Teenage Misfits

Juliet. Juliet. Juliet. I'm dying to say her name again. It's the perfect name for a perfect girl. Well, not perfect. Everybody has their flaws, but so far she seems perfect. Perfect, beautiful, and exactly the type of person I'm looking for.

Too bad I already screwed up. Seriously, how could a girl like that ever consider being with a guy that's doing community service at a hospital for attempting to steal drugs? I did tell her they weren't for me, but seeing me running from security with the drugs is pretty sketchy. If I were her, I wouldn't believe me either.

I sigh and place the mop in the bucket and look down the dark, empty hallway that's not even close to being clean. I yawn and run my hands through my tangled hair. My punishment includes me having to be here at five every morning unless I'm told otherwise. Today, I was told otherwise. My day at the hospital started at three, and only half an hour has gone by. I sigh as I glance at my hands to see red blotches which will soon be blisters, that's what I get for cleaning floors all day yesterday. This punishment is going to suck.

I silently groan and reach to pick up the mop once more but stop shortly when I hear footsteps and soft humming. I press my lips into a thin line. What is that? I stand still for a few moments, the humming and the footsteps are becoming softer. Whoever it is, they're on the move.

I think quickly. Do I follow them? Or do I do what I'm supposed to do? I bend down and take my sneakers off, I like them but they would not be good for trying to be sneaky. They squeak too much. I leave them by the mop and bucket and swiftly jog down the hall, following the fading sounds.

I stop at the end of the next hallway and peek around the corner to see a dark figure standing by a door. They place their hand on the doorknob and turn their head to where I'm hiding. I shrink back slightly and watch as they look the other way and then open the door and slip inside the room.

I stand up to my full height and slowly creep down the hall and to the door. Will they try to hurt me? I wonder. I brace myself and put my hand on the doorknob. There's no turning back after this. I slowly and quietly turn the knob and push the door open a crack and peek inside.

The person's facing the other way, but I can tell it's a girl now. Dark hair pulled into a messy bun, small frame. She looks weak, but strong at the same time -like she's ready for anyting. She has buckets of paints surrounding her and a big paintbrush held firmly in her right hand. Her left hand is resting on her hip and she seems to be deep in thought as she stares at the wall. I look past her and have to hold back my gasp, in front of her is a mural. It's whimsical, curved lines and dashes of blues and greens. It seems to have a relaxing vibe to it, but what would I know? I was always horrible at art.

"What are you doing?" I jump slightly, my head turning and banging onto the door.

"Ow." I groan and rub my head.

I hear a soft laugh, "Are you alright?" I blink and look over to see Juliet standing on the other side of the room with her paintbrush still in her hand.

"Oh, erm... Yeah. Fine." I mumble slightly embarrassed.

"Good. So, what are you doing here? Don't you have a punishment to be dealing with?" She asks.

I shrug, "I heard you, but I didn't know it was you, and I was curious..." I look past her and back at her mural, "That's really good."

"Curious?" She asks ignoring my compliment completely.

"Yeah." I reply and step into the room, leaving the door ajar.

"Oh, well that explain why you were creeping on me." She mutters and turns back around towards her work.

"I wasn't creeping on you," I blush slightly at that comment, "I was just going to check out who was humming and up at this hour and then I saw your art... Why are you up so early?"

"A lot of residents are up at odd times," She glances back at me, "We get bored during the day and usually when we're bored we sleep, therefore, we either get up early or go to bed late." She pauses and then licks her lips, "If I'm having trouble sleeping I usually come here to work on my art. I'm more of a sculptor, but every once in a while I'll do a painting. I started this yesterday, right before you ran into me again."

"Yeah, I'm still sorry about that." I apologize.

"It's fine, I'm still alive." She shrugs and pushes the sleeves of her sweatshirt up to her elbows.

I nod and watch as she starts to paint again, adding dashes of purple into the mixture of blue and green. "You're really good." I say.

She looks at me, almost shyly, and a small smile forms on her lips. "Thank you." she replies gratefully, as if no one as ever complimented her work like I did.

"Do you mind if I watch you paint?" I ask.

She exhales as she cleans her brush off before dipping it into the yellow and starts to dash that around the wall. "No, I don't mind. It's nice to have somebody to talk to this early in the morning."

"I thought you said a lot of residents are awake in the morning." I reply.

She smirks and glances at me again, "I said a lot of residents are up at odd times. I didn't say most of them are up early, and if they are they're never up as early as I am."

"So... Do you get little sleep?"

"Man, you are curious." She laughs and turns to look at me, "Sit over there, you look like you're about to pass out." She points to a chair that's placed near her work area.

"I'm too curious to pass out." I reply.

"Ever heard the phrase 'curiousity killed the cat'?" Juliet asks.

"You wouldn't kill me." I say and sit down where she told me to.

"How can you be so sure?" She retorts and continues to add dashes on yellow all along the wall.

"You said it yourself, it's nice to have somebody to talk to this early in the morning." I say with a victorious smile.

She turns to look at me, "You know, you're not as dumb as your actions made you seem."

"And you're not as rude as our last conversation made you seem." I laugh.

She smiles, "Sam, this may be the start to the best friendship ever."

"Now I'm really curious. You lied about having something scheduled yesterday to get away from me and now you want to be friends?"

"Our friendship will teach you that I am a very confusing person." She replies.

"We'll see."