Romona and Juliet

On one particularly bright night, as the stars gleam overhead a couple strides up to the secluded cliff that overlooks the small fishing village called Shatoya and the sea that blankets the coast surrounding the village. The dim lights of the quaint town are unable to reach up there so all that is left is the soft glow of the moon above, and the brilliantly twinkling stars. “Why do we always have to run and why did you drag me out of bed?” the tired voice of Cherry, a petite girl of sixteen with long strawberry red hair and blue eyes the color of the ocean, cries out breaking the silence of the night.

“The stars are beautiful tonight. I wanted you to see them with me before you’re married off” The other girl: Cherry's secret girlfriend Alison speaks up. Alison, a girl of seventeen, has a head of sleek and shiny platinum blonde cascading down her back and an extremely tall frame. The stark contrast of her older, more mature aesthetic and her choice of pajamas is startling. She sports a matching light pink shirt and pants set that is adorned by lace and cherries.

The couple holds hands as Cherry inquires, looking into her partner's emerald green eyes “Ally what is this about?” Alison gently takes out something from her pocket.

“Cherry please don’t laugh.” She gets down on one knee and in the light of the moon, looks up at her girlfriend “Cherry will you marry me instead of that himbo your parents picked? It can be like we always talked about. Let's escape this town together.” Alison asks as she shows her girlfriend the handmade ring she pulled from her pocket. The ring is made from a wire and a pearl presumably swiped from an oyster at the harbor. Cherry stands there shocked for a moment but without any further hesitation says yes and pulls her now fiancée into a tight embrace, placing the ring on her finger.. Cherry's joy quickly turns sour as she remembers the reason Alison is secret in the first place.

“My dad would kill us, you know that, besides I’m engaged to Anthony. So, I probably shouldn't. Is it even possible?” Alison just laughs and kisses Cherry.

“Babe, do you remember that book the outsider gave to one of our classmates? We can be Romona and Juliet. I love you” remembering all the things they planned together she stands and smiles. “Didn’t they get in trouble for that? What if we get in trouble for leaving. You know what, I don't care. Let's do this, we can leave first thing tomorrow after school.” Cherry enthusiastically exclaims with a newfound excitement for life that she hasn't felt since she was a child, falling asleep peacefully on the cliff unsure of what life will bring but taking comfort that Alison will never leave.

Cherry was five when she got moved up from the easier kindergarten class and was placed in Mrs.Fugle’s more advanced first grade class. As soon as Cherry entered the classroom the teacher pulled her to the front of the class and asked, “Would you like to introduce yourself?”

Cherry stood frozen in place absolutely terrified but by gathering all of her courage she managed to stutter out an introduction “I- I’m C-Cherry and i-its g-great to m-meet you a-all.”

The teacher motioned to the empty seats and said, “Feel free to find any open seat” Cherry goes around some of the empty seats getting blocked from sitting each time. One of the students pipes up, “You can sit here.”

A girl with a messy blonde ponytail motioned to the empty seat beside her as Cherry sat down. The girl smiled, “I’m Alison, and welcome to our first grade class.”

Cherry shyly smiled, “You already know my name, it's good to meet someone who’s as nice as you,” she said quietly.

The friendly girl nods in agreement “The other kids are stupid.”

Mrs. Fugle cut off their conversation “Let’s begin class. Our first subject is history. Who can tell Cherry what we’ve been learning?” The lunch bell rang after a while freeing them to the small gym that doubles as the cafeteria. Cherry went over to the lunch line and groaned looking at the slop the school called edible. Alison dragged Cherry out of the cafeteria line and to a table.

“I’m not sure that’s even made to be eaten. Here you can have half of my PB and J. It's better than anything they serve here,” She smiles and hands her one of the neatly cut sandwich halves.

“Thank you” Cherry manages to say between bites.

“You’re welcome, what else are friends for'' They both laughed and joked the entire lunch period, ignoring everything else around them. That was the day they became each other's first friend.

Throughout the night, visions of a family dance in Cherry’s head, visions of a future she hopes to see one day. Her and Ally adopt two beautiful children and live in the huge penthouse across from the central park they read about in a book someone snuck them. Not that she knows what a penthouse is. She had never heard of one before, but childhood best friends turned lovers is a tale as old as time itself.

In Alison's dream visions of middle school haunt her nightmares. “Hey loser! I heard you kissed a girl,” A voice calls out.

Another voice chimes in “Maybe Alison’s actually an alien in disguise. Yeah, she's some alien freak” Alison's face goes red, and she runs out crying.

“Ally, wait please!” Cherry’s red curls flowing behind her as she follows her friend “Don’t listen to them, it doesn’t matter who you like or who you kiss.'' she says in an attempt to make her feel better.

“You're a good friend, Cherry bomb. You always know just what to say to make me feel better,” Alison takes comfort in having her best friend through it all, no matter how hard things get. The duo has been there for each other since the beginning and will be there until the end.

The pair wake up the next morning with Cherry lying on Alison's lap and Alison leaning against the lone tree on the clifftop. Cherry blinks, still half asleep, realizing the horrific mistake they made.

“Alison, we're late for school, our parents are gonna flip!’ The pair shoot up and race down the mountain and towards the school.

“I have some clothes in my gym locker you can wear,' Alison shouts back.

The locker room is unlocked so Alison hastily opens her gym locker, tearing off her pajamas and putting on her clothes after tossing the spare outfit to Cherry and encouraging her to do the same. Her face turns as red as her name, and she puts on the borrowed clothes. Rushing to class, they run into Anthony who, while handsome, tall, and muscular: his less than average intelligence and abrasive personality makes him a less than ideal person to be engaged to.

“Hey babe, why are you hanging out with that lame lezbo,” Anthony says derisively.

“She’s my girlfriend. Not that you would know anything about having one,” Alison says to put a stop to his nonsense.

“I have a fiancé. And besides Cherrbear wants nothing to do with you, freak,” Anthony laughs, while harshly pulling Cherry into a hug. A weak protest escapes Cherry's lips.

“Let me go Anthony,” she says squirming in his grip.

“We can pretend none of this happened if you just kiss me,” his grip tightens as he tries to force her to kiss him.

SMACK.

The sound rings out through the empty hall as Alison peels Cherry from Anthony's revolting clutch.

“You bitch. You hit me. You're gonna pay for that, you freak!” Rubbing his cheek he glares .

“It's called a bitch slap for a reason, I guess”. The pair finally get to class, only to have the lunch bell ring the moment they sit down.

In the cafeteria, the duo share the few edible things on their lunch trays. The theater kids are busy practicing their lines on stage. Everything they say is being drowned out by the jocks cat-calling the popular girls from across the gym, but they didn’t say anything about the unwanted advances. The nerds sit in the back, reading the town book that everyone has read at some point.

“I don't know why school food is so disgusting. In a town like this, I bet it's all the ground up fish the fishermen didn't want,” Alison says to break the silence.

“Nah, probably just the heads,” Cherry says with a smirk. They share a good laugh and sneak out of the gym.

“Ally, how are we gonna make this work?” Cherry says worriedly.

“I’m not sure but as long as we’re together, I don't care,” Alison replies uncertainly.

The redhead nods, the movement causing her messy curls to fall into her face. Alison flicks a lock of hair away from Cherry's face.

“What are we going to do when we have to grab our stuff?” Cherry asks.

“I’m one step ahead of you. This scenario has played in my head for years, so naturally, I have a plan. You go home, saying you accept marrying that bastard, and you're gonna go break up with me. When you leave to do that, I'll sneak in your open window and grab your bags”, Alison says with a glint of mischief in her eyes.

“You're crazy… but it just might work.” Cherry sighs. The bell chimes loudly over the chatter of the cafeteria ushering in the start of afternoon classes.

The last class of the day finally comes and they make their way to class. The teacher greets them as they come in. “ Good afternoon, please grab an apron and the ingredients. We're making salmon today for the hunters class". The girl's do as instructed and the class proceeds as normal with the bell signaling the start of the end of their time in Shatoya.