Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare for Everyone Else)
Chapter One
“The announcement is going to come soon, Mr. George,” the principal said once Heaven’s father Leo had entered the school’s gym and hidden himself backstage. He didn’t want his daughter to know that he was there on the off chance that she didn’t win the title of Harvest Queen.
“I hope this doesn’t take too long,” Leo said, checking his watch and glancing back and forth from the stage to the dance floor. “I need to stop at the store and get these pictures developed before Heaven comes home.”
“We’re starting right now,” the principal said, walking up to the mic on stage and waiting patiently for the music to die down. The kids in the audience were antsy, looking ahead. “And now we’re here to make the announcement of our fall king and queen,” he said, causing the crowd to cheer. “We announced the nominees at the beginning of the night, so let’s not waste any time, shall we?” He pulled out an envelope and opened it. “Well, no surprise here, our Harvest King is Clark Donaldson,” he said, clapping as Clark walked stiffly to the stage.
“What’s with him?” Leo whispered, taking a few pictures from behind the curtain. “He doesn’t even look happy. Maybe he’s worried that Heaven won’t be crowned queen?”
“And now, for our Harvest Queen,” the principal said, grinning at Clark. “You should be happy to hear this, Clark, your queen this year will be Heaven George.” The crowd broke out into loud cheers, with Beatriz whistling happily as Heaven made her way to the stage, but several people near the front remained silent as they watched the scene.
“Something wrong?” Beatriz called over the applause. “Cheer for our girl!”
“I will not,” Donnie said.
“Me either,” Jason said.
Everyone turned to look at the stage as Heaven stood smiling in front of Clark. However, he frowned down at her, his usual calm expression gone.
“What’s wrong?” the principal asked, clapping Clark on the back, rocking him forward from the light impact. “Aren’t you happy to see your queen?”
“I’m not,” Clark said stoically.
A surprised hush fell over the crowd but the principal tried to remain cheerful. “What about you, Heaven? Aren’t you happy to see your king?”
“I am,” she said, though her voice sounded a bit unsure. “Clark, are you okay?”
“No.”
“What’s the meaning of this?” the principal hissed away from the microphone. “I see no reason for you to frown, Mr. Donaldson. You two should be happy. You have no reason to be upset about this, do you Mr. Donaldson?”
“I don’t know,” Clark mused. “Do you, Heaven?”
“I don’t think so. I was happy.”
“Mr. Donaldson, what seems to be the problem?”
As Clark thought things over, Leo suddenly remembered the conversation with the neighbor boys. They had been trying to tell him something and perhaps he should have listened. It was suddenly all making sense now, clicking into place. His daughter, his lovely daughter must have done something inappropriate and the boys were trying to let him know.
“Get her off that stage,” Leo called in a low voice, staying in the shadows so as not to shame his daughter any more than she had been.
“Dad?” Heaven asked, looking around. “Dad, you came?”
“Get over here now,” Leo said harshly. “Don’t embarrass yourself more than you have already. You too, Clark.”
“Leo?” Clark asked, quickly following Heaven as the dance music started up again. “What’re you doing here? Do you know why I’m so upset?”
“What the hell’s happening?” Bea asked, standing on tiptoe to look over the confused and whispering crowd as Heaven and Clark left the stage.
“What is this?” Bennett asked. “What’s going on?”
“Just a minute now,” the principal said, following Clark and Heaven backstage. “What’s going on here? I will not have you kids ruin an important moment at my school. This ceremony—”
“This ceremony is nothing but a sham,” Leo said, lowering his head. He reached out and grabbed Heaven, pulling her towards him. “What have you done?”
“I don’t know what you mean!” Heaven screamed out in surprise. “Dad! Let me go, please! What’s going on here?”
“Look how she’s acting. You’d hardly think that there were pictures of her being passed around on the internet,” Clark said coolly.
“W-what?” Leo asked, hardly believing his ears. “What’s on the internet?”
“Take her away from me Leo, you’ve probably figured out why I’m so embarrassed to be named her King. Your daughter tricked me. I thought she was innocent and pure, and now I find out that she’s nothing but a whore with a sweet face. She’s been inviting random guys to climb in her window at night so she can pose for the camera and do lord knows what else with them.” He pointed an accusing finger in her direction. “You act like you’re so sweet and virtuous, blushing like that, but I bet your face has been redder than this. I know what you did a few days ago. She’s embarrassed because she got caught, not because of what she did.”
“Can this be true?” Leo asked, holding his daughter tightly.
“I’m not about to be made a fool of by the school slut,” Clark said, stepping back onto the stage.
“No!” Heaven screamed, watching him go. “Clark, what’s the matter with you?” Leo held her tightly as Clark grabbed the microphone back from the principal.
“I will not be King if my queen is a slut!” he shouted into the mic, silencing the crowd. Even the music stopped.
“A slut?” Leo asked. “So what the boys said was true. You had another man in your bed? You let him photograph you? Don’t you know how stupid that is?”
“What the heck? I didn’t!” Heaven screamed as tears started to stream down her face. “No one was in my bed!”
“I know I wasn’t,” Clark said, holding the microphone so tightly that his knuckles began to turn white. “Leo, I never touched her, I never showed her anything but respect because I know how much she claims her virginity mattered to her. And yet…I have to hear about this—”
“Don’t tell everyone that!” Heaven wailed. “I’ve been nothing but good to you! I’ve never been with anyone else, much less let someone photograph me! How can you say that?”
“You’re a liar!” Clark shouted, pointing a finger at Heaven. “You were my girl and I thought I was your only guy, but you tricked me. You hide behind modest clothes and manners when actually you’re just stripping them off for anyone for a little attention! You’re a slut!”
“What’s wrong with you? Why are you talking to me like this?”
At that moment Donnie pushed his way through the crowd and jumped up on the stage.
“Thank God,” Heaven said, sniffling through her tears. “Please, Donnie, talk some sense into him!”
“What sense is there? I’ve also made a fool of myself for believing that you were a good girl. I thought that you and Clark would be a great together, but you didn’t just betray him, you betrayed me by acting like nothing more than a common whore.”
Leo’s face reddened with shame as a shocked gasp fell through the crowd. “Is this really true? Is this a nightmare?”
“It’s a nightmare for all of us,” Jason said from the front of the crowd. “We all saw it with our own eyes.”
“Shit,” Bennett said. “This is turning into a mess.”
“I’m afraid it’s true and a nightmare,” Clark said, putting down the microphone and walking backstage. He was relieved that Jason and Donnie had followed him, giving him support. The music picked up again but not a single person was dancing now; they huddled in small groups, murmuring and straining to hear what was going on behind the curtains.
“So it’s true,” Leo said. “You…you made a fool of yourself.”
“Fool is a polite way to word it,” Donnie said. “Dammit, Heaven, why did you have to
do this? Why would you…degrade yourself like that?”
“You fooled everyone,” Jason said.
“I didn’t fool anyone!” Heaven screamed, still locked in her father’s grip. “Why are you doing this to me? A senior prank?”
“I just wanted everyone at school to know your true nature,” Clark said.
“I am being true to my nature, Clark! I have never, ever betrayed you! I’ve never lied or cheated! Where did you hear that I was letting people take pictures of me?”
“From your bedroom window,” Clark said.
“Lies!” Heaven shouted, upset now. “Who told you that? That’s not true!”
“I didn’t just hear rumors,” Clark said. “I saw you in your room a few nights ago. I saw you in there…I heard you. I saw the flash going off—”
“It couldn’t have been!”
“It was you! And you were screaming another guy’s name!”
“I’m telling you!” Heaven screamed. “It wasn’t me!”
“So not only are you a cheater, but a liar,” Donnie said, shaking his head. “I was hoping that through all of this, you would at least try to clear your name by telling the truth. Mr. George, I’m sorry you had to find out about it this way. But it’s true, we saw her with another man in her room. The noises we heard, the grunts, the screams, she screams now like she did then.”
“That’s not true,” Heaven said. “How dare you do this to me?”
“You did this to yourself,” Jason said.
Heaven narrowed her eyes. “You smug…I’m sure you had something to do with this. Why would you go so far to ruin me? I’ve never done anything to you.”
“Heaven,” Jason purred, still shaking his head in shame. “It’s a shame not only to hear, but also to see, your shocking behavior. I’m sorry.”
“You liar.”
“Shut up,” Clark said, glaring at her in Leo’s arms. “I thought…I never thought you would do something like this. I can’t believe you would sink so low as to let some cretins—”
“What about what you’ve done to me?” Heaven shouted. “The whole school thinks I’m a slut because of your lies.”
“My lies?” Clark asked. “The only liar I see is you, Heaven, and I hope to never see you again. Because of you, I think I’ll take a long break from women. Every girl I see now with a sweet face will remind me of you, and you are nothing but a tramp. Have a nice life.”
“God, kill me,” Leo muttered under his breath. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“Dad, they’re lying!” Heaven screamed as Donnie, Clark and Jason turned to leave and nearly collided with Beatriz who was just making her way backstage.
“What’s going on?” Beatriz shouted at them as they soundlessly left through the back door. “Where’s everyone going? And what was that?” Bennett appeared a moment later and looked over the scene of a dejected Leo limply holding Heaven in his arms.
“Heaven, are you okay?” Bennett asked. “Was that whole thing real?”
“It was real,” Heaven said, sniffling loudly. “I feel…I feel sick.”
“You don’t look too good,” Bea said. “What happened on stage? Was Clark being serious just then?”
“He was,” Heaven muttered. “He thinks that I let some guy take topless pictures of me.”