“Okay, settle down class,” said Mrs. Brown, my English teacher. 

She was a fairly heavy set lady who wore glasses with lenses as thick as bulletproof glass, had a strange affinity for floral printed dresses, and disliked people who spoke softly. 

“Today, we’re going to start reading a new novel.  A classic story about two star crossed lovers, forbidden to be together by a bitter family rivalry.  The story of the Montagues and the Capulets, Romeo and Juliet.” 

This announcement caused some of the guys to groan out loud while a few girls squealed with joy.  Not one to get excited over Shakespeare or reading in general, I quickly stole a glance at my crush before I opened my notebook and began to scribble.        

Once everyone was quiet again, she continued. “Instead of me reading the entire story out loud, I thought we would try something different.  I have decided to split the class into groups of three.  Each group will be assigned a specific act and scene that they will present to the rest of the class.”

After hearing her mention a group assignment, I sighed inwardly and went back to tuning everyone out.

“This will not be a formal presentation so you won’t have to wear costumes or memorize your lines; however, your grade will be based on how well each member of your group interprets and recites the passage and whether it is delivered with the right amount of emotion and feeling.  Any zombie readers will automatically receive a zero.  To be fair and completely random, you will be partnered alphabetically by first name.”

As she read off the names of the students in each group, I was too immersed in my latest doodle to hear her call my name.

“Yuri?”

“Huh?  Who me?  I mean, YES!”  I nearly shouted as I quickly sat up in my chair.

Mrs. Brown gave me a stern look and cleared in annoyance.  “As I said earlier, you will be working with Tiffany and Wooyoung.” 

As if in a cave, my crush’s name echoed in my ears.  With wide eyes, I slowly turned to look in Tiffany’s direction, feeling a sudden rush of pure elation mixed with gut-wrenching fear. 

As our eyes met, I felt my pulse quicken.  She instantly flashed one of her signature eye smiles at me and waved.  Right at that moment, I was betrayed by my own heart as a dorky grin crept its way onto my face.

Smooth, Yuri. Smooth.