Floating On Air

V. Of Plays And Dares

V. Of Plays And Dares

"Oh my god, Mackenzie! Help me practise my lines! I just need to become familiar with how I say these words," Allison exclaimed the moment I pulled my earphones out of my ears. 

"For what?" 

"The Romeo and Juliet play auditions are coming up. I mean, it's in a few days but I really want to get the role of the nurse." 

"Ugh," I groaned. "A twelvie romance play. Great." 

"Hey, our school's plays are the bomb," Allison defended. "We get so much recognition from them. Last year, we did Hansel and Gretel, and the main two characters were offered scholarships to a few of the most prestigious colleges for drama and arts. It would just be amazing to acheive such high standards."

"Okay, okay, I've got it," I replied and clapped my hands together. "Act Three Scene Five. Go." As much as I hated to admit it, I knew almost all of Romeo and Juliet off by heart - kudos to my sister who was probably the biggest Shakespeare fan ever. 

Allison flipped through the pages of her playbook rapidly and inhaled deeply. "Then hie you hence to Friar Lawrence' cell; there stays a husband to make you a wife: now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks, they'll be in scarlet straight at any news. Hie you to church; I must another way, to fetch a ladder, by the which your love must climb a bird's nest soon when it is dark: I am the drudge and toil in your delight, but you shall bear the burden soon at night. Go; I'll to dinner: hie you to the cell." 

I smirked, struggling to hide my laughter. "You don't understand anything you just read out, do you?" 

Her shoulders slumped dejectedly and she shook her head. "No clue. What gave it away?" 

"Oh, you know, how you pronounced all the Old English wrong and how you were speaking in really broken phrases," I replied, "It's hence, not hen-cay. Haven't you ever studied Shakespeare?" 

Allison twirled a lock of her brown hair around her index finger and grinned sheepishly. "We have. I just never understood it very well." 

"Then why are you even auditioning?" 

"I love the plot, characters and story in general, I guess." 

"You're kidding," I stated, deadpanned. "How in the world does someone just love anything Shakespeare related? No wait, Romeo and Juliet related." 

"It's cute!" Allison protested. I stared at her, shocked with her preposterous comment. 

"No, it's not! Juliet's thirteen and Romeo's like... seventeen." As Allison glared at me, I raised my hands up in defence. "I have nothing against age differences but she's thirteen. It's a bloody twelvie romance," I grumbled, "It's cheesy, unrealistic and most of all, completely stupid." 

"No, it's not, Mackenzie!" 

"Couldn't we have done something like Toy Story or Harry Potter? It's much more fun," I grumbled, shrinking back against the bed. 

"Fine," she said. "If you hate Romeo and Juliet that much, I dare you to audition as one of the main characters." 

My jaw dropped as I gaped at her. "You're not serious, are you?" 

"Girl, does it look like I'm serious?" she sassed. 

In all honesty, she never looked serious. To me, she always looked like a petite thing who was the shortest of our group and always had her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised when she decided to be sassy. She was the least serious person I'd ever met in my life. "Not really," I admitted.