“Oh no,” Sam whispered next to Becca. “What do we do?”
“I don’t know,” Becca said. “Think, think, think…”
“HEY, ROSALINE,” Romeo called out again in a too-loud voice. He quickly pulled off his mask.
The beautiful girl smiled and walked toward them. But then …
… she glided right past them, without even saying a word!
“HI, ROSALINE!” Romeo said again, but he was still looking at the banquet table. Becca turned back toward the food, and for the first time she noticed the other girl who had been standing there.
This girl was stuffing her face with cinnamon Instead-Stix and tomato minimuffins. Her cheeks bulged like a hamster’s when she finally looked up.
“Oh, hey,” she said, her mouth still full. “Romeo Montague, right?”
“RIGHT!” Romeo said. “IT’S GOOD TO SEE YOU, ROSALINE.”
Becca winced. Even though she didn’t want Romeo to make a good impression on Rosaline, she realized that she and Sam would need to work extra-hard when they finally found Juliet.
Rosaline swallowed her mouthful. “You sound like a sick cow—do you always bellow?”
“UH,” Romeo said, and then cleared his throat. “Uh, no, I don’t,” he said, this time in almost a whisper. “I didn’t realize you were going to be here.”
“Yeah, kinda boring, though. I was thinking of livening things up by ‘accidentally’ pushing Grandpa Capulet onto a cake or something.” She guffawed loudly, and bits of tomato minimuffins flew out of her mouth.
“Oh,” Romeo said, “I guess that would be … funny?”
“Not that you’d know funny if it came up and yelled, Hi, I’m Funny in your face.” Rosaline snorted. “From what I’ve heard, you’re a party pooper. You hanging out with circus freaks now?” she said, gesturing toward Becca, Sam, and Rufus without actually looking at them.
“Hey!” Becca said. “We’re not freaks!”
“Sure you’re not,” Rosaline said, reaching for a platter of tomato cupcakes.
“For once, Becca is right,” Sam said. “We’re totally normal!”
But Rosaline didn’t apologize. Instead she poured herself a goblet of tomato punch and began to gulp it down with loud slurps.
“Anyway,” Romeo mumbled, “I was wondering … I don’t have anyone to hang out with at the Montagues’ Lotsa-Rella Ball tomorrow—”
“Oh yeah,” Rosaline interrupted. “Hope that’s fun. I’m going on a trip to Mantua to visit family. Ugh.” She rolled her eyes. “I hope they all fall into a well before I get there.”
If this party were a qualifier for the Worst Person Ever Olympics, Rosaline would’ve clinched a spot a few times over.
The girl smacked her lips and scarfed down the last five tomato brownies in one bite. “Gotta go,” she said. “They just put out the tomato juice fountain, and frankly, this conversation is boring.”
And before any of them could say, Good riddance! she’d clomped off.
“You know what, Romeo?” Sam said. “I would send a letter to her family in Mantua thanking them for keeping her away from your family’s party.”
Romeo’s shoulders slumped. “I knew people said Rosaline was hard to be friends with, but I thought maybe she was just misunderstood. That’s why I wanted to ask her to the Lotsa-Rella Ball—I knew no one else had asked her yet.”
For the first time, Becca felt bad for Romeo. She knew what it was like to hope one thing would happen and then have things turn out completely differently.
“Hey, man,” Sam said. “You should give Rufus a squeeze. When I feel down, I find that a doggy hug always helps. Right, bud—RUFUS?!”
Sam was still holding the Instead-Stix leash, but the leash was no longer attached to Rufus. The only thing at the end of it was teeth marks.
Becca spun around, trying to locate their dog.
“Look!” she cried.
Sam’s eyes widened. “Not the punch!”
A girl was pouring herself a glass of what looked like lumpy tomato punch … and Rufus was running straight toward her. If he knocked the bowl over, that would definitely draw Tybalt’s attention.
Becca had to admit that all Sam’s basketball practice was paying off as he threw the Instead-Stix leash toward the charging dog. The makeshift lasso caught Rufus just in time to stop him from spilling the punch everywhere.
“I can’t believe you were able to eat those Instead-Stix without getting sick,” Sam said to Rufus as Becca caught up to her stepbrother and the dog.
“And I can’t believe how fast and strong you are!” a girl’s voice cooed.
Becca’s head snapped up, and she saw a girl in a bright blue-white dress with a crescent-moon pattern batting her eyelashes at Sam while her matching crescent-moon headdress wobbled dangerously. “You saved my life!”
“Er, not really,” Sam said, patting Rufus’s head. “But I did probably save your dress from getting tomato stains.”
The girl fluttered her eyelashes harder. “Like I said, you saved my life! Would you like to dance?”
Becca smirked as Sam shook his head. “Uh, maybe another time.”
The girl’s eyes turned sharklike. “I’m the host’s daughter, so you don’t have a choice.” Her smile was sweetly threatening, or threateningly sweet; Becca wasn’t sure.
Just when things seemed to be getting better, who should take a liking to Sam but Juliet herself.
Becca’s half heart attack came back in full force, and Sam’s eyes became as round as marbles.
“J-Juliet?” Becca said under her breath. “Juliet is Lord Capulet’s daughter? And she likes Sam?”
Yes, she is. And yes, she does.