I swear, if one more incident happens, I'm going to end up dead.

Very much so.  As dead as dead can be.

If things aren't already bad enough (i.e., grandma and grandpa both dying within weeks of each other, Mama's ongoing bout of depression, Daddy hanging out at the bar again, and my failing grades), it seemed that life was about to bite me right on the ass.

Again.

It started last week, in Drama class, when Ms. Perdante, our drama teacher, announced that our class play was going to be "Romeo And Juliet".  You know the classic love story written by William Shakespeare?

Yeah, that one.

Gag me with a field mouse!

God, if there is one thing I hate, it's Shakespeare!

I remember thinking, I hope I don't end up getting the lead role!  I don't want to be Romeo!

Guess Ms. Perdante must have known what I was thinking because she looked directly at me as she piped up, "Grant, you will be Romeo.  You are one of our more talented actors; you would be perfect for the role!"

Good, grey grief!!

If there is another thing I can't stand, it's getting in front of people!  And now here I was to be the STAR of our class play!!  All eyes would be trained on ME!  Not only that: I would also have to wear ridiculously-outdated clothes (including a dorky hat AND tights!!), climb up a ladder, AND kiss the lead actress!!

KISS!!  Her!!  Right on the lips!!!!

My mouth turned into a bale of cotton and I'm sure my face turned pale.  I just sat there in my seat, stunned, as my classmates hooted, cheered, and clapped me on the back as they congratulated me.  I hardly even noticed Ms. Perdante passing out the scripts.  

My mind was in a thick fog.

I glanced down at the script.  It looked bigger than a dictionary.  

ALL those lines!!  How would I ever be able to remember all those lines?? I remember thinking.

I know Mama and Daddy won't come!!  I know they won't allow me to pariticpate: what if Daddy got drunk, or what if Mama tried to hurt herself again??  What if daddy showed up drunk at the play??  What if I forgot my lines??

Ice creeped up my spine as I cringed at the thoughts ricocheting thorugh my mind.

If that happened, I would probably be the laughingstock of Filmore High School.  The other kids would never let me live it down.

I suddenly wished that there was a nearby open, freshly-dug grave that I could fall into.  Being dead would certainly be better than this horror I was now facing!!

~To be continued.~