"Romeo and Juliet"

It is early October and Deidra no longer knows how to use a phone. I’ve called her three times so far and either the answering machine picks up or I get a breathless “Lemme call you back, ok?” It is not a real question as she hangs up before I can even answer. Unfortunately, Deidra’s letters regularly make their way to Meadowview. They’re filled with pictures of Ryan: a tall, dark-haired football player right out of every cheesy American teen flick. He’s cookie-cutter handsome and seems to be a little too Deidra-focused if she asks me. But she doesn’t ask me to do anything more than smell the Chaps cologne-scented letters (so I know Ryan’s scent—as if I care!?) and notice how sexy he looks with the dark chest hairs poking out of his Adidas shirt. Her letters remind me of the never-ending monologues we read in Mr. Johnson’s class. Deidra is going to end up like Juliet in that Shakespeare play we’re reading now. Well, maybe not dead, but very, very sad at least. She is too consumed with this Ryan guy to see straight. I hate to say it, but this romance with Ryan can only end badly. Okay, maybe there’s a small part of me that wants Shakespeare to be right.



I’ve booked my ticket to Houston. I leave right after Christmas, right after my fifteenth birthday. Mom’s reminded me a few times already that it’s not too late to cancel. The truth is I no longer want to visit Deidra and her attached-at-the-hip, college (a fact she’ll mention in each cologne-drenched letter “Did I tell you—Ryan’s a freshman—in college!!!”), boyfriend.


But, to see the look of annoyance on my mother’s face makes it totally worth it.