Romeo and Ghouliet

Act 2 Scene 1

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

Luz attempted to focus on the textbook in front of her, but her senses were overwhelmed by the slow, rhythmic ticking of the clock-- or maybe that was the beating of her own heart.

The events of that morning occupied her every thought, the only interruptions being made by anticipation for what came after the bell. Her mind raced from rethinking every moment she had spent with Amity, to wondering what being possessed would feel like, and finally landing on how best to break the ice during rehearsal. Perhaps she would make a joke about how cheesy the theatre could be, or lean on Gus to alleviate the tension, or just pretend like everything's normal, although that may be a bit tricky considering...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!

There it was! The combined screaming and ringing of the school bell had never sounded so sweet. Luz could barely contain herself enough to leave the room without tripping over a table or three. She weaved through the hall, climbing through the flood of students headed to the doors in the opposite direction and nearly getting trampled in the process. Soon the auditorium doors were in her sights, and she was able to squeeze through the herd to the safety of the lobby, the contrast in volume making her ears ring.

As she turned the corner into the house, Gus caught her attention and waved her over to where he and Amity were sitting. With a deep breath, she walked down the aisle and took the seat on the other side of Gus from Amity, who was resting her head on the seat in front of her to hide the small smile that appeared when she noticed Luz had arrived.

Gus looked at the state of his friends and began to say something to lighten the mood, but was interrupted by a loud, flourished voice booming from the stage. "Welcome, thespians, and congratulations!" Mr. Millar raised his arms in a fittingly dramatic manner, and a large illusion of the words 'WELCOME R+J CAST' exploded above him in curling maroon script, leaving Gus especially in awe of his craftsmanship. "Now, many of you are returning to the stage, and to you, I appreciate your return immensely. However, I am excited to see some fresh faces in the world of the theatre, even our very own leads! Thus, an introduction to how we do things here is in order." Mr. Millar seemed almost giddy to explain the concept of spirits to the new cast members for what must have been almost the fiftieth time. "May I have all named roles join me on the stage, please?"

"That's us," sighed Amity as she rose from her seat. Gus and Luz followed, walking behind her down the aisle to the stage. As they passed rows of bored extras, Luz couldn't help but lock eyes with an immensely disgruntled Skara, who stared daggers into the nervous human who had stolen her role. Luz decided it would be best to ignore her.

As the leads got into their places on the stage, Luz took the opportunity to stand next to Amity in the line that was forming. "Hey," she whispered.

Amity stood silent for a second, eyes refusing to meet Luz's, but eventually squeaked out a small "Hi," accompanied by a barely noticeable smile. Luz felt comfort in the fact that Amity at the very least wasn't giving her the silent treatment.

"Alright, students, it is time to introduce you to your respective spirits!" squawked the feathery director. Each of you have jars on the edge of the stage labelled for your role. If you all would come and find your jar... WITHOUT trampling each other!" Mr. Millar attempted to preserve some sense of order as the students rushed to find their jars, but to no avail. Surely by now he should have known that there was no use in trying to control overly-eager theatre kids. The disorderly witchlings shouted and grabbed at air, weaving from one side of the stage to the other, all searching for the jar labelled with their own role, all except the two leads.

While Amity stayed back in fear of the violent mob, Luz rolled up her sleeves, about to join the fray. However, a small blue-sleeved arm stuck out above the chaos, stopping Luz in her tracks. "Guys!" called Gus from within the crowd. Luz and Amity exchanged looks before rushing over to pull him out. Despite his recent growth spurt, Gus was still far too small to survive the raucous mess of thespians on his own. Once tugged to freedom, Gus presented two large jars, about the size of his face. "I... was able... to grab yours..." he huffed before collapsing to the ground from exhaustion.

"Rest easy, sweet prince," lamented Luz as she and Amity kneeled down to collect their jars from his outstretched arms. A determined gleam crossed the human's eye. "Amity, hold my jar," she demanded, pushing the container into the girl's confused arms. "I will avenge you, Mercutio!!!" cried Luz, jumping headfirst into the raging sea of classmates. Amity sat down next to Gus on the floor, watching with a mix of admiration and concern as her human tackled and shoved her way to their friend's spirit.