Free Recipe for Trouble by Sheryl Berk

want me to.”
    â€œAre you two not getting along?” asked Juliette. “But I thought—”
    â€œSo did I. I was wrong. He hates me,” Lexi replied.
    â€œSometimes a relationship starts out on the wrong foot,” Juliette said. “Maybe it’s all a misunderstanding?”
    Mr. Higgins nodded. “Ms. Dubois and I initially had a little misunderstanding.”
    Juliette coughed. “A little? Try humongous!”
    â€œAnyway, we worked together this past week and discovered we have a lot in common,” he added. They smiled at each other.
    â€œThe point is don’t just give up, Lexi,” Juliette reminded her. “‘The course of true love never does run smooth.’”
    â€œShakespeare again?” Lexi asked.
    â€œOf course!” Mr. Higgins replied. “The bard knew a thing or two about romance. Just give it a try for a few days and see how it goes between you and Romeo. Fair enough?”
    Lexi agreed but felt a knot in the pit of her stomach the moment the class came into the room. Thankfully, Jeremy was late and in a hurry to get to his seat. He didn’t have time to say anything to her.
    â€œWe’re going to break up into small groups today and run lines,” Juliette explained. Lexi was supposed to rehearse a scene with the Nurse aka Meredith. Even acting with Meredith would be better than facing Jeremy.
    â€œFind a quiet corner with your partners,” Juliette instructed the class. Meredith had already grabbed a spot in the front of the room and was making strange sounds with her mouth.
    â€œMama made me eat my M&Ms!” she sang. “Sally sells sweaty socks by the seashore!”
    â€œWhat are you doing?” Lexi asked, puzzled.
    â€œWarm-ups,” replied Meredith. “Every actor knows that.”
    She then began to read her lines in a strange, clipped British accent. Lexi thought she sounded like Mary Poppins.
    â€œAnon! Anon!” Meredith bellowed. “Come, let us away…”
    Lexi wished she could away!
    â€œA word, ladies,” Mr. Higgins interrupted.
    â€œHow do you like my accent?” Meredith asked.
    Mr. Higgins wrinkled his nose. “Well, dialect is a difficult thing to master. Why don’t you try delivering the lines without an accent? I think it might be more powerful.”
    Meredith smiled. “I can do that.” It took her almost the entire period to get through the scene. “Don’t you think the nurse should say a little more here? She’s a very important character in the play!”
    Mr. Higgins rubbed his temples. “Yes, yes, every role is important, Meredith,” he replied. “But I don’t recommend rewriting Shakespeare.”
    Meredith shrugged. “Whatever.”
    Lexi was just glad she escaped drama without any drama. She saw that Jeremy was busy rehearsing with Jack who played his enemy, Tybalt. Jack wanted to know when they could practice dueling with swords.
    â€œTomorrow,” Mr. Higgins sighed. “I need to make sure we have a first-aid kit handy.”
    â€œ En garde! ” Jack yelled, flourishing his sword in the air. “This is going to be awesome!”
    â€œI also want to do some work on the Romeo and Juliet balcony scene tomorrow,” Juliette added. “Lexi, Jeremy, make sure you memorize your lines for homework tonight.”
    Lexi looked over at Jeremy to see his reaction. He nodded and didn’t seem disgusted by the thought of having to rehearse with her. Phew!
    â€¢ • •
    Kylie caught up to Lexi in the hall. “How did it go?”
    â€œOkay, I guess,” Lexi said. “Jeremy didn’t say anything about the cupcake catastrophe. And I told Mr. Higgins and Juliette I wouldn’t quit the play for a few days.”
    â€œGood! That’s plenty of time to do some detective work,” Kylie exclaimed.
    â€œWhat kind of detective work?”
    â€œWe need to find out why