Juliet Won't Wait Forever

(1) - Aaron

Chapter 1

I casually walk towards the large club. I'm only eighteen, but that's one of the perks of attending Lisbourne College of the Arts: age never matters. It's one of the reasons why there aren't any bouncers stationed at the entrance of the bar.

The smell of alcohol immediately hits me as I walk inside. The lights are flaring and bright, leaving green spots in my eyes when I accidentally stare at them seconds too long. The music's equally affecting the people inside, making the ground vibrate as the bodies move together. Tonight, there isn't any theme to the decors, so there's nothing much different to me. To others, though, a club is never boring.

The one thing that catches my eye on this particular night is the girl in that dress that keeps on sparkling under the lights, her brunette hair spilling on her shoulders freely.

Juliet Thompson.

She's amazing. I've known her ever since second grade, and ever since then, I've come to think that I liked her. Not like in the friend kind of way; I like her in a way that I know she'll never reciprocate. It's just… not only was she beautiful; her attitude was also heartwarming. She's untouchable.

Back in sophomore year, people would warn me that if I didn't move quickly, she may be taken away from me; I shrugged those off, up until the time she was finally taken. People still pressed it on me that I couldn't have her. They blamed me for everything, and they had a right to.

Those voices have come back at an appropriate time because right now, she's single. I just couldn't seem to make a move if I tried.

Just so you know, I'm not awkward. I never have been… I'm just awkward around her.

From the time I met her until eighth grade, we only talked either because we had a project together, or because we passed each other in the hallways. Other than those, there was nothing else, and I was grateful - I couldn't seem to think clearly with her around. But in ninth grade, she found out that I was really skilled in playing instruments, so she introduced me to her cousin Pete, who happened to need a drummer and a guitarist for his band. My best bud, Riley, and I joined it, and we called ourselves 'Duralex Caffeine'. I hated that name.

For the time being, I was a bit happy that she saw me other than a classmate, that we were actually a bit more than friendly acquaintances. She would come up to me in the halls and ask me about our next gig, or tell everyone that our band was going to join the Battle of The Bands competition.

It all leads up to sophomore year, when my friends were so pissed at me for being such a wimp; I never made a move for anything more and I was too late, she hooked up with Jeremy Miles, the school's football star. He wasn't a douche, but he wasn't too friendly either; it was hard to hate him and hard to like. But of course, I held no grudge. The rest of the year, I played with Duralex Caffeine and Riley was still pissed at me.

Junior year was kind of like a living hell, Jeremy and Juliet broke up, and I was happy until I realized that she had no date for prom. Being the asshole that he still is, Riley injured my date without her knowing so that I could ask Juliet out. I wasn't happy with it, but I ended up asking Juliet. I spent the rest of the prom in a punch drenched tuxedo while watching Juliet dance with Jeremy because they were crowned prom king and queen. That night wasn't too bad, though, Juliet kicked him where the sun didn't shine before exiting the gym with her hand in mine. Did I ever mention that I didn't (more like couldn't) utter a word the whole dance? It sucked, but Juliet didn't seem to mind.

Alas came senior year. Pete told me and Riley that he gave up on the band, that no one else wanted their eardrums to burst. I was sad because the band was something that made me different - it made me happy. But then Juliet comforted me for a whole two weeks and I still think that it made up for the band's break-up. I still owe Pete for that. The same year, Juliet was the lead star in our play. Riley and I were part of the backstage crew, head of the sound effects. Apparently, an agent of Lisbourne was watching and he asked our theater director to give a bunch of us applications for the college. Most of us got in, and it's cool to see them around school.