A/N: Cree Cicchino is the face-claim to Roxana Maynard.

"Believe it or not, Shakespeare probably never intended his plays to be read by students sitting at desks more concerned with getting As than with the fate of Macbeth. His plays were meant to be experienced, lived." Professor Anderson grabbed a stack of papers and started passing them out as she spoke, "So with that in mind, together with my third period Shakespeare, you'll be split up into five groups and each group will assume responsibility for one act of Romeo and Juliet, which will be performed a week from Sunday. You will nominate the director, you will cast the scene, rehearse the scene and interpret the scene in your own individual manner."

Elsie would be happy to finally be rid of Shakespeare. She looked at the paper that she was handed Act 2.

"Last year, we did Richard the Third," Professor Anderson continued. "One group did their scene as the Mafiosi. Another set theirs during the Roman Empire. And my favorite, the climactic last scene was set during the final days of the Sonny and Cher show. Just remember, whatever interpretation you choose should highlight the themes you see in the scene."

The bell rang. Professor Anderson added, "And if the love of the Bard's language still doesn't inspire you, remember this will be fifty percent of your final grade."

Elsie gathered her things and headed out.

"Who got Act 2?" a guy, Elsie was pretty sure his name was Nick, was calling out.

"Me," Elsie replied, waving her Act 2 script at him.

Three other guys came up to them. Elsie was slightly annoyed that she had been stuck in a group with guys.

"So, what's the interpretation?" a guy, Elsie was sure his name was Kevin, asked.

"I was thinking of rival basketball teams," Elsie said. "To show how dumb rivalries are, especially high school rivalries."

"How about roaring 20s?" a different guy, Gabriel, asked.

"Ooh, World War 1 with enemy soldiers?" Kevin suggested. "A nurse helping patch up the enemy soldier?"

"I don't want to do a German accent," Gabriel replied.

"What would we do in the twenties era?" Elsie asked Gabriel.

Nick said, "A detective fell in love with a woman who is a bartender."

"I got it," Nick said, looking up from his paper. "Cavemen."

Elsie didn't get it, "Cavemen?"

"This rubric says to interpret the themes," Nick explained. "The Act 2 scene shows carnal lust. Basically, when a caveman finds a woman, he just bonks her over the head and drags her to a cave."

"Against her will and by her hair," Elsie pointed out.

"There will be no dragging," Nick said, horrified.

"Thank you," Elsie replied.

"Wait," Kevin said. "Are we doing it as cavemen?"

"Cavemen and cavewoman," Gabriel corrected.

"Just say cavemen," Elsie told him. The guys looked at her, "I'm outnumbered here."

"So, we're cavemen in the act?" asked Kevin.

Elsie almost rolled her eyes, "Yes, we are. Keep up, Kevin."

"Hey, I have other things on my mind," Kevin defended himself.

"I'm not wearing a two-piece outfit," Elsie told Nick.

Nick gave her a look, "I wasn't planning on it."

"Where are we going to meet?" asked Gabriel. "I was thinking about my house."

"My grandparents will freak out if they find out I'm going to meet a bunch of guys at their house alone," Elsie stated. "I think the courtyard out front will be good. Set the stage for it being outside."

Nick was staring down the hallway, "Oh great, he's back."

Elsie looked down the hallway, past Rory and her group, at Tristan. "Oh, him." Apparently he, Bowman, and Duncan paid some mechanics to take apart Mr. McCaffey's car and put it back together in the science building's hallway. "Headmaster Charleston is getting real sick of dealing with him." 

"I once saw him smoking on school grounds," Kevin said.

"He thinks that makes him more attractive, but I bet it'll feel like making out with an ashtray," Elsie said. She cringed, realizing how mean that sounded because Tristan was Skye's cousin after all, but still...

"Wait, so when are we supposed to show up at the courtyard?" asked Kevin.

"Maybe ten in the morning tomorrow," Elsie replied.

They ended up swapping phone numbers to get a hold of each other later.

Elsie went to her locker, but Cassian was there. He asked, "The stupid Shakespeare play?"

"Yup," Elsie replied. "We're doing Act 2 as cavemen."

"We got Act 1," Cassian said. "We're doing it as a masquerade. I have to kiss a guy. Twice." He pouted a little.

Elsie almost laughed, "That's not as bad as having to dress up like a caveman, like I do."

Cassian looked like he was thinking about it, "Are you a sexy cavewoman?"

Elsie lightly smacked him on the chest, her face burning up, "No!" She busied herself with looking for her textbooks, "Were there no girls in your group?"

"Roxana's in the group, but she refused to kiss me, so she took over directing the scene instead," Cassian explained. "So it left the three other guys to play rock-paper-scissors to play the role of Julian and Mark lost."

The next day, Nick dropped a box of props on the bench beside Elsie, startling her, because she was going over the script, trying to memorize the lines.

Nick said, "Here are some props that we can use."

Elsie looked through it and picked up a foam boulder. "Why do we need this?"

"To throw," Nick said. "We're cavemen. We throw rocks."

"I heard," Elsie replied dryly, picking up a bone prop. It was wider than her hand. She felt dread at having to do this play as a cavewoman, but she agreed to interpret it that way.

Tristan came over to them, "Hey, Professor Anderson said I can pick a group to participate in this stupid play. What are you guys doing?"

"Act 2," Elsie told him. "We're cavemen."

Tristan arched an eyebrow suggestively at Elsie and leered at her, "Are you a sexy cavewoman?"

"Bye, Tristan," Elsie said, disgusted. It was hotter when her actual boyfriend asked her that, but it gave Elsie the creeps the way Tristan said it.

"I didn't want to be a part of your shitty caveman production anyway," Tristan said.

"And we don't want to be here getting criticized by a piece of shit, but here we are anyway," Nick replied, getting up to glare at him.

"Okay, this is just pathetic," Elsie stated, getting up. "Tristan, just go be a dick somewhere else."

Cassian came up to them, "What's going on over here?"

Tristan looked at him, "I see little junior headmaster is over here. What are you going to do? Tell on me to your dad that I'm talking to your girlfriend?"

"No," Cassian replied. "But I can tell Skye that you're being an ass and she can tell your parents about your piss-poor attitude."

Tristan ended up taking off.

"He used to be somewhat decent," Elsie said, watching Tristan walk into the school. "What the hell happened to him?" She was beginning to feel a bit upset over what happened.

"Duncan and Bowman," Cassian stated. "They can bring out the mean in anyone."

Nick nodded, "Yeah. They can."

"I better get back to my group," Cassian said, looking over at his group.

Roxana was standing there with her hands on her hips, glaring at Cassian, because he walked off when they were busy discussing something.

Cassian kissed Elsie on the cheek and gave her hand a squeeze before heading back to his group.

"The pink hair is new," Nick said, looking at Roxana.

Elsie looked at Roxana, "Yeah, you're right."

Nick looked at his project partners, "Is my caveman idea really shitty?"

"No, Tristan's just being an ass," Elsie defended, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "We're going to go up on that stage and prove to him that he's wrong. We're going to be the best damn cavemen that he ever saw."

"I need your help," Rory said to Elsie over the phone.

"With what?" asked Elsie, confused.

Rory started speaking rapidly, "Tristan's in our group and he's playing the Romeo to my Juliet and I just know that he'll tell Dean that I kissed him the day after we broke up because Dean doesn't know that and Dean's insisting that he watches every rehearsal."

Elsie was amazed that she even understood what Rory was saying. "So...are you going to tell him then?"

"I can't," Rory said. "It'll hurt him and I kissed Tristan the day after we broke up."

"You were broken up, right? It's none of his business to know what you did when you were broken up," Elsie replied, not understanding what Rory was getting at.

"Because Tristan is taunting him about it and Dean doesn't know it," Rory said.

Elsie was confused, "Then tell Dean?"

"I can't," Rory wailed.

"Well, hell, Rory, what do you want me to do about it?" Elsie said, "I just gave you a solution to your problem but it sounds like you don't want solutions and just want to complain about your problem. I can't talk for too long because Nick is threatening to bash Kevin over the head with a foam boulder." 

Rory asked, "How did Cassian take it when you told him that you had to kiss Gabriel?"

"He was fine with it," Elsie replied. "It's just a play, Rory. It's a stage kiss. There's nothing behind it. And I'm fine with Cass kissing Jonah for their scene. Bye." She hung up the phone and watched as Nick threw the foam boulder at Kevin.

On the day of the Chilton Shakespeare Festival, Elsie felt nervous because she was going to go up on that stage and make a fool out of herself, but at least she wasn't going to be alone in that.

Skye was helping Elsie mess up her hair for the part of cavewoman while Elsie applied makeup to make her face look dirty. "Why did you agree to this?"

"Because your cousin is a dick," Elsie replied.

"I mean, I'm not denying that," Skye said. "He got arrested earlier."

"For what?" asked Elsie, shocked. She knew Tristan was in his weird rebellious phase, but to get arrested?

"He, Bowman, and Duncan broke into Bowman's dad's safe," Skye told her. Gabriel was putting on a wig.

Cassian walked over to them, holding a masquerade mask. "So, is it too late for me to actually break my leg?"

"Oh no, the horror of kissing someone of the same gender," Skye mocked.

Cassian looked at her, "I don't like your attitude."

"You're the one freaking out over a kiss," Skye replied.

"Where's Miss Elsie Gilmore?" called out Professor Anderson. "I have a delivery for Miss Elsie Gilmore!"

"She's over here!" yelled Skye.

Professor Anderson came over, holding a bouquet of forget-me-nots, "Here you go."

Elsie took the flowers and looked at the card that it came with.

It was from Christopher:

Sorry I couldn't make it.
I know that your performance will blow the others off the stage.
Break a leg!
Love,
Dad

"I have to hand these to my grandparents so they can hold onto them," Elsie said.

"Where's my Act 1 students?" called Professor Anderson, causing Cassian and a few others to head on over to the professor.

Elsie borrowed Skye's light blue overcoat to cover her costume before heading on out into the crowd, because she wanted to see Cassian act in the play.

She went over to Emily and Richard. They were standing with Lorelai, Dean, Lane, and Lorelai's friend, who's name Elsie couldn't recall.

Dean started, "Oh, did Cass—"

"Cassian," Elsie corrected him.

"—Cass give you flowers?" finished Dean. He made a face, like Cassian was making him look bad by giving Elsie good luck flowers. Should he have given Rory good luck flowers?

"Yeah," Elsie lied. She didn't want Rory to get upset over the fact that Christopher sent her flowers, especially since forget-me-nots were Elsie's favorite flowers.

Emily and Richard looked at each other, clearly knowing the truth.

Dean asked, "So, uh, what's your interpretation that has to do with messy hair and a dirty face?"

Elsie was glad that she didn't have to answer that because the play started.

Cassian stood in the audience with Emily and Richard, watching Elsie and her group do Act 2. Nick, Kevin, and Gabriel were doing their part, but we're adding grunting in it because they were cavemen after all.

Dean asked Cassian, "Did you really have to kiss that guy?"

Cassian looked at him, "What point are you trying to make?"

"Nothing, just wondering," Dean replied.

Cassian had seen his dad grimace slightly when he kissed Mark – twice. Even Mark grimaced. Although, Vivian, Anthony, and Skye looked like they were trying hard not to laugh.

"Ooh, ooh," Gabriel grunted. He picked up a rock, "He jests at scars that never felt a wound." He threw the rock offstage, "But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun."

"Are you sure this is Shakespeare?" asked a woman who Cassian didn't know the name of.

"What's with all the grunting?" asked Dean.

"They're cavemen, keep up," Cassian told him.

"I wish Luke was here," Lorelai said. "He could translate for us."

Cassian felt a bit bad, because Elsie looked like she didn't want to be there.

"You know, she kind of looks like Olivia Hussey," the unknown woman said. "If she didn't have makeup on her face and messy hair."

Emily came over, "Elsie really is a talented and beautiful young lady."

"Do not swear at all," Elsie was saying. "Ooh, ooh. Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self, which is the god of my idolatry, and I'll believe thee."

"Hey," Rory greeted, as she came up to them.

"Oh, hey," Dean said.

"Hi," Lorelai said.

"Oh, honey, look at you!" the woman who's name Cassian still did not know, gushed, "You look like a princess! Doesn't she look like a princess?"

"Yeah," Dean replied. "She looks beautiful."

"Mom made the dress," Rory said.

"Not to mention the girl inside it," Lorelai added.

"Including the girl that's onstage that you're currently talking over," Cassian added, glaring at them.

After getting through with Act 2, Paris grabbed a hold of Elsie's arm and dragged her further backstage, "Where's Skye?"

"I don't know," Elsie replied, confused, almost losing her slipper that she wore for the act. She looked at Kevin, "Do you know where Skye went?"

"I think I saw her talking to Roxana," Kevin replied. He didn't even clarify where.

Elsie looked at Paris, "Why do you want to know where Skye is?"

Paris said, "Because Tristan's not here and Skye might know where he's at."

"I'll look for Skye," Elsie said while Paris took off to get Rory.

Elsie eventually found Skye and Roxana in a secluded hallway together. They were talking and laughing together about something.

Elsie was glad that Skye had finally found someone. 

Elsie decided to leave them to it and went back to the Grand Hall.

"I knew he was going to do this, but no one wanted to listen to me," Paris ranted. "It was all 'let's make Tristan Romeo, he's hot.'"

"What about Brad?" asked Rory.

"I thought he transferred schools," Elsie said.

Tristan eventually came up to them. Paris snapped, "Where have you been? You have to get dressed, we're on in ten minutes."

"Can't," replied Tristan.

"What?" asked Paris.

Tristan started explaining, "Actually, my dad had me pulled out of school. He—" Paris stormed off, "...and is she unhappy."

"What do you mean he had pulled out of school?" Rory asked, "What happened?"

"Bowman's dad's safe," Elsie replied. "He pulled you out because of that."

"Does Skye really need to tell you everything that goes on with me?" asked Tristan.

"You broke into Bowman's dad's safe?" asked Rory.

"Yes," replied Tristan.

"Stupid," Rory said.

"Yes," repeated Tristan.

"Well, okay," Rory replied. "You can apologize and you can put back the money and you can explain that, I don't know, you were going through something."

"I was," Tristan replied. "I was going through his safe."

"Why would you do this?" asked Rory.

"I don't know," Tristan replied. "I guess that's something I can ponder at military school."

"Military school?" asked Rory.

"The police are letting our parents handle it," Tristan explained. "And in my case that means military school in North Carolina."

"I don't know what to say," Rory said.

Tristan said, "Well, I imagine you're overwhelmed with the relief in knowing that soon I will be gone."

"I'm so sorry," Rory said.

"Well, I'm a big boy," Tristan said. "I can handle it."

Rory started, "There's nothing you can..."

"Tristan, come on," called Tristan's father.

"I gotta go," Tristan said. "So, I might kiss you goodbye, but, uh, your sister and your boyfriend's watching." He looked at Rory, "Take care of yourself, Mary. And you," He looked at Elsie, "Take good care of Skye for me. She's the only cousin I've got after all."

Elsie was pretty sure that Roxana was taking care of Skye all right.

He walked away and Paris came back dressed as Romeo, complete with wig. Paris snapped at Rory, "What are you standing there for? Let's go." She went into the Hall, "You better start sucking on an Altoid."

Cassian emerged from the Hall, "What did Tristan want?"

"He's going to military school," Elsie told him.

"Yikes," replied Cassian.

Elsie nodded in agreement, "And he wants us to take care of Skye for him."

"What do you know?" Cassian said, "He does have a heart after all."

Elsie nodded.