On the entire ride to school, Juliet was deleting her social media accounts. Twitter? Gone. Instagram? Gone. Tiktok? Gone. She deleted all of it, except for Tumblr. Paris didn't say a word to her, this was incredibly awkward for the both of them. As soon as the car came to a stop, she ran to Mr. Laurence's room.
"Lock the door!" She shouted and she sat on a chair. "My parents want me to date Paris! I can't do that! I love- I'm dating Romeo!"
"Juliet! It's okay I can-"
"I'd rather kill myself than date Paris!" Juliet shouts.
"Juliet! I can help you! There's a certain chemical mixture I can make in about an hour. Come to me after school and I-"
The door bursts open. Ophelia massages her shoulder and looks up at the two. "Look at you idiots! You're helping her make the biggest mistake of her life Mr Laurence! Jules, I don't want you to date Paris either-"
"Then you'll help me! I can stay with you, and Mr Polonius-"
"I don't want you to date him because I love you Jules!"
The room went quiet. Mr. Laurence was wishing they did this in the hallway, Ophelia was cursing herself for saying that, and Juliet was processing.
"I don't understand," Juliet finally said.
"Since sixth grade, I've been seeing you as more than a friend. I've had a crush on you I guess. But I knew you didn't love me back and that you were straight. I'm sorry-"
"I never said that I was straight," Juliet whispers, "I don't know what I am. I know I don't like Paris. I'm not sure how I feel about Romeo, the more and more I think about us? It's all so confusing. I guess that I've had a small crush on you, but one that I pushed down and ignored. I don't know Ophelia! It's all-"
She bursts into tears and holds onto Ophelia's shoulder. "Romeo and my relationship was supposed to end the Montague-Capulet feud! If I don't wanna be with him-"
"Juliet! It's not your responsibility to end your family's feud! I doubt it'll ever end. You can be friends with Romeo! Maybe it'll help," Ophelia whispered.
"My dad said he'd disown me if I wouldn't date Paris! What do I-"
"Mr. Laurence, do you think you could help us?"
"I think I could," Paris says, "I accidentally overheard everything. Let's just say I know a thing or two about keeping a secret." (Bc he's antman)
"You'd do that?" Juliet whispers.
"Mercutio is my cousin and he's gay for Romeo, so if I didn't help you it'd be homophobic," Paris says. Juliet nods, because that makes perfect sense.
"What's your plan, Paris?" Mr Laurence asks.
"We're gonna have to fake Juliet's death, and then show her parents that she's alive and while they're all like 'Omg she's alive' I'll tell them that we don't like each other like that, and then they'll be like 'oh cool'" Paris says.
"That's the second dumbest plan I've ever heard," Ophelia quips, "Jules, we're gonna go to Mantua, tell Romeo everything and then I'll beat up your dad."
"Like that's much smarter," Paris says under his breath.
"Yeah it is actually," Ophelia snaps back.
"Guys!" Juliet almost screams, "What if I take the drug that Mr. Laurence said he's gonna make, and then run off to Mantua to tell Romeo."
"No way," Ophelia said, grabbing Juliet's hands, "That sounds dangerous. What if you take too much?"
"Then I die and you have to tell Romeo everything," Juliet teases, "No pressure Mr Laurence."
"So, what will you do?" Paris asks.
"I'll go through my day like I normally would, come back here at 3, take it home with me and then fake my death. I'll be put in my family's mausoleum, and you guys can come get me when I wake up," Juliet explains.
"Aren't you scared Jules?" Ophelia asks.
"Kinda," Juliet admits, "But I trust you."
"Can I kiss you Jules? Just incase this goes wrong and I-"
Juliet cuts her off by kissing her. Ophelia has dreamed of this moment since forever, and it's finally happening. The bell rings. "I'll see you at lunch okay? And Paris? Thank you, for everything you didn't have to help us."
Juliet runs out and goes to her first class.
Juliet came home with her head down. "Daughter," Mr Capulet grunted. Juliet swallows her pride and sits down with him at his desk
"Father, I apologize for my actions. I know I should've been more grateful. You've done so much for me."
"Thank you for apologizing," Capulet says touching Juliet's cheek, "are you going to date Paris?"
"I will try father."
Later that night, Juliet held the vial holding the poison. "Here goes nothing," Juliet whispers to herself. She chugs it and quickly hides it before feeling incredibly drowsy. She falls onto her bed and into her death like sleep.
The next morning her nurse knocks on the door. "Jesus, Juliet," she says, throwing off the sheets, "you sleep like the dead. It's a school day Jules. Your parents can hear your alarm. She silences the beeping. "Juliet?"
When her nurse sees her she grabs her face and screams. "What is it?" Mrs Capulet says running in. Her nurse doesn't say anything. She just points at Juliet's body and sobs.
"Call 911!" Mrs Capulet begs.
"It's too late, look!" The nurse says pulling out the vial.
"I need to find my husband," Mrs Capulet said, wiping her nonexistent tears.
The nurse looked down at Juliet's body and tried to swallow down the urge to vomit.
