Logan’s heartbeat started to race. Unable to contain it, he leaned back and stared at the ground “You can’t see my face because it’s dark out. Otherwise, you’d see me blushing about the things you’ve heard me say tonight.”
Alex suppressed a laugh at Logan’s pink ears. It seemed like he was wrong and that she was masculine enough to be as romantic as Romeo.
Logan took back his hands and placed them close to his chest, “I would be happy to keep up good manners and deny the things I said. But… Forget about good manners!”
He swung his arms to the side, making the skirt of his gown flare out. He looked at Alex dead in the eye and demanded, “Do you love me? I know if you’ll say “yes,” and I’ll believe you.”
The rush from the adrenaline had him panting for air. Juliet had never been attracted to anyone before. This question took her a lot of courage and yet, her fear of rejection and doubt didn’t diminish.
Logan projected this on face, “But if you swear you love me, you might turn out to be lying. They say Jove laughs when lovers lie to each other.”
Alex opened her mouth but Logan wasn’t finished yet. He took her hand and pressed it against his heart, “Oh Romeo, if you really love me, say it truly. Or if you think it’s too easy and quick to win my heart, I’ll frown and play hard-to-get, as long as that will make you try to win me, but otherwise I wouldn’t act that way for anything.”
It was Alex’ turn to freeze. She could feel his heart, steady and strong, underneath her palm.
“In truth, handsome Montague, I like you too much, so you may think my behavior is loose. But trust me, gentleman, I’ll prove myself more faithful than girls who act coy and play hard-to-get. I should have been more standoffish, I confess, but you overheard me talking about the love in my heart when I didn’t know you were there. So excuse me, and do not assume that because you made me love you so easily my love isn’t serious.”
Alex still didn’t blink. The raw emotion Logan displayed was unlike she had seen him do before.
As Romeo’s representative, she searched for some sign in the gold flecks around his Juliet’s pupils, an answer on how he’d be able to convince her of his love, “Lady, I swear by the sacred moon above, the moon that paints the tops of fruit trees with silver—”
Before she could complete the dialogue, Logan slapped her cheek, “Don’t swear by the moon.”
He instantly turned rigid upon realizing what he had done.
If it wasn’t for the sting on her cheek, Alex might not have been convinced it had really happened. The gasps from the audience also told her that they had definitely heard the loud sound of skin-to-skin made.
She slowly turned her head towards Logan with the promise of murder in her eyes.
Gulping, Logan pleaded, “The-the moon is always changing. Every month its position in the sky shifts. I don’t want you to turn out to be that inconsistent too.”
Alex clicked her tongue, unconvinced by it, “What should I swear by?”
“Don’t swear at all.”
“S***.”
“Romeo!” Logan covered Alex’ mouth, “That is improper! But if you have to swear, swear by your wonderful self, which is the god I worship like an idol, and then I’ll believe you.”
They stayed like this for a minute until Alex pointed her eyes at his hand. Logan immediately freed her mouth.
“If my heart’s dear love—”
“Well, don’t swear—”
“S***.”
“Romeo!” Logan scolded Alex once again, “Although you bring me joy, I can’t take joy in this exchange of promises tonight. It’s too crazy. We haven’t done enough thinking. It’s too sudden. It’s too much like lightning, which flashes and then disappears before you can say, “it’s lightning.” My sweet, good night. Our love, which right now is like a flower bud in the summer air, may turn out to be a beautiful flower by the next time we meet. I hope you enjoy the same sweet peace and rest I feel in my heart.”
Alex took back her hand and brought Logan’s along with it. She brushed its knuckles below her bottom lip, glimpsing at him through her lashes.
“Oh, are you going to leave me so unsatisfied?” She asked, though it seemed like the female audience were quite satisfied.
Logan sighed excessively, “What satisfaction could you possibly have tonight?”
Alex smirked, catching Logan by surprise for the nth time today, “I would be satisfied if we made each other true promises of love.”
“I pledged my love to you before you asked me to” Logan pointed out, “Yet I wish I could take that promise back, so I had it to give again.”
Alex pulled him towards her until they had the same eye level. A hint of betrayal and pain seeped through her veins, “You would take it back? Why would you do that, my love?”
Logan tucked Alex’ bangs behind her ear, “Only to be generous and give it to you once more. But I’m wishing for something I already have. My generosity to you is as limitless as the sea, and my love is as deep. The more love I give you, the more I have. Both loves are infinite.”
Two girls held hands and leaned towards each other. Every time Logan and Alex blew them away, they’d squeeze their fingers and shake their hands.
Softy to themselves, they whispered, “Kiss, kiss, kiss…”
Lauren chuckled at the sound of it. She didn’t know if Alex would approve but she had taken a couple of photos on her phone. Since she knew that Logan was aware of Alex’ gender, she saw the performance in a different light.
And she was pleased by it.
Ms. Smith leaned against the back wall, very impressed by their act. Even from this spot, she could see the clear chemistry the two had.
Next to her, Mr. Parker could hardly believe his eyes. Was it possible that his second son was gay? But then, this was all pretend. That was a factor. And what if his son was attracted to Alex? She was a female anyway.
Except his son didn’t know that.
So if he did liked her—as male Alex, would he be labelled as gay?
Mr. Parker rubbed his temples with his thumb and index finger. He would really rather not worry about his son’s sexual orientation but it wasn’t a simple matter to ignore.
Should he tell Greenwood about it?
“Kiss, kiss, kiss…” the two girls mumbled once more. Jun and Seo who sat behind them began to anticipate for it to happen too.
.
.
.
.
.
Then, the school bell rang, indicating the students that they had five minutes left of school. The audience groaned at the unfinished performance.
In the nick of time, Logan used this chance to actually finish their presentation, “I hear a noise inside. Dear love, goodbye. Sweet Montague, be true. Stay here for a moment. I’ll come back.”
When he tried to escape Alex’ grasped, Alex only held tighter, “Oh, blessed, blessed night! Because it’s dark out, I’m afraid all this is just a dream, too sweet to be real.”
Logan sighed, unable to leave things like this, “Three words, dear Romeo, and then it’s good night for real. If your intentions as a lover are truly honorable and you want to marry me, send me word tomorrow. I’ll send a messenger to you, and you can pass on a message telling me where and when we’ll be married. I’ll lay all my fortunes at your feet and follow you, my lord, all over the world. But if you don’t have honorable intentions, I beg you—”
The bell rang again. This time it meant classes were over.
“Alright, I’m coming!” He yelled over his shoulder, slowly freeing his hands, “I beg you to stop trying for me and leave me to my sadness. Tomorrow I’ll send the messenger.”
With one last nod, Alex let him go, “My soul depends on it—”
Logan pressed his cheek against hers, “A thousand times good night.”
He showed her one last smile and walked over to the doorway.
