Runaways: A Romeo & Juliet Story

Chapter 5

"I broke my leg falling for you

I question everything I do

How did you fall right into my arms?"

- Scary Movies by The Rions

ROMEO

We finally drop the hitchhiker off. As I drive away I see him waving in the rearview mirror.

That guy was.... I could tell Juliet thought he was hot or cool or both. He had that 'I don't care if anyone likes me or not' shit that Mecutio had. Although I always thought Mercutio cared more than he let on. Me, I cared what people thought about me– something my parents drilled into me to protect the Montague name. Up until a few days ago that is. After I met Juliet I threw that all away.

But Lsyander had that natural confidence. I wonder if meeting men like him makes her think I'm not all that great. I don't know why I'm thinking about all of that, maybe it was that quiz.

I don't know how we're going make this work in reality. I just know I have to figure it out. But I can't say that to her. I want her to think I've got this handled. I want her to feel safe.

I look across at her. She's so beautiful. I lean across and kiss her. We swerve a little, but it's okay because the road ahead is pretty empty. We're going to stop at the first motel we see. We know we have to take a break plus we've got a good distance between us and Verona now.

"Hand me that bag of weed, will you?" I ask. She passes it over and I smell it. "Definitely, Baltazar's stash. Can you tuck into the bottom of that bag?"

"Why would he leave his weed in here, we could have been pulled over and–"

"It's currency." I explain.

"What do you mean?"

"We'll sell this or barter with it when we need to. Some things are more valuable than money, like weed in a state that's low on inventory."

"Wow, did you guys sell this in Verona?"

"No, I had plenty of money. I was Baltazar's most loyal customer. Well, me and the boys."

She's taking it all in. I don't know what this look on her face means? Confused? Disappointed? Lost?

"What?" I ask, reaching across and rest my hand on her leg.

"Is..." she starts, looking out the window ahead of us and not at me, "Never mind."

"No. Tell me. Hey," I say, gently turning her chin towards me. "Please tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm not someone who does that. Or ever tried any of that."

"That's okay."

"But," she turns to look away again, "I just hope that doesn't, well, gosh why can't I talk?"

She pulls her legs up on the seat, hugging her knees and resting her head on them.

I have no clue what to say. Why is this upsetting her so much?

"I just feel like such a square around you. I thought we'd be more alike, you know our experiences. Because our families are so similar."

"Oh."

"Oh. What does 'oh' mean?"

"It means I get what's bothering you now."

"And?"

"And I don't think you should be so.... I don't think we've had that many experiences that are different."

"You're just saying that."

"Well, it just means I can teach you about that stuff. Or not. You don't have to like smoking weed. I really just do it recreationally."

"As opposed to what? Professionally?" she laughs. She reaches across and places her hand behind my neck twirling her fingers through my hair. "It's okay, I'm just going to have to get used to these surprises."

"Well, what about the things you'll surprise me with?"

"Oh like what?" she says.

"You never liked anyone in Verona? Never..."

"When I was younger I liked plenty of boys at school or boys I'd see at these parties. But no one I was eager to talk to." she says, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Well, I'm glad you were eager to talk to me."

"Yes, I started to understand some of the things my parents would say about boys and being stupid about boys."

"Oh that's great." I laugh.

"No, I mean losing your mind. Losing your ability to think of anyone but that person."

"Then I was stupid too." I say.

"Exactly. We were stupid for each other."

She looks out at the dusty road ahead.

"Gosh, I see now why they do everything to protect life in Verona. It's so beautiful compared to the rest of this place."

"Well, the road to the Montague property is definitely not the prettiest but you'll see how beautiful the forest can be when we get there. You'll love it." I reassure her.

"I suppose I should have asked." She begins, "Is the plan to live in the woods forever?"

"Juliet, there's no real solid plan. This is just the next step. From there we have to figure out the step after that."

"Let's talk about it." She says, tucking her legs under her and turning towards me.

"When I turn 18 there's a trust fund that kicks in that my dad can't do anything about. If we make it 'til then it'll set us up with enough to buy some investments and build on it. Until then we find creative ways to make money." I say.

"What about senior year?" she asks, her eyes fixed on me. "School starts in a couple months."

"We can get our GEDs. We don't have to finish with everyone else."

"Okay." she says.

"Okay?" I ask knowing it's not okay. "Juliet, I want us to have everything but we can't go to school and make money to survive on. We need food. We need gas for the car. We'll need some security. People will eventually realize it's us and it won't be peaceful. We need to spend our time making money ahead of anything else."

She takes it in. I think I scared her.

"That's kinda scary." she says.

She looks at me. "Why are you smiling?"

"I knew I scared you. I like that I know you that well already."

She leans forward and kisses my arm. She looks ahead.

"Maybe when this all cools down we can go back to Verona?" she says. She sits up suddenly. "Is that a motel?"

It is. I smile again. And so does she. We need to have sex.