All the Other Days. Jack Hartley

go for her, I will,’ he says jokingly.

      I look back up at the front of the classroom before we get told off for talking.

      ‘Before I assign anyone to any of the roles, would anyone like to volunteer for the two lead parts? Girls, does anyone want to be Juliet?’ Mr Fisher asks.

      I see Kate’s hand shoot up and no other girls put their hands up.

      ‘Okay, well I guess we’ve found our Juliet then. Thank you Kate. Boys, does anyone want to be Romeo?’

      I hate this sort of thing and usually try to avoid it all costs. I don’t know why throughout all of school we have to do plays as a class. Nothing good ever comes of it; everyone always ends up forgetting their lines when we perform it, and the audience laughs when it’s meant to be serious. Then I feel my arm starting to move up. Before I even think about it, my hand’s raised to the ceiling. My conscience has taken over me and forced me to volunteer, but at the back of my mind I want to. It would mean I’d get to talk to Kate more. I look around and see Charles’ hand is also up.

      ‘Okay, looks like we have some competition here for Romeo,’ Mr Fisher says.

      Why did he have to put his fucking hand up? Surely he has better things to spend his time on.

      ‘Alright, come on up, boys. Let’s hear what you’ve got,’ Mr Fisher says. ‘I’ll get you to read some lines, and we’ll let the class decide who it should be then, shall we?’

      I slowly get up out of my seat. I feel like I’m going to shit my pants I’m so nervous. Charles struts his way up to the front of the class with all the confidence in the world.

      ‘Okay, we’ll just do the first few lines from when Romeo enters the scene. I’ll be Benvolio. Charles, you can go first,’ Mr Fisher says.

      ‘Good-morrow, cousin.’

      Charles pauses for a second awkwardly trying to find his line following with his finger like a five year old. ‘Is the day so young?’

      ‘But new struck nine.’

      ‘Ay me! Sad hours seem long. Was that my father that went hence so fast?’ Charles’ voice crackles as the words comes out, and I hear people laughing in the background. I’d feel bad for him, but he’s so perfect at everything it’s kind of nice that he sucks at this.

      Mr Fisher deepens his voice. ‘It was. What sadness lengthens Romeo's hours?’

      ‘Not having that, which, having, makes them short.’

      ‘In love?’

      ‘Out,’ Charles says.

      ‘Of love?’ Mr Fisher replies.

      ‘Out of her favour, where I am in love.’ Charles takes a bow as the class clap for him.

      ‘Well done, Charles. Judd, let’s see what you have got.’

      I pray in my head to God that I don’t embarrass myself and for some reason a miracle might happen and I won’t be terrible at this.

      ‘Good-morrow, cousin.’

      I’ve watched the Baz Luhrmann film of Romeo and Juliet quite a bit, so I know how Leonardo acted in it. I try my best to sound like him. ‘Is the day so young?’

      ‘But new struck nine,’

      ‘Ay me! Sad hours seem long. Was that my father that went hence so fast?’ I say.

      Mr Fisher deepens his voice again. ‘It was. What sadness lengthens Romeo's hours?’

      ‘Not having that, which, having, makes them short,’ I say.

      ‘In love?’

      ‘Out.’

      ‘Of love?’ Mr Fisher replies.

      ‘Out of her favour, where I am in love.’ I look at the back of the classroom as I say my last line, and Kate is sitting there staring right at me, smiling.

      The class starts clapping for me, and it feels great. I think I actually did pretty well with it. I love films and wish I could act, but the only people who do it at school are the weird ones. And the only guys who do are usually gay, not that there is anything wrong with that. I just struggle enough as it is with girls, I don’t need them to think I am gay.

      ‘Well done, Judd. That was really good. Alright, class, let’s put it to a vote then. Those for Charles, raise your hand.’

      He counts the hands in the air, and I look over at the class and can only see six hands up — it’s only his friends. Luckily for Charles, there isn’t many more to count because I don’t think he would be mentally capable of it anyway.

      ‘Those for Judd, please raise your hand up.’

      I see Kate’s shoot straight up along Arthur’s.

      ‘Well, I think that’s pretty clear then.’ Mr Fisher puts his hand on my shoulder and winks at me. ‘Judd, it looks like you’re going to be Romeo.’

      I feel like a million dollars. Everyone picked me over the most popular guy in school, and most of all, Kate did too. At the end of class, I wait to walk out with her.

      ‘Didn’t know you could act, Romeo,’ she says jokingly.

      ‘Me neither. I didn’t think I would get picked against Charles.’

      ‘He’s too tall to be Romeo anyway. I think you’d suit it much more,’ she says softly, almost like she’s trying to flirt with me.

      ‘Well, thank you. I guess I’ll see a bit more of you now then.’

      She smiles at me with her big green eyes. ‘You sure will, Judd.’

      ‘So, you like acting then?’ I ask her.

      ‘Yeah, I’ve always wanted to be in films, but I think that’s more of a dream than anything,’ she says with a sad tone in her voice.

      ‘Well, you’ve got the face of a film star. That’s for sure,’ I say trying to flirt back.

      ‘Thanks, Romeo. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

      I leave school feeling like I can do anything, I’ve never really felt excited about going to school the next day, but now I have a reason to be. I wonder what Kate thinks of me. I don’t know if she’s flirting or if she’s just one of those friendly people who seem like they are. But I don’t care. I get to see her more and that’s all I want. I keep thinking of what Arthur said about the confidence thing. Maybe this could be a new me? Or maybe it’s Kate who’s making me like this.

      Judd

      Day 5

      I get off the school bus and see Kate just ahead of me walking towards the front entrance, so I chase after her like a puppy.

      ‘Kate! Wait up.’

      She turns around. ‘Oh hey Judd. How are you?’

      ‘Yeah, I’m good. How about you?’ I say, panting from running.

      ‘Yeah, same here. Hey, I was thinking, do you want to get out of here?’ she asks with her cheeky grin.

      ‘What? Like, now? We can’t; we’ve got school!’ I reply. I’ve never felt so uncool in my life.

      ‘Haven’t you ever skipped school before?’

      ‘No! My parents would flip if they found out!’

      ‘Come on! I took you for a bit of a James Dean rebel,’ she says.

      ‘Ahh, I don’t know. We really shouldn’t!’

      ‘Please! For me.’

      And that’s all she had to say. I knew instantly that I was falling for this girl. If anyone else had said that, I would have just laughed it off and do what I wanted. But there was just something