Stretched out across the river in front of us, a dam trickled, shining in the new-found lights. The rock shuddered beneath us, and my limbs seized, adrenaline and fear fighting for my body. “What’s going on?” My voice came out in a high-pitched squeak. Brian didn't reply.
The rumbling intensified to a fever pitch, the rock threatening to slide us both into the river. And then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped and the dam opened its jaws and poured the river out its throat. We sat so close water sprayed my face, the roar of the fall deafening. I yelled to Brian, but the great rushing ate my words before they made it to his ears.
A hand covered the side of my head, one finger pressing my ear closed. His voice was crystal clear when he spoke through the finger, “Amazing, isn’t it?”
I did the same. “Is it safe?”
A laugh. “No. But that's why it's so amazing.”
Now, I laid my head in Selena’s lap. “I just don’t understand what happened.”
“Nothing happened. Brian’s a dick.”
I sighed. “He’s just—”
“Please! You guys do everything on his terms. He drives, he decides where you go, and when. You’ve never even seen his place.”
“He’s never been to my house either.” I rolled onto my side and curled my knees to my chest. Selena ran her fingers through my hair, twisting it in a typical Selena twisting way.
She huffed a sarcastic lough. “Of course he’s never been to your house. Your parents would flip if they saw him. But he has his own place—why won’t he let you see it?”
“He probably just—”
Selena gave my hair a quick tug. “Stop defending him! Why can’t you see that he’s not good for you?”
With a groan, I rolled back onto my back. “He’s not a dick,” I said, frustrated. “He’s just…busy.”
“You deserve better.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “Right. Because I have options lining up around the block. In case you didn’t notice, before Brian, everyone pretty much ignored me.”
“That’s not true.” She ran the back of her hand across my forehead, around my left temple. “I never ignored you.”
I don’t know how I didn’t see it coming; I should have known, it shouldn’t have caught me off-guard the way it did. But somehow, when Selena bent forward, I had no idea what she was doing until her lips pressed against mine. I froze, nothing moving but my heart, which kicked against my ribs. It only lasted a second, but it dragged for eternity, and as soon as she broke contact I was on my feet.
“I, uh…I have to go.” I snatched my coat from the floor and clutched it to my chest as I backed toward the door.
Selena’s hand covered her mouth, and she stared at me, eyes wide. “Oh, Jamie, I’m—”
“No, it’s…it’s fine. I just—I have to go.”
“But you’re coming to the party tomorrow, right?” Her voice was tiny, very un-Selena-like.
I nodded, automatically. What just happened? I was bordering a full-on freakout, and I needed to be out of Selena’s house when it happened. My hand searched the air behind me, sweet relief rushing over me when it finally found the cool metal of the doorknob. “Uh, yeah, party tomorrow. I’ll see you there.” And I rushed out of there before she had a chance to say anything else.
As far as dates go, 6/13/78 sucks. It has nothing special about it, no reason for anything good to happen. Which is why, as I got ready for the party that night, I didn’t bother to find flattering clothes. Intead, I threw on a pair of worn jeans and a threadbare Budweiser t-shirt. My hair got a finger-combing, and I was out the door, ready for the fifteen minute walk to Benny’s house.
The party was in full swing by the time I got there, with bodies pressed into every corner of the house and spilling out onto the decks and front porch. I weaved my way through the people in the living room until I found the staircase.
The upstairs was slightly less packed than down, but still, people lingered in the hallway and crushed into the bedrooms. A door at the end of the hall stood partly open, the room behind it dark. I headed straight for it.
It appeared to be the master bedroom—a giant sleigh bed sat in the middle of the room, about eighteen trillion decorative pillows piled on it. You could probably hide a body on that bed and nobody would find it. Along one wall was a long vanity with a gilded mirror and dozens of tiny perfume bottles, sorted, it seemed, by size and color. The opposite wall had a window seat filled with stuffed kittens.
Benny’s mom was quite the collector.
Farther down the stuffed kitten wall, a single glass door led to a tiny balcony. The lock was stuck, but a good jiggle/hit/curse/rage managed to pop it open, and I stepped onto the balcony. It was still covered in last fall’s dead leaves, now a sort of leafsludge. Gross. I pushed them to the edges so I could have a clean bit to stand on.
The party had spilled out of the house, and the backyard was filled with people standing in clusters. Talking and laughing and drinking and figuring their chances of hooking up later. I scanned the lawn, taking in the faces below me. Searching.
I climbed onto the railing, swinging my legs over the wood to dangle over the ground below. The narrow rail dug into the back of my thighs, and my knuckles ached already with the force of my grip. My body swayed.
I found Selena first, almost immediately. She stood to the left of the balcony in her tight party jeans and a cropped shirt, her taut stomach on display for all to see. She’d not noticed me yet; she was talking to a group of girls from school, waving her arms wildly, sloshing her beer on the ground. Her hair was wild and free, spilling over her shoulders and down to the middle of her back. Even from this far, her smile made me smile.
I was just about to call out to her when I raised my eyes just a smidge and saw him for the first time in nearly a week. He was breathtaking as always, and when his face broke into a smile—a real smile, not the mocking Brian smile he usually wore—I thought I could fly right off the balcony and into his arms. His mouth moved, those beautiful lips forming the two words I’d reconize on them above all others. Come on. He held his hand out and—
“No,” I choked out, the single word sticking in my throat.
Brian’s hand clasped around Robin’s, their fingers lacing effortlessly. He pulled the knot of fingers to his lips, put a kiss there like he’d done it a thousand times before. It all happened so fast, but I felt like I was living in slow motion as my heart fell out of my chest and onto the groud below. “No!” I cried again, louder.
Selena spun around and stared up at me. The red cup slipped from her hand and hit the ground in a fit of foam. “Oh my god, Jamie! What are you doing?”
She followed my gaze to Brian and Robin, now holding each other by the bon fire, their arms a pretzel of brown and black skin. Tears stung at my eyes in their stupid crying way.
“Jamie, listen to me.” Selena’s voice was low and shaky and not nearly as soothing as she was trying to make it sound. “Remember what I said last night. He’s not worth it. He doesn’t matter. Damn it, Jamie! Look at me. At me.”
My head turned slowly, my eyes even more so. And I looked at her. My best friend since the third grade. The girl who knew me better than anyone else on the world. Who knew me better than I knew myself. The girl who pressed her soft lips to my own just last night. The girl who was now looking at me with tears in her own eyes, trailing down her cheeks, pleading with me.
I looked at her.
Then back to Brian.
Then Selena.
And I fell.
Star Crossed Lovers
S.M. Johnston & E.L. Wicker
I fear too early, for my mind misgives. Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date.
—Romeo & Juliet
Romeo
The clunk of the airlock bolting into place secures my fate, sending my limbs into an involuntary quiver. There’s no turning back now. If we pull this off, my family will finally be free to earn the hon
est living they so deserve. Too long, we’ve been forced to trade illegally beneath the shadows in fear of the Capulets’ wrath.
A hand clamps on my shoulder and I flinch. On instinct, I reach for my cutlass and pistol then ball my fingers into fists and force them to stay by my side. Merc’s face greets me with a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth and a glimmer in his brown eyes.
“Want some courage in a pill?” He holds out a tiny blue hexagon—a Queen Mab booster.
I shake my head, my tongue feeling too thick to form words. The last thing I want is to walk into a ballroom full of people and go berserk.
He reaches forward, unzips the top pocket on my leather jacket then slides the pill inside. “You never know.”
“Romeo’s right.” Ros steps forward, flicking her blonde hair over her shoulder and tugging at her dress as though she wants to shed it and get back into her leathers. No doubt she’s adapted it to easily access her weapons hidden underneath. “It’ll kick in too early. We need to blend with the Capulets’ guests and wait for our opportunity.”
Merc pouts, but hands one tablet out to the three of us. “Girl, you are no fun.” He leans in close and whispers to me, “As you know.” He pretends to yawn, but pops a pill into his mouth before I can say anything.
My brows furrow together in a thanks-for-reminding-me look that could also be an are-you-an-idiot look. My ex keeps her eyes forward, but her jaw clenches—a sure sign she heard. Ben snorts behind me. Obviously he agrees. His presence looms as he steps closer. “Take the time to check out the honeys tonight. The best way to erase a broken heart is to replace her.” Ben takes more care to keep his voice low and this time Ros doesn’t react.
Beeps come from the other side of the airlock, and I break out in goose bumps. I look out the window at the stars, flickering like distant torchlights, and then pull my mask down. Merc, Ben and Ros follow suit.
I hold my breath as the pressure from our ship levels out with the air inside the Space Station Verona. My ears ache and pop at the screeching inside my head from the process, making me wish I’d taken the Queen Mab.
The doors slide open with a swoosh. A servant clad in a suit, the buttons straining around his waist, peers at us through wire-rimmed spectacles. The wrinkle of his nose indicates he doesn’t believe our attire worthy of this event.
“Invitation.” He extends a white-gloved hand.
Ben unzips his jacket and reaches inside then passes over the stolen embossed envelope, the ticket to Lady Juliet’s debut ball—the masquerade theme a cover too good to pass up.
Moisture trickles down my neck as the servant slides a finger under the flap at the back of the envelope and flicks it open before pinching the card inside and easing it out.
Ros holds up a silver rod and clicks the end of it, pointing the blue light into the Capulet servants’ eyes. “We are on people on the card. You’ve checked us and we have no weapons.”
The suited man shakes his head then resumes his composure with no trace on his face that something is afoot. “Very good Mr. Gregory and guests.” He steps aside to let us pass.
“Best investment ever,” Ros whispers as she slips the piece of tech into her pocket.
It was good fortune that Ben picked the invitation up after a scuffle between members of my father’s gang and some of Capulet’s men.
A man in a deep red spacesuit passes Ben a ticket for space ship retrieval at the end of the night.
Juliet
I press my forehead against the cool glass of the porthole that forms the barrier between the void of space and me. What I wouldn’t give to be out there—to be free. Maybe join the space enforcers, or a merchant ship so I can see the world. The thought of running away and being part of a space pirate’s crew is more appealing than sitting by my father’s side as his ornament to dangle before intergalactic envoys.
Politics. Blah. I stick out my tongue and screw up my face. Dad gave me the room with a view, but it’s like a fishbowl prison. I wish more than anything that I was a part of the jeweled sky on the outside.
“Ladybird.” My nurse’s voice floats down the hallway, no doubt worrying about how long it will take to get me into that blasted debut dress.
A smudge stays on the window, marking where my skin kissed it. My quarters have barely changed over the years, its comfort shielding me from reality. But adulthood looms and I can’t hide forever. I take a breath to prepare myself for the onslaught of mother badgering me about the role I can play in politics. Lifting up the bottom of my shift, I scurry toward the tailoring room.
“Where is that girl?” Nurse sticks her head out the door and yells, “Juliet.”
She spots me and shakes her head. “Inside, Ladybird. Your mother is waiting.”
“Don’t you have better things to do than wait on me?” I give her a smile as I slip past her into the room. Dresses adorn metal railings dotted around the perimeter. Pins and ribbons are scattered across the smooth black tables. Mother gives me a disapproving glare. “Really, I’m too old anyway.”
“Nurse, please leave us.” My mother’s stern voice makes me gulp. “On second thoughts, stay.”
She strides the width of my room in five paces, turns and repeats this in the opposite direction.
“Rebellion is growing. We need to secure alliances. I want you to schmooze tonight. Find Paris—talk, mingle, flirt. Any slight bit of attention he pays you, return it.” She continues listing off all the things I need to do to be the perfect daughter tonight. It’s like feminism never existed in my household.
“Why don’t I just throw myself at him and offer him my body?”
Mother snorts. “Not unless there’s a proposal included. Make him wait, and then he’ll be sure to ask for your hand.”
“It’s an honor I dream not of.” I roll my eyes. “What do you think, Nurse?”
My maid fidgets with the hem of her apron. “You are the prettiest babe I’ve ever watched over from the cradle to womanhood. I want you to be happy.” She avoids my mother’s gaze.
“Will I have security tonight?” I ask, thinking of the conversation I overheard between my father and one of his advisors earlier in the week about the rumor of an assassin targeting a Capulet.
“Don’t be silly.” Mother’s lips curl back in disdain. “This space station is a fortress. Guests have been carefully screened. You will be safe.”
A blue silk dress lays on the floor, skirts blooming out like an open rose. I step inside and let my attendant prepare me. After thirty long minutes I stand in front of the mirror, my hair piled atop my head, my face lightly painted and my dress held tight to my body by a string of buttons that follow the line of my spine. I have blossomed from child to young lady, but with that change comes pressure. I love and hate my reflection at the same time. Perfection. No doubt Paris will think so too. A matching mask sits on the nightstand, waiting to finish the ensemble. How ironic. I wear a mask every day. Everyone else just thinks it’s my face.
Mother nods in approval then leaves without a word.
Nurse’s lips brush my cheeks in a kiss assured to remove no make-up. “Go, Ladybird, seek happy nights to happy days.”
Romeo
Ben, Ros, and I walk like we’re heading to a funeral. And there’s a chance we will be if someone decides to be a hero and thwart our plan. Merc, on the other hand, bounces along the blue-lit metal corridor like he’s already on the dance floor.
“Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight, get down tonight.” Merc sings the retro tune and steps in time to the beat in his head. “Gotta get you on the dance floor and get rid of that melancholy.”
“I fear I lack your nimble dancing shoes,” I say. “I have soles of lead.”
“And Capulet’s going to have concrete shoes,” Merc says, still gigging along. He glances at Ros, who follows a few steps behind discussing tactics with Ben. “You’re a lover, not a fighter. I know tonight won’t be easy. But borrow Cupid’s wings and you might be able to hav
e a bit of fun before we fulfill your father’s ambitious plan.”
I hold little interest in having fun, but I keep that to myself.
We step into the ballroom. Verona is the finest space station in the entire galaxy and they’ve spared little expense. Black flowers sit atop shiny metal pillars, rows of sleek tables line the smooth silver walls, and blue LED lights sparkle above them. Tipping my head back, I survey the glass-domed ceiling. Outside, the galaxy appears peaceful, a stark contrast to the unease sloshing in my stomach.
Grabbing a drink from a passing server’s tray, I wade through the mass of partygoers. A quiet spot, that’s what I need to find and then I can wait to execute our plan without Merc’s constant jibes.
Holding the silver, tulip-shaped chalice to my lips, I take a tentative sip. Bubbles explode on my tongue and I grimace as a trail of fire slides down my throat. The liquid sends a warm glow through my belly, not entirely unpleasant. A few swallows later and my muscles unwind, the tight anticipation of our mission fading to a bearable level.
Breaking free of the cacophony of sweaty masked socialites, I spy a darkened door in the far corner. We must wait until the guests are sufficiently inebriated before we make our move, giving me plenty of time to seek a slice of solace. A green light blinks above the closed metal barrier between this room and whatever’s on the other side. I trail my hand along the cool metal wall, the taste of freedom on my tongue. As I hedge closer, I press my chin to my shoulder, taking a quick glance behind me. I bite back a groan. Merc’s got his hands on some unsuspecting female’s hips, gyrating like an ape on Queen Mab.
The surface beneath my palms warms and I snap my attention back to the front. My means of escape waits beneath my fingers. Sucking in a deep breath, I press the unlock button. I shuffle from foot to foot as the door hisses. Whatever awaits beyond, it has to better than this.
Never Be Younger: A YA Anthology Page 2