our car was finally pulling into Gate City, and then joining the line of cars heading deeper into the packlands. From one traffic jam into another. I've heard of this happening, but it's the first time I had to experience it.

As we approached the road into the packlands, I saw wolves. Warrior wolves in human form at the exit out of Gate City.

The other cars had to slow at the checkpoint signs ahead so the entire line of cars into the packlands was slow moving, but no one got stopped because the line kept moving. I guess they were all registered cars with wolves belonging to the packlands here. All heading home for dinner.

It was the first time I passed this road at this exact hour. Today, I saw this road from very different POVs.