Romeo’s
Kiss - chapter five
Brian
sighed heavily as he slumped down onto his bed. He stared up at the ceiling for
a minute before turning his head to look at the clock sitting on the nightstand.
Five minutes before he had to leave for rehearsals. Today they were going over a
seen that takes place at the beginning of the play, where Romeo goes to the
Capulet’s party in disguise and meets Juliet for the first time. He would have
to kiss her in this seen and even though he didn’t mind it, he knew she was
probably raising a fit as she read through her script. His feelings for her,
which he had tried so hard to hide from Trevor, were slowly making there way to
the surface. He would catch himself staring at her every now and then in
classes, or he would over hear a conversation and couldn’t help but laugh at
the jokes she would tell her friends. If only she could see that side of him,
the side that made people laugh, and was a complete and total nut; but she
didn’t spend enough time thinking about him to realize that he was completely
different from what she thought he was, and if had paid any attention to him she
would clearly see that he was crushing on her.
It
was a Saturday, exactly a week before the play and everything was still a mess.
He would have to call her eventually so they could get together and learn their
lines. Brian had by then figured out that Mrs. Rankle would not be his favorite
teacher, she was the one that paired them together after all, and even after an
hour of pleading they were still stuck as Romeo and Juliet.
Jackie
Littrell poked her head in the room and looked over at her youngest son, she
smiled widely before stating that he needed to be leaving for the school. Brian
sighed once more before getting up form his bed and grabbing the keys to the
truck he shared with his brother, thanking the lord that Harry was staying in
tonight so he wouldn’t have to bum a ride from anybody.
***
“No,
now Brian, you have to say it with more feeling. You’ve just been heartbroken,
and your devastated, you have to LOOK the part.” Mrs. Rankle lectured once
again as she slapped her hand together with each word she said, emphasizing
every word. Brian sighed once more and looked over at Steven, who was playing
the part of Benvolio, Romeo’s best friend. Romeo was supposed to be explaining
to Benvolio about Roselyn (SP?) the girl he was in love with.
Brian
shuffled his feet around some when they finished the scene and Mrs. Rankle
pushed Julie up the stairs and next to Brian for the next scene. The kiss. From
Brian’s perspective Julie seemed to be hating every minute of this rehearsal,
which only made him feel even worse. He felt like hiding under a rock. Mrs.
Rankle sat in front of stage and talked them through their lines but when the
kiss came Mrs. Rankle skipped right past it and onto the next lines.
Whether
she was meaning to skip the kiss neither of them was going to argue about it as
they both heaved out a sigh of relief and went on with reading their lines.
After
rehearsals Julie waited patiently in front of the office for someone to unlock
the door so she could get to the phone.
Brian
came bounding down the stairs that lead to ‘the arts’ floor where band,
acting, and art classes were held and out into the hallway by the main doors
which were left unlocked for the students in the play, he glanced over at her
before heading for the exit, he did a double take and stopped for a minute,
still holding the door open he looked back at her.
“What
are you doin’?” He asked Julie as she crossed her arms and sat down, leaning
against the wall.
“Waiting
to use the phone.” She said quietly. She looked up at him; still troubled
about the time they would eventually have to spend together to get this play
right.
“Why
are you waiting on the phone?” Brian let go of the door and slowly walked over
to her.
“To
call for a ride, how else am I supposed to get home?” She said in a sarcastic
tone of voice. She didn’t mean to be so mean but that was really the only
cover she had on her feelings. It was like a mask just there to hide what was
really inside her head.
Brian
thought for a minute, not sure whether he should be so nice, after all she
hadn’t done anything for him. He sighed and gave into the kindness trying to
seep out. “Well…um…I could give you a ride…if ya want.” He started as
he shoved his hands down into his jeans’ pockets. Julie looked like she was
thinking it over as she looked up at him, their eyes locked for a split second
before she turned her head and started to contemplate whether she could be nice
enough to him to end the war going on. She slightly nodded her head yes and saw
the smile grow on Brian’s face. He helped her up from the floor and they
walked out to his truck.
***
“So
you’ve really never heard of them? I can’t believe it. The Kentucky
Wildcats…that doesn’t ring any bells?” Brian asked in astonishment.
“No! I’m not really into college basketball though. I like the WNBA more than any of it. Although I’m really into hockey.” Julie stated, as she watched Brian turned his slightly to give her a funny look like ‘yeah right’ and she chuckled to herself again. Not two minutes once they were in the truck they had gotten into a conversation about sports. Julie couldn’t believe she was actually having a conversation with him; and she was just about to give into the fact that he really was a pretty nice guy. They got quiet again as they stopped at a red light and watched the cars pass by.
“So…we
should probably get together some time and try to learn our lines don’t ya
think?” Brian started as he looked over at her out of the corner of his eye.
She rested her head in her hand and rested her elbow on the arm of the door as
she looked up at the light, praying that I would change right then and she would
be home. She REALLY didn’t want to rehearse THOSE lines with him. Anything
else would have been fine, but not the kiss scene; she would even settle for a
scary movie script in which she’s the dumb blonde that runs up the stairs
instead going out the front door and ends up getting got in the doggie door
while the garage door is being opened, finally trying to reach the outside
world. ANYTHING but that Romeo and Juliet kiss scene.
It
wasn’t that she didn’t like Brian; in fact it was the exact opposite, that
deep down inside she really thanked Mrs. Rankle for putting them together but at
the same time hated her for it. Knowing that Brian was right and they really
need to practice she gave in and shook her head and the car started to move
again and they came closer to her house. She swallowed harshly before agreeing,
“Yeah, we probably should. The play is a week away.”
“So,
when?” He asked as he looked over at her.
“I
don’t know.” She said, gripping the handle of the door as they approached
her driveway. “Why don’t you just call me and we’ll figure something
out.” She whispered as she stepped out pf the car and up to the house before
Brian could say another word.