Romeo & Juliet - The Killers (PART 1)

Based on the lyrics of Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits, covered by The Killers.

Will and Gemma were soon the best of friends, maybe a little more. They had met a few days into the summer holidays at the annual StageCraft camp and a spark had flickered between them the first time his cool blue eyes had met her deep hazel eyes. She wanted to be an actress; he wanted to be a musician. They bonded over their shared dreams of performing to the masses. In their free-time before lights out she would listen to his latest chord progression in a new song as the firelight faded, and he would run through lines with her, to the backdrop of the setting sun.

When they first kissed, it was electric. The cool night air gently caressed their hair as it blew through the surrounding trees. Their faces inches closer, closer, until finally in an endless moment of pure serenity, their lips touched. Will didn’t know how long they stayed there, lips locked together.

Everyone knew there was something going on between those two, when they passed each other in the lunch queue or in a corridor, the people around them shared a knowing look. Will’s band members would tease him, they made up a short cheeky song called ‘Gemma’ that they sang to him when he was getting too serious. It always made him laugh. Gemma’s cast members playfully joked about that ‘handsome Will’ and often acted out Shakespeare’s love sonnets, loudly, replacing names with hers and Will’s.

 

Soon, it was the end of August, and the multitudes of performing students would be packing up and heading across the country to their homes. The final week was filled with the final productions of their projects. Countless renditions of Shakespearean tragedies, extracts from popular books, musicals and silent plays. Gemma’s crew stood nervously behind the curtain, running through lines in their heads.

‘Two households, both alike in dignity,’ proclaimed the loud voice of Simon, the chorus of their act. ‘In fair Verona, where we lay our scene.’ The words blended into lines, the lines into scenes. As Will watched and waited for Gemma to emerge on the stage, the stars above twinkled in the sky.

‘How now, who calls?’ asked Juliet, her vivid red hair shone in the spot light as she walked regally to the centre stage. A series of whoops from beside Will as his friends cheered Gemma; Will shushed them out of respect but smiled along with them. Gemma’s cast only played the first act of the tragedy; it was then taken up for the second act by the next cast.

The following night saw Will’s band �" The White Wolves �" take to the stage. The spotlight that had shone on Gemma the previous evening now focused its intense glare on Will as he strummed his red Fender guitar. As he sang, he saw her in his mind’s eye and secretly serenaded her.

 

“A lovestruck Romeo, sings the streets a serenade

Laying everybody low with a love song that he made”

 

They said goodbye with a kiss at the crowded train station,

‘Promise you’ll write?’ she pressed him as he held her hand tight.

‘I promise.’ he meant it.

Finally, they let go of each other’s hands and with a final glance back at their beautiful summer, they went separate ways to home.

Author's Note

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