100 Shades Of Grey Her fingers roughly pressed on the keys as her lips struggled to blow the air through the shining, silver pipe with it's many bright buttons. Young Julianna, of only 16 years, could not play flute. Julianna Michaels, daughter of James and Joan Michaels, was a rarity. She always got whatever she wanted, but didn't always want what she got. She watched the clock as the minutes floated by at their own, slow and agonizing, pace. Ten more minutes. Nine minutes and 50 seconds. 40 seconds. In nine minutes and 30 seconds she could pack up her flute for the rest of the day. In nine minutes and 20 seconds her mother will come in and complement the musical ability she doesn't have. She struggled with each note. All Julianna wanted to do was lay down and dream every second of every day. She would dream about "Once upon a times" and "Happily ever afters". Things she wished she could experience like the princesses in the stories she reads. Seven minutes. Love was a mystery to her. She didn't know what if felt like or what it looked like or what it smelled like, tasted like, sounded like. She didn't truly know what a boys lips against hers felt like. Or if a boy even wanted his lips on hers. Maybe he just wanted to see what was under her dress. Six minutes. She wasn't an exceptionally pretty girl. She wasn't a horrifyingly ugly girl either. She was average. Most girls looked better than her. She wore dresses and flowers and little ballet flats. Other girls wore skinny jeans and halter tops two sizes too small. Compared to them, she was plain and boring. Four minutes. Random toots and tweets rang through the room. Three minutes. "Hey, Sweetie." Julianna's mother smiled as she walked into the room. "You played beautifully today." She took the flute from Julianna's hands and began to take it apart. "I thought we could cut practice short today." She winked. "Hey, Mum? There's this new kid in all my classes today, and I wanted to know if I could invite him over tomorrow to study." She asked, a tad nervously. "Oh, a HIM, huh? Of course, sweetie." She pushed Julianna's hair out of her face. "Is he a special boy?" "Mum!" "I'm just playing. Now, come and get washed for dinner." Julianna did as she was told and cleaned up to eat. Her father pounded her with questions about the new kid she wants to invite over. "So, pumpkin, what's this boys name?" He was clearly trying to butter her up to get as much out of little Julie as he could. "His name is Romeo." She giggled. "Isn't that a cool name? It's, like, so poetic!" "Hmmm... Alright. Is he a good boy? No drugs, no police record?" "I don't know! He was new today. He's really smart though, and sweet too!" "Okay, Jules. I approve. I want to meet this boy, though." "Hey, Romeo." Julianna grinned wildly as she approached him. "Oh, hi, Julianna." he greeted. "What's up?" "Nothing much. I wanted to know if you would like to come to my house to study or something?" "Umm..." He thought it over for a moment. "Why not?" he chuckled. "Sounds like fun." Romeo and Julianna began walking to her house. They didn't talk about much. They only spoke of homework and teenage drama. Before long, they were at Julianna's. Finding that they were the only ones home, they creeped up the stairs to her room. "Can you help me with my Shakespeare homework?" Romeo begged. "I don't understand our new story thing." Julianna started tutoring Romeo in, ironically, Romeo and Juliet. They worked inattentively for about a hour before Juliana heard her mother call her name. She ran down the stairs to see her mother putting away groceries. "Is your friend here?" "Yeah. He's in my room. We're doing homework." "May I meet him?" She smiled back at Julie. "Don't embarrass me, Mum. I'll go get him." She warned her mother and left to retrieve Romeo. She brought him back to the kitchen. "Hello, Mrs. Michaels." He politely shook her hand like every gentleman would. "It's very nice to meet you. I'm Romeo." Julianna's mother turned bright red. "Oh, well, it's nice to meet you also." Romeo nonchalantly glanced at the kitchen clock. "It's getting close to my dinnertime. I have to head home now. Thanks for helping me with my homework, Julianna. I'll go collect my things." The stairs creaked as he walked up them to get his books. "Julianna, you didn't tell me he was... dark." Her mother whispered to her. Julianna had no clue what she meant by this and gave her a puzzled look. The front door loudly slammed shut. "He's black. He's a negro; a nigger." She spoke louder than before. It was a slightly louder-than-average tone. "Mum! That isn't a nice thing to call people who are different!" Julianna argued. This was odd because she never spoke back like that. She never questioned authority before until now. "God wouldn't have made us different colors if we were all the same!" "It's a little thing called diversity! It's what makes everyone different." Julianna pulled words from her brain that she didn't even know was in there. "I don't want to talk about this right now." Her mother was completely frustrated. The next day at school, Romeo and Julianna were caught talking in every class and were awarded two nice, crisp detention slips. Julianna was going to Romeo's house to meet his mother. Things went very smooth with his mother. She seemed a little surprised to see Julianna was a white person, but accepted her anyway. Unlike Julianna, Romeo is one of five children. He is the oldest and works as a father to his younger siblings. He helped out like a father would if his father stuck around. His #life seemed hard. The ghetto he lived in was scary and unsafe. Romeo and Julianna were now the "it" couple in their school and they weren't even together! After only a few days, they were best friends. If you watched them, you'd believe they were dating. This friendship only survived two weeks. The day that friendship ended was the day something amazing began. Romeo was waiting outside Julianna's locker like he usually does everyday after school. "So, Julianna, would you like to go to the football game with me tomorrow night?" In Julianna's head, she was screaming with excitement. Outside, she smiled, "Sounds great!" "Cool! It's a date." Neither Julianna nor Romeo knew whether he meant they're going on a date or if he was just using the expression. An awkward silence grew. Romeo walked Julianna as far as he could before he took a different route to his house. He stopped her. "I guess this is goodbye. 'Good night! Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night 'til it be morrow.'" He laughed as he #quoted Romeo and Juliet. "You're so silly." She, clearly uncomfortable, got up close to him and gently placed a kiss on his cheek. "Goodbye." She turned away towards her home with a face brighter than a neon sign of a pizza place. On the night of their date, Julianna wore her prettiest casual dress and flats. The soft spring weather allowed it. Romeo dressed casual also but he looked nicer than usual. They rooted for their high school's team, but they lost. The players were very disappointed. Romeo began walking Juliet home. It was about nine at night when the pouring rain had started. Julianna shivered under the water. Romeo pulled his jacket off his body and wrapped it around her to keep her warm and dry. When they finally reached her house, he walked her to the door and gave her a soft and gentle kiss on the lips. Without a single word, he seemed to sneak off into the darkness, so Julianna snuck into the light of her living room. "Where were you?!" Julianna's mother screeched. "On a date." Julianna responded with an attitude. "With who?!" Her father shouted. "Romeo." "I thought I told you black people and white people don't mix!" Both her mother and father were completely frustrated. "I like him a lot. He's nice. He kissed me." She smiled as her face got red with joy and her voice became happy and soft. "He what?!" Her mother freaked out in a way so extreme it cannot be put into words. "You cannot see this boy anymore." Her father told her this calmly but sternly. She didn't respond. She retreated to her room. Julianna didn't worry. She knew she'd see him anyway. Little did she know she had already fallen head over heels for this boy. Since then, she snuck over to his house everyday and went home before her parents came home. She did that for two years. They were together for two years before everything changed. They were both eighteen and crazy in love. It was spring of their graduation year. Julianna was over at Romeo's and they were doing homework on his front step. Loud bangs were heard down the street. Romeo, knowing what was happening, tried to grab Julianna, who was trying to see what made the noise. A car was driving by very slowly. Before he knew it, Julianna went limp in his hand and crumpled to the ground. Immediately, he tried to pick her up so he can rush her inside for help. He could feel her body throb in his arms. Seeing a witness, the drive-by men shot Romeo. Moments after the shots began ringing out faintly in the distance, Romeo's mother came out to check on the kids. She found them both bloody on the ground, unconscious. The next day, Julianna woke up in the hospital, completely unaware of why she was there. "Some men were driving by shooting people and they got you." Romeo's mother cooed in a soft voice. "Where's Romeo?" "But you're okay, honey. You're fine and I am most grateful." Julianna's mother then soothed. "Where is he?!" Julianna was fed up with being babied by all these adults. Romeo's mother began to cry. "Honey, they got Romeo too. And he wasn't as lucky as you." Her father held her as she began to sob. "He was trying to help you." Romeo's mother blurted as she bawled. "I'm sorry for every rude comment I made about him. He was a fine boy." Her mother was also crying. Julianna felt empty and alone. Every morning and every night, Julianna would pray to him. She would tell him about her day and how much she misses him. Romeo and Juliet became her favorite story. Late June, graduation day, Julianna seemed to miss him the most. She was an amazing student and got many awards, but they meant nothing to her because he wasn't there. After the ceremony, she ran in the pouring rain in her favorite dress to his neighborhood. The first man she saw, she recognized. He was the best dealer around. She pulled every cent she owned out of her purse and gave it to him for heroin. She sat down on his front steps, where he died. She took all the heroin that night. The graduates noticed Julianna's absence. Her parents and Romeo's mother noticed too. They went to be there for her, but she wasn't there herself. Her parents went home to see if she went there. Romeo's mother drove around to the graveyard to see if she went to see Romeo. No one could find her. It was about midnight when the police were called. They told the worried adults to go home and to bed. They would find her. That night, Romeo's mother found her dead of drug overdose on her front steps. Now, they are together again. Nothing can separate them because they are two angels in heaven who are deeply in love for eternity.