This is not about Juliet

Stay away from the Montagues

TW: Vomit

Grandmother led me into her office, and I sat down across from her. I hadn't sat in this seat in a while. The last time I was here, she told me I wouldn't be going to school for a while, simultaneously  to mourn the loss of poor Juliet and Tybalt and to concentrate on my practice on the Viola. Though even at 11 years old, I sensed that this might've had something to do with some particularly nasty rumors being spread at school. I had sensed the strange looks from my classmates. Suddenly, I get another flashback and push it deep down to the back of my brain, where it belongs. But it didn't matter. I sensed that this time, I would be here for happy news.

My grandmother started speaking in that stern but kind voice she had. Her hair was grey, but once it had been the chestnut brown of the Capulet family. She was wearing a wine red evening gown and pearls in her ears and around her neck and wrists. She wore her family seal ring, her Capulet Ruby, and her pearl ring. She said : "I have discussed it with your parents, and we all believe you should go back to school this year. We believe you need some more interaction than just with the neighbors and their children, and it would be good for your social skills. We know the loss of your brother and cousin must still hurt, but we think you've processed it enough to go back to school. You're almost 15 now, and we think you could really use it. Of course ,  there will still be plenty of time for the Viola, and we'd like you to take a look at a selection of schools that offer an art program. But we will discuss the details tomorrow.  Think about it, if you really don't want to, you don't have to, but we think it would be better, don't you?" I nodded. It made sense, but it was quite a lot to process. I answered: "I will sleep on it and let you know tomorrow if that's alright?" "Of course it is, darling. Now it's best that you go to bed and rest, in-between all of the parties lately, you must be really tired." "I will, goodnight and see you tomorrow, grandmama." "Goodnight, darling." I got up from the chair, hugged my grandmother goodnight and kissed her cheek, and went up to my room.

I opened the door, immediately stepping on the soft pink rug, and walked straight to my bed, which was just beside the door. I sat on the bed for a while, thinking about going back to school. I realized that there was no actual reason for me not to. I'd sleep on it and tell her tomorrow. I took my pajamas, which were lying on my bed, made every morning by the maid, and put them on.

The dress I was wearing was wine red and was made out of chiffon. It had small puffed sleeves and a square neckline. It had a belt of the same fabric and color and reached the floor. I put it on my couch opposite my bed and spread it out so it wouldn't wrinkle until tomorrow when the maid would probably hang it back into the closet if I was up late. Otherwise, I'd do it myself. It was easier for her and didn't take much effort for me, but grandmother was right, I was really tired. I took my earrings out, Capulet Rubies, put them on my nightstand, and went to bed.

23/08

I woke up gasping and sweating. I felt dried tears on my cheek. Another nightmare, the same one again. My grandmother walked into my room. And sat on my bed, quickly taking me into her arms. I started sobbing into her shoulder. She stroked my back and kissed the top of my hair while softly shushing me. If she was here, I must have screamed again. It was the same every night.

Juliet sat in the garden on her hands and knees. It was storming, the rain was pouring, and the thunder followed shortly after the lightning. She was only fourteen, and I was eleven. And she was throwing up on the grass. I must've been the only one who noticed her, from my window, it was late. Most of my family was probably getting ready for bed. She looked up at me, with an expression I'll never forget. I still don't understand what happened. She looked at me with tears streaming down her face. I called out for my grandmother. And I kept crying her name until she came running out. She ran faster than I'd ever seen her run.

By the time she reached me, she told me to go back inside in the most stern voice I'd ever heard her use. I ran back inside, and I was drenched. I went up to my room and ran a bath. I took off my dress and dropped it onto my bath towel. I sat in the bath for a while, warming up and processing what I just saw and heard. When the bathwater started turning cold, I got out. I wrapped a fluffy pink towel around myself and walked over to my closet. I took out a soft pink night gown and put it on. I heard shouting, but i didn't understand it. I sat on my bed, trying not to think about what just happened when grandma walked in. She sat on my bed and comforted me for hours. I slept in her bed that night and got about 2 hours of sleep.

I looked at the alarm clock. 03.26 pm. I sighed, and grandma looked at me. I silently nodded, telling her it was OK to leave me here. I had calmed down now. I fell asleep again.

I woke up and checked my clock again, 08.55. I got out of bed and got dressed. I hung yesterday's dress in my closet and went to Grandma's office. I made my decision.

She was already there, working on something for the company. I knocked on the door, which was half open. She looked up, smiled, and told me to come in. "I want to go back to school," I said. "Very well, here is a selection of schools you can choose from," grandmama answered and smiled at me. She gave me a small stack of papers with pros and cons about every school. I looked through them, and one caught my eye.

It had an amazing art program, not too many children, a big green courtyard, and a ton of music rooms in which you could go practice alone. The cons were the fact that it started quite a bit earlier than my day now, and there was a bullet point that only said LM. " What does LM mean, grandmama," I asked. "Ah, the St. Lucas Catholic School of the Arts is a very good choice. LM stands for Lorenzo Montague. He also goes to school there. And he is in your year. If you would want to go there, it is extremely important you stay away from Lorenzo and any other Montague children, it is very important that you dont even go near them, understood," she answered sternly. "Yes, grandmama, " I answered. "I think I would like to go there," I continued. "Excellent, I'll call the school. And right now, you can go shopping with Rosalind for anything you might need for school. I'll put some money on your card.