BEEP BEEP BEEP!!
"Ugh!" I slammed my alarm clock's sleep button with exhaustion. It felt like my eyes were sewn
shut as I tried to blink the sleepiness away. My first day of senior year was here and all I wanted
to do was crawl back under my sheets and wish my friends from Chicago had moved with me.
Living in London was great if you knew people. Unfortunately my parents Pryce and Elizabeth
dragged me to the United Kingdom for a promotion that was important for my father's career, so
I didn't know anyone here. The day I got on my plane to Europe kept playing over and over
again in my dreams like a broken record for several weeks. Waking up in the middle of the night
crying doesn't get you a lot of sleep apparently. Our new house was huge, too big for just the
three of us. When you look at the building from afar, it's appearance looks like a castle instead
of a farm. I decided it was time to get ready for the dreadful day to come as I sat upward in my
bed. I swung my feet to the side and hopped to the hardwood floor. I nearly fell over as I landed
on the cold wood. I was far from graceful and being so clumsy is very annoying when you fall
and hurt yourself all the time. The nice thing about my house was I had my own bathroom in my
king-sized room. I stumbled to the bathroom entrance and turned around to gaze at my pathetic
bedroom. It was nice and big, but there was nothing to fill it up. It looked empty, just like my
social life here. I turned back around and walked into the bathroom. I flipped the light switch
and let out a huge groan. My long brown hair was in tangles and I really didn't feel like combing
through the rat's nest. I turned on the hot water knob in my shower and let it heat up. Within
several minutes the whole bathroom was filled with steam. I lazily got into the shower and let
the water run through my messy hair and down my slim body. The hot water felt nice since it
was always cold here. I got out of the shower and into the damp air. I dressed pretty fast so I
wouldn't freeze to the death. I turned to look into the mirror. It was all fogged up and I couldn't
see my ghastly reflection. I quickly drew a face frowning and wiped off the water droplets. My
blue eyes had bags under them from not enough rest. I quickly blew dry my hair and fixed my
make-up. I went to my dresser and pulled out something casual to wear and slipped it on. I hated
being the center of attention, and being new to school I knew there was bound to be people
staring at me. I walked carefully down the stairs and looked around the house for my parents. A
note was laid neatly on the end table by the front door. I picked it up and examined it.
"Mia,
Have a great day at school"
Xoxo, Mom and Dad."
I crumpled up the note and threw it in the waste basket. I checked my appearance one last time in
the hallway mirror before I stepped out into the cold weather. I walked towards our white barn to
check on Charlie. Charlie is my favorite horse I have ever had. We bonded ever since I saw him
for the first time. It had only been six weeks since I bought him, but just being around him
makes me happier. As I reached his stall in the barn his head popped out.
"Hi Charlie! How did you sleep last night?" I asked him as I rubbed his forehead. "Well, Im off
to school now. Wish me luck! I'm going to need it..." As I stepped away from Charlie's stall he
neighed back in response and I couldn't help but smile. Charlie was my only friend here and I
was grateful I had at least someone I could bond with. My parents and I had never really bonded
like children and their parents are supposed to. I was always left at home with either a nanny or
by myself as they left for work. Their jobs kept them out of the house most of the time. I rarely
ever see them. The most time I had spent with the both of them together was when we moved
here. Most holidays and birthdays I spend alone. It's not too bad I guess since I'm eighteen; It's
like I moved out of their house and into my own. I reached where my Toyota Camry sat in the
gravel. It was an okay car to bring with us from Chicago, but I would rather have a truck. I've
always been a tomboy. I don't like being too girly, I don't know why, it just excites me more
being around guys. I sat in my car in a daze, trying to remember how to get to my new school. I
remembered I had to turn a lot but not really remembered what streets to turn on. I guess I'll just
have to ask for directions, I needed gas anyway. I started the ignition and pulled out onto the
road. I turned the dial to find a good station to listen to. Every radio station people talked about
things and I couldn't understand them, so I turned off the radio in defeat and put on a cd instead.
Music blared through my speakers as I cruised down the winding street. It's hard to get used to
driving on the opposite side of the road. When I saw movies based in London while I was in
Chicago, it looked really easy, but every time you pull out onto the pavement, you want to drive
regularly. It was a long drive to the nearest gas station but I made it. As I went to pay for the gas
I asked the cashier where Putney High School was. He used some slang I didn't understand but
other than that, I pretty much knew how to get to my new prison. I didn't like school and being
new didn't really help me out much. As I walked back to my car, a rusted truck filled with
English guys around my age pulled up. They were all laughing and that's when he looked up at
me. He stopped laughing when his eyes met mine. I darted my head in the opposite direction
and nearly ran into a gas pump. I decided it was best to look where I was going and continued
walking to my car. I thought it would be safe to turn and look at him again, but boy was I wrong.
His eyes were still on me and that made me nervous. I finally reached my car. As I opened my
door; I swung it too hard and the top corner hit me straight in my forehead.
"Damn it!" I muttered under my breath. I heard all of the guys start to laugh and I turned around
to see what they were so amused at. As I turned, rubbing my forehead, all of their eyes were on
me.I felt my face get all flushed as I turned to my car once again.That's when he first talked to
me.
"Are you okay?" his voice sounded like butter when it left his mouth. All I could do was look at
him and nod. I got in my car and shut the door behind me. I angled my mirror so I could look at
the damage on my face. I had a huge bump on my forehead from the door, and to top it off my
face was as red as an apple. I fixed my rearview mirror and turned my keys in the ignition. My
music started blaring through the speakers and it made me jump with surprise.As I pulled out of
the gas station I looked back once more. There he sat looking stunningly gorgeous in his truck.
How could someone look so perfect?He belonged in magazines and movies with his messed up
chestnut hair and pale complection. I drove to my school and sat there in the parking lot. I was
early and I didn't want to try and find my classes yet. Pain shot through my head and it reminded
me of my little incident with those guys. All of them were very handsome. I have never seen
guys that good looking in Chicago. Cars started filling up the parking lot as I sat there in a
trance. I quickly regained my attention and stepped out of my car. As I walked through the
parking lot a familiar looking truck parked in the spot right next to my car. I looked more closely
and saw guys piling out of the cab and bed of the rusted truck. I quickly turned and walked to the
sidewalk. I must have been power walking since I got to the sidewalk faster than I should have. I
looked through my bag and found my schedule. I unfolded the paper and looked at my first class,
Drama. I loved acting. I was excited that I had it firstperiod. I walked to the classroom and sat
down in a seat pretty much in the back of the room. I didn't want much attention drawn to
me. The class filled up and then the bell rang. The teacher quieted the classroom and introduced
herself.
"Hello class, you can call me . I'm going to call roll, so just say present when I call
your name."
started calling off names as I looked around the class. I looked at everyone who raised
their hand and replied to the teacher. All of the people in this class looked like models. I felt like
a sore thumb when called my name.
"Mia, Mia Evans?"
"Present." As soon as I said "present", everyone turned their head and looked at me.
"Oh, you're new here, I forgot to tell the class. Mia, will you please stand up and tell us your
name and where you're from?"
I stood up awkwardly and looked around the class. I stammered a little when I started to speak.
"Hi...My name is Mia. Mia Evans. I'm from Chicago. I just moved here six weeks ago." I sat
down. I knew my face was flushed again as I looked at the ground. She started calling names
again. I wasn't really paying attention to all of the people who was staring at me still.
"Alex, Alex Smith."
"Present." My face drained of all color when I heard his voice. I looked where his hand was in
the air and followed his arm to his face. To my surprise he was staring at me as my eyes met his.
He had a curious expression in his eyes as we stared at each other.I wondered how I missed
him. I looked around the class about twenty times and hadn't seen him before. I didn't really pay
much attention to the rest of the names was calling out. I looked away from his
piercing gaze and started reading the book that was passed back to the class. Romeo and Juliet.
That had been my favorite play I ever read. The teacher finally stopped calling out names and
began to tell us our assignment. She explained that she would pair us up into a group of two and
she would give us a scene to recite in front of the class from the book. I was excited. I was in a
play for my old school in Chicago and reciting things didn't really get me nervous. As she paired
up people, I looked through the bookand read all the scenes she was giving the groups.She
called my name and motioned me to come over. As I got up she called Alex's name and told him
the scene we were doing. My lips were trembling as I was walking over to where he stood
looking at me. I wasn't paying attention to where my feet were stepping and I ran into a chair
and nearly fell over. I regained my balance and stopped by his side. He looked at me through his
deep silver eyes and held out his hand.
"Hi, my name is Alex. It's nice finally meeting you Mia. I thought you seriously hurt yourself at
the gas station but it looks like the swelling is going down."I grabbed his hand and shook it
gently and looked at the book in his hands.
"Oh, our scene is when Romeo first sees Juliet and they meet at the party."
"The whole scene?" I gulped.
"Yea, why do you look so scared?" he chuckled with a crooked smile along his plump lips. His
laughter was intoxicating.
"Well, they kiss in that scene..." I murmured.
"Oh, well, it's okay with me if it's okay with you. It's purely for class." He teased.
I smiled in reply and nodded my head. We practiced several times when called us up
to perform. We weren't quite ready but we both stood up and started walking to the front of the
class. Right when Alex held his book up to read, the bell had rung.
We grabbed our stuff and headed out the door.
"Do you want to practice our scene after school? I don't feel ready." He smiled at me as we were
walking.
"Um, sure...I'll give you my address and you can come over whenever." I wrote down where my
house was and headed to History. All through history I was anticipating for after school. I
couldn't concentrate on any of the material in my other classes as well. The final bell rang for
what seemed like forever and I rushed out of the door. He was sitting in his truck next to my car
when I walked up. His friends were getting into the bed of the truck when he started talking to
me.
"I need to drop off my friends first and then I'll be over okay?" he yelled through the cab.
I just nodded as I got into my car and revved the engine. My windows were down as my music
started playing. All the guys stopped and stared at me when rock started coming out of my
speakers. I smiled when I saw that they started bopping their heads up and down to the beat.I
backed out of the parking spot and drove out onto the street. I couldn't help but think about the
kiss part of our scene. I had never kissed a guy and I was scared it would be awkward.When I
got home I changed my clothes quickly and put my hair up. I wanted to ride Charlie a bit before
Alex showed up. I got Charlie's tack on and got into the saddle. I led him into the round pin to
just gallop him around. I stopped suddenly when I heard a noise coming from my right side. I
looked over to see Alex was standing on part of the round pins fence smiling at me.
"I didn't know you were a country girl..." he smiled crookedly as he walked into the ring. He
came up and started petting Charlie's forehead. It looked like Charlie started to like Alex as he
stroked him. I got off of the saddle and walked Charlie to his stall. Alex walked beside me. I could
see out of the corner of my eye that he was staring at me with a smirk on his face. As I took off
Charlie's tack, Alex helped me put it away.
"Do you know much about horses?" I tried making small talk.
"Actually I do. I have a couple at my place...neighbor." he nudged my arm a little bit.
"Huh?" I was confused and he could tell.
He let out a laugh that surprised me. "Apparently I live right next to you. I knew people moved
into this place but I didn't expect you to be living here." I shrugged and locked up Charlie.
"See you later Charlie." I mumbled. I led Alex to my house and we sat on the couch in the front
room.
"So Juliet... shall we start?" he said casually. It's amazing how he can dazzle me doing the tiniest
things. I nodded and stood up.
"O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand,
And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."
His voice was so smooth. The way he said his lines made me tremble. He started talking to me.
"If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."
I stuttered a bit.
"Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss."
"Have not saint lips, and holy palmers too?"
"Ay pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer."
"O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do;
They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair."
"Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake."
I could feel my face get hotter as he spoke in reply.
"Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is
purged."
He moved closer to me taking my face in his hands. My lips were trembling and my
knees felt weak as I stared into his silver eyes. How could he have this power over me?
He moved his face downwards as he was about to kiss me. His lips were inches from
mine and I could feel his breath on my shaking lips. He closed his eyes and I closed mine
ready for what was about to come. His lips pressed against mine. One of his hands
moved to the nape of my neck , the other grabbed my shoulder and dragged me to him.
His hand continued down my arm, pulling my hand up around his neck His other moved
from my long hair and glided down my body. He then grabbed my waist. He found the
skin at the small of my back, yanking me forward, bowing my body against his. His lips
left mine but he was no where near done. His mouth stroked gently against my jaw line
and down my neck. I sighed with pleasure. I carefully wove my fingers through his hair
and pulled his mouth back to mine. Why wasn't I stopping this? I barely knew him. This
wasn't right. I grabbed enough courage and stepped away from him. As I did this he
looked at me with confusion in his eyes. I gasped for air since I didn't breath for a mere
minute.
"This isn't the way Romeo kisses Juliet." I said out of breath.
"Sorry, I got carried away. I should go..." I looked at the clock and was surprised to see
three hours had passed by and it was already getting dark. I walked him to the door and
held it open as he walked onto my porch.
"Alex!" I called after him. He stopped and turned around to face me. "Let's keep the
kissing to a rated Pg tomorrow okay?" I chuckled.
"Sure thing." he laughed in unison with me. I shut the door and headed upstairs. I laid on
my bed and just traced my lips with my fingers remembering the lingering taste he left.
