Heyy, it's all for the good of Rome, Peoplz

Yeah, so Caesar’s not running for class president anymore – big deal… Actually, I think we’ll all be happier with it this way. Nobody has to worry about friendship issues or competition or anything. In fact, just yesterday after school and first period this morning, Julius and I re-continued what had been a weak friendship. We made sure we weren’t enemies anymore. It was hard to do, because it is always a tough subject to talk about with anyone, including your very best friends. But it was all for our own good, and for the good of our school’s future. just think about it – what would have happened if the two of us had actually tried to make things work and run for ‘office’ together? Nothing would or could have come out of it. That’s why I think that both of us are really satisfies about our decision to forget about the whole thing. Also, the other candidates who are still running seem to be doing just fine without so much competition.

I also spoke in a group a few periods ago (during study hall) with Casca and ‘Trebo’ and Titinius and all of them to let them know how Julius and I had made up, and that they should probably leave him alone now… It took them awhile to get thatJ. They disagreed with me at first, kind of playing around with the idea that we should still be able to poke him around, but I denied it for his own good. It was also for the good of the school. In a sense, you could say it was for the good of Rome! (This was a bit of a stretch, but I had to beat it into their heads so they would at least hear me out on this one.)

Um… yeah, so now I’m just going on with regular life. I still don’t know whose side to take for the school election, because I was so caught up in my own activities.

I still take all my friend’s advice.

I still do all people tell me to do.

I still join clubs because my tell me to.

I still have a weak spot for politics.

But it’s all for the good of Rome

………………….Jus' keepin' it real, everyone……………………

Got a lot off my chest today

Alright, so today’s the one day anniversary of our ‘Caesar Shanking,’ and I haven’t seen much happen in the progress towards the elections. Julius isn’t making or handing out any posters or signs, like the other people running. This is worrying me, and I want to ask him about it – but what will it look like if, one day after we pretty much bullied him half to death, we start pleading for his help… It’s not lookin’ very good at all. If this keeps up, Julius might drop out of running in the first place – it seems unrealistic to me now, but it’s totally a possibility. Julius hasn’t shown any signs of even wanting to run at all, and every time Trebonious or Casca or I see him in school, he’s ignoring us and just moping around, silently doing nothing.

If Julius doesn’t do anything about this soon, I could be facing a huge friendship related problem. I don’t want to come up to him again and mention the possibility of being class prez. He’ll definitely change the subject or not answer or something. And on top of all that, I don’t know what the rest of the people running think of me – and I probably don’t want to. If news of this has gotten out, maybe the Deans have heard about it? Never mind. It’s just that something has to be done before it’s too late to change things.

I reluctantly came up to Julius today, during our study hall period, third period, and sat down next to him while he was reading some book for English class, or something. He looked up. I had a little bit of trouble starting, but it got easier as I went along. I had it engraved into my brain the whole frickin’ time that this would all be for the good of us, our friendship, and for the future of our school. I began to speak to him about just random stuff, like if he had homework, or if he’d seen some recent movies or checked out the new iPod Plasma Widescreen yet. Then I moved to the topic of the principles, and then the Deans, and then tried to talk about the election. I mentioned how decorated the hallways in the A-wing were with the candidates’ posters.

“Ummm, yeah, I really don’t give a crap about all of this election stuff anymore,” he said. And then he explained to me (and Casca, who’d overheard part of our conversation and was now trying to join in) that he wasn’t going to run for prez, or vice prez, or anything – not even with me. This, of course, came as really bad news to us. Apparently, we’d ruined everything with one really bad idea… I’d be sure to get back on Casca for this one.

--The rest of this week’s payback time... I'll post again tomorrow

Mission So far Accomplished

Turns out, they today is the day we (Cassius, Trebonious, me…) planned to shank out Caesar. I didn’t really want to do it, so I had to convince myself it was for the good of the student body, whether it made headlines or not… Here’s what it sounded like:
Cassius: Yo, Julius, lemme talk to you for a sec.

Julius: Yeah, no prob.

Trebonious: Yeah, we got a proposal for you, and if you can’t accept it, then there’s more where it came from

Julius: Um…

Me: Well – yeah, you know how you were going to run for class prez? Well you’re runnin’ with me, got it? Understand?

Julius: What are you talking about – I thought I’d told you I’d – (interrupted as Cassius draws a pencil, which triggers Titinius, Trebonious, and everyone else.)

Julius: What’s goin’ on right now – ya’ll better tell me what’s – (pencils get closer, backing him into a corner) Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never… wait… aw, snap!
The shanking begins, and goes on for minutes. Then, after what seems like an eternity to me, everyone looks at me. I’m the only one who hasn’t gone yet. Julius is leaning up against the wall, white t-shirt all ripped and marked with pens and pencils and everything.

So I step up… This part’s the hardest for me, even harder than watching it all before. But again, I managed to convince myself that it was for the good of the student body. For the good of the school. For the good of Italy. For the good of all of Rome! Then Julius’ mouth opens…

Julius: You too, Brutus? Dang – fine, I’ll run with you then. Fine. There’s a silent fist pump among the guys and then they storm back into the cafeteria to finish their food. I follow them, taking my eyes off of Caesar for as long as I could. The deed was done, and it was over. But I’d still have to run with him – for the good of Rome!I admit that I’m a bit nervous, because I’ve never run for student office or anything like that before. But someone’s got to do it.
Mission Accomplished… So far

Aha! A plan.

Today I asked Brutus in school if he wanted to run for ‘office.’ with me. He said it might be a good idea, but that he didn’t know if it could actually happen. He said he would think about it, but he said it in that way that just blew me off. Then Cassius came up to me afterwards. He was talking about how Julius was trying to act like he was better than me, and that I could be better than Caesar. Then he started talkin’ all this crap about how I should ‘overtake’ Caesar and run for presidency instead of vice prez.
Personally, I thought this was a pretty weird idea. And I told him that. Then he suggested that we organize a conspiracy against Caesar. He said that if he could put together a bunch of people and get Caesar alone and just shank him and push him around until he either runs with me or just gives up his campaign. Now, I thought this was a pretty crazy plan, but I actually considered that one more than the other because it would almost surely work. And as it turns out, Cassius organized Titinius and a few other of his peeps to join his little conspiracy thing. I guess he really thought that through. Maybe he’s right about this.
And since already gotten so many people to agree, maybe he’s right. But I don’t know, because it seems like everyone’s always right about everything when they has a bunch of people on their side. And although a lot of people call me easy to convince, I decided I would need at least one more person to agree with Cassius’ idea for me to decide it was plausible (or even acceptable).
And that’s exactly what happened. I just got a letter from a bunch of people at the high school that I don’t even know that well. It was signed by at least thirty or forty people, and it contained a letter that showed the people’s emotions towards my running for vice prez. It included quotes like, “do you really think he’s better than you?” and “What are you thinking?! We want you for Prez, man!” I went to bed last night with these letters and petitions on my desk. And on my mind. Now I was pretty sure what I wanted to do with this. I would join the conspiracy – just as long as it didn’t go too far.
Oh well – gotta go, but I’m still pondering the plan……..

The Brute Brutus for Pres?

Hey, this is my first day posting. I guess I should introduce myself. Name’s Marcus Brutus. I’m 14, trying to do well in school. But that’s along with other things, including all these clubs my friends told me to join. I tend to be very trusting of anyone I’m friends with. I have a few bad habits. I can be unsure of myself, but I still get on fine.
This week, my best friend Julius Caesar decided he was going to run for class president, or at least for student Counsel. So did I. Now, usually, best friends don’t become bitter enemies in a split second, but this was, for some reason, a different story. Julius is running for president, and I was actually considering doing the same. But Caesar is a lot more popular than me, and has grown to be a more powerful influence than me since we were best buds in elementary school. Now we hand out every once in a while. Well anyway, I think I want to run for more of a senator position instead.
It would be an embarrassment to me if I ran for class prez. against Julius – he’d blow me out by hundreds of votes (even in our tiny Roman high school)… Yeah, I think I’ll run for vice president. Nobody likes that title, and I don’t think that anyone else important will be running. Plus, there could be more than one, according to our school system. Yeah, I’ll run for vice prez. instead. The vote tally is in a few weeks, so I should start campaigning soon. I can see the signs now – “Brutus for Vice Prez.” – but what would my friends think? I have to learn to ignore their opinions, thought it’s really hard for me.
Hey – I have an idea. Maybe I can pair up with Caesar and we could run for vice president and president together – like in other countries and in real life. Yeah! That’s a good idea! NOW I can see the signs – “Julius and Marcus” for Prez. and Vice Prez. I should run this idea by Julius soon. He might like it – or he would be embarrassed by it. Either way, I should probably run this by Cassius or Trebonius or somebody else first – to see if it’s a good idea. I’ll write back with the results. Peace out!!