The Literary Misadventures of Juniper Rosewood

15- Romeo and Juliet

Wednesday saw a return to some vague sense of routine, at least for the first half. Mrs Harris's daughter was better, "thank you for asking dearie," and so we were continuing with classwork, with the worried reminder to keep getting to know our partners so that we could exchange books tomorrow. Of course, Dalton and I had already exchanged books, but the rest of the class wasn't as enthusiastic as me about English lessons.

Dalton kept making funny faces at me from across the classroom, but I was too busy paying attention to notice. Emma and Rashid noticed though, and they kept tossing each other knowing looks every time they caught him.

"What are you guys giggling about?" I asked, halfway through writing my overview on female representation in Romeo and Juliet.

"Dalton keeps staring at you, Juni," Rashid said. I quickly finished the sentence I was writing and looked up. Dalton was in fact staring at me, and when I met his eyes he stuck his tongue out at me. I rolled my eyes, turning back to my friends again.

"I honestly think he may still be a five-year-old," I said, and I carried on with my work.

"Yeah, but he's staring at you. Like, Romeo staring at Juliet across the dance floor level staring," Emma said, pointing to the text in the book that lay in front of her. I scoffed.

"He's just messing about. Besides, Romeo and Juliet die, so I wouldn't say that they're good role models." I said, turning back to my work.

"Whatever you say, Juni," Emma sighed defeatedly, highlighting a few quotes on her page.

Rashid wasn't so quick to fold though, and he kept teasing me all through the lesson.

"Dalton, Dalton, wherefore art thou Dalton!" He cried dramatically, and I let my head fall forward into my hands. At this rate, Dalton was going to hear him, and that was perhaps the last thing I wanted.

"Please be quiet, Rashid," I said.

"Not unless you tell us what is going on between you and the Crown Prince of dumbassery," Rashid said, and I rolled my eyes.

"Well, I've known him for six days, so not much," I said.

"You lie," Rashid said.

"You're almost as bad as Ingrid. I really wouldn't be surprised if she put you up to this," I groaned.

"She did," Emma said.

"Holy hell," I said, digging my face further into my hands. "I know you're a perfect boyfriend who would move Mount Everest for Ingrid, and that's really sweet, but there is really nothing to tell," I said, "And if there was, you know I would tell you all, but there isn't', and so I shan't."

"Oh," Rashid said, and he sounded disappointed, but not apologetic, much to my chagrin. I turned back to my work and carried on writing.

Needless to say, I was a little peeved with Ingrid and Rashid. But then again, they had only wanted to know what was going on with me, which wasn't exactly a crime, and so by lunchtime, my anger had pretty much dissipated.

༓࿇༓

On Wednesday's, the canteen did chicken nuggets, and I got there early to make sure I got some. I was, therefore, sitting down at our usual table way before my friends arrived. This allowed for a series of unusual events to occur.

First, there came a small kerfuffle from over where the populars sat, followed by a chorus of gasps and an angry voice saying "I can't deal with this right now!" I didn't bother to turn around since it wasn't any of my business.

The second occurrence, however, was certainly the strangest. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to find Etta, razor-sharp eyeliner melting down her tear covered cheeks.