The Romeo Problem

Friends

"Ivy, I really need to talk to you!" Romeo said excitedly as he ran to the friend's table.

"I'm a little busy here." Ivy commented as she feverishly scribbled something on a piece of paper. Romeo gave her a curious look.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"My homework. I blew it off last night and my dad will kill me if I dropped another grade level in math. I already have a C." Ivy said. Mark and Eric sat down at the table.

"Okay but when you're done with that can I talk to you?" Romeo asked.

"Yeah sure. Is it about Julie?" Ivy questioned as she wrote a couple of numbers on the piece of paper.

"Hold up. Does Romeo have a little crush on Juliet?" Eric teased in a sarcastic tone.

"Yeah we haven't noticed." Mark stated sarcastically.

Romeo rolled his eyes at his new friends. "Yes it's about Julie."

"Okay I can help you," Ivy finished her math assignment. "But let's talk at lunch. Julie will be busy with the dance committee so she won't be there."

"Why can't we talk now?" Romeo asked curiously.

"Hey, guys, what are you talking about?" Julie had just arrived at their table with a big smile on her face. Romeo smiled without realizing it.

"Don't worry about it, Jules, it was nothing important. I'm going get a soda from the vending machine." Ivy got up from the table and left. Julie sat down in her usual spot. Anthony did too.

"When are you going to do it?" Julie asked eagerly. She leaned in excitedly towards Anthony.

"Uh do what?" He looked clueless. Julie gave him a look of disbelief. Romeo had to side with his best friend on this one; He had no clue what Julie was talking about.

"When are you going to ask Ivy out?" The blond girl stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Anthony gulped. "Well it was a hypothetical question. Who even said that I was the one who wanted to asked her out. I could have been asking for a friend, maybe I was asking for Romeo." Anthony's voice seemed to get slightly higher in pitch.

Eric, Mark, and Romeo all burst out laughing. Julie couldn't help but hold back a snigger. Anthony smiled.

"Yeah I felt ridiculous when I said that."

"Listen, Russo," Romeo started in a cocky tone. "You may not be super confident but over here I've got an endless supply." Romeo pretended to act cool. Juliet rolled her eyes.

"At least Anthony's not a cocky doofus." She stated.

"I'm not a cocky doofus. I'm just confident in myself." Romeo said honestly.

"Over confidence is a thing, genius!" Julie exclaimed.

"Well, uh, under confidence is a thing too, babe!" Romeo stammered.

"Don't call me that and what's your point?"

"I'm not actually sure."

"This is why I think you're a doofus." Julie sighed and rubbed her temples.

"I'm sorry. We can't all have straight A's." Romeo snapped. For once he was actually a little mad at Julie, but just a little.

"I wasn't trying to brag! And I'm not saying you're dumb! Being stupid and being a doofus are two completely different things." Julie commented.

"Well you're acting all high and mighty now." Romeo stated. Julie glared at him. Juliet crossed her arms and turned away from Romeo who did the same. Anthony, Eric, and Mark just watched the entire argument awkwardly.

"Okay are you two done with your lover's quarrel?" Eric teased.

"Shut up!" Romeo and Juliet both said in unison. There was a moment of silence before Anthony interrupted it.

"So I was actually thinking about asking her out next Tuesday..." No one responded to his announcement.

"Hey, guys, why are you all so quiet?" Ivy asked when she came back to the table.

Eric cupped his hand in front of his mouth so Romeo and Juliet wouldn't see what he was saying. He pointed to the two of them and whispered, "Lover's quarrel."

"Oh," Ivy said fully understanding.

"I heard that, Eric!" Julie glared at her friend.

Mark sensed that it was time for a subject change. "Okay let's talk about something else." Before he could actually come up with a new topic Romeo spoke up.

"Julie, can I just ask you one question?" Romeo asked with his back still turned to her.

"Knock yourself out." Julie said politely trying not to start up another uncomfortable argument.

Romeo smirked and turned his body so he was body forward and leaning over the table but with his face turned toward her.

"What's it like to be the most beautiful girl in the room?"

Julie's face grew hot. She blushed bright red. She had not been expecting that. Ivy smiled in a mischievous way. The bell rang. Julie immediately grabbed her bag and numbed to her feet.

"I've got to go." She backed away whilst still looking at her friends. She nearly walked in someone. "Whoops, sorry. Uh I got to go." Juliet's eyes stayed on Romeo until she turned one hundred and eighty degrees and walked to her first period, a bright red blush still spread across her face.

Ivy smiled even more. "I think you're starting to get to her." She said to Romeo. Romeo just smiled as he watched his crush leave. It definitely wasn't impossible for her to fall for him.