Why Romeo Hates Juliet (50 page)

Three Weeks Later…

After Romeo finished filming his movie in Vancouver, he flew Juliet, his Katie-girl, Hailey, Sara, and Rob to Prince Edward Island in his private jet. Tommy flew in from Los Angeles, and they were all met in Charlottetown by Faith and her husband, Brad. Sara had gotten her in-laws beach house again for the ‘happy couple’ to honeymoon in after their proper and legal beach wedding this time.

Romeo and Juliet were married by the ocean behind the beach house at sunset in a private ceremony presided over by Reverend Jake and catered by Brad and Faith. All the correct paperwork had been obtained and obtained quietly, managing to keep news of their wedding a secret from even the paparazzi. There were no flying helicopters this time or cameramen staked out up the road - only one lone photographer, paid for by Romeo, to take pictures of their happy day.

The bride and groom were both barefoot in the sand again. Juliet wore her simple white wedding sheath of a dress from the first time she’d married him, and Romeo wore the same black jacket, white shirt and jeans - but this time, there were no more schemes or games or lies between them. Love had cleared all that away for good.

At the small barbeque reception they held afterwards on the patio, Romeo turned to his wife and gave her a white, sealed envelope. It was her wedding present, he told her.

Smiling, Juliet tore it open and pulled out a sheet of paper with the words, ‘Beach House’ written on it. He smiled at her then and told her that he was building her a new house on the ruins of his destroyed one next door. It would be hers and they’d be able to come back to Prince Edward Island as often as they wanted to because this island province was special. It was here where Romeo first loved Juliet.

THE END

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Author's Note:

To all of my readers who took the time to write to me and tell me how much you’ve enjoyed my novels, I just want to say, thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart! You’ll never even begin to know how much your words of encouragement, enthusiasm and passion for my work means to me. It spurs me to keep writing and hopefully with each book, I can keep entertaining you and keep getting better and better as a writer. And most of all, please keep believing in Love. I’m a hopeless romantic myself and I think Love is out there for each and every one of us, even if we have to go through a lot of sill iness sometimes to find it - just like all of my book characters do! ? Anna Mara Anna Mara is the bestselling author of the romantic comedy, HER PERFECT REVENGE, her debut novel. WHY ROMEO HATES JULIET is her second book.

Visit her website at: http://www.annamara.com

Or her blog at: authorannamara.wordpress.com

Email: [email protected]

HER PERFECT REVENGE

BY

ANNA MARA

~ Chapter 1 ~

16 Years Earlier…

Was it her imagination or was everyone staring at her? No, everyone was staring at her - and they were laughing too!

Putting her head down, fourteen-year-old Christina Matteo walked quickly down the school hall, trying to avoid catching anyone's eye. Clutching her books to her chest, she increased her speed but as she went by a gaggle of girls lurking at their lockers, the girls suddenly burst out laughing.

Ignoring them, Christina continued her brisk pace down the hall towards her locker. It was probably just her imagination. This was only her third week of her freshman year at Cloverdale Public High School. She didn't know anybody here - and they didn't know her.

Super shy and self-conscious, Christina had kept to herself since school had started. Except for her girlfriend Jenny, she hadn't socialized with anyone. Not that anyone would want to anyway. After all, short, dumpy girls who wore glasses and railroad tracks on their teeth weren't exactly on everyone's party list.

"Hey, baby."

Christina swiveled her head to her right. Tall, skinny Gary Porter, a senior at the school, was in a corner with his friend, Barry Mahoney.

"Why don't we party tonight and you can do me?" Gary puckered his lips and made a slurping, sucking sound at Christina. Barry burst out laughing.

Mortified, Christina swung away and kept walking. What the hell was happening? Reaching her locker, Christina fumbled with the combination lock. She just wanted to get her stuff and get the hell out of the hallway.

"Chrissy?"

Nervous and tense, Christina jumped. She turned to find a very out-of-breath Jenny beside her.

Jenny rambled on. "I ran all the way here. I thought I was late again and…" Suddenly, she stopped her speech as she noticed Christina's pale face. "Chrissy, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Embarrassed, Christina kept fumbling with her lock.

Jenny studied her friend. Her street smarts were telling her something was wrong. Even though they were the same age, Jenny was taller and more developed than Christina. She was also more confident and tougher, but still not a member of the A clique, or the B, or C - not even the D, but she didn't care. Jenny was lower class and knew how to fight dirty.

The two girls had been best friends since grade school. Christina had begged her parents to send her to Cloverdale High when she'd found out Jenny was going. Although her parents had wanted her to go to St. Joseph's, an all-girl, private boarding school outside Philadelphia, they'd relented after an entire summer of pleading from their daughter.

Not rich by any means, Nunzio and Gabriel a Matteo had scrimped and saved, and had wanted the very best for their little girl. That meant a private, convent school. But their resolve had melted with Christina's tears and they allowed her to stay at home in Bensonhurst, New York, and attend public school.

Jenny continued to study Christina's bent head. "Chrissy, what's happened?"

"Nothing," Christina mumbled, as her lock finally released.

As she swung open her locker door, an envelope fluttered out. Jenny bent down to pick it up. It was an envelope addressed to 'Chrissy Matteo'.

She handed it to her friend. Perplexed, Christina quickly tore it open. Whomever it was from had wedged it between the door and upper frame of her locker.

It was a letter from the Anderson Family Planning Clinic - and - shocked, Christina looked up at her friend.

Jenny snatched it from her shaking hands and began reading it out loud.

"Dear Miss Matteo… We regret to inform you that a sexual partner of yours, who has requested to remain anonymous, has contracted gonorrhea and is currently being treated at our clinic. We are writing to urge you to seek medical attention as soon as possible to determine whether you have also been infected… holy crap! Is this…?" Jenny looked up at Christina with new eyes.

"No, it's not true! Jenny, how can I get that… that disease when I've never even kissed a guy?" Christina hissed.

"Well, you don't get it from kissing."

"Jenny!"

"Okay, okay. But why is this addressed to you? And in your locker?"

"I don't know." Panic coursed through Christina's system and she felt weak.

Jenny was studying the letter again. "You know what this is? It's a joke."

"What?"

"Chrissy, official letters from medical clinics don't get stuffed into student lockers. And look." She held up the envelope. "There's no stamp on it.

These kinds of letters get mailed to you or they try to contact you on the phone."

"But who would do that? We don't know anybody here."

"I don't know but we're going to find out." Jenny's face set with determination.

"Jenny, no!" Christina shouted, as the first bell rang warning everyone to get to class. "If my parents find out, they'll ship me off to convent school and you know how much I had to beg to stay here." Christina snatched the letter from Jenny's hands and stuffed it into her sweater pocket. "Promise me you won't say anything to anybody." Jenny stubbornly remained silent. "Jenny?"

"Okay, I won't."

Inside their English 101 classroom, Christina and Jenny took their seats along with the other freshmen. The final bell hadn't rung yet and their teacher, Mrs. Lauder still hadn't arrived.

Jenny leaned over to Christina and whispered, "Maybe it's Ashford over there." She nodded toward Stevie Ashford, a big, bulky kid who excelled in sports but not in school. "I think he likes you."

Christina gave Stevie a sideways look before turning back to Jenny. She kept her voice low. "If he likes me, why would he do that? It doesn't make sense."

"Maybe you're right. I'll bet he can't even spell gonorrhea."

"Jenny, shut up. Somebody's gonna hear you."

"Maybe it's…"

"Hey, you're Chrissy, right?"

Christina looked up to see Billy Havenwood, class leader and super hunk, sidle up to her desk and place his elbows on it. He leaned forward into her face and the room went deathly quiet.

"Y…Yes," she replied.

Christina was wary. Billy Havenwood had never spoken to her. The school term had only begun three weeks ago and everyone had already been pigeonholed into his or her clichéd roles - class clown, nerd, jock, wannabe. Billy was none of those. He and his best friend, Jake Monroe, were the superstars. Popular, brash, arrogant and gorgeous, they knew what they had and what they could command.

Rumor had it that Billy came from a wealthy family. His mom, a liberal, hippy-type, had insisted her son attend public school in order to learn how 'normal' people lived. His businessman father had sternly objected but then finally relented.

And Billy? Well, he didn't care where he went as long as he could party. His drinking exploits in his first few weeks of school had already made him a semi-legend. Even the seniors were impressed.

Christina was not - although she did have a secret crush on him. All the girls did. But why was he talking to her now with that wild, glazed look in his eyes?

"I've got some advice for you." He slurred his words slightly.

Repulsed by the smell of beer on his breath, Christina leaned back. "W…What?"

A slow smirk spread across Billy's face. "Next time you wanna hump, use one of these." He threw a wrapped condom at her. As if on cue, the entire class burst out laughing. Then Billy yelled, "Now." And, suddenly, the other students pelted Christina with condoms.

Christina sat there in shock as a hot fire of humiliation spread from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

Looking around at the sea of laughing faces, her breathing stopped. Billy stumbled back to his seat and gave his friend Jake a high five.

Aghast, Jenny jumped up and started yelling around the room. "Stop it! Stop it!"

No one paid any attention. They just kept laughing.

Suddenly, both Christina and Jenny spotted a photocopy of Christina's family planning clinic letter tacked onto the bulletin board. Everyone had seen it!

Christina's bottom lip quivered. She had never been so embarrassed in all her life. What was going on? And why?

Summoning all her courage, she finally spoke up.

"It's… it's a lie. It's not t…true." She spoke louder. "It's not true."

Jenny made a beeline for the letter and tore it off the board. "All of you, shut up," she ordered.

As if on cue, the other classmates pulled out their own copies and held them high. Everyone had one. Christina finally broke down. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she grabbed her books and turned to her peers.

"W… why are you all being so m…mean to me? I never did anything to any of you!" She sobbed and screamed.

The laughter died down and Christina looked into their faces.

This couldn't be happening to her - her of all people. She’d always done everything right. She'd been nice to everyone, always blended into the wall paper, and never made waves. Why this? Why now? Why her?

With a final cry of anguish, she clutched her books and ran from the room in tears.

~ ~ ~

~ Chapter 2 ~

Jenny found Christina sitting inside a stal in the first floor girl's washroom sobbing her heart out. She bent down. Yup - those were Chrissy's shoes, all right. She knocked on the door.

"It's me, Chrissy."

Slowly, Christina opened the door and came out. Her eyes were red and swol en.

"Is everyone still laughing?" Christina tentatively asked.

"No, they all shut up pretty fast when Mrs. Lauder came in."

"How can I ever go back there again after what happened?" Fresh tears started flowing down Christina's cheeks.

"You can and you will." Jenny was angry for her friend. "Now listen, I found out who's responsible."

"Who?" Christina stopped crying.

"Billy Havenwood and Jake Monroe."

"But why? They don't know me."

"I was told they had to pull a prank on the…" Jenny looked at her friend apprehensively.

"On the what?" Christina demanded.

"On - the class nerd."

"And that's me?" Christina began to feel the first stirrings of anger. "Who said?"

"Mindy Mackenzie. She said Billy picked you out as the class nerd."