Romeo and Juliet

c h a p t e r o n e

The east high students crowded around Rickys phone that morning, watching as North High made the announcement that they had changed their musical to Beauty and the Beast. Bunch of snakes is what River thought. They watched as Lily, the girl who thought she was above everyone in their auditions, was stood in a Belle dress acting as if she was some precious princess. The camera soon panned and they saw that the school had also cast their Lumiere and of course it was a boy. River wouldn't have been intimidated if it hadn't been for the fact that he was an exchange student from France of all places.
"He's French, like actually french, I can't compete with that!" She exclaims falling back onto Gina who caught the over dramatic girl.
"It's going to be fine" her best friend said but River noticed the lack of enthusiasm in her voice.
It was currently the weekend and all of the theatre kids had been brought in to school for a last minute improv class lead by Miss Jen. River had been reluctant to actually attend as she usually savoured her weekends but after seeing this video, she was glad she had attended as she needed to beat out her competition. The teacher started them on some exercises before she walked over to River, taking her to the side.
"Alright sweetie, I know you're worried about the competition and that's why today, I want you to go and watch the movie as many times as you can and develop the accent and learn the traits of your character" she tells her and the girl nods as she makes her way through to the AV room. She booted up the computer before she slipped the disk in and connected it to the projector. She started playing the movie and let herself wait until she got to her parts of the movie. She stood up and started singing as she followed the choreography with precise movements. She was not going to let this french kid get the better of her and she had to prove that she deserved to have this role. She replayed the scene at least four or five times before she finished, letting out heavy breaths. She turned around and noticed Mr Mazzara was stood there. The girl let out a scream as she got a scare which caused him to flinch backwards.
"I'm sorry to disturb but what are you doing here?" He asks and she points to the screen.
"Miss Jen wanted me to learn Lumiere scenes"
"River, with all due respect, you know the scenes, I hear you reciting your lines and singing the songs in class almost every day not to mention I see you practising the dances in the halls" he says and she nods.
"North High have a french student playing their Lumiere, I need to be able to compete with that!" She exclaims putting her head in her hands.
The teacher walks over to her before putting his hand on her shoulder making her look up at him.
"He may be french, but unless he has the same passion as you, he's the one who should be worrying about the competition" he smiles and she nods giving him a smile back.
"Thank you Mr Mazzara" she says before he leaves and she goes back to her movie.

After a few more hours of rewatching her scenes, Miss Jen came in and told the girl that she was free to go home and so she packed up her stuff and made her out to find Gina, throwing her arms around her. She could tell that something was up with her best friend but she made it clear that she didn't want to talk about it. The pair walked out of school and made their way back to her place where they would stay up for a few hours just talking things out. Gina telling River that she potentially was going to go home to be with her mom. She tried to talk her friend out of it but told her she understood that if this was what she felt was best, she would fully support her.
The night ended with the pair sat in bed holding onto each other as they watched a movie on Rivers laptop, the girl feeling Gina slowly drift off to sleep.

•••

River hadn't slept much. Once Gina was asleep, she spent a lot of time watching North Highs video, still getting worked up over how good this french kid was. And maybe it was the sleep deprivation or her obsession over the video but she kind of thought he was cute which was an idea she had to slap out of herself as she got ready for the day. The girl put on a T-shirt with a pair of denim jeans before she put on her trainers. She bent down to tie the laces up when she noticed one of Rickys hoodies shoved under her bed. She rolled her eyes as she grabbed it and stood up. Gina soon came out of the bathroom from getting ready and the two made their way towards the high school, wondering what Miss Jen had planned for them today. The pair got into the drama room and River made a beeline for Ricky.
"Hey, stop leaving your stuff at mine, I already have a wardrobe full of clothes that aren't mine" she says as she throws his hoodie at him.
He catches it and apologises as she sits down next to him. She noticed he too seemed tense. Now that she saw, her and most of her friends were all on edge and which made her feel uneasy.
She leaned her head on Rickys knee and felt her eyes dropping closed which ultimately lead to her falling asleep.
"Hey, is she okay?" EJ asks as he notices the girl fast asleep on her friend.
"She spent half of last night watching the North High video working out ways to be better than their Lumiere" Gina sighs.
"His name is Antoine for anyone who wants to know, I did some digging" Seb calls out and they all nod before turning their attention back to the girl.
Miss Jen walked into the room and clapped her hands together loudly which caused River to jump up and act like she hadn't been sleeping.
"Okay today we will be getting in touch with our characters, so the first question I want to ask is, if your character were to live inside a book what would it be and why?" She asks before opening the floor.
A few people make comments before she moves onto the next questions.
"If you could ask your character anything five years in the future, what would you ask, Gaston?" She asks as EJ gets up to answer.
"Trick question, Gaston is dead" Ricky half jokes and River nudges him slightly.
"I'd ask him if he could ever love anybody after Belle" he says and the girl smiles at his answer.
"Lumiere?" She asks which causes her to turn her head as she stands up, walking over to be in front of everyone as she thinks.
She looks down at her hands and then to her pocket where her phone was with the North High video still open. It was concerning how obsessive she was becoming over it. She looked up again and saw everyone's awaiting and worried gazes. She took her phone out of her pocket and handed it to Miss Jen which caused her see what was on the screen.
"I would ask if he was still proud of himself and if he was good enough" she smiles sadly before walking out of the room.
She knew she was good enough, but this whole north high rivalry had completely shaken her and who knows, maybe their Lumiere was really bad and could barely sing but she doubted that. She didn't know if it was the authenticity or the fact that he was a male that worried her but she was sick of it. She has to stop doubting herself so much.
After everyone had watched the girl walk out, Miss Jen told everyone to take a break for ten which everyone gladly did as they walked out.

•••

After their break was up, Carlos found everyone and called them back in. Once everyone was seated, Miss Jen asked Ashlyn to give her take on the previous question which made the girl ask if she could sing a song from the musical to get in better touch with her character. From there, she sprung into song and everyone found themselves becoming emotional as she continued on. She slowly made her way over to River and took her hands, lifting her onto her feet as the pair started to sing together. The group were proud of the pair knowing that both of them were so worthy of their roles. As the song came to an end they made their way over to Gina and pulled her in for a hug making everyone applaud the trio.

•••

Everyone started to make their way out of the theatre room at the end of the day, all wanting to get home eagerly. River told her friends that she would be going to the auditorium so she could practise her song a few more times. Gina held her hands and told her she would see her later and not to overwork herself. She nodded in agreement before she made her way through the school and towards the stage. She made her way onto it before she heard footsteps making her turn her head to see the source. Nini walked in slowly before looking up and seeing her boyfriends best friend.
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realise anyone was in here, I can go" she says not wanting to interfere with her time.
"No it's okay, what are you doing here though?" She asks as the girls both walk towards the piano.
"I finished the song, do you want to hear it?" She asks and River nods eagerly.
The pair sit at the piano and Nini starts playing the song, singing away. River watches in awe as the girl sings through the chorus and verses beautifully. Nini smiles as she hands the girl next to her, her phone that had the lyrics on it. She nudges her to start singing along and so she does.
"Cause I am more than what I am to you, you say I'm pretty but I got magic that you never knew" The two sing through the chorus, their voices moulding together beautifully.
Nini and River might not have been the closest and especially had to be quiet about their friendship during the last year but they loved singing together. They both appreciated the music so much.
Once Nini finished playing the last note, the girl next to her started applauding and pulled her into a hug.
"The song is beautiful, I'm so proud of you for writing it" she tells her and Nini thanks her before they pulled back.
"That's so sweet, and Ricky told me about you being upset over North High but trust me, that guy has nothing on you" she winks and both girls smile.
They soon left the room and made their way outside where the two girls said goodbye to each other as they made their way home.