Milton stared at the photo Lisa had given him. It was her senior picture. She looked so elegant and mature. Like the day they met. On the back she wrote:
Romeo, oh Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo? I don't need to look anymore. I've found my Romeo. I love you. love, Your Juliette~~~~Lisa Grier
He'd kept it hidden in an old frame behind some signed picture of a baseball player a friend had given him. He hated baseball. But he loved Lisa. He knew, though, that them being together would ruin the wonderful life she had ahead of her. So he wrote her a note. He painstakingly chose each word to make it absolutely perfect. To tell her why they couldn't be together.
Dearest Juliette~~~
Lisa, I love you more than you could possibly know. You are the sunshine in my life. But you and I can't be together. I am hoping you find this note before anyone else does. If I agreed to wait for you, you'd never date anyone else. You'd wait for me, you even said you would. I don't want that. I want you to live your life as if I didn't bump into you at the coffee shop that morning. And don't let them transfer you or anything. You stay at Winslow and finish up senior year. It's all my fault, darling.
Have a great time at Harvard. I am proud of you, my Juliette. You deserve more than an old geek like me. Get a young guy. I will always love you, and I know you'll have a great life. Be all you can. because you could be great. I know you'll do wonderful things.
Goodbye, my goddess, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. You are beautiful and wonderful and so intelligent....This is just something I have to do.
Love Always,
Your Romeo
Milton Buttle
And Milton tipped his head back and downed the glass of water that he was holding. Of course it wasn't pure water. He gripped Lisa's picture and an envelope marked Juliette and stared at Lisa's sweet face. He began to fall. He could feel his heart slowing down and soon he was gone.