We Don't Have to be a Tragedy

Romeo’s Point of View

I had never stormed out of a practice until today.

But really, did Janine (this false Juliet) really have to try to hit on me in the middle of it? In the middle of our individual line-rehearsing half-hour, she walks up and hits on me! Trying to use a sultry tone - which, by the way, I could see right through - she says something about how we could go out to dinner and have a little fun. Good God, didn’t this woman know when to lay off? I don’t know how many times it had been said that I had a girlfriend, or how many times the director had pulled us aside and showed us clips that he’d gotten from my parents of the Romeo and Juliet that my Juliet and I had been the leads in, but Janine just wouldn’t get the picture!

The director just sighed as I glanced over my shoulder at him, knowing exactly what the problem was because I had, admittedly, told him the problem and that I was up to here with her.

So here I was, standing in the middle of my room, pacing and fuming and trying to think of anything but Janine. I couldn’t let myself think of Juliet, no matter how much I was in love with her, because remembering my girlfriend reminded me of the woman who disregarded the fact that I had a girlfriend. Not to mention that I was her junior by several years. Jeez, couldn’t this woman lay off?

I sat down on my bed, putting the palms of my hands against my closed eyes and taking deep breaths, calming myself down. No matter how incensed I was, I needed to go back soon and act completely professional, as if nothing at all had happened and almost as if I’d just felt sick for a minute or two.

I really did feel sick to my stomach, so it wouldn’t be a complete lie…right?

“You can do this, Romeo,” I said to myself, softly.

Juliet’s Point of View

In my second year of Cathy’s class, I was still loving it, and found yet another outfit that Darcy had made and left as we were going through some boxes from the last six years. This one was reminiscent of a gypsy, and when Cathy saw it, it was immediately decided that I would have to try it on. She’d taken that habit with every single one of Darcy’s designs, because apparently Darcy had stuck with the same measurements in all of her costumes. Cathy loved how the outfit looked, and then lamented how she couldn’t think of a play or musical off the top of her head that it would fit in. I just laughed and went to change out of it quickly. The bare midriff it showcased made me kind of uneasy.

“Juliet!” she called after class, and I paused to walk back to her.

“Yeah, Cathy?” I asked, curious to see why she’d kept me back. “Did you need something?”

“I was wondering if it would be all right with you if I sent some of the videos that I took during Romeo and Juliet rehearsal last year to the director that Romeo’s working with. Well, some more, because I already sent a few,” she waved that off, and I flushed. A director of professional actors had seen me act - how horrible was that?! Of course, I guess I wasn’t terrible, since I got the spot, but still.

“S-sure,” I said, the accursed flush still gracing my cheeks. “Go right ahead!”

She beamed at me, and the uneasy feeling in my stomach was quashed. Making her grin like this was worth the minor embarrassment on my part.

“I also had something else to talk to you about,” the grin on Cathy Davis’s face grew wider, and I was almost worried about what she had to say.

“And that would be…?”