Chapter 2
Thanks to the unwelcomed interruption, Jen was now running late for work.
"Crap! It's already three!" Jen panicked as she rushed to her job. "Coach Halder is going to flip if I'm late!"
Breaking into a jog, the athletic redhead managed to make it to the Penalty Box . . . just as the clock ticked over to 3:01.
"Masterson!" Coach Halder yelled as he lumbered through the aisles of the sporting goods store. "What kind of runner shows up late to the starting line?"
"I'm sorry, sir. I got held up at the food court. There was this crazy girl who thought-"
"I don't want to hear any excuses, Masterson!" Coach Halder bellowed. "A good employee shows up on time no matter what!"
"But I'm only a minute late!"
"Tell that to the customers."
Jen examined the empty store. "Uh . . . What customers, Coach?"
"Zip it, Masterson!" Coach Halder grunted. "Now, get behind that counter and sell! You're still behind on your monthly quota."
"Yes, sir," Jen sighed as she shuffled over to the register and prepared for another mind-numbing afternoon of work.
"God! Why do I put up with that overbearing blowhard!" Jen exclaimed as she buried her head in her hands. "It's like no matter what I do, Coach finds some reason to criticize me! Isn't it bad enough I had to deal with one wack job today?" She said, thinking back on her encounter with Sierra.
"What was with that girl, anyway; getting us all riled up over some stupid story? As if anyone would write anything based on our lives!" Jen thought as the minutes ticked away without a single customer.
"I mean, it's probably just a coincidence. I'm sure plenty of people have skipped work to go to an amusement park . . . and have friends who give ridiculous, long-winded speeches about playing hookie . . .
. . . and have a boss named Halder . . .
" . . . Oh boy!" The antsy teen whispered as reality dawn on her. "Maybe there is something to that story after all."
Jen peered around the store; not a customer in sight, and Coach Halder was in the back, taking inventory. Carefully, the nervous young woman pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and went to FictionPress. Once there, the paranoid girl did a search for the story in question; 6Teenth Century.
Despite her best efforts, curiosity got the better of her. She picked a chapter at random, and began to read.
. . . . .
The crowd grew in numbers as Lady Catherine continued to read from poor Juliet's stolen diary.
"Last night I had the dream again, Jonathan and I, sitting atop the Pleasure Wheel, our bodies pressed together in a lover's embrace. Oh Heavens! When will my torment cease?"
William scoffed, "My goodness, she was truly smitten with the young lord, wasn't she?"
"Indeed she was," said Catherine. "Nicole, did Juliet ever tell you about this?"
"No, never!" Nicole replied.
"How strange."
"Honestly, I wish I still did not know."
"You don't think she she still has these feelings, do you?" William asked.
Young Catherine began flipping madly through the previous pages. "If she did, it would be written here. One may lie to their friends, but never to one's diary."
As the foolish maidens once again violated fair Juliet's privacy, Lord Jonathan approached, carrying himself with all the swagger of his noble birth.
"My friends, it is official!" The young lord boasted, "I am a genius! Oh, just listen to the wondrous scheme I have concocted . . . Hold on," he paused, spying the book, which had made its way into Nicole's hands.
"My goodness, Nicole, is that Lady Juliet's diary you're holding?"
Nicole's eyes narrowed. "If you dare tell her any of this, I swear I will kill you in your sleep."
"You will hear no word from me," Jonathan laughed, taking the seat beside them.
"What page are we on?"
"Sixty-three, right William?"
"Oh, uh, yeah. Sixty-three." William replied.
Jonathan laughed, "Juliet actually numbers the pages of her diary? And she wonders why we call her obsessive?
"Remember," Nicole spoke, "no one is to ever tell Juliet about this, ever!"
An audible gasp filled the square as Lady Juliet approached, eyes wide, mouth agape, staring in disbelief at her friends' betrayal.
Brokenly, the lady spoke. "I- I don't believe it."
"Juliet-"
"To think that my friends would betray me in such a manner," Juliet cried. "Now, thanks to you, every soul in this marketplace knows the embarrassing details I have kept hidden from the world. How could you?"
Only now did the four look behind them and notice the large crowd that has formed.
Nicole, overcome with guilt, rushed to her friend's side.
"Juliet, I-"
Before Nicole could continue, however, young Sir Edward approached, with whom fair Juliet was enamored.
"Greetings, Juliet. I was just wondering. Did that rash ever clear up?"
Poor Juliet appeared to go catatonic for a moment before bursting into tears and dashing out of the square.
"Oh no," cried Nicole, "what have we done?"
. . . . .
"Oh. My. God!" Jen thought as she digested the words on the screen. "Wasn't it bad enough when everyone in the mall read my diary? Now, there are excerpts available online!
"WAIT! This could all still be a coincidence!" The jittery girl said, arguing with herself. "What else is in here?"
Jen quickly fumbled with the touchscreen of her phone as she chose a different chapter to read, hoping for a bit of salvation from her teenage anxiety.
What she found . . . was less encouraging.
. . . . .
Lady Nicole and Lady Catherine hid in the bushes as Lord Jonathan and Lord Smith carried on with their conversation in front of the local millinery.
"I do not believe it," said Nicole, "It is as if he is looking in a mirror!"
"It seems obvious to everyone," replied Catherine, "everyone, that is, except poor sick Juliet!"
"What else can we do to convince her that she has become smitten with an exact duplicate of her own step sibling?" Nicole asked as Jacob came riding by on a horse driven carriage while William serenaded two young lovers on board.
"Greetings, my friend!" Jacob exclaimed as he sighted Jonathan in the crowd.
"Jacob!" Jonathan replied back as the carriage approached.
Suddenly, Jacob's face became panic-stricken as he spotted Jonathan's doppelgänger, Lord Smith. The young man looked back and forth between the two men in complete shock.
"Good Heavens! What witchcraft is this? There are two Jonathans!"
"Jacob, watch out!" William yelled as the carriage veered on to the walkway. Thinking quickly, William and the two lovers leaped to safety as Jacob pulled the horse's reins to the left, narrowly avoiding a group of pedestrians.
"AAAAHH! AAAAHHH!" Jacob screamed as the carriage slammed into the milliner's wig display, sending its contents flying. A brown wig flied onto Lord Jonathan's head as a blonde wig landed on William, and a red one attached itself to Jacob.
"Forgive me." Jacob pleaded after regaining control of the carriage. "I was seeing doub-GGAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Jacob screamed at the sight of the two men, now completely indistinguishable thanks to Lord Jonathan's new wig.
"Jacob!" Jonathan cried.
" . . . Jonathan?"
"There you are!" Juliet smiled as she approached the two men. "You will never believe what Nicole just said to me." She reached out and grabbed the young lord, pulling him into a tender kiss as the others stood aghast.
"What on Earth did you do that for?" The lord asked as he pushed away from the fair maiden.
"Is something wrong, my darling?"
"Yes, there is," he said, ripping off the wig. "Juliet, It is I, Jonathan."
Juliet's blood ran cold as she realized her mistake. As the shock took hold, the maiden let out a deafening screamed while the others gathered around.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Well," said Catherine, "at least we finally convinced her."
"Yes, and all she had to do was kiss my lover," Nicole said as Juliet began to cry. "Huzzah."
. . . . .
"Oh no! Now everyone will know I kissed Jonesy!" Jen panicked as she began to hyperventilate. "I mean, it wasn't exactly a big secret, but still!
"Calm down, Jennifer. It's not really you. Even if it is based on you, that's all it is; a character BASED on you," she said, trying to center herself.
"LOOSLY BASED on you," the young woman insisted.
"That's right, just a character based on you . . .
. . . written by some perverted author . . .
. . . who's been watching your every movement for who knows how long . . .
. . . without you or your friends ever knowing it."
Jen's body tensed as she looked back at her phone. Against her better judgement, she decided to look at one more chapter.
"It can't get any worse than this!" She thought as she began reading.
She was wrong.
. . . .
The ladies gathered by the lemon stand as Juliet began to feverishly pace back and forth.
"Come now, Juliet," said Nicole, "just tell us what happened."
"Just let it out," Catherine pleaded, "We're here for you."
Juliet sighed, "Alright, but you cannot tell a soul!"
"We won't. We promise," said Catherine as Nicole nodded in agreement.
Juliet sighed. "Well, Jonathan and I were having our usual family squabbling this morning, only this time . . . he saw me . . . naked!"
Juliet paused for dramatic effect, waiting for the shock to set in.
"Oh," Nicole said, obviously unimpressed, "Is that it?"
"Wh-What? What do you mean, is that it?"
"Well, with all of due respect, Juliet, isn't this the third time in which you have accidentally exposed yourself to Jonathan? At this point, what is the problem?"
"She's has a point, Juliet," Catherine spoke, "We have all seen your bosoms."
"Ugh!" Juliet grunted. "The problem is that this time, he saw everything!" Juliet waved her arms about for emphasis.
"Oh!" said Catherine, "That is bad."
"Yes! Exactly!"
"But . . . he's your stepbrother!"
"Oh dear! Oh Heavens!" Juliet began to panic as her breathing became rushed and heavy.
"You're hyperventilating, Juliet," said Nicole, "Just breathe, deeply and slowly."
The two ladies stood at their friend's side. "That's it. Take it easy. Now, who else knows about this?"
"No one," said Juliet. "Jonathan promised me he wouldn't tell the others."
"Well that's good."
"Yes, but I promised I wouldn't tell you two and I did!"
. . . .
Jen's vision began to blur, her hands trembled, the phone slipped from her grip and fell to the floor. "This is a nightmare," Jen thought. "This is a nightmare and I can't wake up. Who wrote this story? How do they know all of this? How long has this weirdo been spying on us?
Weeks? Months? Years?"
Struggling to regain her composure, Jen bent down to pick up her phone. "Are they watching me right now? Writing down my every word, my every movement, my every thought, just so they could put it in some online story and post it for anyone to-"
"MASTERSON!" Coach Halder yelled, causing poor Jen to practically jump out of her skin in fright.
"Coach, I-"
"What are you doing with your cellphone out? You know better than that! Drop and give me twenty!"
"But, Coach-"
"I don't want to hear it! Now get to pushing, or would you rather it be fifty?"
Jen sighed. "No, sir," she groaned as she began her push-ups.
"One . . . Two . . . Three . . . "
"That's better." Coach Halder said as he headed back to the stockroom. "You better get your head in the game, Masterson, or else it's back on probation!"
"Six . . . Seven . . . Eight . . . Oh, I swear to God!" The irate teen thought between reps.
"I'm going to figure out who's responsible for this, and when I do, I'm going to make them pay!"
