Letters to Romeo

When Ms. Piper announced the names of every student along with their role to make sure she hadn't missed anyone, Julie saw Caleb turn to look at her with a sultry smile. Her eyes fell on her shoes, and she lifted one of them to see if she had stamped on something, that something being the worst bad luck in the entire history. Caleb's face twisted into anger, thinking she was comparing him to her shoe.

Ms. Piper said, "Students who are selected for props can come and stand on the left side near the wall so that you can start working on it. Mary will guide you on what you need to do."

"I am not going to work on colouring something so absurd," protested Mateo.

Mateo Jackson, who had arrived late to the room so that he could skip being part of the play, as like the other students, had been forcefully dragged into this charade and had hoped to be left out of it.

The rebellious boy started to make his way towards the door of the room when Ms. Piper lightly threatened him, "One step outside the room now, is a goodbye to Veteris." She turned back to look at the students who were going to be acting. Mateo gritted his teeth, turning around to come back and stand next to others while gritting his teeth.

"Looks like you are my wife," said Caleb, who came to stand in front of Julie.

"Thankfully, only in the play," replied Julie, and some of the people who heard her response laughed at Caleb. Bringing up the manuscript in her hand, she turned the pages to see who would start the practice first. She didn't have to appear until Atlas Cheverell and Eve Campbell's first scene together was done.

"I was hoping we would get the parts that had close interactions, after all, last time you ran quite soon and went to sit in front of Moltenore," said Caleb, turning his gaze to look at Roman, who stood leaning against the wall and was talking to his friends. "I heard he is tutoring you. You should come to my dorm. I will be more than happy to teach you."

Julie knew this time there was no escaping from Caleb. Thanks to Ms. Piper's play, both of them would be sharing many scenes on the stage.

"Why? Are you a senior topper?" Julie asked him with a straight face.

Caleb took a second before he opened his mouth, "I am getting there."

"Good for you," replied Julie, turning her head, and she started to speak to the girl next to her, who had been caught in this web of detention like her. To save his face, Caleb turned and casually walked away from there.

Two minutes later, Julie slipped away from there and walked near the stage, looking at it. The room they were in was moderately big but not big enough to hold enough audience in the room. It seemed more like a practice room, where they had a platform to act and execute their dialogues.

Feeling someone come and stand not too far away from her, Julie turned and saw it was Roman. She asked him, "What are you doing here?"

"Did your eyesight increase? I thought you knew I was here when our names were called out by Ms. Piper," responded Roman, staring at the stage without even looking at her. It wasn't her, but he who needed a new pair of glasses thought Julie in her mind.

"I saw you before that. At the door," said Julie.

"Is that so? I didn't notice you," Roman finally turned to look at her and noticed her stare. "What?" he asked her.

The reason she was surprised was that she had come to believe that he liked to avoid talking to her in public, which was why she hadn't expected him to come and stand near where she was.

Julie shook her head, and when her eyes fell on the bruise on his face, she asked, "What happened to your face?"

"Got into a fight," came the dull words from Roman. He walked forward, turning around. He placed both his hands on the edge of the stage while his eyes looked at others who were in the room. He didn't explain or put more light on his words and right now looked quite relaxed.

"Does it hurt?" asked Julie, her worry subconsciously seeping into her words.

Roman's eyes snapped back at her, looking at her doe-like eyes watching him. "What are you going to do if I say yes? Going to play nurse with me?" he raised his eyebrow at her.

"Of course, not. I was only curious," answered Julie, and she turned to look the other way. "Why do you get into fights?"

"You didn't answer that fantasy question I earlier asked you," stated Roman, and this was enough for her face to turn red. Seeing Julie's unwillingness to answer it, he said, "No answers."

What was he even going to do with her answer! Julie gave him a short glare until his eyes narrowed at her, and she coughed. She looked at Ms. Piper, who was still speaking to the students who were going to open the play's first scene. Her eyes went back to look at Roman, who put gum into his mouth. Julie wondered if he chewed to rid the smell of the smoke.

But Julie wasn't too far from the truth because chewing the gum got rid of the blood from the mouth.

Roman finally said, "Someone broke the headlight of my motorbike, so I had to repay them back."

Julie looked taken aback, "Who did it?"

"Some fuckers from Sophomore year. I don't like people damaging my things," remarked Roman, and his jaw moved as he chewed, biting into the orange coloured bubblegum. "Have you ever had something that you dearly care about?" his eyes leisurely moved back to look at her.

"A few things," murmured Julie. So Roman Moltenore treasured his motorbike, she thought in her mind.

"Hm," responded Roman. "Anyways, there was a tiff about something, and they decided to break the headlight and cut one of the wires. So I decided to do the same."

Curious about getting the best out of Julie, she asked him, "Did you break something that belongs to them?"

"I broke their front teeths. It made an interesting sound when I flicked them with my finger. Bastards surprised us with metal rods," said Roman as if it wasn't a big deal. Julie cringed at the thought, remembering the pain she had felt when she was young, and the dentist had pulled her tooth forcefully.

In time, Eleanor walked towards where they were and stood in front of Roman. She completely ignored Julie's presence and spoke to Roman.

"I have got the role of Eve Campbell, your fiance," saying this, Eleanor's cheeks turned bright red. Julie could feel Eleanor's excitement that was bouncing from the top of her head. "I somewhere knew I would end up getting Eve's part. I mean how pure is she to accept the man, even after he falls for someone else, who is married and has an affair. I was hoping we could practice our lines together."

While Eleanor waited for Roman's answer, Julie turned to look at him and noticed him watching Eleanor as if he could see through her. Two seconds passed to ten seconds, but he didn't reply. After another five seconds, he pushed himself and walked past Eleanor without an answer.

Before Eleanor would start turning red out of embarrassment, Julie inched away from there as if she hadn't heard or seen anything that had happened.

With Julie, who didn't have to go to the stage anytime soon, it gave her time to read Iris Turner's parts in the script so that she was prepared and didn't blabber incoherent lines. The students who were going to act first were already on the stage, working on their lines and emotions.

"What crap is that? Even my cat can act better than that," scolded Ms. Piper with an annoyed expression on her face. "The line says 'Mr. Gallhanger, I was walking by the street when I caught sight of the Turner's in town! Did you know they had moved and why?' You two, how hard is it to bring in emotion of excitement?"

The student on the stage replied, "I already told you that I don't know how to act, Ms. Piper."

"You are saying the lines as if you are speaking from your grave. Do it again," ordered Ms. Piper while crossing her arms against her chest.

Hearing this, the people in the room broke into laughter. Julie looked up from her manuscript to see the students, who gritted their teeth because of their inability to control the woman, unlike the other students they usually liked to bully.

The next day, in the drama room, after seeing the others acting, Julie felt more at ease that there were people who were possibly worse than her. Ms. Piper had gotten the two students to practice in the corner of the room so that she could see the other student's performances.

"Alright, Roman and Eleanor, you are up next," reminded Ms. Piper.

Julie heard one boy who stood only a few steps away from her say, "How did Moltenore end up taking part in the play?"

"Through detention of course, just like us," murmured another boy.

"Not that. All these years, during this time of the year, he always keeps himself away from detention, knowing how Ms. Piper is," replied the first boy, and he snickered, "He probably got caught by Mr. Evans or Mr. Borrells."

Julie's eyes fell on Roman, who climbed up the stairs where Eleanor was soon to follow him. He came to stand in the middle of the stage, and Eleanor quickly stood next to him, glowing brightly.

Ms. Piper spoke to Eleanor, "As it is your first day, all you need to do is to look at the manuscript and speak your dialogues with emotions and not like robots. But from next week, you will be required to learn your lines and not depend on the manuscripts."

"I have already memorized some of my lines, Ms. Piper. I won't disappoint you," said Eleanor with a smile, letting everyone know how fluent she was when it came to delivering her lines on the stage.

"Well, that's good. Roman," Ms. Piper turned to look at him with a look of doubt in her eyes if he was going to deliver his lines like a robot. Like the two students, who had spoken earlier next to Julie, Ms. Piper was slightly surprised that she had caught him in the fishing net to participate in the play.

Roman raised his hand that held the manuscript.

"Alright, take your positions," instructed Ms. Piper while the room turned quieter than before so that they could watch one of the beautiful girl's and the handsome boy from Veteris enact their lines. "Action!"

While Roman and Eleanor began reading their lines, another student who had been personally picked from the music department to play on the piano started to play the instrument in one corner of the stage. The lights around the room had been dimmed, and the spotlight focussed on the two of them on the stage and the third one spotlight on the pianist.

Eleanor was amid her line, glancing at the manuscript every once in a while to make sure she was saying it right, "... I cannot wait for your sisters to come here to visit. I will make sure they will have a good time here," she looked up for a moment to see Roman's face and ended up pausing to admire how handsome he was.

"The lines, Eleanor," Ms. Piper reminded Eleanor, and the girl quickly smiled at the mistake she made.

Eleanor asked Roman, "Do you know when you will be returning, Atlas?"

Roman had not bothered to look at Eleanor even once, and instead, he read his lines.

"You don't have to do that. I don't want you spoiling your health when you can rest," he paused for a second and then said, "I have will be meeting Mr. Craig to finalize the reports after the soiress. I will see you day after tomorrow, Eve."

Along with the others, Julie watched Roman continue to ignore Eleanor, seeing how their character's chemistry was already falling apart. Unlike some others, who had grumbled over their characters, he was perfect when it came to delivering his lines, and the only missing thing here was the eye contact and expression on his face. To see him in a different light like this was new to Julie, and she noticed his demeanour looked more poise and sharp.

Eleanor replied, "I am going to miss you. I am glad that in less than two months, we'll be getting married and there won't be any need to wait for each other like this."

Hearing this, Julie wondered if Eleanor was reliving her imagination that she had written in the love letter she had asked to deliver to Roman.

"Cut! Good work. Now, let us move to the next scene," said Ms. Piper, clapping her hands because she didn't have to yell. "Roman stay on the stage, at the side. Caleb and Julianne. Where are you both?"

Hearing her name, Julie's body turned cold, and her heart started to beat loud enough in a way that she could hear it. While making her way towards the side stairs, her legs slowly started to wobble as if the ground beneath her feet was experiencing an earthquake.

The stage fright was going to kill her today! Thought Julie in her mind while she climbed up the five stairs and came to stand in front of the spotlight that was too bright.

Someone in the room shouted, "Scaredy cat!"

And then another one commented, "Isn't Iris supposed to be pretty for Atlas to fall in love? We don't want one who is ugly," a whisper of laughter echoed in the room.

"Silence!" Ms. Piper shouted to get the place in order.

Julie somewhere knew this was going to happen. She was more than happy to switch places with another girl who was given to handle props. It was easier to be a wallflower where no one noticed than being put under the limelight and being disliked for no actual reason, she thought in her mind.

"Eleanor, would you-" started Ms. Piper, but Eleanor was quick to say, "No!"

Eleanor cleared her throat and said, "I think Julie is a perfect fit for Iris' character. We would also be breaking the stereotype of the audience who will come to see it." Julie narrowed her eyes. This girl was only telling that so that she could stay as Roman's fiance, who ends up marrying him at the end of the play.

Roman, who stood at the side of the stage without the spotlight focussing on him, had been watching Julie since she had neared the stairs. Her face had turned white as a ghost, and it was apparent that she was nervous.

"Maybe others are right," said Roman from the darkness and Julie's eyes turned to look at his silhouette. "She will probably not be able to pull out the character of Iris, not as good as Eleanor. She even looks average and it would be best to recast someone else in her place."

Hearing Roman's words, Julie felt a slight prick in her chest. She had expected mean words from others, but she hadn't expected it from Roman. She should have known. Even though he gave her lessons, he was still a delinquent.

But did he have to be so blunt!

Whispering started to fill in the room, and Olivia and Maximus, who stood next to each other on the backside of the room, watched Julie on the stage, who was trying to keep her cool.

"I don't think she looks bad for the part," said Olivia.

"'Course, she doesn't. In fact, she looks cute," replied Maximus in a low voice. "When Rome found out that I was going to turn her into my personal treats, he claimed that she was his treat. But he hasn't drank from her yet."

"That is a first," muttered Olivia as they all knew the fondness Roman had towards blood.

Maximus stretched his hands upwards by linking his fingers and leaning back against the wall. He then said, "I think he wants her off the stage."

Though Maximus didn't give a hint, it took Olivia only a couple of seconds before her lips parted in surprise, and Maximus smiled, staring at the stage.

"He's a little possessive over the human girl. How do you think he ended up in detention," added Maximus.

Olivia knew that Roman had been spending quite some time with the human, but she had believed it had only been like a cat's curiosity that would slowly subside. She wondered how far it would go.

Julie turned slightly red and awkward whilst she stood there under the other students' scrutinizing gaze that judged how she looked. She wanted to get back to her dorm and get into her bed.

On the other hand, Caleb defended the role, "I would like to go with what Eleanor said. I think Julianne looks pretty good to play Iris," and he grinned schemingly at her. One person wanted to keep her on the stage to bully her, and the other person was bullying her to get off the character because she appeared to be unfit for it, thought Julie in her mind.

In the past, Julie had avoided signing up for events that would bring attention to herself, which would lead up to being bullied by Natalie and her new friends. Back then, she was a scared girl who didn't want to offend people and have bad blood with anyone. She disliked getting into conflicts, and it wasn't that she had changed much because she still disliked those things.

But if she wouldn't stand up for herself, then no one would.

"Ms. Piper, I would like you to give me a chance to play this part," said Julie to the woman who was standing near the stage.

Ms. Piper smiled and nodded her head, "I didn't intend to give it to others. Everyone's role stays the same. Anyone else having unnecessary input will be turned into a mat on the stage and I don't joke," she said to the students behind her.

Julie didn't get the chance to recite her lines as time was up, and Ms. Piper decided to meet them next week again at the same hour. Walking towards the room, Julie's eyes met Roman's, who stared at her with a hint of glare in them before he shifted his attention to his friends.

He was always angry! And she stared back at him.

But somewhere, his reaction did make sense, thought Julie in her mind. 'Don't worry, I have no plans of taking my payment like that,' she remembered his words.

It was because, in Roman's eyes, she wasn't an appealing person, thought Julie to herself. Else the boy who always had his neck in the crook of a different girl's neck would have cornered her that day in the library.

Maximus turned around, noticing Julie walked towards the door. When their eyes met, he waved at her and she awkwardly raised her hand. He said to Roman,

"Aren't you going to explain what happened?"

"About what?" questioned Roman, tearing one piece of the manuscript page. He stuck the gum before wrapping it to throw it in the bin. His eyes moved to look at the door and saw Julie leave the room.