Touch of Hellfire

☕️5☕️

"I'm home!" Mom called. "Kitchen!" me and Rory yelled in unison, Sookie looking frightened. "I've got the Shining," Mom cheered.

She walked in to see me, Rory and Sookie standing in front of the table. "What?" she muttered. "Uh...this came for you and Max," Sookie muttered and we stepped away.

"Wedding present," I muttered. "Well, the news doesn't travel as fast as I thought," Mom sighed.

"Are you gonna open it?" Sookie asked her. "No, I'll take it back in the morning," Mom told her. "There's no return address," Rory told her.

"Card?"

"Could be inside," I suggested. "But you'll have to open it to find out."

Mom sighed. "Hand me a knife."

She cut open the packaging to reveal the oh so mysterious gift. "It's an ice cream maker!" Rory cheered. "A Musso Lussino 480!" Sookie gasped.

"A fascist ice cream maker?" I raised my eyebrow. "No card, peachy," Mom sighed. "Ooh!" Sookie exclaimed. "Jackson just got in his apple crop, we can make cider ice cream!"

"Il Duce is going back," Mom insisted. "To where though? It's an orphan," Rory pointed out. "We'd be giving it a home," Sookie tried to reason with Mom.

"Guys, this is a wedding present and I am not getting married," Mom reminded us. "I'm not supposed to keep this."

"There's a rule though," I piped up. "I saw it on Martha Stewart with Tessa, if a wedding present arrives after eight weeks, you don't have to return it."

"Nice try, Heather," Mom glowered at me. "It's true!" I exclaimed. "Until I find the sender, no one touches it," Mom laid down the rule.

"I bet Max would let us keep it," Sookie said to us after Mom left the room.

***

"Believe it or not," Professor Anderson informed us. "Shakespeare did not intend his plays to be read by students sitting at desks, they were meant to be experienced and lived! With my third period Shakespeare, you'll be split into five groups and each group has the responsibility for one act of Romeo and Juliet, which will be performed a week from Sunday."

She put our assignments on our desk. Andrea looked pleased with hers. I looked at mine and it said Act Five, Death Scene.

Yay.

"You will nominate a director, cast the scene and rehearse it and interpret the scene in our own individual manner. Last year, we did Richard III and one group set their act during the Roman Empire, the last act was set during the Sonny and Cher show," she told us.

Everyone let out a chuckle. "Whatever you choose, should highlight the themes you see in the scene. And remember, this is fifty percent of your final grade," she said as the bell rang.

Andrea immediately turned to me. "Act Two, Balcony Scene, you?"

"Act Five, Death Scene," I told her. Rory came up to me. "What did you get?"

"Act Five," I told her. "You're with me, Madeline, Louise and Paris," Rory sighed.

I let out a very audible groan. "Yeah, tell me about it," she murmured.

We exited the classroom and Paris came up to me. "You Act Five?"

"Yes," I muttered. "We're all over there," she told me and grabbed my arm and dragged me over. "Our aim is to get an A," she told us. "We meet in the cafeteria to discuss the plan and who's who..."

"Look who's back from suspension," Louise smirked. I turned around to see Tristan. "Yikes, Andrea's gonna be pissed," I mumbled.

"What did he do this time?" Rory asked Louise. "He took apart McCaffey's car and rebuilt it, in the hallway," Madeline told us. "With Duncan and Bowman, obviously and the mechanics they hired."