I jumped slightly as a folded piece of paper landed on my desk with a muted thump.
I glanced around the room until my eyes settled on my boyfriend, James. He winked, making me giggle.
Open it, he mouthed, pointing at the folded slip of paper.
I looked around quickly, making sure that my teacher wasn't looking before unfloding the paper.
Hey, Juliet, it read, I had an idea. You know how our parents hate us being together, right?
I laughed out loud at this, of course I knew. My parents lectured me daily about how James was a bad influence and how much they hated him. But honestly, it wasn't my fault that our parents were enemies.
See, back when my dad was in his twenties, he co ran a law firm with James' dad. Kearny & Matthews Law. They worked together well and were bestfriend, until my dad caught my mom having an affair with James' dad. After that, the law firm fell apart and our families quit speaking.
I continuted to read the note.
Well, now that you're 18--Happy Birthday by the way--we could just leave. I mean, today is the last day of school, we can take off tonight.
That sounded like a good idea. We wouldn't have to continue thwarting our parents attempts to keep us apart.
At the botton of the paper, he had drawn two boxes, one with yes beside it, the other indicating no. Below that he had written, Check Yes Juliet.
I laughed and then picked up my pencil to check my answer.
Suddenly a hand came down on the paper and deftly slid it off my desk and into a waiting palm.
"What do you thiknk you're doing Miss Kearny?"
I looked up to find Mrs. Evans, my teacher, standing infront of me, hands on her hips, paper still in hand.
Cassie, our school's resident mean girl, laughed from across the room. "Read it outloud."
I glared at her, then shot a panicked glance at James. Mrs Evans knew my parents, if she read the note, I'd never get to leave.
"Actually," James began, standing up. "I was just proclaiming my undying love for her and compare our love to that of a fairytale."
Miss Evans turned toward me, rolling her eyes. "Is this true?"
I held back a laugh as I struggled to keep a straight face.
James nodded wildly from behind her.
"Yes ma'am."
She sighed before crumpling the paper and throwing into the trash can beside her desk.
Then the bell rang shrilly, signaling the end of senior year. We were free!
I grabbed my pencial and bag and walked out into the hallway, where James was waiting for me.
"So?"
"What?" I asked, slightly confused.
"You never answered my question."
"What question?"
James sighed, feigning exasperation. "Really Juliet? You are so dense."
"Oh! The question about leaving tonight!"
James just shook his head, fighting the smile quickly forming on his lips.
"The answer's yes by the way." I said, grabbing his hand and towing him to the parking lot.
"I'll be by at 11:45." he said, leaning down to kiss my forehead as we headed off to out cars. "I love you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Dad, I'm home!"
"Shh, I'm busy, later!"
And with that, my guilt about leaving flew out the window. I walked quickly to my room, shutting and locking the door behind me. I began to fill up two large duffel bags with everything that couldn't be left behind, pictures of James and I, my secret stash of money, my favorite clothes.
"Juliet." My dad called, "Dinner!"
I sighed and deposited both of the duffel bags at the botton of my closet before heading downstairs.
I found my dad sitting at our enormous kitchen table, a feast that our cook prepared taking up the entire table.
"Your mother won't be joining us for dinner tonight." My dad said, piling potatoes onto his plate.
"It's not like she ever does." I muttered.
"What your attitude," my father warned.
I rolled my eyes and started shoveling fruit salad onto my plate.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dear Mom and Dad,
I would say I hate to leave without saying goodbye, but that's not ture. To be frank, I honestly don't care, but I figured you guys would call the police if you just woke up and found me gone.
So, now that I'm eighteen, James and I are leaving and we're going to go make a life for ourselves without out parents influences stopping us.
Oh, and thank you for trying to keep James and I aparet, it actually made us closer. If fact you won't believe this, but we're in love. So ha. Your efforts were in vain.
But anyway, I'll send you letters from time to time to tell you how we're going. Not that you car.
Goodbye, Juliet
I looke dup from re-reading my letter when something bounced off my window quietly. James was here.
I slowly lowered both of my duffel bags into his waiting arms and then began to climb down the trellis that was nailed to the side of my house.
"Geez, did you pack your entire bedroom?" I heard James whisper.
I dropped down quietly into the shrubs, then grabbed one of my bags from James. We walked quietly to his suv and put my bags in back, alongside two of his suitcase. I glanced back at my house one more time, it sounded heartless, but I didn't have any good memories associated with this house.
"James."
"Yeah."
"It's just us now. Me and you."
"Yep, forever."
"And always."
"I love you, Juliet."
"I love you too, James."
Four Years Later
Dear Mom and Dad,
It's been a while since I wrote to you two, but I just couldn't think of the words. So here I am at a diner in some tiny little Texas town that we're passing through on our wat to Corpus Christi on vacation. I hope you don't mind, the napkin that I'm writing this on is a far cry from your crisp stationary.
Anyway, that's not what I was writing to tell you. Alot has happened in the last six months. James and I finished college, working part time the whole time. Then we bought a house, a beautiful two story. Ooh! And James asked me to marry him. I'm writing to invite you to the wedding, it's in a church in Seattle six months from now, the details are attached to the back of this letter. And you can meet your grandchild who will be about a month old by then. I'll let that sink in for a moment. Yep, I'm pregnant. Four months to be exact. I'd love to see your expressions when you read that. Anyway, I've finally found my happy ending.
See You Soon,
Juliet.
