wants a giant Hollywood sign made out of miniâ¦â
âWe could use your help,â Kylie jumped in. âAn extra pair of hands to help us bake and decorate and get everything packed up.â
Olivia blushed. âYou mean that? Youâre not just saying it? You want me to help you guys?â
Delaney remembered how great it had felt when the girls all finally accepted her as a PLC memberâlike she was part of a team. âWe mean it,â she said. âI have a lot of lines to learn for the play this weekend, so maybe you can help me with that too.â
Olivia smiled. âIâd love to. Besides, what are copresidents for?â
It took Sophie, Olivia, and Delaney just a little over an hour to sell out all of their 240 cupcakes at the bake sale. Dean Retter bought the last two dozen to bring home to his wife and kids. Thanks to PLC, Mr. G was thrilled he could now have the perfect backdrops and costumes. And Delaney was equally delighted. She practiced Caesarâs death scene over and over, until Mr. G told her he believed she was actually stabbed and gasping for her last breath.
âVery authentic, Delaney,â he said, noting the fake blood Kylie had helped her sprinkle on her new white toga. âI especially liked the part where you clutched your throat and rolled across the stage making a gurgling noise.â
Delaney remained motionless.
âDelaney?â Mr. G said, gently tapping her with his foot. âYou can get up now.â
Delaney leaped back up to her feet. âItâs not long enough,â she said. âI think Caesar would have had a long, drawn-out death scene, donât you? At least five minutes.â
Sophie shook her head. âI think the whole thing is too much. The blood? The gore? Itâs gross. I mean, why do we have to assassinate anyone? Itâs mean and violent.â
âUnfortunately, itâs how the senators handled their grievances with Caesar,â Mr. G said.
âWell, itâs icky.â Sophie sighed. âIf I were Brutus, I would have handled it better.â
âItâs history,â Delaney insisted. âYou canât rewrite history.â
Mr. G thought for a moment. âAnd why couldnât we? What would you do differently, SophieâI mean, Brutusâif your friend Caesar was out of control?â
âIâd sit him down and tell him to chill out,â Sophie said. âIâd say, âJules, enough is enough. If you donât stop bossing everyone around, youâre going to be friendlessâand Iâm gonna have to take daggers into my own hands.ââ
Their teacher scribbled some notes on the script. âI like it. Keep going with this.â
âBrutus would make Caesar see the error of his ways through peaceful negotiation,â Sophie continued. âI think that would be a much better solution. And thereâd be no killing involved.â
âThatâs ridiculous! Why doesnât Brutus just take him to lunch while heâs at it? Or buy him a frappuccino? That isnât how itâs supposed to happen!â Delaney cried.
Sophie didnât like it one bit that her friend was dissing her ideas in front of the class and Mr. G. âWell, maybe it would happen that way if Caesar wasnât so obsessed with hogging the spotlight!â
A hush fell over the classroom as Sophie and Delaney stared each other down.
Mr. G tried to referee: âI think weâve tossed out some good ideas here, and I welcome all studentsâ input.â
âYouâre being the tyrant, not me,â Delaney told Sophie. âYouâre the one trying to get your own way. You donât even want to try to work this out.â
âWhy should I?â Sophie asked. âFace it. My idea is the better one, and you just canât handle it.â
âI think we should call our play Rome Reimagined and show what would have happened if things had
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