It’s a Tuesday night at Tyler’s house. As I walked through the front door several hours ago, I immediately insisted Tyler and I rehearse our scene from Romeo and Juliet right away, before we let ourselves get hopelessly distracted the way we always do.

“Absolutely,” Tyler agreed. “Just let me take a quick shower. I just got home. I’m all sweaty.”

“Sure. But right after that, okay?”

“You bet.”

So, of course, I joined Tyler in the shower. That was a no-brainer. And we wound up having some yummy sex that took way longer than either of us had planned. But who could blame us? The hot water was raining down on us, making our skin all hot and pink and slippery and delicious. So who could possibly rush anything under circumstances like that? And then, immediately after our shower, Tyler and I didn’t get to rehearsing our scene right away, either, but that was only because we were both feeling extremely relaxed and happy from our sexy shower, and Tyler was feeling exhausted from his long day of practice and workouts and classes. Under the circumstances, it only seemed fair to let the poor guy unwind for a bit by watching an episode of The Office.

“Just one episode, Tyler,” I warned sternly. “And then it’s time for Romeo and Juliet, whether you like it or not.”

“Absolutely.”

With our one-episode pact firmly agreed upon, we snuggled up together in Tyler’s bed and turned on Netflix and happily joined our virtual best friends at the fictional paper company, Dunder Mifflin, for some hijinks. Five episodes later, when Hanalei shouted up the stairs to ask if we wanted to join the rest of the guys for fish tacos in the Village, we called back “Si, señor!” But that was a no-brainer, too. I mean, come on, it’s Taco Tuesday.

Finally, when Tyler and I returned to the house after tacos with the guys—during which we played yet another round of Make Zooey Cartwright Laugh, this time with no money at stake, thank God—we marched straight up to Tyler’s room, vowing to practice our Shakespeare scene immediately. But we didn’t manage it quite yet. It wasn’t our fault, though. What sane person wouldn’t get a little distracted after putting on those sparkling masks? They’re sexy as hell. So, yeah, we wound up having enthusiastic sex, yet again, this time against Tyler’s bedroom wall. Right against the poster of that football player I don’t recognize in the Broncos uniform. Note to self: Ask Tyler who that Bronco is.

After that, I made Tyler watch Cartoon Network for a bit, but only because I’d made yet another cartoon-related joke that Tyler didn’t get—this time referencing Steven Universe. I mean, come on! He’d never even heard of it! So, of course, we watched an episode, and Tyler laughed uproariously several times.

And now, finally, Tyler and I are sitting on the edge of his bed, rehearsing our scene from Romeo and Juliet while wearing nothing but our underwear and masquerade masks. All in all, a damned fine Tuesday night, I must say, even if we’re not going to win any awards for academic productivity.

“O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do,” Tyler says, his palm pressed against mine. He scowls. “Shoot. What’s my line?” He snaps his fingers like a thespian summoning a lowly stagehand. “Line!”

I giggle. “They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.”

“Shit. I’m never going to be able to memorize this damned scene.”

“Yes, you are. If we practice the scene enough times, you’ll memorize it without even trying. That’s why I keep nagging at you to rehearse.”

“Can’t I just read from the book when we perform it for our class?”

I’m aghast. “Blasphemy! Oh, my God, Tyler. My heart.” I clutch my chest. “If you’re on-book during the performance, you won’t be able to completely immerse yourself in Romeo’s emotional life.”

Tyler rolls his eyes behind his mask. “That was literally the most theater-major thing you’ve ever said.”

I ignore his jab. “This scene is about Romeo seeing Juliet for the first time and feeling like he’s been struck by a thunderbolt. He sees her, and he’s instantly positive she’s his destiny. You won’t be able to convey Romeo’s heart-stopping, all-encompassing, written-in-the-stars attraction to Juliet if you’re staring at the pages of your textbook.”

Tyler sighs. “It’d be a whole lot easier if those two knuckleheads would just speak plain English.”

I giggle. “And what would those two knuckleheads say if they did?”

“They wouldn’t say ‘lest faith turn to despair,’ that’s for fucking sure.”

Oh my God, he’s so cute when he’s annoyed. “What would Romeo say in plain English? We might as well start fleshing out the companion contemporary scene we’re supposed to write. We’re way behind on that.”

Tyler considers his reply. “Well, this scene is about Romeo seeing Juliet at a party and feeling like she’s his idea of the perfect girl, right?”

“That’s a great way to explain it. Yes.”

“Well, then, that’s easy. Romeo would say to Juliet whatever I said to you when I first saw you at the party.”

My heart stops. Oh, my God.

“Do you remember what I said to you when I first approached you?” Tyler asks breezily, apparently unaware of the heart-stopping dots he’s just connected. “I could barely think when I first saw you. You were so gorgeous, you fried my brain. Plus, I was drunk that night, which wasn’t typical for me.”

My heart is racing. “Yeah, um, I remember exactly what we both said. You were like, ‘Hey, I’m Tyler Caldwell.’ And then I said something like ‘Gah-buh-dah-boo-gah.’ And then you said, ‘I don’t go for freshmen because they’re batshit crazy.’ And I said something like, ‘That’s dumb.’ And then you said, ‘Rules were made to be broken.’” I laugh. “We weren’t the second coming of Romeo and Juliet, to be honest.”

Tyler chuckles. “Okay, then we should make our modern-day Romeo say what I was thinking when I saw you, not what I actually said. That ought to give our modern-day Juliet something more interesting to work with.”

The hairs on my arms stand up. “What were you thinking when you saw me?”

Tyler scoots closer to me on the edge of the bed. He grabs my hand. “Hey there. I saw you across the crowded kitchen and couldn’t believe my eyes. You’re the most gorgeous girl I’ve ever seen in my life. My idea of perfect. The minute I saw you, every other girl at this party faded away. Every other girl in the world, as a matter of fact. Suddenly, it was just you and me and my very hard cock.” He smiles and leans toward me, sending my heart fluttering. “Beautiful girl, I want to kiss you so fucking bad—more than I want to draw my next breath.”

My cheeks feel hot. I nod and pucker, and he leans in and kisses me.

And that’s it. I lose my mind. I throw my arms around Tyler’s neck and slide onto his lap and straddle him and attack him—and not ten seconds later, Tyler’s Shakespeare textbook has landed with a thud onto the floor, our masks and underwear are off and thrown willy-nilly across the room, and our Romeo and Juliet rehearsal is officially done for the night.