Saving Juliet (25 page)

Clarissa pounded her fist into the wall as Troy and I ran down the hallway. He stepped onto the stage and the crowd went wild, immediately forgiving his tardiness.

Nurse and Lady Capulet stared disapprovingly at me, as did the stage manager. How well I deserved their scorn. I had done nothing to earn anyone's respect, constantly complaining about a profession that each of them cherished. Tonight was going to be different. Sure, I wanted to get to the kissing scene, but something else tugged at my heart.

Juliet's smile flashed in my mind. There was so much more to her than Shakespeare ever imagined. Was there more to me? I had moped and whined like a spoiled brat ever since rehearsals began. I had even manifested stage fright as just another way to sabotage my career. Juliet and I shared the same feelings of being trapped, of having our lives directed by someone else. But even though she ultimately chose her own destiny, she still considered her family's reputation. She never wanted to bring them shame or dishonor.

I tiptoed to the edge of the stage and peered at the audience. My mother had said that she'd be in the sixth row, along with members of an admissions committee who expected to see a brilliant performance by the great-granddaughter of Adelaide Wallingford. It was difficult to see past the squirming fans.

"I'm right here." I gasped and turned to find my mother standing behind me. "I wanted to check on you. You were so upset. Can we talk?" We squeezed past Nurse and Lady Capulet, and ducked into the prop room. She pulled a plane ticket from her purse. "I didn't cancel it. I may be horrid, but I'm not that horrid."

"Mom."
My voice caught for a moment. I had so much I wanted to say. "I don't hate you."

"I know. But I've given you plenty of reasons to be mad at me." She sat on a bench, tucking her wool skirt under her lean thighs. "You think I haven't been listening to you, but I have. I just let all this other stuff get in the way."

I sat next to her. "You mean the debts?"

She put a hand over mine. "This theater was your father's passion. Before he died, he begged me to maintain it for you. He assumed that his first love would be yours as well." She smiled sadly. "It never occurred to him that the great-granddaughter of Adelaide Wallingford might want to do something else with her life. You were only eight. How could he have known?"

"Mom, I know you've just been trying to make things work. But at some point, we have to stop trying to live Dad's dream.
How about if we compromise?"
I scooted closer to her. "I'm happy to perform in the DVD version of Romeo
and Juliet,
but after that I'm going to take some time for college.
But not the Theatre Institute.
I still want to try pre-med."

"Okay. That's a sound plan." She squeezed my hand. "I think your father would understand your decision. He understood passion, above anything else. Believe me, that's why I married him." Her smile sweetened as her gaze drifted into memory. "Your father would want you to feel passion in your life. He would want you to be happy. And that's what I want, for the both of us. What would you think about selling this place?"

"What?" I couldn't believe the question.

"Reginald Dwill has made a terrific offer. It would cover all our debts, including the one I've incurred on your trust fund. You could go to college in Los Angeles."

"What about you?"

"I'll go back to acting. It's what I do best. Your cousin Greg said I'd be perfect for the role of Dr. Tiffany on his soap opera. She's a plastic surgeon who has risen from the dead." She rolled her eyes.

The lights dimmed, and the stagehands rushed in to collect the pieces of Capulet House. Mother and I returned to the wings as the stage was transformed. "Is that what you want?" I whispered.
"To act again?"

"It's what I dream about." She pulled me into a hug.
"When I'm not dreaming about you."

The lights rose and Nurse and Lady Capulet stepped onto the stage. My mother hugged me again,
then
hurried back to the audience. Fernando blotted my nose. I picked up my special little chair and handed it to him. "Burn this," I said.

"Where's this girl? What, Juliet!" Nurse called.

I stepped onto that stage like I had never stepped onto it before, imagining a wild-eyed, freckle-faced girl of not quite fourteen.
A girl with hair that defied gravity and a thirst for freedom that is the essence of the human spirit.
I stepped onto that stage with one goal
--
to command it like my great-grandmother, grandmother, father, and mother had commanded it before me.
To honor my family name.

I think I succeeded
--
at least, that's what everyone told me. The admissions committee couldn't have been more flattering, and my mother's face couldn't have beamed any more brightly.

What about the kiss? Of course I'm going to tell you about the kiss. When Troy climbed the fake ivy and spoke those beautiful words of love, I let my secret feelings flow through Juliet's lines. They flowed across the stage and over the audience, electrifying the entire theater. I didn't know, until that moment, that the simple act of two people pressing their lips together could produce such an intense, physical reaction. What a kiss! It completely erased the first one. Most of the front row girls groaned. Eat your hearts out!

When the play was over, Troy and I had our first official date. We took a taxi to St. Francis's Hospital and got him a big fat shot of antibiotic, right in the butt. Then we went back to the Wallingford because I had some unfinished business. He waited in the taxi while I stood in the lobby, gazing at the portrait of my great-grandmother.

"Adelaide," I said. "I'm leaving the theater."

"Leaving, are you?"
She pursed her painted lips. 'Acting
is not your cup of tea, is it?"

"No, it's really not. But I did my best tonight."

"Yes, I heard the applause. It was magnificent"
Her eyes twinkled.
"You should he very proud, my dear, very proud indeed. Applause like that comes from the heart"

Mr.
Shakespeare once wrote,
Our
doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.
In other words, a wish is a good place to start but then you have to get off your butt and make it happen. You have to pick up a quill and write your own damn story.

So I took my exit.

Om ya.

***

So that was my story, my life-is-the-stuff-of-dreams story. I'm pleased to report that as of this writing, I'm living in Los Angeles with my aunt Mary, attending UCLA. Troy lives in the city, too. He signed with a new label and is experimenting with classical music. He's really into the mandolin. And yes, we're still dating. The soap opera role is keeping Mom busy, but she's coming out for Christmas. She and Reginald
have
become an item, so it feels like the theater is still in the family.

But there's one more thing to add.

Remember that little black-and-white cat, the one that lived across from my apartment with the old lady? Well, he's perched in Aunt Mary's oak tree as I write this. The old lady was happy to give him to me. She said he whined too much.

But now he's as happy as a lark.

I named him Romeo.

I would be lost without my critique group and their combined talents when working with a first draft.
Deep gratitude to Susan Wiggs, Sheila Rabe, Anjali Banerjee, Elsa Watson, Dennis O'Reilly, and Carol Cassella.
And endless thanks to my husband, Bob, for always reading every single page I put in front of him even though none of my stories are about aviation or mountain climbing.

I'm lucky to have a supportive and accessible agent, Michael Bourret, and an excellent editor, Emily Easton. Thanks also to the staff at Dystel 6k Goderich Literary Management and the staff at Walker Books for Young Readers.

Last, but not least, I'd like to thank a three-volume set of books titled
The Annotated Shakespeare.
Santa gave them to me when I was thirteen years old. That's when I fell in love with a certain playwright, without whom this novel could not have been written.

When
Suzanne Selfors
was cast as Mercutio in a summer stock production of
Romeo and Juliet,
she was devastated to be playing a male part. But once she realized that she would get to wear a fake beard and learn to fence, she was hooked and spent the rest of her high school years as a thespian. These days, her favorite things include organic gardening, boating in the San Juan Islands, and hanging out in coffeehouses. Suzanne lives on an island in Washington State with her husband and two children.

www.suzanneselfors.com

***

"This above all: to thine own self
be
true."
Hamlet
(act 1, scene 3).

1. "
All the
world's a stage."
As You Like It
(act 2, scene 7)

2. "What's in a name?"
Romeo and Juliet
(act 2, scene 2)

3. "Now is the winter of our discontent."
Richard III
(act 1, scene 1)

4- "Of all base passions, fear is the most accursed." Henry VI, Part One (act 5, scene 2)

5. "Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene
..
."
Romeo and Juliet
(act 1, scene 1)

6. "An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told."
Richard III
(act 4, scene 4)

7. "One pain is lessen'd by another's anguish."
Romeo and Juliet
(act 1, scene 2)

8. "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
Hamlet
(act 3, scene 2)

9. "Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't."
Macbeth
(act 1, scene 5)

10. "How stands your disposition to be married?" Romeo
and Juliet
(act 1, scene 3)

11. "Why, then the world's mine oyster."
The
Merry
Wives of Windsor
(act 2, scene 2)

12. "O' she doth teach the torches to burn bright!" Romeo
and Juliet
(act 1, scene 5)

13. "Holy St. Francis! What a change is here."
Romeo and Juliet
(act 2, scene 3)

14. "Though this
be
madness, yet there is method in't."
Hamlet
(act 2, scene 2)

15. "A horse, a horse.
My kingdom for a horse!"
King Richard III
(act 5, scene 4)

16. "The game is up."
Cymbeline
(act 3, scene 3)

17. "I have not slept a wink."
Cymbeline
(act 3, scene 3)

18. "The miserable have no other medicine but only hope." Measure
for Measure
(act 3, scene 1)

19. "Delays have dangerous ends."
King Henry the Sixth,
Part One (act 3, scene 2)

20. "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"
Romeo and Juliet
(act 2, scene 2)

21. "The course of true love never did run smooth."
Midsummer Night's Dream
(act 1, scene 1)

22. "Men at some time are masters of their fate."
Julius Caesar
(act 1, scene 2)

23. "To sleep, perchance to dream
...
"
Hamlet
(act 3, scene 1) 24- "Thus with a kiss
...
"
Romeo and Juliet
(act 5, scene 3)

25. "Parting is such sweet sorrow." Romeo
and Juliet
(act 2, scene 2)

26. "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances." As You
Like
It
(act 2, scene 7)

A
letter from Suzanne Selfors to the man himself--William Shakespeare--just to clarify that she never intended to steal his fans. She only wanted to make
Romeo and Juliet
seem more applicable to the world today. You should still read the original story after finishing
Saving Juliet.

Dear Mr. Shakespeare,

I wanted to let you know that I am a huge fan of your play
Romeo and Juliet.
I appreciate how you added your own vision and style to a love story that had been published many times by many writers before you. In keeping with this revisionary tradition, I have done likewise with your play. I messed around with it a bit. I turned it inside out and stood it on its head. I'm confident you won't be offended for I have simply followed your lead. We are fiction writers, after all.

I first discovered your play during the summer of my thirteenth year. My father was running a fishing boat in Alaska. My mother had started a new career, and she needed to find ways to keep my little sister and me busy. So she signed us up for summer stock theatre. I'd been in a few school plays but not since sixth grade, so I wasn't quite sure that this was something I wanted to do. Hanging out at home and watching TV sounded so much better.

On a sunny Monday morning, my mother dropped us off at a church in town. We filed into the basement with dozens of other kids. A guy with a bushy red mustache welcomed us. He said he was our director. Then he said that for the next four weeks, we were going to live and breathe Shakespeare.
In other words, you.