Something Like Romeo and Juliet

Chapter 5

"Do you know anything about a Jonathan?"

Seven words, so seemingly simple and innocent. One would never expect them to be so empowering in the hands of Daisy Mayer.

One would never expect such an sweet sixteen year old girl like Daisy to be able to, in only a matter of minutes, come to the conclusion that I was deeply in love with my Shakespeare partner, Jonathan.

Her words came at a mile a minute. "But honestly, if you're finally going to start noticing boys, go for Robbie!"

I rolled my eyes and lengthened my steps, moving with greater speed towards the cafeteria. Daisy ran to keep up with me, grabbing on to my shoulders and panting.

"Jonathan Brandt. He wears the same hoodie to school every day, he never goes to parties or dances or any type of social activity. He flunks half his classes and got suspended last year for punching a boy in the face. What exactly is the appeal?" Daisy ranted.

"Robbie, however..."

"Get off me, you crazy person," I said, walking even faster.

"Zara!" Daisy whined, hanging onto me and panting pathetically. "I have PE later and I need to conserve my energy."

Moved slightly by her pleas, I slowed down a few paces. "Fine," I allowed. "But not one more word about Jonathan or Robbie."

"Oh, fine" Daisy agreed, sighing dramatically.

The two of us entered the crowded cafeteria with our bulky floral patterned lunch bags. I smirked slightly at as the usual scene played out.

"Hailey! How's your day going?"
"Love your hair today, Jennifer."
"Good to see you back, Lauren."

Daisy flitted from table to table, greeting each girl with her usual sparkle and charm. In turn, the girls each grimaced and clenched at her words, like their internal popular-girl instinct was going haywire. To see these girls--all looking very identical, with straightened hair, inch-thick makeup, American Eagle jeans, and Juicy Couture jackets--be forced to associate with frizzy haired, homemade backpack Daisy was one of the most strangely satisfying things in the world.

"You're going to give those girls an aneurism one of these days," I told Daisy as we walked away to our table.

Daisy gasped in faux offense. "A little socialization with kids not engineered in the Forever 21 ad agency is just what they all need," she claimed. "One of these days I may even sit down with them at their table."

I failed to stifle my laugh. "That day will go down in history."

"You bet it will."

We placed our backpacks on the floor and slid into our seats at our daily lunch table. The table was in the corner right by the vending machine, and was home to six of the most interesting kids at Roosevelt High School.

"Hiya," chirped Daisy cheerfully.

Daisy--my best friend since kindergarden, a perpetually sunny, chipper person who was everyone's friend. Her extrovertedness transcended all cliques and social boundaries, and as a result she always seemed to know the school news and gossip before anyone else. Usually I was repelled by anyone who could fall under the boy-crazy category, but Daisy's version of it was too hilarious and endearing not to love.

Raeya and Laura Elberts each waved happily, though they didn't say a word; they were probably having one of their silent-code days. The two of them were cousins and best friends, and their favorite pastime was to make up codes and communicate in them. It made for a challenge in making conversation with them, but they were always sweet and enthusiastic listeners.

Just to the right of them was Aleksandra Kerrington, a small, quiet girl widely known as the smartest girl in the school. She spent all her free time studying or reading, including lunch time. She nodded to acknowledge our presence, keeping her eyes on her chemistry textbook all the while.

And finally, the famous Eva Wilbur, whose ruler-straight back made the rest of our postures look atrocious. Eva had a bit of an obsession with ballet. She took classes seven days a week, had a barre and wall to wall mirror in her basement, stretched nonstop, and was infamous for chatting constantly about her dancing to anyone would listen, or at least not walk away. A few months back, she had been sent to Vice Principal James for accidentally kicking Jake Reede in the mouth while practicing what she called a grande battement.

"So, any plans for the three day weekend?" Daisy inquired.

Eva swept her wavy brown hair over her shoulder contentedly. "Ballet and more ballet, of course. Summer intensive auditions are coming up, and I'm going to have to be top-par to get into Joffrey like I want to."

"What ballet is your school putting on this spring, Eva?" I asked politely.

"Coppelia," she responded grandly. "Auditions for that are next weekend, and of course I hope to get Swanhilda, she's by far the best part, but I suppose it'll probably go to Paige. I personally think my fouettes are just as good as hers, but no one can top her pirouettes. Six pirouettes out of nowhere, and en pointe no less. She's unstoppable, that girl, no one can keep up."

I cut in as she paused to breathe. "Dang it, I forgot to pick up my new ballet dictionary from the store today. Do you have yours on hand, Daze?"

"Nope," Daisy replied with a grin. "Looks like we're just going to have to try and keep up without."

"You two think you're so funny," said Eva, shaking her head. "All right, if you've had enough ballet talk, what are your weekend plans?"

Raeya knocked sharply on the table a few times. "Didn't quite catch that," I told her.

Daisy's eyebrows shot up. "Are you silent-code illiterate? Obviously they said that they're taking part in a stick up at Walmart on Saturday."

Laura knocked furiously at the table as she and Raeya collapsed into a fit of giggles. The two of them were adorable.

"So, what about you, Daisy?" Eva asked.

"Nothing much," she replied. "Although it looks like I might have some research to do on a certain Jonathan Brandt."

I nearly spit out my grape juice. "Daisy!"

"Oooh, what's this?" questioned Eva as Raeya and Laura looked up in eager interest.

"This is a classic example of why you should never discuss a boy with Daisy," I responded edgily.

"As a matter of fact," Daisy started, ignoring me, "Zara here has developed a sudden interest in Jonathan Brandt, her partner for none other than Romeo and Juliet."

Eva let out a small squeal. "That is so romantic, Zara. That's such a good ballet, too."

Aleksandra then surprised us all by looking up from her reading. "It's a good play too, actually. It has a lot of weird coincidences, but it's really beautiful usage of poetry and iambic pentameter."

I sighed and resigned myself to the fact that my friends weren't going to let this slide. "You sound like Jonathan, Aleksandra," I commented. "You two could probably outdo the teacher in Shakespeare knowledge if you ganged up."

"So he's the smart type," Eva reflected.

Daisy looked enormously pleased at having drawn us into a conversation about boys. "Zara seems to think so," she said.

I shrugged somewhat awkwardly. "He can keep up with my history references," I accounted. "He knew about John Jay and William J. Sidis."

Daisy placed her hand on her heart dramatically. "I can just picture it. The two of you staring into each other's eyes and avidly discussing American history," she proclaimed. "That's it, you must introduce me to this boy."

"Whatever happened to your low opinion of the guy?" I sighed.

Daisy waved off the question. "That was before I knew you two were soul mates."

I choked a little. "Daisy!" I exclaimed, feeling my face burn while the other girls laughed. "I never even said I liked him!" I protested.

"But you do, don't you?" Eva inquired.

I paused, and was saved from answering by the sudden ringing of the end-of-lunch bell. "I've got to go now," I said hurriedly, gathering up my stuff. "Can't be late. Bye!"

I sprinted off as though being chased by a lion, but in reality I didn't have any actual rush. My next class was just down the hallway, but I had no desire to stick around and discuss the topic of Jonathan any longer.

My sudden desire to behave like an Olympic runner caused me to get to the Algebra 2 classroom before anyone else. I sat down at my assigned seat in the totally empty classroom, feeling flustered and a little annoyed with myself. Why had I allowed the conversation to focus so heavily on Jonathan? Now I had a table full of girls thinking I liked him, when I wasn't at all sure I did. I did know I didn't want to like him; my fleeting junior high crushes had taught me that once you decide you like someone, being able to talk to them like a sane person was suddenly impossible. The thought of behaving that way around Jonathan--stuttering, blushing, babbling-- made me feel sick. I shook my head. No, I didn't like Jonathan. I refused to.

And just telling myself that was going to have to be my biggest defense mechanism for the time being.

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The picture at the top is of Elle Fanning, the actress I chose for Daisy. Because who else could it be? ;)

Also, sorry that this chapter is a day late.