We Don't Have to be a Tragedy

Romeo’s Point of View

“Romeo!” Mom hissed at me as she was passing. She straightened my costume, then said softly, “Try to calm her down, please! Just a little bit? She always seems more at ease with you.”

I flushed, but Mom didn’t notice as I said, “Sure, I’ll try.”

“Thanks,” she patted my shoulder and rushed off to help the nurse with her own costume.

I took a breath and walked over to Juliet, where she fidgeted restlessly while peeking out at the crowd. I peered over her shoulder without her noticing and realized that Todd and Taylor were sitting in the center of the front row. I took a breath and placed my hand on Juliet’s shoulder, causing her to jump.

“Breathe in,” I said, and she did, “two, three, four, five, six, seven…now, breathe out, two, three, four, five, six, seven…”

She did, and then again, before laughing. “My music teacher used to use this exercise.”

I grinned at her as she looked up at me. “My drama teacher always said it was a good exercise for any type of performing arts.” I shrugged. “It worked, right?”

“For now,” she sighed, glancing out again. “I don’t know how much longer it’s going to last, though!”

I turned her to look at me. “Breathe in, two, three, four…” we went through the exercise four more times, and then I said, “Just don’t worry about it. You’ll do fine! You always do. In every, single practice! You’ve made less mistakes than I have, you know.”

She laughed, “Because you have to act like a lovestruck fool!”

“Act?” I waggled my eyebrows, and she just laughed at me, but I would’ve sworn I saw her cheeks (under her light makeup) flush.

“Hush, hush!” I heard Juliet’s Mom call in a stage whisper. “Now, we begin in five minutes. Get ready!”

Juliet tensed up, so I sighed and kind of massaged her shoulders. She was shocked at first, then she glanced at me and did the whole breathing tip and seemed to calm down. Mom nodded at me from adjusting Rob’s costume, and I nodded back. Juliet’s shoulders rose and fell with each of the deep breaths she took, and somehow this made my few nerves calm as well.

Juliet’s Point of View

Romeo’s shoulder massage was oddly very relaxing and I couldn’t help but grow calmer. To add to this, I also did the little breathing exercise, which helped immensely…though not as much as a massage from Romeo’s hands!

Romeo.

Is giving me a massage.

As much as it was making my heart race, it was still oddly soothing.

“Okay, everyone, we start!” Cathy stage-whispered, as Mom went to do the play introduction. Dad and Paul were our spotlight guys.

I sighed, then whispered a, “Thanks,” to Romeo.

“No problem,” he whispered back, “anytime.”

But that was all the talking we got to do. The play was starting…and yet, I was oddly remaining calm.

The effect that Romeo - not only as the Romeo in the play, but as himself - had on me was amazing. It was as if I was walking on air, floating through lines. Backstage, if one of us was entering and one leaving, he would whisper words of encouragement.

If I got nervous, I would do the breathing exercise that he had reintroduced me to, and I would be calm once more. And if that didn’t work, I had only to remember the feeling of his hands on my shoulders to be calm. It was extraordinary, really, what this one young man could do to me. After all, I had never been really enthusiastic about trying out for plays, because I was unsure of my acting ability, whereas musicals were always attempted. But this one young man gave me enough confidence to stand out on stage, and shine.

In Cathy’s words from her blog, not mine.

Except she didn’t go on about the effect that Romeo had on me. Just about the ‘chemistry’ we had. I’d give anything for real ‘chemistry’.

And that is not a good train of thought as the first kiss passes in the play. I manage to pull myself together, but every other thought I have is of Romeo. Of course, I’m used to this, but it’s disconcerting in the middle of a performance. Strange enough, though, when both of us are on the stage, I feel as though I’m floating and I don’t know why. I think he’s got this aura about him that makes me be a better actress, somehow.

Act III passes, then Act IV, and then…we’re halfway through Act V. I can’t believe it.

The fight in the graveyard. The kiss of Romeo’s placed on my supposedly cold, dead lips. His lines, his ‘death.’ My waking up. My lines.

“Oh, happy dagger!”

Then, the end of the first performance.

We all came onstage and performed our bows, my cheeks growing redder and redder at an alarming rate and I can feel their warmth.

Then we go backstage, and immediately, surprisingly, I’m swept into a bear hug.

“You did great!”

“I…um…well, thanks…” I managed to murmur, hugging back gently.

Romeo’s Point of View

I couldn’t help it.

She was brilliant on stage!

After, I just…I don’t know what got into me. I ran right to her and swept her into the largest bear hug I’ve ever given, I’m sure. And then, she kind of looked up at me, and I knew she was blushing. And I didn’t know whether it was because I was hugging her, because I’d told her she’d been great, or because of the applause, but it made her even more beautiful than she always is.

And I kissed her.

It’s as simple as that - I kissed Juliet.

And it wasn’t in the play.