**************
I spent the whole of our lunch period sitting at the male-dominated table of Jonathan and his friends. There were a few moments where I contemplated getting up and leaving, because I sensed the guys were holding back from their usual topics of conversation, but I ended up sticking around because Jonathan wouldn't remove his right arm from my body. At the beginning his arm was thrown around my shoulder, and by the end, it had fallen right above my hip. I was sure my face was showing tell-tale signs that this unnerved me, but if it was, nobody was talking about it.
"What's your next class?" Jonathan asked me, taking a sip of his soda.
"I think you know, Jonathan. It's English, which we have together. Remember? Mr. Lawson is having us read from Romeo and Juliet?"
"Oh, right. I'd forgotten we have a class together this semester. I keep thinking we're in first semester. Good memories, huh?"
"Oh yes, Jonathan. If you think my wanting to rip your head off your shoulders like Buffy the Vampire Slayer is good times, then yes."
"Ah, so Jon's been his usual charming self when he's not in class with his friends?" Tony smirked from across the table, scratching his nose like it was some secret sign or something.
Just then, the bell rang.
"Well, it was nice to meet you," Billy Masterson smiled, extending his hand. "I've heard people speak of you, but I never actually met you. Enjoy English."
I nodded, and waved goodbye to the other guys, as Jonathan wrapped his arm around me again and we walked towards English class.
"Romeo and Juliet, huh? Do you happen to know which parts he'll be making us read?"
"I think it's going to be various passages. But if you're lucky, you'll get to play Tybalt, and die before the fourth act."
"You're so very funny, Cassie."
"I do my best," I smile mockingly.
As it turned out, Mr. Lawson made Jonathan and I act out the death scene as the famous star-crossed lovers.
"Eyes, look your last!
Arms, take your last embrace! and, lips, O you
The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss.
A dateless bargain to engrossing death!"
Mr. Lawson, being formerly a Drama teacher, liked to make our literary lessons very intensive.
"All right Mr. Callaghan, now kiss her."
Jonathan looked at him as if he'd lost his mind, but Mr. Lawson just stood there as I laid on the classroom floor pretending to be dead, his arms folded stubbornly.
"You can't be serious, Mr. Lawson. I barely know her."
"Much like Romeo Montague knew Juliet Capulet. And yet, he fell in love with her anyway."
"Yeah, and he was also a seventeen-year old guy in love with a twelve-year old. Romeo's a bit of a pervert, if you ask me."
"Well at least we know you've read it," I voiced, opening my eyes and looking up at Jonathan. Jonathan glared back down at me.
"Nevertheless, Mr. Callaghan, I want you to kiss Miss Garfield."
I heard him begin to say something, but he stopped himself. Jonathan sighed deeply, and bent over me.
I could feel the warmth of his breath, and it was ragged with nervousness. My heartbeat was quickening. His hand touched my face softly, and he pressed his lips to mine like Romeo would have, with a sense of urgency and love. And then, he pulled away, and finished his lines.
"Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide!
Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on
The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark!
Here's to my love!
O true apothecary!
Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die."
He pressed one last kiss on my lips. He fell across my legs, his left arm lying across my knee.
I sat up, and spoke my lines, and pressing my lips softly to his, seeking for any "poison" that lingered upon them. And then, I died.
The class roared with applause. Jonathan and I sat up, dusted ourselves off, and took a bow.
"My gracious, you two are the most perfect Romeo and Juliet," Mr. Lawson remarked. "Have you two ever considered auditioning for the spring play?"
We both shook our heads in unison.
"You ought to consider it," he smiled. "Well, after that performance, I think we can end our reading of Romeo and Juliet today. Onward and upwards to interpreting the fifth act of the play."
Jonathan and I rushed to our seats, not looking each other in the eyes. When class was over, we walked in opposite directions to our last classes.
***************
I had to go to my locker after French, which was my final class. After pulling out my coat, I close the door to find Jonathan standing there. I jumped back two feet.
"How were your last two classes?"
"As good as can be expected. I have learned that in French, 'alone' and 'lonely' are the same word."
"Which is?"
"Seul. It's quite depressing, when you think about it."
"I suppose. Listen, can we talk?"
"Of course," I reply, dropping my bag to the floor and putting my coat on.
"Not here, but somewhere more private? Did you drive to school?"
"No, my lame parents haven't bought me a car."
"Okay, so will you take a ride with me?"
"Sure."
Jonathan smiles, and we walk to the parking lot.
Jonathan takes a turn leading out to the more desolate area of town, nearby the lake.
"I don't want to sound alarmist Jonathan, but are you planning to kill me?"
Jonathan laughs, turning onto the dirt road leading to the lake.
"No, I just wanted to bring you someplace quiet, so we could talk."
I nod, reminding myself that being on my guard is a very good idea.
"I've been thinking about that reading we did today in English," he breathes, turning off the car.
"Yeah, that was quite interesting. It's the most literal reading of Shakespeare I've ever experienced."
"And you're from California originally."
"My former place of residence has no point in how I was educated...I think."
"Anyway, today was different as a whole. It's the first time we've been within six feet of one another and not felt a strong urge to physically maim the other."
"Well, maybe you are just being kind to me because I was crying in the hall," I suggest, picking at my nail polish.
"No, it's more than that, I think. When Mr. Lawson made me kiss you, I felt something."
"You felt something? Like what? Nauseous, giddy, remorseful?"
"Don't make jokes, Cassie, I am trying to be serious."
"For the first time in the four months I've known you," I smiled. Jonathan looked at me, and I shut up.
"Something happened there this afternoon, on the floor. I felt a spark. A jolt of electricity."
"It was probably from our sweaters. We sat against the chairs in the classroom, and created static electricity."
"Not that kind, Cassandra." I shot a look at him. "I felt a zing, like a kismet kind of thing."
"Kismet? Do you even know what that means?" Jonathan huffed.
"You're not even being serious," he groaned, getting out of the car.
"Jonathan!" I sat in the car, watching him walk towards a bench sitting at the mouth of the lake. I groaned loudly, and got out of the car.
I stood next to him, standing in silent reflection at the frozen lake, and turned to look at him.
"I do know what you're talking about," I murmured, watching the breath escape my lips. "I felt it the moment you kissed my head in the hallway. And what was up with you leaving your arm around me during lunch?"
"I didn't want you feeling vulnerable. You were at a table with a bunch of eighteen-year old guys. They could have been intimidating."
"It was, but even more so with your arm so casually draped around me. Actually, it was more protective than casual."
I sat down on the bench, its seat instantly freezing my butt more than when I had been standing.
"But I felt those sparks. Hell, I even tasted the spearmint gum you'd been secretly chewing under Mr. Lawson's nose."
"I didn't even kiss you with my mouth open."
"That doesn't mean anything," I smirked. "If you licked your lips, that would have done it."
"You're a weird girl."
"Why? Because I speak the truth? That makes me weird?" I scoff, kicking a piece of ice with my boot. "You never change, Jonathan Callaghan. Just when I think you might actually be a normal male human being, and not some idiot guy, you come along and fuck everything up."
"I fuck everything up?" He looks over at me incredulously. "Until lunch, I was cool with the idea that you and I were going to be nothing but mutual acquaintances who occasionally get along. Then I see you crying, and all of a sudden, everything goes sideways. You sit here accusing me, when you're just as much to blame as I am."
I just sit there, staring at him, shocked. I get up from the bench, and walk over to a tree six feet from him. I hear his shoes crunching on the barren patches of ground, and then I am spun around, standing face-to-face with him.
Before I can even utter a word, he is kissing me. I squeak out of surprise, my hands pressing against his chest in protest, but they relax as I give in to the kiss. Jonathan pulls me closer, his hands wrapped around my wrists.
"You drive me crazy," he whispers between kisses. He's pressing his forehead to mine. "Absolutely crazy, and yet I want this--you--so badly." He smiles, plunging his lips back onto mine.
I moan, reaching my fingers into his hair.
"The feeling is quite mutual, I assure you. I feel like I am the Katherine to your Petruchio." I kiss him. "Oh, I'm sorry. You probably don't know Taming of the Shrew."
"It might come as a surprise to you, Cassandra Garfield, but I do know how to read. And I like reading Shakespeare. I also totally agree with what you just said."
I smile and kiss him again.
Jonathan dropped me off at home, a smile on his face.
"See you tomorrow?"
"How can we possibly avoid each other, Jonathan? We live in a small town, and the school is even smaller in population. I'll see you at some point tomorrow; whether it be in the halls, at my locker, or in English class."
"See? There you go driving me crazy," he laughs.
I smile back, and tell him I will see him tomorrow.
He drives away, and I stand in my driveway, still wondering what has happened.
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