We Found Wonderland

“So I was thinking…,” I said as I went up to Tommy Windsor as he was standing by his locker. 

“What were you thinking?” he asked and I couldn’t help but smile at his Texas accent. 

I twirled a strand of hair around my finger, which was a nervous habit. “This year’s play just came out and it’s Romeo and Juliet.” Even though my friends were really invested in the theatre program, I never really was. That changed when this year’s play was announced. I was a huge hopeless romantic at heart. 

“I don’t know, Rachel…” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m really busy with baseball this season. Plus, you know me. I’ve never really been into acting. That’s more Mark’s thing.” Mark was in our friend group, who despite him having the highest grades in the school, was a not-so-secret theatre kid. 

“Look at me!” I said, gesturing towards myself. “I’m not either. The closest I’ve ever come to acting is quoting all the rom-coms I’ve seen countless times.” I giggled and Tommy chuckled, nodding his head. “Plus, think about how impressive it would be if you had that on your college applications. I don’t know many baseball players who also have theatre practice.” I bit my lip, hoping I didn’t sound as desperate as I actually was. 

“Isn’t that like the whole premise of High School Musical?” He raised his eyebrows, a smug expression on his face. He started getting his books out of his locker, considering that class was starting in five minutes. 

I smacked him on the shoulder, my face growing hotter by the minute. “Okay, you got me there. Although, that was basketball and theatre. Totally different.” He playfully rolled his eyes. I tried my best to regain my composure and stop the embarrassment from taking over. “Anyway, just tell me you’ll think about it. It could be fun.” I gave him a reassuring smile, trying to take some of the pressure off. 

“Now that I can do.” He tipped his imaginary cowboy hat and I let out a giggle. We walked together to class and I felt peace wash over me as I thought about the prospect of getting to do Romeo and Juliet with Tommy. 

Friday finally came around and it was time to do auditions for Romeo and Juliet. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I was currently gripping the audition script so tight that I was surprised it didn’t rip. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. 

I felt a hand clasp onto my shoulder and jumped. “Hey, hey. It’s just me.” I turned around and saw Tommy. I couldn’t help the smile that came to my face and instantly felt relaxed. “Are you okay? I know you’re jumpy, but this is on a new level. Even for you.” Despite his teasing tone, he genuinely looked concerned and I couldn’t help but melt inside. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good.” He raised his eyebrows, disbelief written all over his face. “Better now that you’re here. It’s just this play and this audition means so much to me. It’s a lot of pressure.” The last part came out in a cracked whisper, the stress evident in my voice. 

“Hey, you’re gonna do fine. I promise you that.” He rubbed my arm. “Plus, maybe, we’ll get lucky and get paired together for the audition.” He smiled, his white teeth contrasting his tan skin. 

“What?” I shrieked, receiving dirty looks from others in the room. “Are you serious? You better not be messing with me, Mr. Windsor.” I wagged a finger at him and tried to give my best stern looking face. I didn’t know whether I felt more relaxed or nervous at the idea of potentially doing this play with Tommy. 

“What can I say? You convinced me.” He shrugged his shoulders, a sheepish smile on his face. He looked so endearing at the moment that all my fears washed away.

Overcome by emotion, I threw my arms around him, hugging him tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He seemed taken aback by the action, but hugged me back after a few moments, my head resting in the crook of his shoulder. As we pulled apart, I brushed a stray strand of hair out of my face. “Also, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” 

He brushed it off. “Don’t worry about it. You know that I don’t mind your hugs.” He avoided my gaze for a moment and looked down at his boots, his cheeks growing red. “Anything to make you feel better.” He cleared his throat. We stood there in silence for a moment, not sure what to do next. 

“Rachel Wilson!” My head snapped up as the theatre teacher called my name. I started to shake, but plastered a smile on my face to try and calm my nerves. I was about to head outside to do my audition when I felt Tommy clasp a hand around my wrist. 

“Hey, you’re gonna do great.” He smiled at me reassuringly. I gave him a thankful smile in response, resisting the urge to hold onto him for dear life. It was moments like this that toed the line between platonic and romantic and I never knew where I stood with Tommy. 

I gave him one last look before I exited the room and went to do my audition.  

As I came back into the room, Tommy ran to me, an enthusiastic smile on his face. “How did it go?” Butterflies came by the thousands in my stomach at his beautiful face and how optimistic he seemed for me. It was reassuring and made me feel better. 

“Good, I think.” I gave a small smile. “I mean, there’s not really much I can do about it anymore. It’s all up to the theatre gods now.” As I said the words, I realized how true they were. It was like all the nerves had gone away and I didn’t have a sinking feeling in my stomach anymore. “What about you? Are you ready for your audition?” 

He shrugged his shoulders. “Ready as I’ll ever be. I mean, the worst thing that happens is I don’t get the part. I’ll still have baseball to fall back on.” I looked at him quizzically and realized that he was telling the truth. It hit me then that he really was doing this for me and I bit my lip to keep from smiling. 

Tommy’s name was called and I shot up a thumbs up and mouthed ‘good luck’ as he left the room. I saw him throw his head back in laughter at my antics. I couldn’t help but laugh myself. It surprised me how easy things were between the two of us. Maybe that was why I was so scared of things changing. Still, I couldn’t stop the daydreams of what we could be. 

Tommy came back about ten minutes later, looking as effortlessly cool as ever. “Hey Rach!” He took a seat next to me against the wall in the corner of the room. “I will tell you that I didn’t think I did as bad as I thought I was going to.” He smirked and I raised my eyebrows at him. “It’s a good thing no one was in there. I think I made a complete fool out of myself.” 

I giggled. “I doubt that. I’m pretty sure you’re ninety-percent of the school’s definition of Romeo.” His mouth dropped open and I realized what I said. “I mean, you’re good looking and good at sports. It’s not a surprise that people would want to go out with you. If you get this part, it’ll just make people want you more.” I clamped my mouth shut after that, afraid of digging myself into a deeper hole. 

“Okay, everyone!” The sound of the theatre teacher’s voice broke me out of my overthinking about Tommy. “I will have the cast listing posted first thing Monday morning. If you want to be the first to know, you’ll want to get here early. You all did amazing and best of luck to everyone!” I felt myself roll my eyes. I knew she had to say that, but only a handful of students would get cast in the play and the rest would be extras. 

Monday rolled around and I got to school twenty minutes early. As I jogged to the theatre room, I saw that there were ten people outside. A combination of people looked disappointed or elated. It made me feel more nervous than I had been on Friday. I made my way through the line, holding my breath in anticipation. There in big bold letters was was: 

Romeo Montague: Tommy Windsor 

Juliet Capulet: Rachel Wilson 

A shriek that I’m pretty sure could be heard across campus came out of my mouth and I did a little happy dance. I could feel people staring at me, but I didn’t care. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I snapped a picture of the cast list. 

You’re never going to believe this! I texted Tommy, the smiling on my face growing wider and wider. Not only was I going to be playing Juliet, but I was going to be doing it alongside the boy I’d had feelings for for about a year. It felt like a dream that I was going to wake up from any moment. In fact, I discreetly pinched myself to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming. 

A buzz broke me out of my reverie. I looked down at my phone. Well, you, I have no trouble believing. Me on the other hand? It’s quite a shock. I may have to take a masterclass in acting so I don’t embarrass myself come opening night. I rolled my eyes. Despite his good looks and popularity, he could be self-deprecating at times. 

I went to my locker after first period and was surprised to see Tommy standing there, a bright smile on his face. “What are you doing here?” Sure, we talked between passing periods, especially because we only had one class together, but this seemed different than the other times. 

“Well, I wanted to congratulate my Juliet.” I couldn’t help the hope that filled my body. His Juliet? I shook my head, scolding myself. He’s playing Romeo and you’re playing Juliet. That’s all he meant. Don’t be an idiot! 

“Oh yeah!” I perked up and forced myself to smile, hoping I didn’t look as freaked out as I felt. “I guess I owe you a congratulations too. Although, between you and me, I had complete faith in you getting the role.” 

“Thanks.” He gave me a hug and I felt myself melt into his embrace. “I would’ve brought you flowers or something, but it was kinda short notice, so a hug will have to do.” 

“A hug is more than okay,” I mumbled into the crook of his neck. What I would give to freeze this moment and live in it forever. “Plus, I mean, I didn’t get you anything either, so we’re more than okay.” He pulled away and I tried the best to quell the disappointment at the lack of contact. 

Tommy rubbed the back of his neck, looking up at me through his dark eyelashes. “Also, are you doing anything after school today? I thought I would ask. There’s some things I wanted to talk to you about.” 

I shook my head. “No, I was just going to outline the English paper that I have due next week. You’re more than welcome to come over.” I smiled reassuringly. Although I wasn’t sure if it was for him or to reassure the nervousness that was creeping in at his question. 

“Perfect! I’ll see you then.” He flashed a smile that always made me weak in the knees and squeezed my shoulder. “Congrats again! I’m so proud of you.” I watched as he walked off and I collected my books for English. 

I sat at my desk after school, trying to write the beginning of my English paper. As hard as I tried, though, my thoughts kept wandering back to Tommy. He said he would be coming over in about ten minutes and all I could think about was what he potentially wanted to talk about. My brain came up with a million scenarios, a mixture of good and bad. 

The doorbell rang and I raced downstairs. Swinging the door open, Tommy was standing there with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. My jaw hit the floor. “For you,” he said. “I know I said I would’ve gotten you flowers, so here they are.” 

“Thank you.” I took them and inhaled. They smelled as beautiful as they looked. “You really didn’t have to do that.” He looked at me like I said the most ridiculous thing ever. “Anyway, do you want to go upstairs?” He nodded and we walked upstairs, hand in hand. For the first time, I noticed. 

We took a seat on the ottoman in my room by the window. “So like I said, I wanted to talk.” He rubbed the back of his neck. I nodded, gesturing for him to continue. “We obviously got the lead roles in Romeo and Juliet and I just wanted to make sure that was okay with you.” 

“Why wouldn’t it be? I mean, I was the one that encouraged you to go out for the role in the first place,” I pointed out. Now, I was even more confused why he wanted to come over. Still, I didn’t say anymore and let him get his thoughts out. 

“Yeah, but like it’s a love story and there’s a kissing scene.” His face flushed and I felt mine get hotter too. Yes, I encouraged Tommy to go out for the role with those details in mind, but I never thought that he would bring it up. “Plus, that’s not necessarily how I wanted our first kiss to go.” He said the last part in such a low whisper that my ears had to strain to hear it. 

“What?” I breathed out, unsure I had heard him correctly. He stood up to leave and I grabbed his wrist before he made his way through the door. I gave him a pointed look, gesturing to the ottoman. “Sit.” He obliged, gulping as he sat back down. 

He ran his hands through his hair. “Forget I said anything. It was stupid anyway.” I pressed my finger to his lips and smirked. “I just,” he struggled to get the words out and I waited for him patiently. “I’ve wanted it for so long, but I haven’t wanted to ruin our friendship. Now I have to and everything’s gonna change…” 

I giggled as he rambled. “Tommy, are you kidding me? I’ve wanted that since the day we met.” His eyebrows knitted together and I smirked. “In fact, I may have had completely selfish reasons when I brought it up to you.” His mouth opened and closed like a fish and I couldn’t stop laughing. 

“So, it would be okay if I…kissed you?” I nodded enthusically and he leaned forward, closing the gap between us. As our lips touched, it didn’t feel like how it had been described in the books and movies, but even better. It was like how it feels after it rains when the sun comes up and warms up your entire body. No matter what happened, I found solace in knowing that that was how my first kiss went. 

As we pulled apart, smiles spread across our face. “That was…wow.” He shook his head in amazement and I blushed. “Right? That wasn’t awful for you, was it? Because if it was, I can do it again and we can forget the first time it ever happened.” 

I rolled my eyes at him in amusement. “No, no, it was definitely wow. Makes me excited for all the rehearsals and opening night, if I’m being honest.” I bit my lip and he shoved me. “Hey! Not nice. You keep this up and I’ll get injured and then you’ll have to practice with my understudy.” 

Tommy held his hands up in defense. “Fair point.” His gaze shifted the floor and I cleared my throat, looking at him curiously. 

“What is it?” I could tell there was more on his mind, but that he didn’t want to say it. “Come on,” I gave him a reassuring smile. “We talk about everything. Don’t hold out on me now.” Knocking our shoulders together, he chuckled and nodded. 

“Well…I was going to say that it wouldn’t leave a very good impression if I injured my girlfriend.” My eyebrows shot up and the rest of his words came out in a rush. “But I didn’t want to sound presumptuous. We can do this however you want. Labels, no labels. Co-stars that actually enjoy kissing each other.” He chuckled and I couldn’t help but giggle.

“I like ‘girlfriend.’ ‘Girlfriend’ sounds nice, boyfriend.” As the words left my mouth, I let out a dreamy sigh.

“Great!” He pecked my lips one more time in excitement and looked taken aback. “Sorry! I’ve just wanted this for the past months.” I shook my head and grabbed his face, bringing his lips to mine.