Shortz: All genres

Romeo and Julia

Genre: Romantic Drama

Setting: Literally any country you can imagine so don't be surprised if something doesn't make American sense.

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"Julia!" I hear my mother call from another room as I jolt up in surprise, disappointed that it wasn't really Avan Jogia kissing my lips. It was only a dream.

I look around and realise I'm in the bathtub. Damn it, I must've been sleepwalking again.

I have insomnia because of my anxiety so I take sleeping pills but lately I've been sleepwalking and -talking because of the pills. It's so frustrating because I never know when it will happen. One time it happened at a sleepover. My friends thought I was messing with them because of the scary stories we told before going to bed. Also because I apparently had my eyes open while it was happening. In films and TV shows, people usually close their eyes when they pretend to sleepwalk but in real life, sleepwalkers usually have their eyes open. I had only found that out after that sleepover.

I slowly climb out of the bathtub. "Where are you?" Mom asks before opening the bathroom door. I wave my hand since I don't like talking when I'd just woken up. "Oh. There you are. Morning. Hurry up or you'll be late for school," she says before closing the door on her way out.

I lock the door then open the bath tap before I strip my clothes off.

By the way, I'm not much of a morning person.

ಠ_ಠ ---

Once I'm done, I grab my keys and my lunch, say bye to Mom then head off to school in my cobalt Toyota Camry. I don't come from a rich family but I'm relatively privileged. I got this car for my birthday last year. I was grateful even though it wasn't the car I wanted. I should be grateful to even have a mom who can afford to pay school fees for me, much more a car. Heck, I should be grateful to have a mom. It's a shame that some girls my age don't feel the same way about their parents.

I bet you're wondering where my father is. I actually don't have one. My mom's a lesbian and for a while she's been looking for a suiter. Someone she wants to spend the rest of her life with. So far no luck. Her ex fiance didn't want kids so she dumped her and adopted a child by herself. She adopted me when I was eight. I teared up when I first met her because I thought nobody would ever want me because I'm too old now. Most people who are looking to adopt want to start from scratch, get the full experience instead of adopting a child who's already halfway through their childhood.

For that, I will always be grateful to my mother.

When I finally arrive, I park my car at my usual parking spot; at the corner where no one would look at it. A lot of the people in this school have luxurious cars so parking mine next to theirs would just give them another reason to tease me.

I don't get bullied often in this school but I've been teased a couple times. I had a phase when I was fifteen where I wanted to change everything about myself so I can fit in with the rest of the world. I've been told countless times that I'm too introverted or too tall to do certain things so instead of proving to them how wrong they are about me, I decided to change myself. That's when I started getting teased. Before that, nobody ever noticed me. I always sat at the back and kept quiet. I don't want to sound immodest but I'm intelligent enough to handle my academics on my own. I'm just not a fan of Physics or Home Economics (I can't cook to save my life).

So I decided that being the quiet, invisible girl is okay. Especially because nobody had ever given me problems about it. You'd think people would notice the tallest girl in the school but a while after my growth spurt, people stopped paying attention to me because they had more interesting things to gossip about.