Dan grabs my hand as we walk back into the lounge. I can’t wipe off the stupid smile that has now been plastered across my face. Dan kissed me! Another Christmas song starts playing: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Dan walks in front of me, spinning me around to face him. “Want to dance?” he asks, staring directly into my eyes. I nod as his arms wrap around my waist.
I place my arms gently on his shoulders, barely touching his neck. Dan flinches, blushing furiously. “Are you alright?” I giggle.
“Yeah, I just can’t handle it when people touch my neck.”
“I’m sorry.” I smile as I move my hands to directly on top of his shoulders. We start swaying to the slow song, and I stare at my feet to make sure I don’t step on him. Suddenly, Dan lifts me off the ground, twirling me around in a tight circle. I look up at him and our lips meet for a split second before I am back on the ground. “What was that?” I laugh.
“I wanted to see those gorgeous eyes again.” I feel my cheeks go bright red again.
“I just don’t want to step on your feet.” I reply awkwardly. “I’m not a good dancer.”
“Neither am I!” Dan laughs as he takes one hand off my waist and intertwines his fingers with mine. He takes a step forward, and I try to follow. “See?” he laughs, taking a step to the left. This time, my foot lands directly on top of his.
“I’m sorry! I told you I’m really bad at this.”
Dan doesn’t respond; instead, he simply lifts me up and places me on top of his feet. I smile as Dan parades around, trying to keep time with the music.
“See? You can dance.” I laugh as Dan whirls in a circle. Dan just smirks as he rests his head on top of mine.
“You’re really short; did you know that?” He chuckles.
“Really? Nope, it never crossed my mind.” I reply sarcastically. He picks me up again so our eyes are on the same level.
“Much better.” He flashes his brilliant smile as we kiss again. This time, his lips follow mine as I am put back on the ground. I grin, as we break apart. Dan dips me back slightly, placing a gentle kiss on my neck.
A tall figure appears, and I stand up as Dan greets the person. “Hey, Phil!”
“Hey Dan!” the man smiles at him. “This must be Penelope.” I blush as I shake Phil’s hand.
“Nice to meet you.” I smile.
Phil leans down so his face is right in front of mine. God, I am really short. “He won’t shut up about you, you know.” He whispers.
“Shut up!” Dan says, playfully punching Phil in the arm. Phil just laughs, running away into the kitchen.
“That’s my flatmate, Phil.” Dan explains. Phil rejoins us, this time munching on a gingersnap cookie. “How long have you been here?”
“Oh, I just arrived. I couldn’t wait to meet her.”
“Well, this is hardly the place to get to know someone.” Dan turns to me, smiling. “Do you want to hang out with me and Phil tomorrow?”
“Or are you sick of Dan already?” Phil smirks.
“I’d love to.” I reply, giggling. For the rest of the night, we dance, sing, and talk. Our conversations flow so easily, as though we’ve known each other all of our lives. Phil turns out to be a total sweetheart, and I hope we become closer. However, at midnight we decide to start heading back home. Dan, Phil and I hail a taxi and ride back to our neighborhood, continuing our conversation from before.
“So, you’re an actress?” Phil smiles.
“Yes, sir! That’s why I’m in England.”
“Well, when you star in a movie I expect to be invited to the premier.”
“Of course, Phil.” I laugh.
“It’s not that far off!” Dan smiles, slinging his arm around my shoulders. Phil looks very confused, so Dan continues. “She may be the next Juliet.”
“Are you kidding me?” Phil squeals.
“I haven’t gotten the part, Dan…” I say, knowing I am blushing furiously.
“That’s fantastic Penelope!” Phil smiles. I have to read through that website. I remind myself.
Soon, we pull up to my building, and Dan walks me up while Phil waits outside.
“Tomorrow? Say, noon?” Dan asks as we walk up to my front door.
“Noon.” I smile, unlocking the door. Dan spins me around and plants a quick, soft kiss on my cheek.
“I’ll see you then.” He grins, going back into the elevator.
“Goodbye.” I call as I close the door behind me, being careful not to wake up Jess. However, to my surprise, she is sitting in the lounge on her computer. As she hears me approach, she pauses whatever she was watching and turns to face me.
“Hey!” she smiles. “How was the party?”
“Fun.” I reply, sitting on the couch next to her. “What are you watching?”
“I just finished up The Hangover.”
“Did you like it?”
“It was hilarious!” she laughs, ejecting the DVD from her computer and placing it back in its case. “I’m really tired though, so I’m going to go to bed now. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Night.” I say as she puts the DVD back on our shelf of movies and walks sleepily to her room. I go to my bedroom and open my laptop. I type in the website along with my name, and immediately find the article the family from the bus was talking about. ‘Romeo and Juliet: What Do You Think?” I skim through it, seeing multiple pictures of various actors and actresses up for the main parts. When I get to mine, I pause and notice that they have a bunch of different photos of me. There’s my most recent headshot, and a few from when my hair was dyed other colors. I read the quick blurb about me:
Little Miss Penelope McIntire comes to us all the way from America. And by little, we really do mean it-- she stands at 5 foot 2 and weighs just under 110 pounds. She is twenty years old, making her the youngest choice on the list. Although she has never been in a movie before, she has graced the television screen in multiple episodes of Doctor Who, How I Met Your Mother, The Walking Dead, among others. She has naturally platinum blonde hair, and piercing grey eyes- they’re not contacts! She doesn’t look like the stereotypical Hollywood girl, but what do you think of her? The guys over here sure like her.
How the fuck did the author find out all this? Unless they got a hold of my resume, there is no way for them to know all of these details. How the hell did they find out my weight? I continue scrolling, trying not to worry about the biography. It’s not like it says anything bad, just some personal stuff I wish wasn’t on the Internet. At the bottom of the page, I notice that there is a space for people to comment on the article. Don’t read them. I try to convince myself. You don’t care what they say.
All-things-lovely: That Penelope girl is so pretty! I think she’d be a great Juliet.
Nevermind587: Does anyone else think Penelope’s hair looks too fake? She’d be an alright Juliet if she dyed her hair, but not one of those ridiculous colors from the different pictures.
Forever-a-lover: I would be OK with any choice other than Penelope. Her eyes are too big, her body looks deformed, and she looks like a fucking five year old.
xxPinkKittyxx: If that Penelope girl gets to be Juliet, I’ll be so disappointed. She’s an ugly stupid American. Those Romeo’s are all too hot to make out with someone as disgusting as her. And “under 110 pounds”? Please. Look at her in the second picture. She looks like a hippopotamus.
Blueschool1992: at xxPinkKittyxx: I agree completely. She’s a lying, fat, ugly bitch who doesn’t deserve to get a part as major as this. I won’t see the movie if she is cast.
I can’t stop myself. I read through every single comment on that page; there were over 4,000. Some of them were nice, like the one from ‘all-things-lovely’, but a majority of them were criticism. They picked apart everything from my weight, which was a popular subject of discussion, to my face and everything wrong with it, to my age. Many people thought that I was too young for the part, or looked too young at least. I exhale, trying to stop the imminent tears that were threatening to fall. So many people hate you. You are an ugly, fat, stupid bitch, just like Blueschool1992 said. I feel two wet trails trickle down my face, and as I raise my hand to wipe them away, I explode. I grab my pillow and cry into it, desperate not to wake Jess.
I run to the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I fall to the floor and rummage through the cabinet until I find my blade. “Hello, old friend.” I smile. Rolling up my sleeves, I drag the metal blade across my ghostly pale skin as those words dance around my head. I can’t stop myself from striking my arm again, this time much high up and a bit deeper. The tears resurface, and I scold myself for relapsing. After the cuts stop bleeding, I hide everything back into the cabinet. I stand up, and see my reflection in the full body mirror. “You’re disgusting.” I say to it. I lift up my shirt to reveal my flat stomach, which still has the faint scars from when I tried to cut there. Now, looking at myself in the mirror this way, I notice how large I actually am. I grab the fat around my stomach, pinching it as though that would make it go away. I release my tight grasp, and notice I have left a red mark. I ignore it, pinching my stomach repeatedly until it is covered in those spots. I wipe off my face and do my usually nightly routine before going back into my room. I throw on pajamas and curl up into my bed. I drift into a dreamless sleep, those words still playing like a broken record through my head.
Hey there! I have a new chapter :D I’m very proud, I just updated this, what... 2 days ago, and I already have the next one?! I’m proud. I have a lot of ideas for this story, and thought this would be an interesting way to turn. I need to have something happen, now don’t I? Please let me know what you think by leaving a comment or voting. Stay amazing guys <3