Chapter 10
"Uh-oh," Rachel said. She was in her English class, which was, for some strange reason, very dark. There was only one light, like the one that hangs from the ceiling in movies when someone's being interrogated. Rachel had dropped all of her books, and her green "Cedric" notebook fell wide open on top of them all. The majority of the class was gone; it was just her, Cedric, and Mr. Browne, sitting at his desk and looking dead. As Rachel bent down to pick up her stuff, Cedric approached.
"Oh, hey, let me help you with that," he offered.
"No, no! I got it," Rachel insisted, but Cedric helped anyway. As he picked up the books, Rachel made a grab for her green notebook, but Cedric beat her to it. He stared at it in astonishment. He flipped through the pages experimentally, then looked at Rachel. She bit her lip, afriad of his reaction.
"You're 'Juliet?'" he asked. Rachel nodded slowly, blushing and looking down at her feet. Suddenly, Cedric and Mr. Browne burst out laughing. Out of nowhere, Ella and Diane showed up, too, pointing and laughing maniacally at Rachel. Then Delilah and Natalie showed up, and Samantha, and other people from the class, and soon the entire school was in that one room, pointing and laughing at Rachel. Rachel ran out of the class, tears forming in her eyes, and the crowd followed. She tripped on her shoelace. The laughing turned into plain out bellowing.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! was all Rachel heard next.
Holy crap, it was a dream, she analyzed. She put her hand on her forehead and found it drenched in cold sweat. Relieved, but still scared, she got up and got ready for school.
Rachel sat in her english class, doodling absentmindely in her green notebook, waiting for Ella and Diane, her two best friends, to show up. Not only them, but also for Cedric, who she'd promised to reveal her secret to soon. To pass the time, she doodled in her "Cedric" notebook.
"Hey!" Ella said, walking in with Diane and scaring Rachel out of her reverie. "What's up?"
Rachel scrambled to hide the notebook from Diane. "Uh, n-nothing."
"What's wrong, you look like you've seen a ghost," Diane commented.
"Well, when you two scare the crap out of me like that, of course I will." On that note, Cedric and his friends, Eli, Neil, Harold, Jared, and Geoff. Ella began pinching Rachel's skin right behind her elbow, and Rachel waved her off. Then Mr. Browne walked in.
"Class, today we will give out the roles for Romeo and Juliet, no begging for roles, no complaining, and if you do not participate, you will fail this project. Understood?" There were mumbles from the class. "Good. The roles will be placed on the bulletin board at the end of class." Rachel glanced nervously at Ella, and Ella gave her an approving look.
"Don't worry, he totally likes you. Even if whoever gets picked for Juliet is Samantha, he won't like her," she said.
"Oh, that I know. He hates her," Rachel said confidently.
"Uh, stalker?" Diane said.
"We talk, Di. Doesn't make me a stalker."
"Yes it does."
"Whatever."
Now, two minutes from the end of class, Rachel was getting nervous. She had to know who's role she had gotten.
"Okay, class. Once I call your row, you may come up to see the roles. Like sane humans, okay?" Mr. Browne said. "Rachel, your row may come up." Apprehensively, Rachel and Ella, along witht he rest of their row, walked up to the board. "Now remember, no complainging or switching roles," Mr. Browne warned again.
"Yes! I got it!" Ella exclaimed. She hopped back to her seat, clearly happy. As other people walked up to the board, Rachel waited for them to see their role and leave. She wasn't much for aggresivism, so she waited peacefully. As the people moved, Rachel walked slowly up to the board, and much to her pleasure, she had been chosen for Juliet. She turned around and faced Ella, who was sitting in her chair, and gave her a thumbs-up and a grin. She glanced at Cedric, who had a strange expression on his face. It looked like a strange mix of happiness, apprehension, and anxiety. Rachel went to her seat and waited for Cedric's group to go up, which was the last row. The second row went up, then the third, then the fourth, and finally the fifth and last. Rachel watched Cedric's face nervously, and found that he had a strange mix of happinesss and anxiety still on his face.
"I bet you're real happy," Ella said.
"Why?" Rachel asked.
"Cedric got the part for Romeo, idiot!"
"Really?" Rachel asked in unbelievable joy.
"Yes! You didn't bother to see his name on the the list?"
"Nope." Rachel smacked her forehead, called herself stupid, and then just smiled. Then the bell rang.
"Hey, Ray, I'm going, I can't wait around, I have to go!" Diane yelled, clearly impatient and hopping on her toes. Clearly, she needed to pee. Then she ran out, Ella running after her, muttering.
"Thanks for waiting! Yeah. Just go. Fine, then. Be that way," she said.
"And no one waits for me," Rachel said to herself, not really caring. She was just happy. As she got up, her hand hit the stack of books on her desk and they all fell off, the green notebook on top. She looked around and found that only her, Cedric, and Mr. Browne were left in the class. Her heart thumping, Rachel bent down to pick up her books.
"Oh, hey, let me help you with that," she heard next. She looked up and found Cedric's smiling face barely half a foot from hers.
"Uh, no, that's okay, I - I got it," she stuttered.
"Hey, I don't mind," Cedric said. Like in the dream - or nightmare, rather - Rachel made an attempt at the green notebook, but Cedric beat her to it. Now Rachel's heart was beating like her life depended on it.
Cedric stood up, holding the green notebook in his hands and staring at it strangely. He flipped through the pages and his eyes widened.
"You -- you're 'Juliet?'" he asked her quietly. Rachel couldn't do anything other than look down and nod. There was a tense, awkward silence, and, upon finally looking up, Rachel found that Cedric was smiling. Grinning, in fact.
"What?" Rachel asked.
"I was right." Rachel looked at him in a confused happiness. In return, all he did was lean in slowly (as Rachel's heart began thumping frantically) and he gave her the surprise of her life - he was totally about to kiss her, until -
"Hey! Get to your next class!" Mr. Browne said, ruining the moment. Rachel, who was on her toes, now fell so her heels were touching the floor, and sighed. Hopefully, she smiled at Cedric, who smiled back, and he said:
"Hey, I had to give it a shot, didn't I? Wow. I can't believe it," he said, pulling Rachel's arm along as he ran out of the room. He was still holding the green notebook in the other hand. They were standing outside of the classroom door; out of Mr. Browne's line of sight, and in semi-privacy: No one walking towards their next class payed them any attention.
"What?" Rachel asked.
"That you're 'Juliet!' You're the last person I expected in the beginning, but . . . ," Cedric started, but trailed off.
"But what?" Rachel asked again.
"Well, you're her," Cedric said simply. Rachel was confused again.
"'Her,' who? Not the girl you like?" Rachel gasped. Cedric took her by the hand.
"Yes, you are," he admitted. Rachel smiled softly. "You know how I told you - or Juliet, rather - that I was saving for something?"
"Yeah, why?" Rachel asked, remembering their conversation last night.
"Well," started Cedric. He let go of her hand and swung his backpack off of his shoulders. As it hit the floor, he bent down and opened up a small pocket on the side while Rachel watched curiously. Then, Cedric held a beautiful necklace, and, dangling from the chain, was a small silver heart. Rachel gasped. "This is what it was for," he continued.
"That's not for me?" she began, shocked.
"Well, are you 'Juliet?'" he asked her, smiling at her reaction.
"Yeah, but, Cedric, that . . . ," she said, unable to finish her sentence.
"Then it's for you, if you are who you say you are."
"Cedric, I can't - "
"Take it," he insisted. He took her hand again and put the necklace in it. Rachel opened up the heart and found something engraved into it: Romeo & Juliet - a tragedy no longer. Rachel looked up at Cedric with teary eyes, and he said, "Here, let me help put that on." She handed him the necklace, and she turned around and held her hair up. Cedric slipped the neckalce around her neck and hooked it close. "There," he said. Rachel let go of her hair and turned around, holding the heart in her hand.
"Thank you, Cedric. Really," she said sincerely. "Now," she said, feeling extremely spontanious and courageous, "I think it's only fair I gave you something in return."
"You don't have to give me anything," he said.
"I insist," Rachel said.
"Rachel, really, you don't have to - " he began again.
"Cedric, this is no time to be oblivious," Rachel joked. Nontheless, he was still oblivious. Rachel sighed. She took a step closer to him. "You know, I haven't been thinking about it too much, but . . .," she began. Seeing that Cedric was still confused, Rachel finally decided to just get it over with. She stood on her toes, put her hands on Cedric's cheeks, and, to Cedric's surprise, she kissed him. Finally understanding, Cedric kissed her back. About two seconds later, Rachel backed down and said, "Think about that." The two smiled, and, taking her hand, they walked over to their next class. Not even Ms. Morlo would ruin their happy mood.
Hand-in-hand, Cedric and Rachel walked into their Algebra class, right as the bell rang. Ella and Diane stared open-mouthed at the couple, and Rachel grinned at them happily.
"Cedric and Rachel, keep your hands to yourself and sit in your seats. You are lucky I am not marking you late for not being prepared at the bell. I am, fortunately for you, in a good mood today," Ms. Morlo stated. The two in question smiled at each other again. "Class, pay attention: I will be teaching you about polynomials today, no doubt you have already previously learned about them, so . . .," Ms. Morlo continued. Also fortunately, there were two seats available for "Romeo and Juliet" right between Ella, Diane, Eli, Harold, and Geoff.
"Psst!" Ella whispered urgently. Rachel looked in her direction and Ella had a serious but glad expression on her face. She handed Rachel a calculator: something . . . unique that Rachel and Ella could do was communicate using numbers 0-9 and the letters A-E, G, and R. They separated words using a period. Rachel read the calculator. She interpreted "1.7A115!" to mean "I need details!" She punched a bunch of numbers and symbols in, and soon it read:
"4333...1'11.0(7.17...8)," which meant,"Hmmm . . . I'll think about it . . . =)." As Ella read it, she had a shocked expression on her face. "1'11.3A4E.90(.7E11!" was what Ella typed in and handed angrily back to Rachel. "I'll make you tell!" it said. "5)rE,5)rE." Rachel typed back. "Sure, sure," it meant. This time, Ella kept the calculator.
Soon, lunch will come, and Rachel will have to tell, Ella thought. However, she was wrong.
In gym, where recess was held, Rachel, unconsiously, totally ignored her best friends. All she was focused on as of right now was Cedric, and vice versa. As Ella and Diane talked about their best friend finally getting together with her crush, Rachel and Cedric talked about . . . well, everything. They sat holding hands on the stage, where other people sat texting and throwing things.
"Can I ask a question?" Cedric asked Rachel.
"Anything," Rachel replied.
"Do I honestly look like a deformed seal?" Rachel laughed. "Ah, there's that laugh I've been wanting so badly to hear. But, really, that girl actually believes I look like a deformed seal when I smile?"
"Yeah, I don't see why. Now, I ask a question."
"Shoot."
"You're not gonna hide me from your friends, are you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you said that you having emotions would be murder. And as much as I'd like to stay alive, I think they should know."
Cedric sighed. "Sure, why not. It can't hurt."
"Hey, you remembered about my notebook," Rachel recalled.
"Huh?"
"The green one. With your name all over it," Rachel said, blushing and kicking her legs.
"Oh, yeah. I can't forget something like that. You must have a lot of time on your hands, Juliet."
"I doodle in it whenever I get bored," Rachel replied. "Hey!" Rachel suddenly exclaimed, startling Cedric. She laughed.
"What?" he asked, recovering.
"The play. I got the part of Juliet!"
"No!"
"Yep!"
"Don't start with that again," Cedric laughed. "I got Romeo!"
"Alright. You know what sucks? I lost all that sleep trying to figure out that girl you liked when it was me the whole time."
"Well, same here. I'm tired now, actually," Cedric replied, yawning and stretching. Rachel slid herself under his arm, so his arm was now over her shoulders.
"You're helping me walk," Rachel said.
"How'd you hurt yourself, again?"
"Ah, well, we were walking to school - me, Ella, and Diane - and I slipped, twisted my ankle, and spilled hot coffee all over myself."
"Right. Ouch." Then, one of the teachers called for the students in recess to move over to lunch. Cedric helped Rachel limp over to her table.
"Doctor said I should be better by next week, though," Rachel added. Cedric smiled, gave her a short hug, and walked over to his own table.
"Oh, I just remembered. You lied, Rachel."
"Huh?"
"Your e-mail adress. Those are your initials."
"Oh, right. That."
"Yeah, that. Liar."
"Hey, I told you, I was nervous about you finding out who I was until I was okay with it." Rachel and Cedric sat in their last period class, Ms. Jenkin's class. She was oblivious and old, and had no clue what went on in her class most of the time, so that class was basically a free period. Rachel and Cedric sat next to each other, both doodling on a peice of paper, while Diane, Ella, Kristy, and Lizzie sat over somewhere else, giving them their privacy, but listening the entire time. "I'm sorry for lying. Happy?"
"Yes." Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Oh, hey, you lied, too!"
"When?"
"You said Natalie had no clue who you liked."
"You actually asked her?"
"No, I believed you! Ella went up to her and asked her, and then she told me that you must have been lying. Liar."
"Well, it was only fair. I should have been driving you insane as much as you were me." Rachel stuck her tongue out. "Anyway, you know now, right? No harm done."
"Are you kidding? You know in detention the other day, when we were yelling at each other and Di and Elly were off standing somewhere else?"
"Yeah, why?"
"'Cause, you said that whatever you could have said, I would have already known. But I said 'try me' and you strted to say something, and then you backed down, and that night I barely slept."
"One night! You've been driving me insane for a week! And you're yelling at me?" Cedric retorted.
"Yes!"
"Unbelievable." Rachel laughed.
"Hey, the birthday party. I haven't told Ella I invited you yet. Hey, Ella!" Rachel called. Ella pretended that she wasn't listening the whole time and said:
"Yeah?"
"Cedric can come to the party, right?"
"Yeah, sure, I don't care. But he has to bring me a gift."
"I have something in mind," Cedric said.
"Awesome, then you're officially invited."
"Cool." Ella went back to "talking to her group" and Cedric and Rachel returned to their conversation.
"What do you have planned?" Rachel asked Cedric, drawing on the paper.
"Well, it's kinda a huge, huge thing, so I'll need help with the cost."
"No problem, I'll get people to help."
"Awesome."
"So, what is it?"
"I know how she's totally - "
"Wait, they're listening, I don't want her to find out," Rachel said, smirking in Ella's direction. Ella mock-smirked. Cedric leaned in and whispered something in Rachel's ear, and Rachel gasped.
"How are you gonna pull that off? And don't give me that 'I know a guy' crap."
"But I do! My dad's friend works for them."
"Cedric' that is amazing, Elly's gonna freak."
"She better love me for this."
"Hey, you're taken," Rachel said, holding him closer. Behind them, Ella made barfing sounds and the other girls laughed. Rachel rolled her eyes.