Romeo & Juliet

The audition results were posted on the whiteboard in the drama classroom. All the students were tightly knit around it, clamoring excitement over which roles they were going to play in the upcoming showing of 'Romeo and Juliet'.

Allison was the last to meander in that direction, supposing she'd get the role of an 'extra', if she got anything at all... which was perfectly fine by her, considering she was really only in this class for the elective credits, not because she had aspirations to be a famous actress. She liked acting, yes, but was stubbornly logical that her chances of succeeding as an actress... and becoming famous... were slim to none, even if you were pretty and had talent.

Allison was indeed lovely, with natural red hair and eyes the color of the sky on a clear summer day... her skin was the color of fresh-fallen snow, as if she'd never been touched by the sun a day in her life, and she was thin- yet developed, with very generous curves.

Talented?

The drama teacher- and director of the play- certainly seemed to think so, because when she saw her name listed under 'Juliet', she was downright shocked.

"Juliet!" her voice was actually rather outraged, since that role involved... kissing!... and she was hardly willing to do that, not for entertainment purposes! Not when she'd never been properly kissed by a boy before!

"I don't want to!" and she was quite prepared to make a scene about it too, her eyes seeking out the teacher who, by some stroke of insanity, had 'awarded' her this role. Already she was marching straight towards her- this was an elective class, and auditions were mandatory- surely lead roles were not!

A young man stepped in front of her, intercepting her march to the drama teacher. "Allison, right? I'm Alex, I'll be the one playing Romeo," he introduced himelf politely with his arm held out to her to shake her hand. He saw her reaction to being cast as Juliet and wanted to see if he could solve the problem himself. He had been in drama since he started school there. He hated when there was an issue with the cast and knew how hard it was to replace leads even with it being this early. "So what seems to be the problem?" He asked with a curious tone.

Alex seemed like he would take the role of Romeo. His black hair nearly came to his neck and the way it was styled cover the left side of his face. His green eyes almost resembles emeralds in a way. His skin found a happy medium between pale and tan. There was just something Victorian about him, though he wore modern attire of course.

"I was chosen for the lead..." she said, her cheeks were flushed bright with color that rivalled the vibrancy of her hair. "I don't want to be the lead, I would prefer a minor... non-kissing... role." her tone placed heavy emphasis on the kissing, which most definitely seemed to be the problem. In such a romantic play, there really was no avoiding it. Kissing scenes were expected- required. Why was it that theater created a venue for public displays of affection being APPROPRIATE? If it wasn't in the context of a play, it would not be as socially accepted.

A first kiss was not to be given up for the sake of entertainment, it had to be something born from love! Yet she did not add in this little tidbit, just privately seethed with that information."I am just in this class for the credits," she continued, "it's not right that someone as unpassionate as I am gets this role!" though she certainly seemed passionate about getting out of it!

Alex let out ha sigh. "Well the lead role is only given to the most deserving audition... so you must have done a pretty amazing job with that lack of enthusiasm. If the kiss is your problem you shouldn't be so worried. It isn't so serious it'll just last a second and there's no feelings involved. At least you don't have to go topless like the actress from the movie," he said as if to lighten the mood. Then again joking about Juliet's half naked scene from the movie probably wouldn't help the girl portraying her in the play.

He tried to come up with an actual solution to this problem but it was a bit harder than he thought. What was one thing that made girls more comfortable around the opposite sex. That's when the idea came to him. "Besaides, the kiss won't really count for either of us... I'm gay," he falsely admitted. He figured that way would be easier. He would be like the one gay friend that you could feel comfortable practicing on because it didn't to anything for either of you.

[Sorry for the super long delay, I was out with an eye infection. Feel free to drop this rp or respond to this post.]

Allison listened to him quietly for a moment, though the way she was standing there- shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot as he explained to her that it was 'no big deal'... it was clear she wanted to argue, but to explain her thoughts fully would reveal information she wasn't keen on bringing to light.

Then he told her something she definitely had never expected to hear- he was gay? That left her rather speechless for a moment, and she tried to think back on any gossip she had ever heard about him, like whether or not he had a girlfriend or if anyone else has heard this news. She couldn't remember, because Allison had never really been all that interested in gossip. Besides, why would he lie about it? The second-best audition would still be good enough, so why go through the trouble of lying to keep her?

"Oh." that was all she could think to say for a moment. It wasn't that she had a problem with that- she was open minded about such things, but it was still a surprise to her. "Well, I suppose that's okay then..." his lie worked, she seemed to settle down a little bit, deciding to agree that it didn't count after all, and nodding a little. Except for that minor, uncomfortable detail- Allison would enjoy working on the play, she rather liked Romeo and Juliet- anything romantic really, and it would be just the thing to cushion applications to her colleges of choice. The lead role in a play is pretty note worthy!

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow for the first script-reading, then..." her tone was still a little awkward, but she seemed to decide to go ahead and get past her refusal.

Her reaction had surprised him. Alex's idea had worked. Now he had another role to play, himself as a homosexual. It would be too hard considering he didn't have many close friends in the school and he never dated anyone from school. The only way she could find out is if they had friends in common outside of school or he told her himself which was highly unlikely. He had a bit of confidence in his new sencondary role.

His voice had become more cheerful and upbeat now. "Yes! Tomorrow for sure. And maybe after we can meet up and practice together if that's okay with you," he said hoping he wasn't asking too much of her. "Oh yeah and this will be your script with your parts highlighted," he said as he handed her the packet of papers.

(Ironicly I was out with a bad thumb haha. So your fine.)