Even In Death : A Retelling of "Romeo and Juliet"

Act Two

Julia looked at her phone sullenly. She still had not called Joey, and she didn't plan to. Her phone shrilly rang, startling her. Shye picked it up slowly.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Julia? It's Joey," the voice on the other end said.

"Oh. Bye," she said, starting to hang up the phone.

"Julia, wait!" Joey yelled loudly. She sighed and brought it back to her ear.

"What?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry. May I come over tonight?" he asked hopefully. Before she could say anything, he interrupted.

"Great! I'll see you tonight," he said and then humg up the phone.

"Damn it!" Julia said, slamming the phone down. She sighed sadly and went to her closet, looking at her costumes for something to wear.

"Julia?" a voice said, approaching her door.

"Yes?" she replied, scrimmaging through her clothes.

"It's Alisha. May I come in?" she asked, knocking on the door.

"Of course."

Alisha came in and sat at the vanity table. Alisha was dressed in her costume already, as Queen Victoria.

"Just came in to see if you needed any help with your costume."

"Actually, I do. Do you have a mask or anything like that? Something to hide my face?" she asked hopefully.

"No, I don't. Sorry," Alisha said, shaking her head. Julia rolled her eyes and continued to look through her closet. Julia went to the back of it and went to a small, white box. She looked at it and opened it.

"Perfect!" she exclaimed happily.


Roman waited outside, tapping his foot impatiently. He was dressed as Romeo. Mark and Ben were still inside, fooling around with their costumes.

"Hurry up!" Roman said anxiously.

"Hold your horses!" Ben said. About two minutes later, they both came out. Roman took a deep breath and then let it all out laughing. Ben was dressed as Hugh Hefner, and Mark was dressed as a teddy bear.

Mark and Ben both looked at each other, and then at Roman. "Shut up," they said in unison.

Roman stopped laughing and regained himself.

"Thank you," Mark said.

Roman sauntered to the car happily. Mark and Ben were mumbling under their breaths and followed Roman.

"Oh, look at me. I'm Romeo!" Mark exclaimed, mimicking Roman's movements. Roman got in the driver's seat and started the car, ignoring their comments. Tonight would be a night of fun, and night of forgetting.


The part was already started by the time Alisha came down. Julia's mother noted her daughter's abscence and immdiately walked to Alisha.

"Where is Julia?" she asked.

"Putting on her costume, ma'am. Why?" Alisha asked.

"Her date is here," Julia's mother said happily, reaching her arm behind her to produce a handsome young man, about the age of 17.

"Hello, Alisha," the young man said with a toothy grin. Alisha nodded and plastered on a fake smile.

"Hello, Joey," she said half-heartedly. "What are you suppose to be?" she asked, taking note of his abscence of a costume. He was dressed in a suit and tie.

"I'm Evening Doll Ken," he said jokingly. Julia's mother laughed loudly and Alisha rolled her eyes.

"I'll see what's keeping Julia," Alisha said as she walked up the stairs. She was stopped at the bottom step when she saw Julia at the top. She gasped. Julia was dressed in an elegant Renaissance gown, her hair down. She walked down the stairs gracefully, her hands to her side.

"You look beautiful!" Alisha exclaimed. "Who are you supposed to be?"

"Juliet," Julia said, smiling.

Alisha smiled and watched Julia walk downstairs. Joey saw her from a fixed distance and excused himself. He walked to Julia.

"Hello," he said cockily.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, pretending not to see him.

"You invited me, rememeber?" he said simply. Julia sighed.

"No, you invited yourself," she said, walking through the sea of people. Joey sighed and went to her mother to continue their earlier conversation.


Roman, Ben, and Mark had now arrived at the Caper's party. Their were two valets guarding the door. As they walked up, they flashed their invitations and walked in. The sounds of laughter and music filled their young hearts with joy. Two women dressed as Angels walked by the trio. Ben and Mark looked at each other and nodded. They soon pursued the women.

Roman laughed at their audacity. He moved in through the sea of people to look for the refreshment table.

As he was walking, his eyes landed on Julia. For a moment, their eyes met. He stared deep into them. She smiled and then turned around.

He snapped out of his daze and immediately began to look for her. As he was walking to find her, he bumped into anothe man.

"Watch it!" the man exclaimed.

"A thousand pardons," he said, completey oblivious to what he had done. The second man looked at him long and hard. He gasped as he realized who he was.

The second man began to look for someone. He came across a chubby man dressed as the Pope.

"Uncle John," he whispered loudly, beckoning his Uncle to him. The mna excused himself and walked to the young man.

"What is it, Tyler? I was in a very important business transaction!" he seethed.

"But Uncle, Roman Matthews is here!" Tyler said, pointing to Roman through the crowd of people. John looked at Roman and sighed.

"Tyler, this is a party! Time to have fun," he said. Tyler growled.

"His father tried to have you arrested and take over your practice! I will not have him here in this house!"

"He will be in this house as long as he causes no one harm!" John exclaimed as he turned back to his peers. Tyler growled again and walked away.


Julia walked out of the room to the balcony. The moon was full and at it's brightest. The lake below flowed gently with the sway of the breeze. She glanced down and saw two swans in the middle. This sight warmed her heart and made her smile. She was so busy looking into the lake, she didn't notice Roman walk behind her.

"Hi," he said shyly. Julia turned around and smiled.

"Hi," she replied back. Roman was about to start a conversation, but Joey came outside.

"Hello, Julia," he said, pushing Roman out of the way. Roman stumbled, and Julia looked back to him.

"Good-bye," Julia said, smiling. Joey grabbed her by the arm before she could leave.

"I'd like to talk to you, if you don't mind," he said seethingly.

"Well, I do mind," she said calmly, jerking her arm back to her.

"Maybe this will change your mind!" he yelled, and pushed her off of the balcony. Julia screamed as Joey backed up slowly. Roman ran to the balcony and started to dive into the lake. He took a deep breath and dived.