Romeo And Julius

Chapter 8

-The Next Week, At School-

Harley's POV

I drag Peter down the hallways by his hand.

"Harley! Where are you taking me?" he demands.

I don't say anything; I just keep pulling him along. He doesn't resist. I stop when we reach our destination.

"Ta-da!" I say.

Peter looks confused. "It's just a piece of paper. On a door."

I sigh. "Sometimes I wonder how your grades are so high. It's the casting list!"

His eyes widen. "Did we get the parts?" he asks.

"I don't know. I was waiting to check it with you. Let's see."

We check the list.

Romeo - Harley Keener

Julius - Peter Parker

"We got the parts!" Peter practically screams in my ear.

I smile, despite my eardrum being in pain. "Just like I thought we would."

I look at the list again to see who else is cast. 

Romeo Understudy - Eugene Thompson

"Hey Peter, check this out," I say.

His jaw drops. "Flash is your understudy?!"

I nod. "Apparently."

I look at Peter. There's slight panic in his eyes.

"Peter, what-"

He interrupts me. "Don't. Get. Sick." He grabs my shoulders. "Do you understand me?"

"Loud and clear," I say.

He still doesn't let go of me. "I'm begging you," he whispers.

I smile and put my hands on his waist. "What? You don't want to kiss Flash?"

Peter shakes his head 'no' vigorously. "I really don't."

We stare at each other for a bit.

"Are they actually going to do the kissing scenes?" Peter asks, quietly.

"Well, of course! You can't have Romeo and Julius without the kissing scenes!"

Peter lets out a breath. "Okay."

"The first rehearsal is today. I look forward to seeing you there, my prince." I step away from him. I gently take one of his hands and then bow. I'm tempted to kiss his hand, but that might go a little bit too far. Plus, we're in public.

Peter smiles. "Yes. I shall see you there, my loyal subject."

We step away from each other and go our separate ways to classes.

-time skip to after school and rehearsal, at Harley's house-

Charlotte rolls her eyes. "Geez! Just make out already! Oh my GOSH!"

"I gotta take it slow, Charlotte!" I exclaim.

"Oh. Yeah. And calling him 'my prince' is taking it slow!"

"He doesn't like me back! There's not much I can do."

Charlotte throws up her arms, clearly exasperated. "Dude! He called you his 'loyal subject.' You have stared into each other's eyes. You pulled him ON TOP OF YOU and he STAYED THERE for a bit. You had an argument in SHAKESPEAREAN! Only true couples do that. He's totally into you."

I look at her. "You really think so?" I ask.

Charlotte nods. "I know so."

"So, what should I do about it?"

She sighs. "You really are hopeless. I say, you really DO go full-on flirt this time. I know that's what I said last time. But I was also joking last time. You knew that, and so you didn't do it. I'm being serious this time. I don't think it would go bad if you laid on some heavy flirting."

I nod. "Okay. Now, I just need to wait for him to invite me over."

Charlotte leans against the wall. "Or. You could invite him over here?"

"No way! You'd be third wheeling the whole time and make it weird."

She shrugs. "Just throwing out ideas here. Maybe you could suggest to him that you guys should practice your lines together. Like outside of rehearsal. Then, you could subtly imply that you want to do it at his place."

"That's actually a great idea. I'm gonna text him."

You: Hey. Do you want to meet sometime this weekend to practice our lines together?

His response is almost instant.

My Handsome Prince: Sure! Your place or mine?

You: Yours. Charlotte would be annoying about the whole thing if you came here XD

"Really? That's your excuse for choosing his place?" Charlotte asks. She's standing over my shoulder, reading my texts.

"Well, it IS part of my reasoning so..."

"Fair enough."

I look back at my phone.

My Handsome Prince: lol okay. Can you come after school on Friday? Aunt May will be at work.

Perfect...

You: Yeah, that's fine :)

My Handsome Prince: :) See you then!

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