Star-Crossed

by Jo Cotterill

  “I used to have asthma, when I was really tiny,” Chris says quietly. “This one day, I was at a garden centre with my dad. We were walking around a greenhouse, and it was so stuffy, with plants and pollen all over … the combination triggered a massive attack. I didn’t know what was happening, but my dad did. He scooped me up and helped me to breathe like this. Afterwards I asked him how he knew what to do, and he said he didn’t. He said he just did what he thought might help…”

  You begin to relax slowly. As you try to calm yourself down, you think about what Chris just said. You can’t believe that your seemingly perfect enemy once had such a big flaw.

  As you take a breath in through your nose, his scent reaches you. Something inside of you bubbles with excitement and encourages you to breathe deeper.

  Your eyes flip open and you tense. Chris’s arms shoot off from around you and you stand up quickly. He does the same and brushes himself off, clearing his throat and not looking at you. You just stand and stare at him. He looks like a different person now, like you are seeing him differently for the first time. His blonde hair isn’t over-styled, just tousled because he runs his hands through it. His eyes aren’t an evil, cold blue – they are more like the ocean. He looks … normal. Even likeable.

  At last he looks up into your shocked eyes.

  For a minute you think you see something in his face, something that has never been there before. Then the smirk returns.

  “Well, I couldn’t let you die, Anderson. I would get the blame. Not that you would have died, anyway – you Andersons are just hypersensitive, all wrapped up in cotton wool. See you, if I can’t avoid it.”

  The new image of Chris shatters like a mirror into a million pieces. The old, evil Chris replaces it and glowers at you, before turning around and striding out of the classroom.

  You glare after him and bend down to pick up your bag. You still feel quite shaken, so you set off to the office to see the nurse. For one brief moment there you thought you had seen a bit of good in Christopher Banner.

  Yeah, right, you think. That’s like seeing good in Satan. I must have been starved of oxygen for too long and started to imagine things…

  You push open the doors, walk into the school office and up to the desk. The office ladies are all on the phone. One of them holds up an index finger to say that they will be with you in a moment, so you take a seat on the sofa behind you.

  Mr Westler will just have to wait…

  You walk into the hall feeling much, much better. It’s the afternoon, school is out, and it’s the first rehearsal for Romeo and Juliet. Despite what happened earlier, you’re buzzing with excitement, and acting will definitely help shake off the last memories of Steve Watts. You feel hyped enough to act circles around Shakespeare’s original Juliet, and you can’t wait to get started. Even if getting started means that you have to be within two metres of Chris without scratching his eyes out. You sit on the stage and stare at your tattered black Vans, your left foot jiggling impatiently as the rest of the cast finally begin to arrive.

  “Hey, honey, my bright and bubbly ray of sunshine!”

  You turn to Rubes and shoot him a glance that clearly says, “Say that again and I’ll kill you”.

  He laughs. “I guess today’s torture routine was as painful as always?”

  You shrug, wondering whether to tell Rubes about Steve, Chris and the asthma attack. You decide to tell him about one thing. “I had an asthma attack, which was weird, ’cause I haven’t had a major one in years…”

  He frowns. “You OK? Are you sure that you should be here?”

  You nod. “Yeah. I went home before to get my inhaler and things and I’m fine now.”

  Rubes raises his eyebrows.

  “Really.” You laugh. “I’m fine.”

  He doesn’t look convinced. “What triggered it?”

  You clear your throat. “I, er, ran into Steve again…”

  Reuben scowls. “He’s like a small child. Why won’t he just back off? What did he say this time?”

  “He wants me to go to Mercury tomorrow to ‘have a little fun’.” Rubes rolls his eyes. “He was quite scary, actually.” You pause. Should I tell him about Chris? You decide not. “But I got away, so it’s OK now.”

  Rubes pushes himself up on to the stage and hands you an earphone from his iPod. You take it gladly, and close your eyes as the sweet sound of a guitar meets your ear.

  Bliss…

  You lean on Reuben’s shoulder and relax. “If he comes near you again, find me, or ring me, and I’ll be right there. And if you really want, I’ll try to jump him after school.” He laughs. “I mean, I’m not promising anything, because I’m the weediest pigeon I know, but…”

  You laugh. “Thanks, Rubes, I know you’ll always be there.”

  The two of you sit in silence, listening to the music. You mouth the words along to the song, but stop when Rubes pokes you in the ribs and takes away the earphone. Mrs Walker strides into the room, her hair done up in a French twist and wearing a sharp outfit. You would think that she was a reporter or something – not a drama teacher. Walker makes her way down to the end of the hall and stops just in front of the stage. She sees you, smiles, and turns back to everyone else waiting for instructions.

  “Thank you all for coming today! If you want to get into a circle, we can begin. Romeo and the Montagues line up on my left, Juliet and the Capulets facing them on my right, please.”

  Everyone surges towards the centre of the room, laughing and chatting, as you scan the crowd of people to look for your other title character.

  Where are you, jerk? you think. He’s not there. You smile. Fantastic way to start the play, Mr Banner!

  You slide off the stage and stand on Walker’s right, as you were told. Reuben stands on the other side with the Montagues. While everyone else is sitting down, you lean over and mouth with a sly grin, “He’s not here! Maybe he’s decided that he’s not going to embarrass himself after all. Or maybe he died in a freakish accident involving lots of pain and suffering?”

  Reuben looks past you to the door of the studio. “No such luck today, poppet. I’m afraid he looks quite pain-free.”

  You turn your head and see Chris saunter into the room with that annoying swagger of his. If you were hoping to see a glimpse of the person who had helped you out earlier today, you are disappointed. You’d almost forgotten how arrogant he is. You frown at the floor, your bubble burst. Walker signals to him to stand on her left, so he strolls over and, to your utter horror, offers his hand for Rubes to shake. Chris says something that you can’t quite hear, and Rubes laughs nervously. Reuben hesitates for a second and then, with a confused smile, returns the shake. This has really thrown you. You’re shocked.

  Why would he do that? you think. He’s making friends with the enemy? What’s with that?!

  You feel your face grow hot and realize that you are embarrassed. You try to swallow but your throat is dry. You stare with disbelief at Reuben until he, uncomfortably, returns your gaze. Your face seems to say it all as Rubes shrugs his shoulders and raises his eyebrows as if to say, “Well, what else was I supposed to do?” You will kill Chris for sucking up to Rubes, but later. Now you have to concentrate on making him look stupid. Which won’t take much, you think.

  You glare at him, but he just smirks and winks at you. You roll your eyes as Mrs Walker starts to speak.

  “Now, everybody – today we’re going to start by going over the characters to make sure you all have a clear picture of who you’re playing. Then we are going to look at a couple of scenes, which are … the very first scene and … the lovers’ death scene.” She looks up and beams at the cast. “Everyone OK with that?”

  A nodding goes around the group.

  “OK! So, I want you all to face each other. Get quite close – you’ll be getting to know each other very well, starting right
now. We have six weeks to pull this production together, so everyone needs to get along…” Walker raises her eyebrows at you, but you pretend not to notice. “So – I want you all to introduce yourself to the person standing in front of you. First introduce you as you, and then introduce yourself as your character. You have two minutes – go!” Everyone starts to talk. You look up and see that Chris is already looking at you, but as soon as you make eye contact he looks away.

  This is pointless, you think, but just as you are about to insult Chris for being childish, Walker stops beside you. She gestures to the corner a few metres away.

  “You two over here, please.”

  You look at Chris again, but he determinedly avoids your gaze and follows Walker to the corner. You sigh and walk over too. You look into your teacher’s face and wait for her to speak. Her level stare falls on you, then on Chris.

  “OK, leads, this is your ultimatum. I cast you because you were the best of those who auditioned. I know that separately, you are dedicated, motivated and mature.” She pauses for a second, not quite knowing how to say what she needs to, then carries on. “However, together you seem to become distracted and childish – volleying insults back and forth like you’re at Wimbledon, and giving each other looks that could kill. But I’m willing to take the risk on you working together if you stick to my one rule, which I will tell you both right now. If either of you ever brings your issues with each other into this play so that it disrupts the rehearsal, you are out. I am not kidding. If you break this rule, I will sack you from the play and you will not take part. Do you understand?”

  You nod, and so does Chris, which seems to satisfy Walker. She turns on her heel and goes back to the group, knowing that you will follow. Chris turns and momentarily stands in front of you so you can’t get past, then turns back and joins the line. You scowl, knowing that pretending there is no anger or hatred between you and that boy will be quite impossible, but rejoin the line across from him. He is still smirking. Your face is set with purpose. You are determined not to let him ruin this for you.

  Walker prowls around the two lines, looking at each pair as she passes. Everyone shuffles a bit closer towards each other, apart from you and Chris, who don’t move at all. The hall is silent. His head turns to follow Walker, and his eyes remain focused on her. You study his perfect face with disdain.

  On the outside he might look normal, even nice, you think bitterly.

  Walker starts to speak. “Romeo and Juliet is the original love story. Everyone has heard of it; everyone knows what happens and everyone knows why…”

  She reaches your end of the line, and sees that you and Chris haven’t moved closer together. She catches you off-guard and pushes the small of your back slightly, tripping you forward, so that you are just centimetres from a pair of bright blue eyes staring into yours. He smells so good that you momentarily forget who he is. Momentarily. You come to your senses and take a step backwards, your anger returning as well as your hate. You remember all the fights, all the comments, all the detentions that have happened because of this boy, and your skin crawls to think that you were actually soothed by his body only this afternoon. However, you are determined not to show any of your anger, so you just gaze blankly back, as Walker starts to talk once again.

  “They all know why. But what people don’t know is the passion” – she brings her hands up to her chest with balled fists – “the danger” – she takes a step forward and throws her arms in a shield in front of her face – “the pure exhilaration” – she spins fast once on the spot and stops suddenly, her face flushed and her chocolate-brown hair falling out of her plait. A giggle comes from the other end of the line, but Walker ignores it. Everyone else is watching her closely to see what she is going to say next. Walker comes up to you and Chris and speaks softly to you both – “the urgency in their love for each other.” She takes a deep breath and addresses everyone else too. “They are supposed to be enemies; however, what is that fine line between love and hate? One look can cross the line, tip the scale, and suddenly” – she looks from you to Chris – “the impossible happens.”

  She has finished her speech. You look over at Chris, who is staring at Walker with awe. You smirk. All of your passion will be coming from your deep source of hatred for the boy. But Walker has started to talk again.

  “So, how well do we know our characters? Jen – why don’t you tell us about Juliet?”

  You smile. You know all about Juliet. You love this damn play, so you know everything about the leading lady. You turn to Walker, raise an eyebrow, and face the class.

  “Juliet is Capulet’s daughter. She’s presented to the audience as innocent – she’s not even fourteen yet. Throughout the play, Shakespeare repeatedly stresses her young age to show her growing from adolescence to maturity, and to make her seem more of a tragic heroine. She loves Romeo with the full force of her being – enough so that she defies her Montague-hating parents and faces death twice. She can’t live without Romeo, because living without him would be like living without a soul – just gliding through life as nothing, not feeling anything, just waiting for the body to die so that she could stop the pain. So when she finds him dead, she takes the dagger and kills herself, to be with her Romeo for ever.”

  You look to Walker as she nods and smiles.

  “Good. Now, Chris. What do you know about Romeo?”

  You turn your small laugh into a cough. Chris glares at you and holds his head a little higher. He speaks as though he is talking to the whole class, but you know that every word he says is directed at you. “Romeo is Montague’s son, who is loved and respected in Verona. First, he’s represented as a comic lover – ’cause of his exaggerated declarations of love for Rosaline. But then after he meets Juliet, he abandons his tendency to act like a traditional lover, and he becomes more intense in the way that he talks, reflecting how genuinely passionate he feels for his Juliet. But when he kills Tybalt to avenge Mercutio’s death, he starts off a chain of events that eventually leads to his suicide, after believing that his beloved Juliet is dead.”

  His cold, triumphant stare mocks you. You are completely stunned. You would have bet a thousand pounds on Chris not knowing a single thing about Romeo. But it turns out he’s practically an expert.

  You’re not the only one who is shocked.

  “Wow…” Walker says, clearly astounded. “I couldn’t have put it better myself! Way to go, Romeo!”

  Walker moves on to the next person, and you finally come back to the real world. Did he just say all that stuff I think he just said? You look up into that self-satisfied smile, and you know that he did. He whispers to you as someone else is giving their character profile.

  “I do believe that you’ve met your match, Anderson. Round one has only just begun…”

  You arrive home, pushing the door shut behind you. The rehearsal went really well, but you are exhausted. You’re ready to flop on the sofa and veg out for the rest of the night in front of the TV. You kick off your shoes, drop your bag and pad softly into the lounge. You turn to roll on to the settee but there is already somebody on it, flicking through a magazine.

  “Mads! You’re home!”

  Your sister beams at you, jumping up to give you a tight squeeze. The two of you sit back down on the sofa and begin to chat. She’s come home for a flying visit, as it’s your mum’s birthday tomorrow. You talk about home and what’s happened since she last came, and then the conversation turns to school, and the play.

  “So how’s it going, you big star?” she asks, poking you in the ribs. “And who’s the leading man? Mum didn’t say when I talked to her the other day.”

  You pause for a second, wondering how to tell her, then continue. “Chris Banner.”

  Your sister crosses her arms. “What?”

  “Banner got cast as Romeo,” you say quickly, “and I have to act with him throughout the play.”

>   Maddy shakes her head. “He’s an arrogant little boy who thinks an awful lot of himself, from a family of back-stabbers who think they are better than everyone else. I don’t know how you deal with him.”

  You suddenly have a flashback of earlier today, of Chris helping you to breathe and calming your asthma. You remember how nice he was to you, and how much trouble you could have been in if he wasn’t around. It confuses you how he can change so rapidly. There must be something good there, right…?

  “Is he really that bad?” you ask tentatively. You see your sister’s face frown, so speak a bit faster. “I mean, he can’t be all bad, can he?”

  Maddy is scowling now. “The Banners are bad news, Jen. They always have been and always will be.” She takes a deep breath and stares at you. “Do you know what happened, what his dad did to our dad? Why we stay away from the Banners, ’cause they’re more trouble than they’re worth?”

  You shake your head. You’ve always known that Ethan Banner and your own father had been best friends, but Ethan had betrayed your dad in some way, and shortly after that your father left the army to go into medicine. They’ve not spoken since. And then the first day you met Chris he was rude and mean and you didn’t like him, and so the feud continued through you two. But you don’t know the exact story.

  “Ethan and Dad were best friends, from when they were tiny. Mum says they were inseparable, like brothers. Banner men are pretty much expected to go into the army or the navy when they are older, which is what Ethan did. Dad followed him, and joined the army too. But Dad had never been as good as Ethan at anything, always second best, and when it came to the army, Dad couldn’t cut it. He started to get bullied, and then one time he got beaten up really badly, and Ethan walked in on it. But instead of helping out his best friend, he ran away. He turned and ran like a coward. And that ended their friendship.”