holy grail

THIRTEEN

❝DELECTAT VIOLENTA❞

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❝VIOLENT DELIGHTS❞

"Fire and gunpowder both have what in common." Ms. Torres glanced around the room, seeking out one poor soul to lend an answer to her question.

"Highly Explosive." Amanda Spinelli answered. "They instantly blow up once they come into contact with each other."

"Good," Ms. Torres replied, "Complete opposite of fire and water. When fire and water interact, the fire is put out by the water—almost like a nasty fight. When things go downhill and any kind of physical violence is displayed to the public, the police are called to the scene to 'extinguish' the issue. When two hot-headed people are placed in the same room with each other it's a collision course, like fire and gunpowder or when salt and water mix and heat is added to the equation, it blows up." She droned on.

Class wasn't even halfway over and Ms. Torres was already rambling on about some chemical reactions. Anything she said was either about her dead cats or her nonexistent love life which either bored everyone to death or put them to sleep.

I sat in the back thankfully, away from everyone else since she hated me so much. Cheryl and Penny sat closer together towards the front of the class, but they never talked to each other because they were well aware of Ms. Torres' "explosive" attitude.

"Now is not the time to be slacking off Frannie, pay attention." Ms. Torres seethed—sounding angry as usual.

"I wasn't slacking." I defended myself. "I heard everything you said."

"My apologies, a zebra doesn't usually change its stripes."

I rolled my eyes at her response.

I already had enough on my plate and enough confusion springing through me. I didn't need her clawing at my back too.

"Read the next line." Her bitchy voice demanded.

If I had to bet my money on anything, I would bet that she was the literal reincarnation of satan because she was always picking on me and nagging me, almost like the bitter ex-girlfriend I never had.

I followed through anyway though. It was better not to get expelled from school today, bitches were always going to be bitches, so why give them attention?

"These violent delights have violent ends and in their triumph die like fire and powder which as they kiss, consume. The sweetest honey is loathsome-"

"Stop there." She cut me off. "What is Friar Lawrence saying to Romeo?" Her beady eyes never left my posture which made me a little self-conscious and I hated it. I sat up and cleared my throat, removing a piece of my hair from my face as I did so.

"Well like you said, fire and gunpowder is explosive when they are in the presence of each other, so I think he's describing the relationship between Romeo and Juliet. It was quick to move and they were 'in love' from the get go which Friar Lawrence described as a type of lust or an intense love. The violent delight is the burning passion they have for one another, the violent end is the end of that." My eyes met hers. "The relationship was doomed from the beginning."

"Nice job Winters." She nodded in agreement as if she was actually listening to me before proceeding on with the lesson.

Fifteen minutes later and class was dragging on at an agonizingly slow pace, I didn't dare fall asleep though, Ms. Torres made fun of me enough. I wasn't going to give her a justified reason to do it.