Couples on camera

While the focus of "West Bancroft Side Story" is the love story between Joey and Sonia, they're not the only lovers in the series.

Greg Long and Jaleeah Williams, Sonia's brother and roommate respectively, are the third and final couple introduced in the show.

"They care about each other, they love each other, but they bicker like brother and sister," said Nick Bellmyer, a senior majoring in music education who plays Greg in the show. "But when it comes down to it, they love each other and they care about each other, they protect each other."

In WBSS, Greg is the primary antagonist of Sonia's boyfriend Joey while Jaleeah tries to keep Greg calm.

"[Jaleeah] really likes Greg, except she gives him attitude pretty much all the time," said freshman business major Sarah Fatemi of her character. "But that's just Jaleeah. She gives everyone attitude."

Several scenes show Greg and Jaleeah's dynamic relationship, from what Bellmyer describes as Greg's "confidence and arrogance" to what Fatemi describes as Jaleeah's "attitude."

Despite or perhaps because of Jaleeah's strong personality, Bellmyer describes her relationship with Greg as "tough love."

"I think she supports him, but she gets angry and feisty and she brings out her inner diva, and that shows him that he is not the boss of her," he said. "She will do what she wants and she will stand up to anyone that's in her way, even – especially – Greg, and she'll always be there for him no matter what. Until the end."

Fatemi, on the other hand, finds her character conceited.

"[Jaleeah] thinks the whole world kind of revolves around herself," she said. "Her best friend Sonia is going through a lot of problems, and Greg, being Sonia's brother, naturally cares about those problems, and she just doesn't see what the big deal is, ‘pay attention to me, I'm in your life for a reason,' you know? That sort of thing."

Fatemi added that many of the problems she saw in the pair's relationship were related to Sonia's presence in their lives.

"Sonia's problems cause Greg to not pay as much attention to Jaleeah," she said. "She never really tries to see Sonia's point of view: she just wants Joey to be gone so she can not only have Sonia back but Greg back as well."

Bellmyer agreed and added that Greg pays little attention to Jaleeah on-screen "especially when he's focused on other things."

"She tries to be his voice of reason, but he ignores her. But when he wants attention and he wants to hang out, that's when he expects her to be all ‘oh Greg, I love you,' and then he gets mad when she says no," he said.

He also said Greg's relationship to Jaleeah was similar to his interaction with other characters.

"When he's mad, he doesn't care what other people think – he just does what he wants," Bellmyer said. "He does his own thing. Then when something goes wrong and he needs help, he expects everyone to help him and fix his problems."

Fatemi admitted Jaleeah's actions, though exaggerated, seemed natural for a girlfriend who feels neglected.

"In realistic terms, yes: I'm sure a lot of girls would get annoyed if their boyfriends treated them the way Greg treats her," she said.

Yet these problems do not ruin the relationship, Bellmyer said, but make it stronger.

"I do love their relationship because it's different but it's healthy and it's strong," he said. "It's fun to be the bully, a little bit, the ‘big man on campus' and having all that confidence and arrogance. It's just entertaining and it's fun to have a strong woman by my side."