That Way Madness Lies: XV of Shakespeare's Most Notable Works Reimagined

by Dahlia Adler

“I was reading somewhere that you can smell your soul mate from really far away after a while. Which is kind of gross.” “The entire concept of soul mates is gross, so I’m unsurprised.” Katherine snorted. Petrucio was quiet after that, and Katherine could feel a frisson of pain coming from him. She couldn’t tell yet whether it was from his multiple hanger wounds, or if their new connection was forcing her to perceive his feelings. It hadn’t occurred to her that he would have felt differently about this. Boys didn’t seem to care about romantic stuff, so she had assumed he would be on her side about feeling disdain for the whole thing. But now that they were sitting in silence, her words felt like more of a misstep than she’d intended them to be. “You … have some good qualities, too,” Katherine started, tentatively. “You seem to be smart, and you can think on your feet. You’re considerate of others’ feelings. You’re a good friend, and you’re protective of the people you care about. You … uh…” Petrucio sniffed again. “You don’t care what people think of your hobbies. I like that.”