A/N: This is a modern-day Romeo and Juliet, so I changed the character's names:

Romeo- Ryan Marthello, 16, Junior

Juliet- Justine Crupnick, 16 (then turns 17), Junior

Rosaline- Rachel Smallten, 16, Junior

Nurse- Natalie Martin, 16, Junior

Mercutio- Matt Onlone, 16, Junior

Benvolio- Ben Procter, 16, Junior

Paris- Brian Paris, 17, Senior

Peter- Mark Portland, 16, Junior

Sampson- Sam Crupnick, 18, Senior

Gregory- Greg Crupnick, 18, Senior

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This plot and character's names belong to me; anything that sounds familiar (i.e. the families not getting along) belongs to Shakespeare.

Chapter One

We walked up to the house, and noticed the Welcome Back banner that was hanging above the open doorway. My best friend, Natalie Martin, and I walked in, and found a spot to stand in the crowded living room. After we had both gotten a drink from the cooler, I spotted Ryan Marthello, the really cute guy in our trigonometry class at Verona High School.

"There he is!" I said to Natalie.

"There who is?" She asked drinking her Diet Coke.

"Ryan!" I exclaimed. "Remember, he's in our trig class!"

"So go talk to him!" She replied dancing to the music that was blasting over the speakers.

I nodded and slowly made my way over to where he was standing with two of his friends.

"Hi," I said, "My name's Justine Crupnick."

"Oh, hi. You're in my math class right?"

Yeah!" I said, glad that he recognized me. "Nice party!"

"Thanks," one of Ryan's friends said. "I'm Ben, and that's Matt."

"Nice to meet you."

"You too."

A couple minutes later, a slow song came on and Ryan asked me to dance. After leading me to almost the center of the living room, he softly put his hands on my hips, while I put mine on his shoulders.

"So, are you enjoying your junior year?" He asked as we danced in circles.

"I am now," I replied gazing into his blue eyes.

The next thing I knew, the song had ended and I somehow made my way back to Natalie. "Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed.

"Have fun?" She asked.

I nodded.

A while later, a guy came and asked Natalie to dance. (Later I found out that his name is Mark Portland). Wanting to dance, I turned around looking for Ryan. I found him dancing with Rachel Smallten.

While I was making my way over to the two of them, Brian Paris introduced himself to me, and asked me to dance. I agreed hoping it would make Ryan jealous.

After Brian and I danced to the last slow song, I told him I was getting tired.

"Okay, do you want me to drive you home?" He asked.

"Um…" I said looking around the, still-crowded, living room for Natalie. "Sure. I can't find my friend, and she was my ride here."

On the way home, I found out that Brian is a senior and usually on A/B honors.

"Usually?" I asked.

"Well, freshman year, I barely passed my classes, and then last year I took chemistry. Boy was that a mistake!"

"Why?" I asked feeling myself like him more and more.

"I didn't –"

"Take a right up here," I instructed Brian.

"Okay," he said signaling to change lanes. "Anyway, I didn't like the class, and didn't care about my grades."

I looked out the window as we drove past fields of wild flowers, and then past the local park. The swings were moving slightly in the gentle breeze, and the moonlight was shimmering on the metal slide. We drove past the beach, the small waves breaking along the shore.

Once Brian had pulled into my driveway, we both got out and he walked beside me to the porch.

"Thanks Justine! I had fun tonight!"

"Me too," I replied feeling myself blush.

"Do you want to go out again sometime?"

"Yeah, I'd like that," I replied, putting the few strings off hair that had fallen loose from my ponytail behind my ear.

"Okay, then I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," I said getting excited again.

"Goodnight," He whispered giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight," I whispered back.

When I got inside, my two older brothers were still awake watching TV.

"Who was that?" Sam asked not taking his brown eyes off the television.

"A friend," I replied.

"Yeah, okay," Greg, Sam's twin, said.

"His name is Brian, and he's a senior." I stated giving into my brothers' questioning faces. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

(A/N: This is my first fanfic, so I hope you liked it! Please review and let me know how well I did!)