Dancing With Raven (The Young Shakespeareans Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

engine. A male student ogled the bike as he dismounted. “Sweet ride.”
    “Yeah, thanks.”
    Raven shouldered his backpack, entered the school, and threaded his way through the crowded halls. He was somewhat taken aback by the uniformly glossy look of the students…as if they’d been groomed by the same hair and makeup team. He gathered their appearance was influenced by their interest in the entertainment industry. Dad thinks this environment is normal, but these perfect kids haven’t a clue about the shadow world. Hunting demons was reality, not interacting with a sheltered collection of self-centered, spoiled California teens.
    His homeroom teacher, Mr. Rich, asked Raven to stand up and introduce himself. Although he wasn’t usually shy, he felt out of his element. His color rose as everyone turned around to stare. “Yeah, hi, I’m Raven. I just moved here from London.”
    “And which performing art are you studying?”
    “Oh, um, drama.”
    “Welcome to Performing Arts Prep.”
    He sat. Right away he sensed he was being weighed and measured. Undoubtedly his longish, untamed hair and Oxford Street wardrobe were found wanting. Feeling conspicuously different, he tuned everything out and spent the rest of homeroom looking over his schedule. Drama was first period, followed by math, science, and English. After lunch came dance, history, and music. Inwardly, he wondered if he could ever fit in with these slick designer kids. Maybe tomorrow he’d bring a sandwich and workout clothes, and spend his lunch hour in the school weight room. He could avoid talking to everyone that way and keep fit at the same time.
    When homeroom concluded, he headed to the theater for drama class. The first to arrive, he sat in the middle of the tenth row and watched his classmates troop in. Silly giggling girls and swaggering, cocksure boys—probably all certain they were an acting or dancing star. Maybe some of them would be proven correct. Despite Raven’s nerves, he was actually looking forward to the class. Performing always made him feel more confident.
    A tall brunette entered the theater from a side door. He’d noticed her in his homeroom, but hadn’t really had a good look. Her appearance made him sit up in his seat. It had been months since he’d seen such a truly lovely girl—with a gorgeous figure to match. Was she a model, perhaps? I’ll bet she’s a right snob, that one, but maybe I can dazzle her. On the other hand, the last time I tried to date a girl didn’t work out well for me. Maybe I should steer clear.
    The drama teacher—Mr. Strunk—divided students into groups of two and three and then handed out scenes from Romeo and Juliet . The assignment was to read the scenes cold, so Strunk could evaluate each student’s level. Raven glanced at his scene, which was from Act II, Scene IV. He was paired with a kid named George, who resembled the actor Orlando Bloom.
    “You don’t mind if I read Romeo, do you?” George asked.
    Truth be told, Raven preferred the role of Mercutio since the perverse nature of the character had always appealed to him.
    “No problem.”
    “Do you think you can manage an English accent?” George asked.
    The kid had obviously not been in Raven’s homeroom.
    “I’ll try.” The question is, can you?
    As teams and trios were called up to the stage to read, Raven sat back to watch. Quite quickly, it became obvious which students had been trained as actors and which had not. The brunette, whose name was Tori, was evidently a dancer. She stood on stage with her toes turned out, and she wore her hair in a pristine ballet bun. During her scene, she read Juliet’s lines with her eyes glued to the page the entire time. A shame. I’d quite like to see those eyes.
    Finally it was Raven’s turn to climb on stage with George. As Raven gave Mercutio full voice, George seemed taken aback at first. A spark of interest lit his eyes, however, and he rose to the challenge. The two played the scene