Misfit Theater Company (Wattys Winner 2018)

32. Your Juliet

There is literally no time to waste, since Patti informs me they are performing the one act for the school and Grant O'Reilly this Friday during second period, when I now have sewing. Good thing, too, because I don't want to be there anywhere. I'll figure out how to cut it later. For now, I need to figure out my lines and the blocking I've missed, and Patti isn't going to let another second go by. She takes my hand and drags me to the bathroom.

"Do we have to do this in the bathroom?" I ask.

"The acoustics are great," she says without looking up from her backpack, where she's taking out the scripts I put together. "Plus, people don't hang out in bathrooms."

"Except for us," I say with a snicker.

"Right, except for us," she says. Then pulling a script out of her bag, she continues, "Okay, so here is the script, but we had to make some changes since it was only the three of us. Now I have an idea, let me know what you think, okay?"

"Okay?"

"What if I keep all of my side characters, and you play Juliet?"

Her eyes are wide like always, but they aren't wide in confusion. She looks like she is honestly waiting for me to reply.

"Are you serious?" I ask.

"Of course. We have to get down to business, there are only four more days until we perform for Grant O'Reilly. I wouldn't joke."

I don't know what to say, and I stumble for any words at all. "But... you wanted to play Juliet the whole time. I can't take that away from you."

Her eyes somehow widen when she asks, "You mean like how I took Thatcher away from you for Snowball? Grant O'Reilly will see me acting as Mercutio, and that will be enough for me. Besides, Juliet's lines are the most famous, so they'll be the easiest to memorize this week. Do you think you could handle it?"

I never imagined myself playing Juliet, but just thinking about being on stage with Thatcher, seeing him stand before me as Romeo, kissing him in front of everyone... it's exciting and horrifying and perfect all at once.

"Yes," I say. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. Okay, what size dress are you?"

"Why?"

"I was going to wear my Snowball dress for Juliet. We are doing a whole blue costumes mean you're a Montague and red costumes mean you're a Capulet, so my dress is perfect. Plus, we aren't going to introduce Juliet until the party scene anymore."

"I'm a size 6," I say. Gosh, I hope her dress fits me. That alone would make me want to play Juliet.

She beams. "Great, me too. The dress is actually a size 8, but dresses run small. It should fit you all right, although your boobs are a little bigger than mine."

"Okay, so, anyway," I say, smiling from discomfort. No need to talk about my boobs. "Can you bring it in for me to try on?"

"Yes, of course, tomorrow I will bring it. We will try it on and practice at lunch. I'll talk to Mrs. Permala about using the stage. I don't think she has a 6th period class, so that should be fine." She speaks quickly, like she's reading through a list she's already written in her head. "I have study hall 8th period, so I will ask the teacher if I can leave for the theater then. I'll talk to Mrs. Permala about it then and then... Oh! I know! I can record the lines for you, so you can listen to them and memorize. Right? That works for you?"

"Yeah. Wait, what do you mean? Like, will that help me or is that okay?"

Now I see her usual deer in the headlights wide eye look. "Both, I guess. You are dyslexic, right?"