We Don't Have to be a Tragedy

The honest-to-goodness truth of the matter…

I was dead scared of walking out of that dressing room. After all, I can hear Cathy (Professor Davis) talking to another person, and she’s calling her ‘Darcy’ and ‘Darcy’ made the dress I’m in and I’m so nervous that I’m undoubtedly starting to ramble on and on and on and okay I’m stopping.

“Okay, Jules,” I whispered to myself. “It’s just a dress. I’ve got it.”

“Juliet! Are you done?” Professor Davis’ voice called, and I jerked to.

“Y-yes!” I called back, taking a deep breath. And I went and pushed the door open, before my burst of courage failed me.

I held my eyes closed as silence greeted my ears.

“Turn around slowly please,” a soft, unrecognizable voice said. I did as I’d been bid, turning slowly in a circle and stopping when I’d gone all the way around. My eyes were still closed. “You were right, Professor Davis,” the voice breathed. “It is a perfect fit.”

“I told you! And, I told Juliet too, didn’t I?”

“Y-yes,” I managed quietly.

“You can open your eyes, Juliet! Everything’s okay!” Professor Davis chuckled.

“I have the feeling I’m being stared at,” I mumbled, “and it makes me nervous.”

There was a rumble of laughter.

“It’s okay.” the other voice said. “It’s a look of admiration.” I could sense the laughter in her voice.

“I…I think eyes closed works.”

“Oh, come on Juliet!” Professor Davis laughed. “We won’t eat you!”

“I don’t know, some people could be getting ravenous,” I murmured. “Isn’t it getting close to lunch? I’d rather not be the main course. Even if they’re just feasting with their eyes…it still makes me nervous. It makes me even more nervous, actually.”

“You can open your eyes, Juliet,” I heard Romeo’s chuckle, “we all promise not to eat you. Right, guys?”

“Right!” came the chorus from the class.

“Fine…” I relented, opening one eye to peek first, then opening the other. “Happy now?”

“Very!” Professor Davis cried. “See? I also told you that!”

“What?” I asked at the same time as the person I assumed was ‘Darcy’ said “Yes, you were quite right.”

“Mom told Darcy that your eyes would compliment the dress.” Romeo said simply.

“And I didn’t hear this?”

“No. You were too busy changing…or working up the courage to come out?” Now, he said this teasingly, and my cheeks heated right up because he’d hit the nail right on the head…and we’d only known each other for a few hours.

“Okay, so what?” I said, crossing my arms defiantly. He laughed.

“And by the way--” Professor Davis cut in with a smile, “Juliet, this is Darcy, the creator of that dress. Darcy, meet Juliet, the first girl to fit your design perfectly. If I remember correctly, your sketch to start with was also black haired?”

“And blue eyes,” Darcy nodded.

Darcy couldn’t be more than 26, with straightened blonde hair up in a pony tail and hazel eyes that were, at the moment, changing from brown to a greenish color. She had the sort of face that told you she was shy, but she liked to laugh. She was, in her own way, beautiful. I thought that her dress would look much better on her, but I held my tongue.

“Hi, I’m obviously Juliet,” I said, holding out my hand.

She laughed, taking it, and replied, “And I guess I’m obviously Darcy. And I’m so glad my design was put to use so magnificently!”

I felt my cheeks flush again. “Thanks, I guess.” I said softly.

“Oh, you’re welcome!” Darcy giggled contagiously, and I followed suit. Soon we had this class laughing, like Romeo and I had in our first class, but it didn’t last quite as long.

“Okay, Juliet, you can change back now. I think Darcy should be getting back,” Professor Davis had the bounce in her step as she escorted Darcy out. I did as she said and went to change back into my clothes.

Romeo’s Point of View

The tension was tremendous. It was absolutely huge. I wondered, what would it look like?

I’d fetched Darcy like Mom had asked, so now it was just the huge, stuffy silence, the eagerness in the air as Mom and Darcy muttered to each other in hushed tones and waited for Juliet to come out.

Finally, Mom asked if she was ready…and she said yes.

The door opened, and it was everything I could do not to laugh. Not at her in the dress, no! But, Juliet just kept her eyes closed! Her beautiful blue orbs that I felt could almost look into my soul---and I’d known her what? Three or four hours?

After minutes of coaxing and teasing, we finally got her to open her eyes…well, I did. And I couldn’t have been more proud of myself than at that moment, because the minute her left eye opened, slowly, I knew the blue would be accentuated by the dress. Actually, the dress complimented her eyes, and her eyes complimented the dress. Like Mom had said…perfect. In every way, that dress was perfect for Juliet.

I pulled myself out of those thoughts, and Juliet almost scurried back into the room to change to her other clothes. I once again busied myself with examining the racks of costumes, along with the rest of the class.

Juliet’s Point of View

The moment of truth had been satisfying. Now I felt much better, and I knew the dress was the dress of my dreams. Professor Davis and Darcy agreed, too!

I stepped back out of the dressing room to see the class, for the most part, back to perusing the racks of costumes for something that peaked their designers interest. I let my eyes roam across the room as I carried the blue dress back to its rack. I hung it up gently among its fellows and went back to browsing. I wondered vaguely if Darcy had any other creations here.

I guess, that first day, all we were going to do was browse the racks. Professor Davis came back in and strolled around us, making comments and saying, ‘oh, I can’t wait to see some of the costumes this class will design!’

And, looking at costumes was all we did, really. Before I knew it, I was on my way to my piano course, ready to loosen up my fingers after hardly writing anything all day. I wondered vaguely what Professor Victoria Manson had in mind for our first day of class as I walked, and hoped she would let us at the keys.