Once upon a time in a small town in sixteenth century Europe, all was peaceful. Until two young men threw two torches at a baker's shop causing it to immediately catch on fire. The two young men laughed and began to run away down a nearby alley. Suddenly a young man named Josh jumped out of a corner with a sword out and stopped the two men in their tracks. With anger Josh said, "You Capulet fiends. How dare you attempt to burn down my father's establishment. You will pay." The two young men then smiled as they took out their own swords they carried and began to have a sword fight with Josh. Josh fought back against the two men heroically but was eventually caught off guard and pushed to the ground. One of the men then held a sword near Josh's throat and said, "Any last words Montague scum?" Suddenly from a nearby window: a masked figure that was dressed in a baggy shirt and tight pants, jumped down on a rope which was tied to the window. The figure swung down and then kicked the two men to the ground. The figure then held out their own sword and in a low voice said, "Leave now!" The two men got up and ran away. Josh then got up himself and smiled as he said, "Again I am in your debt... Riley." Then figure then took off their mask revealing them self to be the teenage girl: Riley as she said, "You already have paid that debt every day you do not tell our family I run around regularly in men's clothes." Josh then said, "Why would I? You are the greatest warrior we have at combating against the atrocious acts of the Capulet family. I'm sure if you told my brother and my father of all the good you've done, they'd accept your lifestyle choices." As Riley began to put her mask back on she said, "No. Better they just give thanks to the mysterious masked man that continues to support their family."
Inside of a castle, a princess named Maya sat in an elegant pink dress as she looked out her window at the town that faced the castle. She looked down and saw a carriage being pulled away by a horse. Maya smiled as she turned her head away from the window just as her father: King Shawn walked into the room. Maya with a smirk said, "Did Prince Lucas finally give up and return to his neighboring kingdom?" King Shawn turned his head and said, "No. He is merely preparing for the ball tonight." Maya then said, "Father. How many times must I tell you, I shall not marry that man." King Shawn then said, "Yet you mean. You shall not marry Prince Lucas yet. I have persuaded him to give you time to get your priorities straight. My daughter Maya, you are at an age where you must be wed. While you may only be my step-daughter, I love you as if you were my own. If I am to pass away one day, I want to be ensured you are well cared for." Maya then stood up and said, "I can care for myself." King Shawn then said, "That is the thinking of an over emotional teenage girl. Listen daughter. Keep your mind open and entertain my suggestions by going to the ball tonight and spend some time with Prince Lucas. Who knows? You may actually enjoy yourself." Maya sighed and said, "Very well father."
Riley sat in her bedroom in front of a mirror combing her long hair while wearing a white dress. Riley then heard a knock on the door and said, "You may enter." Josh then walked into the room and said, "My dear cousin. The Capulets are holding a ball tonight. We must go." Riley raised an eyebrow as she said, "You wish for us to go to the ball hosted by our family's sworn enemies?" Josh then said, "We shall go in disguise. I shall wear fake facial hair, and you... well, you're so experienced at disguising yourself as a man. Sneaking in as a one at this party should be no problem." Riley rolled her eyes as she said, "No thank you cousin. I'd rather patrol the streets like I do every night. Those upper class Capulets believe they can bully so many commoner families every night. And I will not stop my patrol for some party." Josh then stepped closer to Riley and said, "But all of the Capulets will be at this ball. It is the one night you are free from your vigilante obligations. Come cousin. You deserve to enjoy yourself every once in a while." Riley sighed and said, "Very well cousin. I shall attend the ball with you."
In a large palace ball room, countless men and women dressed in fancy clothing danced together, ate food, and socialized. From a nearby closet, Josh walked into the ball room followed by Riley who was disguised as a young man wearing pants, a dress shirt, and a hat that held her hair inside of it. Suddenly a castle guard noticed Josh and Riley and said, "You two. Who are you?" Josh then a bit startled said, "Oh. We're friends of the king's... nephew. Yes, that's it. My name is Mercutio Benvolio, and this is my cousin..." Riley then waved and said, "I'm Ri... uh... Romeo. My name's Romeo." The guard nodded his head and let Josh and Riley walk past him. As Riley looked at the ball happening around her she whispered, "You realize much of this food the Capulets stole from hard working families. " Josh nodded as he said, "I know cousin. All from hard working families except the Montague's who have always stood up against the Capulets. I know our family history. But societal problems can be fixed another day. Tonight, lets enjoy ourselves." Riley sighed as both she and Josh walked over to the buffet table.
Standing on a balcony that looked down at the ball room, Maya stood alone. From nearby, a well dressed young prince named Lucas walked towards Maya as he said, "Princess Maya. May I have a dance with you?" Maya turned her head as she said, "No you may not." Lucas sighed and said, "My princess, you know I have no ill conceived notions towards you." Maya then said, "Of that I am aware Prince Lucas. But I want to marry only for love. Not out of an obligation my father has put on me." Lucas began to turn away from Maya as he said, "You will change your mind princess. Sooner rather than later." Lucas then walked out of sight from Maya's view. Maya then sighed as she looked down at the ball. Suddenly from nearby, Riley walked over to the balcony. Upon seeing Maya, Riley said, "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone else was up here." Maya who had her head hung low a bit as she said, "Well welcome to my miserable hideaway." A curious Riley said, "You are the princess are you not? Maya Jewel Capulet?" Maya rolled her eyes as she said, "Yep. That's me. The royal girl who has her whole life being planned out for her." Riley then leaned on the balcony near Maya as she said, "You sound sad for a lady who lives in such luxury every day." Maya then suddenly began to look bitter as she said, "Luxury that I do not deserve. Let me tell you a secret I no longer wish to hide stranger. I regularly disguise myself and sneak out of the palace often. And do you know what I see? My father's kinsmen stealing from food, riches, and supplies from hard working families. It sickens me." A surprised Riley said, "You disapprove of your family's actions towards even the Montague's?" Maya nodded and said, "I do. And as for Montague's, I respect their family far more than my own. For they fight back against their would be oppressors." Riley then said, "Well if that's how you feel..." Riley then took off her hat and let her long hair fall down her back. Riley then held out a hand as she said, "Good evening Princess. My name is Riley Matthews Montague." Maya's eyes widened as she said, "You... you were disguised as a man?" Riley who looked a bit embarrassed said, "Yeah... I know. Weird huh?" Maya then said, "Well you know how I said I snuck out of the palace often. Well... I too have disguised myself as a young man from time to time myself." Riley suddenly smiled as she said, "You do? Tell me. Do you prefer pants to dresses too?" Maya then said, "Only when traveling. They're far less likely to get caught on things." A happy looking Riley said, "I know. Plus they're far more comfortable in the winter. Although I still like to wear dresses with families and at parties." A smiling Maya said, "Me too. I mean I'm not dumb enough to not realize how amazingly pretty they are." Riley then said, "I know. When I was a little girl, dresses reminded me of flower petals." A happy Maya said, "Me too. And when I got windy, I would dream I could fly into the sky just like the flower petals did with the wind. In fact, do you want to see my favorite place in the castle?" A smiling Riley said, "Sure."
Maya and Riley together stood on a balcony in another area of the palace looking out at the kingdom. Riley smiled as she said, "This view is beautiful." Maya then said, "And feel the wind. You always feel just the right current of air right here. If you put your hand out, it's easy to imagine flying." Riley then held her right hand out and smiled as she said, "You're right. It makes you wish you could just fly away like those flower petals you mentioned." Maya sighed and said, "If only I could fly away and get away from all of my problems in life. Only if I did, I'd be alone." Riley then said, "Well if you ever did, I could come with you." Maya and Riley then turned their faces and then found themselves looking into the others' eyes. The two both blushed and then turned their heads away as Riley said, "Sorry if that seemed kind of weird." Maya then said, "No. I... I kind of like knowing there's someone in the world now who gets me, who understands me, and who is so easy to talk to." Riley smiled as she said, "Thanks. You know I always wished I would find someone who made me happy like fruit does." A surprised Maya said, "What?" Riley who looked a bit nervous now said, "It's silly. It's just... I like to eat fruit often such as peaches. They make me happier than being around any person I know. I just always hoped that one day I would meet someone that made me as happy as fruit does. And now... I think I have." Maya then put an arm around Riley as she said, "Well I'm happy to be your food substitute whenever you want." Riley giggled as she said, "Aww. Thanks Peaches." Maya laughed a bit and said, "What did you call me?" A smiling Riley said, "Your new name. I'm gonna call you Peaches." Both Riley and Maya began to laugh loudly. However suddenly they heard King Shawn yell, "What's going on over there!?" A panicked Maya said, "Oh no. If my father sees me with a Montague..." Riley smiled as she said, "Don't worry. I'll climb down that long vine over there." Maya then said, "Okay but... will I see you again?" Suddenly Riley moved her face forward and kissed Maya's cheek. Maya began to blush bright red. Riley then moved her face away showing she was blushing a bit too as she said, "Count on it." Riley then grabbed onto a vine growing out of the castle wall and used it to quickly climb down. From nearby, King Shawn appeared and said, "Maya. I heard noise. Are you... Wait!? Is that the Montague girl!? In boy's clothing!? She snuck into the party didn't she? How dare she!? Are you okay daughter? Did she hurt you?" Maya who put a hand on her cheek said, "No father. I'm fine. I'm... completely perfect."
TO BE CONTINUED...
*Writer's Notes - So here we are. The end of Act I of this remake of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Obviously this is more than just a retelling. I didn't want to just put Riley and Maya in place of Romeo and Juliet and retell the story. Obviously this is a complicated re-imagining. The first major change was making the war between the Montague and Capulet family more of a class warfare tale. Thus, the Montague family become more like sixteenth century vigilantes now by fighting against the upper class Capulet elites. And of course having Riley disguise herself as a boy was the only way to have her be a part of the war between the families. But obviously the biggest change here is the meeting between the two lovers. Obviously Romeo and Juliet have been criticized for decades now as perpetuating this belief that two strangers can meet and just fall in love. So obviously Riley and Maya had to spend more time getting to know one another. And they obviously had to begin liking each other out of their shared interests, and more importantly: their moral beliefs. Hopefully you all enjoy these changes, and I hope you all give this series a chance as things get more interesting in the next act.
