Star(& Stripes) Crossed Lovers

[ruthiestump]

Title: Star(& Stripes) Crossed Lovers
Author:  ruthiestump a.k.a me. :)
Pairing: Original Characters Ryan and Julie
Rating: PG-13
Warning:  No beta.
Word Count: 1,872
Disclaimer: This is fiction which means FAKE.
Summary: Another twist of Romeo and Juliet. Done for my music class.



 

Julie sat quietly at her breakfast table, playing with her remaining pieces of food while the media circus in her kitchen whizzed by her. TV camera crew, makeup artists and cables filled up her large house as the county waited for her father, better known as Capulet, to deliver his campaign speech for Mayor. Julie ignored the commotion of lawyers and writers and took a bite out of her toast.

“Julie, honey, you’re going to be late for school.”

Julie saw her mom hovering above her with the beaming smile she reserved for TV.

“All right mom, see you later.” Julie stood from the table, grabbing her book bag and invitations to her masquerade parties, before stepping over cable wires and into her living room. She waved to her father who was focused on a piece of paper in front of him. Julia trudged her way out of the front door and on her way to school. Counting the massive amount of masquerade invitations in her hand, a blue car covered in Montague campaign posters flew past her almost knocking the envelopes out of her fingers. She glared at the car, mostly because it was dedicated to her father’s opponent. She rolled her eyes as she mumbled under her breath. Little did she know that the son of her father’s competitor, Ryan Montague, was the driver of the car and that they would soon cross paths once again.

“Ryan!”

The brown haired boy turned his head at the sound of his name to see his cousin and best friend walking toward his locker. It was the end of the school day and Ryan was getting his letterman jacket and books before going home.

“Hey, Benny. Hey Marcus. What’s up?” Ryan slipped on his jacket, the huge red button that spelled out his last name rattling against his chest. A yellow envelope was soon shoved into Ryan’s face, curvy handwriting making out Marcus’ name taking up most of the space in front. He moved Marcus’ hand away from his face, giving his best friend a questioning look.

“What is that? A love letter?” Ryan joked, poking Marcus in the gut. Marcus gave out a small laugh as he punched Ryan in the arm.

“You’re funny Montague but no. This is in invitation to Julie’s party.”

The expression on Ryan’s face stayed the same. “Who?”

Marcus sighed then hooked his arm around Ryan’s shoulders, walking him down the crowded hallway with Benny right on their tail. “Julie? Julie Capulet; The queen of throwing the best parties ever?! Where have you been these past few months?”

“I’ve been working with my dad, trying to beat Capulet in the race.” Ryan told, as he unhooked Marcus’ arm from his shoulders. “There’s no way I’m going to that party. My dad would kill me and I would get thrown out before I even got a drink.”

Marcus laughed as he opened the envelope and waved the white and embroidered card in his face. “It’s a masquerade party. She won’t know that you would even be there and you don’t have to see her. It’s a win-win!”

“It’s an actually good idea if you think about it.” Benny piped up from behind the boys, finally making himself known. “No one knows who you are and you can finally talk to that girl you like, you know… Rosie?”

Ryan’s heart started beating once he had heard his crushes name. “She’s going to be there?” He asked hopefully, looking at his friends for confirmation. They nodded and his smile took up most of his face. “When’s the party?”

Marcus clapped his best friend on the back, proud of his rebel side. “Atta boy, Montague! It’s this Friday, get ready!”

 

Julie positioned her eye mask just so that it was resting lightly on her nose. The thundering music from downstairs traveled all the way up to her room and she smiled at the undeniable facts that her guests were having a good time.

Making sure her costume was in place; Julie rushed out of her room and joined the party as it was in full swing. She made her way around to all of the guests, complimenting their costumes and in turn receiving luck on her father’s campaign. She smiled politely but deep down in her gut she did not want her father to win the position of Mayor. There was a feud between both political parties and it had somehow spread to an all family feud. Julie has never seen the son of Montague, nevertheless spoken to him but she was always one for peace. She continued to go around, talking to more guests until she spotted a brown haired boy in a suit and domino mask that covered his eyes. She instantly felt butterflies fluttering at the bottom of her stomach once she met his eyes. The boy stopped what he was doing to return her gaze. Julie couldn’t tear her eyes away from the mysterious boy. She weaved through the teenagers, making her way towards the handsome boy.

Once Ryan had stepped into the large house filled with party goers, a stunning girl with green eyes made him stop in his tracks. A lace mask covered the area around her eyes concealing her identity. Ryan just has to know who she is. Ryan walks towards the girl, meeting her halfway into the crowd before they stop to stare into each other’s eyes. They were silent for a few minutes, the music and guests not affecting them in any way. Ryan was the first to speak. “You’re beautiful.”

Julie blushed. “Thank you. Who are you? I know it’s a masquerade and everything but I would love to know who you are.”

“Tell you what,” Ryan said as he reached up to take off his mask. “I’ll take off my mask if you take off yours.”

Julie smiled. “Seems fair.” They both reached for their mask and on a silent count to three, they both removed their mask, revealing their identities. It took Julie about three seconds to reconigize the face before her, remembering it from Montague commercials that slandered her father. He must be his son! She gasped at her realization, the boy in front of her taking a step back once he found out.

“You’re Capulet’s daughter?!”  Ryan whispered.

“You’re Montague’s son?!”  Julie asked, just as bewildered.

A loud crashing and clangs caused the party around them to stop and look back as the two teenagers stared at each other. A pair of hands was suddenly pulling Ryan away, tugging at his arms, a familiar voice piercing through his mind. “Ryan! We have to go!”

Marcus tore Ryan away from Julie, causing unwanted distance in between the two. He was being pulled out the living room door and his heart felt heavy once Julie was out of sight. Marcus was explaining something to him, possibly why they had to leave so quickly, but Ryan heard not one word. He was too busy staring at the Capulet house, looking for another glimpse of Julie. He was brought to the car where he pleaded with his friends to let him stay.

“Are you sure Ryan?” Benny asked, buzzing in his seat.

Ryan nodded, already walking back to the house. He slipped into the backyard knowing that he wouldn’t be let back in if he had walked through the front door. He walked among the grass and stopped short when he heard his name.

“Ryan Montague.” It was Julie’s voice. “Oh, wow. He seems perfect but why does he has to be a Montague? It’s just a name right? But how would a Capulet and a Montague ever be together?”

Julie was sitting on a bench with her back to Ryan. He spoke then, scaring her. “By just being together.”

Julie stood up and ran over to Ryan, hugging him. “How would the media take this? How would our families react?”

Ryan shrugged. “Who cares? We’ll keep our new relationship a secret and see each other at school.”

Julie smiled. “You’re right.” She tip toed to reach his lips and gave him a small kiss.

Julie looked at the powder her maid had given her. The past few days were filled with confusion and chaos. Julie’s father had told her that she was to make a speech to the county that spread lies about the Montague party. Still hiding her relationship with Ryan, Julie refused. That made her father very angry. Julie was ordered to bash the family of the love of her life on live television and there was nothing she can do to stop.

She had gone to her the maid to get her get things off of her chest. As the maid listened to Julie’s story, she thought of a way she could help. That’s when she thought of it. There was a powder that she knew of that could simulate death for 24 hours. If Julie took the drug the day before she was supposed to make her speech than she would appear dead, been taken to the morgue, and be able to run away with Ryan. Julie, desperate enough to try anything, agreed. She had wrote a email to Ryan explaining what would happen before climbing into bed and drinking the powder that was mixed into her starbucks coffee. The next day, Julie was presumed dead and the news was all over the TV stations.

Ryan heard the news through one of his father’s speech writers. His heart broke into pieces but he had refused to believe it. He heard the funeral would take place in the evening but the body was being held at the morgue for the time being. He took the car down to the morgue after making one stop. He walked on the linoleum floors, keeping his sobs to himself.  He was led to Julie’s pale corpse and broke down into tears once he was left alone.

“It’s true!” He said to no one in particular. He didn’t want to believe it but the proof was right in front of him.

He took out a vile of blue liquid, poison that he bought from a friend, and popped the top. He drank most of it, gulping it down, until there was only an inch left in the glass tube. He grabbed Julie’s cold hand and spoke. “In death, we’ll finally have peace.”

He croaked out the last word before falling over her body. A few minutes later, Julie stirred feeling a heavy weight over her abdomen. She looked down to see the love of her life motionless. She gasped at the sight, not bringing herself to scream. She glanced at the small vile of blue liquid and quickly recognized it as poison. She cursed Ryan’s stupidity but took the vile for herself. “If we can’t be together alive then in death we could have eternity.”

She downed the remaining of the poison, the liquid only taking a few seconds to spread through her body. She collapsed back into her previous position, this time truly welcoming this death.

This is a story about differences, feuds, and a love that overcomes it in the end. This is the story of Julie and her Ryan.