Juliet - Chapter 3

At the end of the day, I wouldn’t say I’m overly mad about the whole situation. Just like how I mentioned the computer screen complementing the stickers, Luke’s just as much part of the scenery as the walk-in closet next to him.

I tossed my bag on the floor, hopped on the bed, and turned on my phone. I replied to a text from Abigail and, after surfing the web for a bit, glanced over to see Luke staring at the code-filled screen.

“Whatcha up to?”

“I’m writing some code for use in a competition. I thought it’d go quick, but it’s taking a while.”

“I’m thinking of taking app development as an elective, what do you think? I asked without so much as a glance.

“You took coding last semester, right? Did you do well?”

“Yeah. I got an A-.”

“Did you learn Python or C?”

“C. The curriculum said it’d be Python, but we ended up learning C instead.”

“It shouldn’t be too bad, then. You’ll probably end up writing basic programs like an alarm, which shouldn’t be too hard.

Luke, per the usual, started giving me all kinds of advice while I debated whether to take the class. I then went over the day’s happenings until a thought suddenly popped up.

“Oh, we got a transfer student from England today.”

“England? That’s far. What’re they like?” Luke asked without taking his gaze off the monitor.

“Apparently he transferred from Eton College. I don’t know about America as a whole, but it’s definitely his first time in Kansas. It was amazing, though.”

“What was?”

“Like how high school movies have a chick magnet that gets all the attention when he’s walking the halls. Grey’s pretty good looking too, but not enough to impress anyone. This new guy though, when he came, the atmosphere completely changed.”

“How so?”

“How do I put it… the air in the room was light? Like, now it makes more sense how the word ‘charming’ came from the word ‘charm.’ It’s like he put a spell on all the girls in class.

“Is his name Harry Potter?”

Not being able to help but laugh, I responded:

“No. The one that brought this Wizard of Oz from England to Kansas wasn’t J.K Rowling, but Shakespeare.”

“What?”

“His name isn’t Harry. It’s Romeo.”

Luke, listening with one ear, turned to face me.

“As in that Romeo?”

“Right. You should’ve seen how much fun Mr. Harrison had pairing us up. If you went to school there as well, he would’ve made us into a club for Shakespeare’s plays.”

Luke laughed as he remembered Mr. Harrison from when we were in elementary. In fact, one of my darkest memories was when we were in Kansas’s Juliet, and Luke played the part of Tybalt since his last name, Theobold, sounds similar. Mr. Harrison thought it was a funny coincidence that we were friends.

Tybalt is Juliet’s relative in Romeo and Juliet, a tragic character that appears briefly as someone that hates Romeo and kills his friend, only to in turn be killed by Romeo.

The modern Kansas’s Juliet wasn’t too far off, just it was more comedic. Luke was, and is, very introverted and didn’t like to do things where he stood out, like being in a play. He only did it because I pestered him so hard, so it was his first and last play, but Luke’s mom was thankful to me for getting him on stage regardless.

There’s still a lifelong picture of Luke with his sword, knight’s armor, and sour face still hanging on their wall. His parents still thank me, Tybalt’s wife, for giving them the chance to get that picture.

“You should’ve been there when Mr. Harrison was quoting Romeo and Juliet in front of me. I thought I’d graduated from that kind of teasing back in 5th grade.”

“Just give it a couple of days.”

“Could you not talk about it like it’s someone else’s problem? I even went through the whole English literature textbook yesterday, y’know?”

“Why? To see if there’s any Shakespeare?”

I nodded. Luke let out a smirk as he was half-leaned up against the chair.

“So, was there any?”

“Not a single line.”

“That’s good.”

We chatted about pointless things until, before long, Luke was focused on his computer stuff, and I was on my bed with my school stuff. I laid on my stomach looking at a piece of paper and began to wonder.

Ice Hockey. There’re kids playing that around here?

Choir. I can’t even sing above a 3rd octave C sharp!

Dance. When Luke saw me dance, he said it was like watching an octopus wave its tentacles around in the water.

Math Competition. My life’s wish is to make a time machine and go back in time to kill Newton and Leibniz so Calculus would never exist.

Spanish Club. ¡No quiero estudiar español después de la clase escolar! (I don’t wanna study Spanish as an after-school activity!)

I started to cross out things that I was reluctant to do. Girl’s soccer? I don’t even know the rules. Paper crafts? I don’t have the artistic vision nor the hand skills to do that. Biological experimentation? I don’t want to torture a live frog!

I was discouraged to find out that the only club that remained was the writing class. Mr. Harrison would be happy if I slipped in through the back door, but then I’d have to spend the semester doing something I might’ve been good at, but didn’t wanna do.

I refocused and went over the list again, only to realize I missed Observational Astronomy at the very top.

[After-school activities are every Monday. However, you must be at school every alternating Thursday night from 8 pm to 11 pm. For drivers, permission from a guardian is required.]

I scribbled some stars next to Monday and underlined a few notes. With this coinciding with all the Thursday night partying, there probably wouldn’t be many of us… But, I’d only have other things on Mondays. The more I thought about it, it didn’t seem like a bad choice. In fact, stargazing actually started to sound kinda romantic.

The days quickly rolled by as I debated down to the last minute between Choir and Observational Astronomy. Ultimately, I went with Observational Astronomy, mostly because it seemed easier. I asked a guy named Nate about it, he’s been in it since 9th grade, and he said he’s pretty free with just it every other Thursday.

Abigail thought it was stupid.

“You chose Observational Astronomy!?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you ever had the least bit of interest in astronomy?”

“I will now, I guess.”

Abigail signed up for the Fashion Lab course, which is granted a credit toward Glenfield University. Abigail’s been saying that she was going to apply for Parsons Design School since the 8th grade, and has been doing all she can in the field to earn the credits she needs.

“Whatever. By the way, isn’t today the day you get to show your beloved Romeo the school?” Abigail asked as she washed her hands before leaving the bathroom.

“What a joke.”

I’d never given a tour. That’s something for those with the responsibility, like Benjamin and Bianca, as student body co-presidents. Only Mr. Harrison would think I should.

“Have to say, he seems well off,” Abigail said, fixing up her eyeliner.

‘What does that mean?’

“He had on a $2200 limitied edition Dior shirt,” she said, having moved on to mascara.

“You’re kidding. Are you sure you didn’t see it wrong?”

“You doubt a future Parsons student?” Abigail confidently responded.

I couldn’t hide my growing curiosity. What would it feel like to wear a $2200 shirt… And what kind of person would spend the money for one?

English Lit was our only class together, and even then we didn’t say anything to each other. I wasn’t even sure he’d remember the girl with the unique name who briefly made eye contact during his introduction. No, he’ll remember the name Juliet, but not the girl behind the name.

I had to finish the school tour today, and I hated to drag out things I didn’t wanna do.

I’ve been watching between classes, but he had so many people around despite only having transferred yesterday, enough that it wouldn’t be wrong to call him a celebrity! Mulling my options, I finally managed to catch him at lunch.

“Hey, Buchannon.”

He closed his locker and looked at me. I suddenly realized he might think someone he didn’t know was stalking him, so I continued:

“I was assigned to give you the school tour during homeroom.”

Dang it! That sounded stiff as a board… And I didn’t even tell him who I am!

“i’m Juliet Holiday… And I’m a junior, too.