Temporal Exploring 101 - Deep Future

IV.15 Suddenly Juliet

Concerning our ongoing, perhaps overly ambitious attempt to put Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' on stage under the dedicated guidance and supervision of our Contemporary English Lit teacher Ms Farrow, things had turned out to be a lot less stressful than I had feared. Somehow, I had managed to secure a non-speaking part for myself.

To be specific, I was playing one of two Capulet chambermaids, the other one being played by Mallory Carmichael. During rehearsals, most of the time I was sitting in a corner and watching, idly browsing through my copy of a little booklet that contained all the lines of monologue and dialogue of the play.

Erin Morgan had been less fortunate. With everybody agreeing that she was the most beautiful girl in our class, she had been pressured into accepting to play the part of Juliet, no matter that she possessed neither the inclination nor much talent to act.

Like most of her classmates, she was finding it extremely difficult to memorize her lines, and since she was playing the part of Juliet, she had a lot more lines to memorize than most of her classmates.

Ms Farrow had proved sympathetic so far, but as the rehearsals dragged on you could tell that she was gradually losing her patience, and not only with poor Erin.

Sitting on the floor, reclining against a wall, I listened with pity as the Welsh girl labored and stuttered through her lines.

"What's in a name? That ... um .." She stopped abruptly, looking at Ms Farrow for help. "Uh .. something something a rose?"

The frown on our teacher's forehead was deepening in a most alarming manner.

"That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet," I stage-whispered.

To become a temporal explorer, you need to acquire the skill and develop the capacity to memorize and recall at a moment's notice huge bodies of text, even if you have been exposed to them only a few times, or even just once. Thus, having participated in reading and discussing the play, I could not help but recall most of the lines, spoken by each and every one of the protagonists.

"Very good, Hart." Ms Farrow's gaze focused on me. She noticed that I did not have that little booklet open. "You actually know all of Juliet's lines by heart, don't you?"

It slowly dawned on me that in helping out Erin I might have made a terrible mistake. "Um ..."

"Alright, that settles it, then." Ms Farrow  did not even wait for my answer. "Congratulations, Hart. As of now, you will be playing the part of Juliet."

"Oh, thank god," I heard Erin whisper.

I gulped. "But, Miss," I began. "I do not think I am really suited for that particular part ..."

"This is not open for discussion, Hart."

Mallory Carmichael who had been listening to our exchange with obvious amusement was smirking. Little did she know at that point that she would not be smirking for long.

Dorothy Barnett was playing Romeo Montague, and so far she had shown even less ability to memorize her lines than poor Erin, or for that matter, the rest of her classmates.

Now she was addressing me – that is to say, addressing Juliet – in a key scene that was playing in the Capulet garden.

"I have a cloak to ... um .. hide me from your eyes."

Mallory grinned, then started to giggle, helplessly.

"What?" Barnett snapped at her.

"Nothing." Mallory was attempting to stop giggling, but she was failing miserably. "It's just that ... You ... I mean, Romeo ... you made it sound like he was trying to hide from Juliet."

Dorothy blushed. She started browsing through her copy of the booklet. "But it says here ..."

"What he is actually saying, is:'I have night's cloak to hide me from their eyes'", Mallory quoted. "'Their eyes', that is, not 'your eyes'."

"Very good." Our English lit teacher was sounding absolutely delighted. "I think we have just found our new Romeo here."

"What?" Mallory blanched.

So did I. Having to play the part of Juliet was bad per se, but having to play it with Mallory Carmichael as Romeo was something I surely had done nothing to deserve, or so I felt.

"You heard me, Carmichael." Ms Farrow was smiling happily. "We shall take a short break, girls, and then continue with the rehearsals." She turned towards Mallory and me. "The two of you will get appropriate costumes for your new parts soon. For the rest of today, and also tomorrow, you will both have to rehearse dressed as chambermaids."

Wearing the wrong costume was not what was bothering me. Having to enact love scenes with Mallory Carmichael was.

Not that I feared that I was going to dislike playing those scenes with her. Rather, I feared that I might enjoy playing them a bit too much. Mallory was nothing if not unpredictable and playful, and there was no telling what mischief she would be up to while enacting those scenes.

Sure enough, the trouble started almost immediately following the brief intermission.

"Hart, Carmichael ... This is a love scene. You need to play this with a bit more feeling," our teacher objected. "Carmichael, remember that you are Romeo! You are desperately in love with fair Juliet."

"Right." Mallory put an arm around my shoulder, going for a one-armed hug.

"No, no, no ... Not like that, girls," Ms Farrow lamented. "A little more passion, if you please. Try to feel what Romeo and Juliet are feeling."

Mallory scowled. "Alright, then."

She put her arms around me and looked deep into my eyes. I tried to read those brilliant green eyes of hers. It would be difficult to put into words what I found there. Amusement, challenge, an odd sort of tenderness? Perhaps a bit of all those three, and also something else. Something hard to define. Something that my cheeks grow warm.

Before I could stop her, she pulled me close and gently pressed her warm lips against mine. We kissed, the small wet tip of her tongue darting between my lips, probing, teasing, exploring. A long, lingering kiss. Being Mallory Carmichael, she made the most out of it. Truth to tell, I rather enjoyed that kiss, and I think, so did Mallory.

There were giggles and catcalls all around us.

"Oh my god."

"Will you look at that."

Somebody – I think it was Barbara Lane – made gagging noises.

"Go get a room!" Jen Turner gleefully shouted.

Unruffled, Mallory let go of me. She grinned at Jen. "That particular part will come somewhat later in the play, I think."

Everybody was laughing at that.

Mallory turned towards our teacher.

"Was that better, Miss?"

Ms Farrow was looking slightly flustered. "Girls, I trust you are aware of the fact that kisses on stage are not real but merely simulated."

"Of course, Miss," Mallory earnestly told her. "That kiss just now was like, totally simulated."

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A / N : Looks like the rehearsal for the play may prove to be fun for Cathy, after all.

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