Prank Me Love

You're Not Romeo And I'm No Juliet

"These violent delights have violent ends 

and in their triumph die, 

like fire and powder, 

which as they kiss consume."

-from the classic literary work "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

It felt like a fairy tale last week. Things with James continued to go on smoothly. We both begun to talk more about things we want to know about each other. He shared things I still haven't known about him. Some were quite funny, others were weird. And I also did the same. We were getting steady and so far, it's been great.

Yet, somehow, our conversations felt like I've already known all of it. The things James used to say and all those mannerisms he had, like the way he pouts when he shrugs or the way he licks his lips when he's trying to say something he has in mind. They all felt like I've seen them before. But I didn't mind it too much. I was too happy to even care about it.

Just the mere presence of James has been more than enough for me to move on from my past. I love talking to him, I love holding his hand... Hearing him laugh and knowing he's near--that's all the reasons that make me smile every day. And I don't care what else is there that he had from his own past or the other things he still hides inside of him that he's not saying to me. I'm already prepared to accept all of that, while I look through those beautiful brown eyes. I know. I'm willing to take it all. Everything. Because that's how love works.

Apparently, though, Beth and Evan had looked strange these past few days too. I watch them grow much weirder and weirder as time goes by that I begun to wonder what was really going on between them.

"You should have called me last night," Evan grumbles back on his chair as he munches his way through his burger. We are in the cafeteria and it's Wednesday. I have classes with Beth after lunch. I sat watching the two of them after I had gone to wash my hands in the comfort room. Evan was talking to Beth about something I didn't quite catch at first.

"I don't need to tell you everything, Evie," Beth says blankly, still busy with reading another book she's craving. Her face was hidden beneath the pages in front of her. "You need to move past from being so childish."

"I'm just concerned!" Evan exclaims, his eyes blazing. "You know I always am!" 

"Okay. Wait," I butt in, "What's happening here? Are you two fighting for real?"

This wasn't really the usual bickering they used to have. Evan is taking deep breaths through his nose, scowling. And, Beth, on the other hand, is acting strangely indifferent. She ignores him and I frowned.

"Evan?" I turn to Evan, who is now slouching down his seat. He was still staring at Beth. "What is this?"

"I can't talk, Shai," he says, suddenly standing up, gathering his things, "Go deal with your best friend. I'm out of here."

I frown harder as I watch him walk away, still glaring. I turn to Beth who has been silent all along. I really don't understand what is happening to both of them now.

"Spill it," I tell Beth, grabbing the book in front of her face and dropped it down on the table.

"Ugh. Fine," Beth sighs, rolling her eyes. "It's really nothing. Evan's just being stubborn again. As always."

"That's it? That's all this is about?" I say, not believing it at all.

"You know him. He just hates it when things don't go the way he wants it to."

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind that," Beth waves it off, "Let's just go to class. Come on," she tells me as she stands up.

"Shai?" Beth calls to me again when I still didn't stand up from my seat. "We don't want to be late for History. Come on."

I grumbled a "yeah" and stood. We don't really want to be late for Mr. Franklin's class. But I still didn't feel content not knowing what's going on with my two best friends. Something is really happening between them and I still don't know what it is... But I'm going to figure it out soon.

"You had that look on your face again," James tells me when I met him after class at the truck. "What's wrong? Something happened?"

"It's not really about me," I reply to him, getting inside the truck. "It's about Eve and Beth."

"Evan? Why? What's wrong?" he asks me as he starts the car.

"I don't really know," I tell him, "They had this fight at lunch today, and it wasn't the usual kind they always have in the past. Evan was really frustrated. He ditched us after class without even a word. And Beth tries to drop the subject when I asked her. But in History, she got this really strange sad look on her face. It feels serious. I don't know... I just..."

"You're worried," James ends my sentence as he looks at me with that smile on his face. I smiled back.

"Yes," I tell him, only to frown again as I think about my two best friends.

Maybe I had been so busy with my personal matters that I had forgotten that they too, they needed me. I had been so consumed by my own misery, I didn't even consider that Beth and Evan too, were also having their own issues.

I look out to the window on my side and sighed. I feel like I have been a bad kind of friend for them. For the past two years, I've been succumbed by my own wallowing, I let my friends down when it should have been us altogether facing the days.

"I feel like I've let them down," I say out loud, stealing James' attention. He looks at me and gives me a smile from the driver's seat.

"You didn't," he tells me, "Shai, you've been a good friend for them. They would never stay on your side if you weren't."

I nod at him, sharing a tight smile, and look away. "But I wasn't there for them. When we lost Peter, after his funeral, I isolated myself from everyone. Even from them... I've let them down."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," James reaches for my hand across the console. "You are a great person, Shai. You wouldn't be the girl I love right now if you weren't that awesome. And you're even way too awesome for my liking."

I chuckled at his words, he really does know how to handle me and my insecurities. He is the perfect boyfriend.

"Oh. You're not so bad yourself, too," I say, making him laugh as he kisses my hand. 

"You really are super awesome," he tells me, and we both smiled as we drove around the neighborhood. 

"Tell me," Beth is on the phone this Saturday evening. She called me a few moments ago, making me wonder what prompt since she used to be always MIA every weekend. "Does blue look good on me or should I go with yellow?"

"What's with the choice of colors?" I asked instead, "What are you up to?"

"I have a date," I choked down on the glass of water I was drinking by the kitchen counter.

"Are you alright, honey?" I hear dad asks me from the living room. He was watching some documentary series on TV. 

"I-I'm fine," I say, patting my chest. 

"What's that?" Beth asks from the other line, "What happened? Are you fine?"

"You have a date?" I say, my voice a little louder. 

"Well, it's not just you who had a James-budding-romance in her life, you know?"

"With who?" I ignore her sarcasm and frowned, "Does Evan know? I'm telling him about this!"

"Why would you do that? You traitor!" she tells me through the phone, her voice a little angry. "Evan doesn't have to know, he doesn't have anything to do with my personal life, Shai."

"But--"

"No, buts." Beth cuts me off, "So, what? Blue or yellow?"

"Blue," I grumbled back, giving in. Blue does fit her great. She has blond hair that blends really well with any shade of blue and it would also reflect with her bright blue eyes.

"Evan would be furious," I add, just to remind her.

"I don't care," She tells me, "This is my own life. It's not his f*****g business to go all caveman on me."

"Beth, did something happen between the two of you?" I ask worriedly. "Honestly, tell me. What's wrong?"

I hear Beth sighs from the other line. "You cannot just let things go that way, Shai."

I frown at her words, not understanding what she meant by them or why she was even saying it to me.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's complicated. Evan's..." She pauses. I hear some shuffling sounds.

"Evan's what?" I urge her on.

"Doesn't matter," Beth drops it. "Forget it. I'm hanging up now. See you on Monday at Chemistry. Love you, girl. Night."

And the dial tone sounded. I surrendered, putting my phone back in my pocket, grunting.

"What's the sudden commotion in there, honey?" dad asks me when I passed by him in the living room, on my way to the stairs.

"It's Beth..." I say, puffing out air. "She's got a date this weekend."

"Really?" dad brows went up. "Does Evan know?"

"See?" I tell dad, trudging through the whole issue about Beth going on a date. "That's what I'm telling her over the phone, dad. Evan doesn't know about this, she says it's not his business. I don't even know who's she's dating. I don't really have any single idea if this guy's totally safe for her. What if he's a jerk? What if he's just playing her around? Ugh, I feel like I'm failing my job to be her best friend."

"Honey, don't trouble yourself too much." dad says. "Maybe you're just overreacting. Maybe Evan doesn't really have to know... And I think, it's quite good to hear Beth's going out with someone now."

I groaned.

"Honey," dad turns the TV off, "Why don't you just try to let her do what she wants to do and be happy for her... Being a friend is not just about protecting all who are close to you all the time... You also have to support them."

Dad looks at me, smiling.

"I don't know, dad," I told him reluctantly. "What if--"

"If things go wrong, you'll be there for her. That's what a real friend does. You would always be there for them, no matter how hard it is. Honey, to be a friend is to always be the one waiting for them to go to you--with both arms wide open. You don't need to stop them from making mistakes in their lives, you just need to accept them if they fail. That's how being a true friend really is."

I smiled at my dad's words. He was right. I should just let Beth be happy for what she wants. She has been through a lot too, and she also deserves to be happy.

I move towards dad and sat on the couch beside him. "I love you, Dad," I tell him, hugging him at the same time. "Thank you," I whispered.

"I want you to be just the way you are, honey," dad says to me when we pulled apart. "My little girl who always smiles and makes other people around her smile too."

"I will always be your little girl, dad." I grinned and hugged him again before I went upstairs to go back to my room. 

I texted Beth and wish her good luck on her date, also telling her that I want her to be happy. After a few moments, I got a short reply from her.

I love you, BFF. Thank you.

I smiled to myself as I read the words she just sent me, knowing fully well that Beth would never ever leave my side no matter what happens. No matter what comes, our friendship will conquer all troubles.

"Would you be fine driving alone tomorrow?" James asks me this on Sunday night as we lay awake on my bed. 

"Why? Where are you going?" I ask, looking at him. 

"I had this career counseling at the community college tomorrow afternoon so I might still get to drive you to your school in the morning. But I won't get to drive you back here. Are you going to be fine alone?" he asks worriedly, staring back.

I chuckle, rolling my eyes at him. His overprotectiveness is just so cute sometimes. "Well, yeah. I'm going to be just fine. I'm no fragile kid, Jamey boy. I could definitely take care of myself. You don't have to babysit me all the time."

"But I love babysitting you all the time," he pouts, cracking me up.

"You're crazy," I tell him.

"Yeah, I am," he grins. "I'd slept on driveways. Only crazy people do that."

"And I love you crazy," I say to him, my eyes locking with his. "Maybe that makes me crazy too."

"Same as me, huh?" he says, chuckling. "Now, we're just two crazies. Can't believe I've fallen for the same kind."

I slapped him playfully on the chest, "Well, sorry but you're going to be stuck with me, Jamey boy. Cause I'm planning to tie you down forever on my side."

"Forever?" his eyes twinkled, "It sounds like a Romeo and Juliet kind of love, but only the crazier version."

I laughed again, snuggling closer to his side, "We're so totally not Romeo and Juliet. I hate that story. They both died in the end. In our version, no one will die. We'll just be together, no poisons nor knives of some sort. It'll be all just crazy adventures and us canoodling in the end."

"I can't really picture myself canoodling," James comments and we both laughed.

"We'll see," I tell him, grinning back as he stares at me. "We still got a hundred more chapters ahead of us. It's a long way to go."

"Yeah," James whispers, his face coming closer to mine, "It's a long long way to go."

And we both fell asleep, where I dreamed of him as my prince and I, as the princess... And the happy ending felt very real.

"Hey, Jamey boy," I answered the phone the moment I saw James' name flashing on the screen. The class had just ended and I'm on my way now back home. I'm driving and had just stopped in front of red light, so it was practically safe to answer his call.

"You still driving?" he asks, and it was so just like him to ask that question first.

"Yeah, I am," I tell him, staring up to the red light that was still on, "But I'm at a red light. How's your counseling?"

"I won't talk that long with you," he tells me, "So far, I'm still waiting for them to call my name. Text me once you get home, I'd call you after my appointment."

"Okay," I answer. The light was still red.

"Be sa--"

I didn't hear the end of James' words as the impact of something hard hit my side so fast I didn't realize it was even coming. Someone just ran into Belle... The phone hit the car floor, my groan echoing as I faintly hear James' worried calls through the receiving end.

Then, someone shouts from afar, telling someone else to call 911. But I was too shocked to even process what just happened... Only three words kept running through my mind: 

I almost died.