5. 5: Romeo and Juliet

El furrowed her brow in concentration and stared at the words on the page in front of her. A particularly long word stared back at her. She broke it down syllable by syllable, silently sounding it out, like Mike had taught her to, as she tried to make some sense of what it meant.

Eventually, she let out a frustrated sigh and set the book down in front of her. Her friends had told her Shakespeare would be hard to read and they weren't wrong. It was taking her forever to figure out the definitions of all these unrecognizable words, much less comprehend whole sentences. She flopped back onto the beanbag and stared up at the library ceiling.

She loved it here. She had found this place where the bookshelves perfectly hid her from the world and would spend hours after school reading through every book that was at her level. Today was different, however. Her tutor had assigned her a chapter to read out of Romeo and Juliet and she wasn't even sure it was written in English.

She jumped when Mike appeared from behind the bookshelf. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just checking to make sure you're okay," he said with a smile.

She glanced down at the open book in front of her. She didn't want to waste Mike's time but there was no way she was going to get through this chapter by herself. "Help?" she asked quietly. "Yeah, sure!" he responded, walking over and sliding onto the beanbag. Handing the book to him, she shifted closer to him so that their shoulders were touching.

"Romeo and Juliet," he said, shooting a side smile that made her feel warm from her head down to her toes. "Have you ever read this?" She shook her head. "It's a classic. I think you'll like it!" he said enthusiastically and turned his attention to the page.

Mike wasn't the biggest fan of Shakespeare. He much preferred figuring out how the world works through science and chemistry as opposed to trying to analyze the words of a guy who had died five hundred years ago. But he was more than willing to make an exception for El. He knew how much she adored reading and hearing stories, so he cleared his throat and quickly skimmed the section she was on.

Oh. Of course she was reading this part. Out of all the scenes in this play, she had to be on this particular one. He winced inwardly, but he knew he couldn't say no to her, not now, not ever.

"This is Romeo talking" he began. "He says, 'But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?'"

He paused when he felt El lightly touch his hand to stop him. "Mike, what's 'yonder'?" she asked. "It just means something is far away," he explained. She nodded and looked around the library. "So is that table 'yonder'?" she asked, pointing to a table on the other side of the room. "Yeah, you got it!" he replied. She nodded, satisfied and turned her attention back to the book.

"'It is the east and Juliet is the sun,'" he continued. "Is that a met-...meta-..." he heard El start to ask. "A metaphor? Yes, it is" he replied. "I'm proud of you for knowing that," he added, genuinely surprised. She blushed and smiled, scooting closer to him so her legs were now pressed up against his. His heart rate sped up and he hurriedly continued to read Romeo's monologue.

When he got to the "It is my lady, O it is my love" line, El's eyes lit up. He looked over at her and smiled, realizing that she finally got what Romeo was saying. Watching her discover and understand something new and the joy that that would bring her was one of his most favorite things in the world. Heck, she was one of his most favorite things in the world.

"Mike, are we like Romeo and Juliet?" He chuckled. "Well, in some ways...yeah, I guess so." His face fell dark as he remembered what ultimately happens to those star-crossed lovers. "But their story doesn't have a happy ending." "Ours does?" she questioned. He glanced at her and held her gaze. "Only if you want it to," he replied.

Never looking away from his eyes, a beat passed and she breathlessly nodded.

He wanted it too. He had never been into fairy tales, but without a shadow of a doubt, he knew he wanted a happily ever after. With El. And it filled him with joy that she wanted that too.

He saw her eyes flicker to his lips and back up again. All of his surroundings melted away as he cautiously started to lean in. He could tell El was doing the same and his stomach flipped. He was giddy with anticipation as they got closer and closer to each other. El's eyes closed and

"Hey Mike, we gotta leave soon, okay?" Nancy called, her head poking around the bookshelf. "Hi El!" she added, with a hint of teasing in her voice.

They shot apart from each other at the sound of her voice. "O-okay" Mike stammered. Nancy disappeared back behind the bookshelf and El tried to keep the disappointment off her face. "I should go check these out," Mike mumbled, glancing down at the pile of books beside him, his face unnaturally red. "Maybe we can keep reading that tomorrow," he added, avoiding her eyes.

El's insides dropped as he stood up. She really hadn't wanted their time together to end. She loved hearing his gentle voice make the words on the page come alive and loved it even more when he would explain something to her, making the world seem a tiny bit less confusing. And, gosh, she had been so ready to kiss him. To kiss those lips that had been helping her explore the world all afternoon. It had been thisclose to happening and she was disappointed it hadn't.

She watched him start to walk away, desperately wanting to grab his hand and stop him, but her body wouldn't listen. She really, really didn't want him to leave, so she stretched out her mind. Stop walking, she silently commanded.

He couldn't move. Why couldn't he move? He tried over and over to gain control again in his arms and legs, but nothing was responding. Panic crashed into him as he stood there immobilized, with no control over his body. His heartbeat was rapidly increasing, and he would've started to scream had he not heard El rise up off the beanbag.

Oh. Of course, this was her doing. That got rid of the pure panic in his body, but his pulse sped up even more. He listened to her walk across the carpet, still not able to turn around. She stepped in front of him with a tiny smirk on her face and a smile crept onto his face.

She exhaled and stood on her tippy toes to kiss him. She didn't release Mike from her mental clutches until her lips were on his and his hands immediately flew up to the sides of her face. He gently pressed his mouth farther onto hers and he felt El smile against his lips. Her hands slid around his waist and she slightly tilted back her head, her lips locked with his, allowing him to take control for once.

When they pulled back, El giggled and Mike leaned down to rest his forehead on hers. After taking a moment to soak in the innocence and purity of her eyes, he whispered, "I actually have to leave now, alright? But I already can't wait for tomorrow." "Okay, fine" she replied, reluctantly untangling herself from him.

He turned to leave, but right before he rounded the corner, El called out "See you tomorrow, Romeo!"

Grinning, Mike glanced back. "Bye Juliet" he responded and walked away.