The following weeks and months were filled with bliss and happiness as the Romeo and Juliet Production Crew worked to make the musical a success. I became Juliette Capulet for the school year, and Jeremy was my prince Romeo. He and I became close friends, and it turned out that our parents already knew each other. I swear, these Korean parents know everything and everyone!

            The day before show time was nerve-wracking.  Mr. DofGa had scheduled a rehearsal from right after school ended, which was 3:15 PM, until 8:00 PM. This meant that I had absolutely no time to do homework at all. Luckily, Mr. DofGa let us do our homework when we weren’t rehearsing, so the auditorium was filled with music, stage cues, the scratching of pencils, and the nervous, but joyful chatter.

           ~~~

            “How are you doing with the math homework?” Chelsie asked.

            I was furiously scratching out a problem, and replied, “I don’t know. This whole translation vector thing is not making sense at all.” I stared at the problem in my math notebook. “Hey, how’d you do this one?”

            Chelsie skimmed the problem and ran her fingers through her hair. “I honestly don’t know. That’s why I’m going in tomorrow for lunch.”

            I scowled. “This thing is driving me crazy! I finished everything else, it’s just this stupid geometry that’s not agreeing with me.”

            “What’s not agreeing with you, m’lady?”

            I whipped my head around and smiled. It was Jeremy- just the math genius I was looking for.

            “This, this, this- this thing!” I pointed at the problems. “Could you help me?”

            “Sure,” Jeremy sat down next to me and carefully explained everything to me. By the time Mr. DofGa called us to the stage to rehearse, I had finished everything- including fully understanding translations using vectors in geometry! (yeah I know… I’m just a nerd >.<)

~~~           

            “Okay! Romeo and Juliet, we’ll do a final run through of this scene, and then we’ll run through the entire play- got it?” Mr. DofGa made eye contact with every person in the room before continuing, “This run through will be with the costumes. I know that everything went smoothly yesterday, but I figured we’d do it again today since a few of you are just dying to wear these absolutely gorgeous costumes again!”

            He clapped his hands and gestured for Jeremy and I to start, “Okay, people! This is the scene where Romeo and Juliet meet at the party!”

Action!

            “My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand, to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss,” Jeremy gazed into my eyes.

            “Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, Which mannerly devotion shows in this,” I said back.  

            Jeremy took my hand and caressed my check. He uttered the words, “Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take,” and then we staged our kiss.

            Mr. DofGa, no matter how nice he was, loved to make plays and musicals realistic. When he saw how into our acting Jeremy and I were, he asked us if we could stage the kisses between Romeo and Juliet.

            Although Jeremy and I only knew each other for less than a year now, we agreed to Mr. DofGa’s plea and went along with him. At first it was seriously awkward; I would start laughing and Jeremy would follow. Other times, Jeremy would grab my head too roughly, and once, he swung me around too hard, making me lose my balance... We both crashed to the floor.

            Anyway, we finished the scene successfully, and the girls and boys separated to change into the outfits for the play. There were 2 hours of rehearsal time left, and we planned to get through the entire play without any mistakes. We got through it yesterday with a few minor mess-ups here and there, but everyone had corrected them…

            Mr. DofGa, along with the choir, orchestra, and band, applauded as the curtains flew open for the beginning act. The Capulets and Montagues fought each other well, and the townspeople beat them down with clubs. My friends and I laughed backstage as we heard Max scream, “Down with the Capulets! Down with the Montagues!”

~~~

            The play unfolded in front of the directors’ eyes very well; the orchestra director chuckled at Mercutio’s insane speech about Queen Mab, and the band director stared at Kiara in awe when she recited the famous quote, “wherefore art thou Romeo?”

            Kiara and Jeremy smiled at each other as they took their bows together, and when the cast and the stage crew took their final bow, the four stood up and gave the Production Crew a standing ovation. All in all, everyone left for home at 8:00 PM feeling tired, but confident and satisfied with their years work on Romeo and Juliet.