Juliet's First - Chapter 1

"My bounty is as deep as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite."

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"Alex. It's your turn!"

The bright mahogany eyes suddenly snapped back to the sheet and with her face flushed, "Romeo, O Romeo... Where... wherefore art thou..." The classroom erupted in a sea of laughter as she stuttered out the sentence, cutting her abruptly off.

"Children. Quiet down now." The soft humming tone of Ms. D'Astolat quickly chided the kids back to silence as Alex sat, red as a beet, under the scrutiny of her fellow classmates. The teacher's lush lips smiled apologetically at their young Juliet, but it was the tolling bell to end class that really saved Alexis, "Alright. Everyone practice at home. The class performance is in two weeks. Make sure you call and talk to one another."

The class filed out around Alexis as they snickered, and the young succubi stood from her seat slowly and took a deep shaky breath. How could she have agreed to this? She was two weeks away and hadn't been able to focus on her part yet. She should have had it memorized--she was really good at memorizing pieces and parts, and she'd always been really good at Shakespeare. That was why she was immediately chosen to be Juliet, but...

"Alex! Come on around, Silly. It's okay!" She snapped her head up. There he was--Romeo. She hadn't realized the class would pick Tony as Romeo, "It's okay that you're not catching on fast! We'll go practice lines after school, yeah? I told Ash I was gonna go catch snakes in the creek!

"C-catch snakes?" Alexis blinked a few times, holding the script against her bosom like it might just save her heart from beating out of her. It wasn't like she wasn't with Tony all the time--not like every time she saw him she didn't go a little crazy, but to play opposite him in a romance that was ages old... She just didn't know how to focus at all.

"Yeah, catch snakes. I do it occasionally--bring 'em home and show 'em off. They're way cool. But today we can just go down and run lines, okay?" He headed for the door, his very presence seeming to pull her along with him.

Being near Tony made Alexis' head light. She enjoyed each smile, each goofy statement. He was everything she ever wanted in a guy, but...

He was a vampire.

She and he weren't supposed to talk or socialize, not even stand to look the other one's way, and yet here she was. They were great friends, if nothing else... and Alex was thoroughly in love with him, and he didn't.. really notice.

When she had showed up, they had arranged to take almost all their classes together. The only reason Tony was even in drama this second semester was to be with her. Next was math, then from there, science, and then they had their one class apart. Each day Alex got up for school knowing that she'd meet Tony by the arch on the opposite side of the school from where her older sister set foot on campus. Each day she knew he'd be standing there with that same smile he had every time they met in the park as little kids.

The next bell rang, and all Alex could think about was when the day would be over.