Ask Juliet

~ Chapter One ~

“C’mon, Maddie! I won’t ask you for anything ever again. Please, please, please, please!” begged my best friend, Bailey Johnson, her long, fiery red curls swaying from side to side.

“That’s what you said last time when you asked me to do your book report on Jane Eyre for you. The next day, you borrowed my new cashmere sweater,” Maddie pointed out wryly. “Your track record speaks for itself.”

“But, Spencer Adams had asked out on a date. I needed to look my best! And, you love Charlotte Bronte.”

“That’s not the point. I’m always doing stuff for you, and you never return the favor,” complained Maddie. “Besides, I don’t know anything about romance- or giving advice. How am I supposed to write your Ask Juliet column?”

“It’s not like any of the problems require actual thought. They’re all really, really stupid,” Bailey explained. “It will take you a maximum of ten minutes. Then, you tell Mr. Freeman that you’re finished, and he’ll deal with the rest. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.”

Maddie sighed. “Why can’t you just do it if it only takes ten minutes?”

“I’m really behind in math. Four months behind. My teacher says if I don’t attend his one-hour help session after school, and meet with a tutor three times a week, I’ll fail,” her peppy expression turned forlorn. “You know how my Mom has been since Dad left. If I fail, she’ll ground me and I won’t be allowed to go on any dates with Spencer.”

Bailey’s jade coloured eyes were welling up with tears and Maddie shook her head in defeat. “Fine, fine, fine. If I screw up, it’s totally not my fault.”

The taller girl jumped up and down excitedly, and pulled her friend into a tight hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are the best friend in the history of the world.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Maddie checked the time on her cell phone, and said, “I’ve got to go to English.”

“And, I have to go to Bio,” her face contorted into a grimace. “I’ll text you after my review session. Maybe if I have time after tutoring, we can hang out.”

Maddie nodded, waved, and walked to her class. Her lips curved into a frown as she entered the classroom. On top of the desk in front of hers, occupied by Chris Mackenzie, sat Natalie Lancaster, leader of the in crowd. The two were talking about some party they had gone to on the weekend.

Mentally, Maddie shook her head. The only reason Natalie and her crew spoke to Chris was because his father their English teacher, and they would be failing his class was it not for their conspicuous schmoozing.

Most terribly of all was that, outside of class, they paid him no heed. As a result, Chris followed behind them like a devoted puppy, unaware of his own insignificance. It was a true shame, considering he was kind, and was continuously making intelligent remarks.

A few minutes after Maddie had taken her seat, Mr. Mackenzie entered the room, forcing Natalie to return to her own seat at the back, and ending hers and Chris’ conversation.

“Good afternoon, class. I hope you all had an excellent weekend,” greeted the teacher. “Please take out the rough copies of your essays on Romeo and Juliet. Today you will peer edit.”

“Do we get to pick our own partners?” asked a student from the back of the classroom.

“I will assign your partners.” Quickly and efficiently, he paired up the class.

After being paired up with Maddie, Chris turned around in his seat, and smiled at her, his cerulean eyes kind. “Hey Maddie.”

“Hey,” she replied, rather nervously. Her experience talking to boys was next to none.

“Hey guys!” cut in Natalie breezily. “Mr. MacMac said I could join this group since Brittany’s away and we don’t have enough people.”

Chris turned his smile to her. “Great.”

She took a seat at the empty desk next to Maddie. “Did either of you guys actually finish it? I was so smashed this weekend that I didn’t have time.”

“No, I didn’t,” admitted Chris guiltily. “I was going to yesterday, but my charity event ran later than expected.”

“Awesome. We can make it look like we’re working, and just chill instead.”

“Um, I actually finished mine,” Maddie said, rather hesitantly. “But, my mom’s a writer, so it doesn’t need much editing, anyway.”

Under her breath, so Chris wouldn’t hear, Natalie muttered, “Nerd.”

“Why don’t you read yours to us?” suggested Chris. “That way we’ll actually be doing “

“Sure.” She began to read her essay, which outlined the reasons why the whole story was completely irrational, from their first falling in love, to their deaths at the end. After Maddie finished reading, she bit her lip, unsure what their reactions would be.

“How can you say such a thing?” questioned Natalie, her eyes wide. “Romeo and Juliet is, like, the best, and most romantic story ever. Who would want to be alive when their lover is dead?”

“Um, Juliet wasn’t actually dead. It was stupid of Romeo to kill himself without checking first.”

“Still,” she protested. “Even dying for the possibility of your loved one’s death is just so romantic! Isn’t it, Chris?”

He shook his head. “I think it would be rather hypocritical. If I died, I would want my loved one to go on with her life. Just because I’m dead, doesn’t mean she should be too. I expect, did she love me enough; her feelings would be the same. Although, I would certainly die if it in doing so I would save her life.”

Natalie sighed, and fake punched him in the arm. “You are so insensitive, Chris! To think you could go on living without your soul mate! I never, ever could!” At this, Maddie inwardly rolled an eye. If everything Natalie whispered to Brittany during second period French class was true, the former’s soul mate changed every week.

The subject quickly changed to whether the group should study at Natalie’s house or the Purple Llama café. Maddie was forced to bear the tedium of hearing about an event that she herself was not invited to.

Comments are welcomed!