We Don't Have to be a Tragedy

Juliet’s Point of View

Crush was over, and I was waiting for boos or something. I’m a very pessimistic person when it comes to things like my singing or my acting, even though I love them and I think I’m an okay singer. I wasn’t disappointed, however, when I got a nice round of applause. I smiled and started to hand the mic back to Sam, when he smirked and said, “What’s this? You want a duet? With Romeo? Well, we can’t deny Juliet the company of her Romeo, now can we?”

I stared at him, for a moment, then sighed, grinning all the while.

“Get up here, Romeo!” I said, laughing. I saw the unmistakable signs of a groan, but he obliged and came up on stage.

“Was this your idea?” he asked in a low voice as Sam handed a second microphone to him.

“Not at all,” I whispered back, “but I can’t say I entirely disapprove.”

I planted a kiss on his cheek, and then Sam asked, “So, what song do you two want?”

I was still thinking about it when Romeo tentatively suggested, “Brad Paisley and Allison Kraus, Whiskey Lullaby?”

I nodded in agreement, giving him a gentle smile. “That one used to make me cry,” I chuckled, “it works. I love it.”

“All right, our first love song duet is Whiskey Lullaby. Here they go!”

“ ‘She put him out like the burnin' end of a midnight cigarette
She broke his heart he spent his whole life tryin' to forget
We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time
But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind
Until the night…

He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away her memory
Life is short but this time it was bigger
Than the strength he had to get up off his knees
We found him with his face down in the pillow
With a note that said I'll love her till I die
And when we buried him beneath the willow
The angels sang a whiskey lullaby

lalalalalalala
lalalalalalala

lalalalalalala
lalalalalalala

The rumors flew but nobody knew how much she blamed herself
For years and years she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath
She finally drank her pain away a little at a time
But she never could get drunk enough to get him off her mind
Until the night…

She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away his memory
Life is short but this time it was bigger
Than the strength she had to get up off her knees
We found her with her face down in the pillow
Clinging to his picture for dear life
We laid her next to him beneath the willow
While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby

lalalalalalala
lalalalalalala

lalalalalalala
lalalalalalala…’ ”

I smiled at Romeo, proud of how collected he seemed, and he returned the smile. Then he leaned down and kissed me quickly, grinning and with a twinkle in his eyes. I felt my cheeks heat up and I playfully stuck my tongue out, and then my ears seemed to start working again.

There were wolf-whistles, applause, and I swear I saw a tear in a fifty-some-year-old woman’s eyes. I felt my cheeks heat up even more, but I smiled at them anyway, handed the mic back to Sam, and got off the stage. Romeo whispered something to Sam, then told me, “Hey, send Todd up here.”

I raised my eyebrow and he shrugged nonchalantly. “You’ll love it,” he said simply, so I rolled my eyes and did as he asked.

“Hey, Todd,” I said as I got back to the table. “Romeo wants you up there with him.”

“Dang, Jules, I didn’t know you had a bi loverboy,” Taylor teased.

“Yeah, well…he likes the best of both worlds, I guess,” I replied with a grin, playing along. Romeo and Todd’s friends burst out laughing, and I assumed they used to make the same jokes, but I didn’t say anything.

“You know,” Trish said, catching her breath, “I like you two. You all should marry them boys and hang around us more often.”

I blushed, and Taylor started stuttering.

“This is new,” Sam’s voice came, and people laughed as Todd stepped up on stage with Romeo, “but no, they’re not going to sing about each other. Actually…they’re going to sing about a girl named Hermione Granger…”

I stared, unbelieving. No. Way.