Chapter Seven: So Long, Romeo
~Amy~
December 11, 2001
Is this really my life? I feel like I'm caught in some sort of cheesy soap opera. I mean, come on. How ironic is it that I'm caught in some stereotypical love triangle? And yet, even as I tell myself how stupid it all seems, I can't help all the conflicting emotions that are raging inside me. Colin and I are growing apart. I realize this and it scares me. True, we are only fifteen, and the most logical thing to do would be to just break up, and move on. It's not like it doesn't happen all the time. Kayla just broke up with her second boyfriend this month on Friday. But this is Colin we're talking about here. Colin Hart, who has been hanging out at my house for as long as I can remember. Colin Hart, who is my brother's best friend in the whole world. Colin Hart, whose parents used to have barbeques with mine. I mean, how weird would it be if we broke up? It would change everything, and I'm just not sure if I'm ready to handle that change. So, I made a decision to try and work things out with Colin. And the only way I'm going to be able to do that is to stay away from Ephram Brown. He's the whole reason I'm having these problems anyway. So, when Ephram came up to me last Monday, and wanted to be friends again, I pushed him away. . . I've been regretting that decision ever since.
Ephram's right. He didn't do anything wrong. I kissed him . . . he was just trying to be supportive, to be a friend. He's a wonderful friend, and only an idiot would deny that friendship. But that's exactly what I did. He was willing to forget the kiss, despite the fact I knew that I had hurt him. He tried to hide it from me, but I could see the pain in his eyes. I hurt Ephram. God, I get sick just thinking about it. And now we have to do this stupid Romeo and Juliet thing. I can't help but wonder just how I'm going to handle that. As much as I want to call him, and apologize, I just can't bring myself to do it. How can I agree to be his friend when every time I'm around him, I can't help wanting more?
I miss him.
******
~Amy stood, fire in her eyes, and ice settling in her stomach. She held her chin defiantly, and refused to let any sign of weakness show. She obediently made a humble curtsey, her thick and royal gown folding beneath her. Her long hair swept the dusty floor, and she wished she had taken the time to braid it. She stood and tried not to gag as the man before her gently took her hand and kissed it softly. The man before her was a product of his society. A perfect gentleman with well bred manners, and a perfectly groomed wardrobe. He was tall and muscled with a strong profile, and darkly handsome features.
He repulsed her.
"Happily met, my lady, and my wife!" he greeted her.
She stopped herself from snapping out a scathing reply. Instead she quietly said, "That may be, sir, when I may be a wife."
The man seemed to take her response as some sign of enthusiasm on her behalf, "That may be must be, love, on Thursday next."
"What must be shall be," she said. Her voice remained strong, despite the panic she was fighting inside. The thought of marrying this man was insufferable. She would rather die.
"That's a certain text," said the Friar, and Amy was once again reminded of why she had sought his help.
"Come you to make a confession to this father?" The Count asked.
Amy bristled indignantly. It was none of his business, and politely told him so. The conversation continued thus, but Amy's wasn't paying attention. Inside she was panicking. How was she going to escape marrying Colin? She had to find away out of this mess. She couldn't spend her life with this man. . . it would suffocate her soul. Would she ever be reunited with her dear, true love? For surely without her sweet Ephram, her soul was destined to be smothered anyway.
"God shield I should disturb devotion! Juliet, on Thursday early will I rouse ye: Till then, adieu; and keep this holy kiss."
Amy was startled back to the present when Count Colin leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. She watched in disgust as he purposely strode out of the Friar's cell. She turned to the Friar, unable to keep the desperation off her face.
"O shut the door! and when thou hast done so, Come weep with me; past hope, past cure, past help!" she cried out.
"Ah, Juliet, I already know thy grief; It strains me past the compass of my wits: I hear thou must, and nothing may prorogue it, On Thursday next be married to this county," the kind Friar said, frowns creasing his forehead.
'Wait a mintue,' Amy thought in confusion, 'Who the heck is Juliet?'~
*****
Amy bolted up straight in her bed, and tried to calm her ragged breathing. Sweat beaded across her forehead, and she thoughtlessly kicked off her covers.
"Oh. My. God," she whispered softly in the darkness. She wasn't big on dream interpretations, and had never placed much importance on them before, but there was no way she could ignore this particular dream. Or nightmare.
She was still fighting down Juliet's panic and desperation at the thought of having to marrying Count Paris, and never seeing her Romeo again. When they had read that scene in class, Amy hadn't paid much attention to it, but it suddenly was taking on a whole new meaning. She understood only too well the emotions Juliet must have been suffering: forced to be with one person in body, and yet with another in spirit.
She was experiencing the same ones herself. She knew the intensity of the dream was probably making her think irrationally, but she didn't care at this point. She could still feel Juliet's repulsion at the Count . . . That count had been Colin in Amy's mind. Deep down, Amy was just as repulsed by Colin as Juliet was by Paris.
Her breathing eventually slowed and she lay back down into her soft bed. She finally acknowledged the one thought she had been trying to ignore.
Ephram had been her Romeo.
Amy sighed. She liked Ephram Brown, and she was no longer in love with Colin Hart. She softly cried herself to sleep . . . her last thought was that she hoped Ephram would forgive her.
*****
Amy's resolution to apologize to Ephram the following morning was wavering in the bright Sunday morning sunshine. After her dream last night, she had been so sure that even though it might be difficult, she wasn't going to be happy until she made things right between she and Ephram.
And broke things off with Colin.
But now, standing outside the Brown home, she was beginning to feel her old doubts resurface. Breaking up with Colin and beginning a new relationship with Ephram was so final . . . and scary. It would irrevocably change the close friendship she and Colin had shared for so many years. It would undoubtably alter Bright and Colin's relationship as well. And there was another reason too.
Shame welled up inside Amy and she felt her face flush as she realized that she was worried about what her friends might think if she started to date Ephram. Colin was so popular, so athletic, so charming and funny. Everyone loved him. Ephram was such an outcast. Amy knew she shouldn't care about something like that, and for the most part she didn't. It was just a tiny worry, prickling at the back of her senses.
Before she could change her mind, she knocked of the Brown's door. Her heartbeat immediately picked up speed, and she had the sudden desire to turn around and run.
The door swung open and Amy suddenly found herself face to face with an elderly woman she had never seen before. She frowned, confused.
"Can I help you, dear?" the woman asked.
"I, um, I was wondering if Ephram was home," Amy said, wondering who on earth this woman was.
"Amy!" a squeal came from behind the mysterious woman, and Delia was suddenly worming her way out on the front porch.
"Hi Delia," Amy said, smiling sincerely at the little girl.
"Amy, this is Nonni," Delia said excitedly.
Amy looked up at the woman, confusion evident in her features. Nonni? She thought.
"I'm Ephram and Delia's grandmother," the woman explained politely, "It's nice to meat you, Amy."
"Oh, you too," Amy responded and diligently shook the woman's hand.
"What's going on over there?" Amy heard a voice she recognized to be Dr. Brown's, and suddenly saw him peering over Nonni's shoulder. Behind him was another man Amy could only assume was Ephram's grandfather. She was blushing profusely. She had only wanted to talk to Ephram. Now she had his whole family staring at her.
"Amy!" Dr. Brown said, "It's good to see you, why don't you come inside."
Swallowing hard, Amy nodded, and followed the throng of people inside the Brown home.
"Ephram, someone's here to see you," he called. Somehow the way he said it made Amy's blush increase.
"In a minute," was the reply.
"There's a beautiful girl in the entrance, Ephram. Get down here now," the man Amy had decided was Ephram's grandfather said. He then turned to wink at her. Amy wanted to die of embarrassment.
His comment got Ephram moving though. He was soon thundering down the stairs, and when his caught sight of Amy, he suddenly groaned. Amy hoped it was from embarrassment and not disgust at the sight of her.
She couldn't help noticing that despite everything going on, her heart still skipped at beat at the sight of him.
"Hey," he said when he reached the bottom of the steps.
"Hey," she whispered.
"Ephram, honey, breakfast will be ready in about 15 minutes. Why don't you and Amy go talk on the porch," his Grandmother said, "Amy, dear, your welcome to stay for breakfast if you like,"
Amy nodded numbly, and obediently followed Ephram out onto the porch. He glanced at her, almost warily, before taking a seat on the porch swing. She sat down next to him.
The two sat there for what was probably only a minute, but seemed like an hour, in silence.
"So, um, I guess your wondering why I'm here," she said, breaking the silence.
"I'm somewhat curious," he said.
"Right," she whispered.
More silence.
"So are you going to tell me?" Ephram finally asked, and tiny smile at the corner of his lips.
"This is really awkward," Amy suddenly blurted out. She cursed herself when she saw his features darken and a frown settle on his face.
"Well, I'm not the one who made it this way," he said softly. Odd, but he didn't sound mad. . . just regretful and sad. Amy wasn't sure which was worse.
"No, you didn't," she agreed, "Look Ephram, I've been thinking. It was really wrong of me to tell you that we couldn't be friends anymore. You didn't do anything to deserve to be treated that way, and I'm really sorry. It's just . . . when I'm with you, I get confused. I don't know what I want. You make me feel . . . beautiful and alive."
"So what are you trying to say?" he asked. Amy could see him fighting the glimmer of hope that had appeared in his eyes.
"I'm saying that . . . " she trailed off. She knew what she wanted to say, but she was having trouble forming the words. She wanted to tell him that she was going to break up with Colin. That she wanted to be with him. That she was tired of fighting the attraction she had felt from the first day she met him. Instead she said, "I'm saying that I want to be friends again."
"Friends?" Ephram said, his face going blank.
No, No! Idiot! Amy was screaming at herself. She hadn't meant to say that. God, why was she such a coward all of a sudden?
"Isn't that what you wanted?" she heard herself whisper.
"Yeah," Ephram mumbled, "Friends. That's what I wanted. I'm going to go eat breakfast. I'll see you later, Amy," Ephram stood up and quickly went back in the house, shutting the door before Amy could try and stop him.
"Dammit," she whispered to herself angrily.
Alone, she started to cry. 'So long, Romeo,' she thought.
A/N: *runs and hides from all the angry A/E fans* Don't worry, everything will all eventually work out. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that chapter, and I would love to hear what you think. I've decided to start thanking all the reviewers personally, because all their positive feedback means a lot to me.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 6:
- A fan
-OnlyHope2007
-crazy4nc128
-trory-goddess (haha - I so agree with you that it is AWESOME when Ephram gets the last word! I love A&E together, but Amy can be such an, ahem, snit, sometimes that it dries me crazy! She totally needs to be out in her place every once in awhile.)
-anonymousthinker
-Faery(Hey - thanks for reviewing : ) I did look over my story, and I have to agree with you that my portrayal of Ephram and Andy's relationship is harsh. I never meant to make it seem like Ephram hated his Dad, though, and I do intend to involve some of their growing relationship as the story goes on)
-browneyedbabe(Hey - In response to your question about why Laynie isn't in the story, the only thing I can say is that I didn't really see the need to put her in. The story is supposed to focus on A&E and I figured Laynie would just be a distraction, especially since Colin and Ephram aren't really friends in this story. Plus, (and maybe I'm wrong about this), wouldn't Laynie still be in Middle School since it's a year earlier? I'm assuming she's younger than Colin, and in that case, I really don't know how Ephram would really even meet her. But who knows, maybe I'll put her in at some later point Anyway, thanks for reviewing : )
-IrishHunny-(Wow, it never even occurred to me to put something about 9/11 in my story. If I could, I would write it in, but at this point I'm not sure if it would even be worth it. I apologize, and I hope you'll continue reading this story anyway : )
-Ditey-
-Abby
Well, I think that's everyone - if I forgot somebody, I'm so, so sorry!*