Romeo & Juliet [Part 1]
Pairing: Jacob Black x OC!Swan
Word Count: 1953
Part 2 Part 3, Part 4
Sloan Swan detested the assigned reading she was given. It bothers her that the widely accepted portrayal of Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet It was a narrative of blind lust for a stranger rather than an epic love story of two tragic lovers torn apart by their warring families.
“They loved each other.” Bella, her twin sister, argued as she drove them to school. In contrast to Sloan, Bella was enamored with the notion of love and disregarded the glaring red warning signs it left in its wake. Romeo’s lovely, meaningless words blinded her, just like they did so many others.
She criticized, “Romeo was literally ‘in love’ with Juliet’s cousin, Rosaline, and when she didn’t return his feeling, he went looking elsewhere. When he tells his friends about his ‘feelings’ for Juliet, they assume he’s talking about Rosaline.”
“That’s not true.” Her sister shakes her head in disbelief.
Sloan ruffles through her backpack, searching for the school’s copy of the play and flipping through the tagged pages.
“Page 32 to 33. Benvolio says to Romeo, ‘At this same ancient feast of Capulet’s, Sups the fair Rosaline whom thou so loves,’ and later in the same page Romeo replies, ‘One fairer than my love? The all-seeing sun, Ne’er saw her match since first the world begun.’ Romeo meets Juliet around page 53. Do I need to read more?”
Bella remained quiet as her perception of Romeo and Juliet was uprooted. The heartbreaking reality was silently placed in front of her, bursting a love she had equated her and Edwards to and a raging loathing emerged for her twin sister.
“And not to mention, Romeo only married Juliet to sleep with her. That’s not love.”
Bella gritted her teeth. “What do you know about love?”
“More than you, apparently.” She shot back. It was true she never had a boyfriend, but she was born with logic, and she’d be damned to ignore red flags when she saw them.
“Why do you hate love stories?”
“I don’t hate love stories.” Sloan clarified, “I hate toxic relationships disguised as love stories. There’s a difference.”
Juliet was a naive girl with rose petal shades shielding her from the truth. She was in love with the idea of love and fallen for the first boy to entice her. Her false sense of love drove her to follow him in death. Her end was tragic as she never once felt true love, only the lust of a boy impatient to bed her.
“I pity Juliet. Romeo used her and would’ve abandoned her when a new beauty caught his eye.” She sniffled out a yawn. “He plucked her from the sky and clipped her wings, locking her in a golden cage, and once he got bored of her song, he freed her but left her flightless. That would’ve been the ending of their story if they had lived.”
Bella remained silent, reeling in her fragmented view on Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, her hatred for her sister burning twice as much. The silhouette of the school could not appear fast enough as Bella hurriedly searched for a parking spot.
Her arms trembling as she parked her truck, unable to comprehend Sloan’s point of view on her favorite Shakespeare play, and needed some space to clear her mind. Sloan had zipped her backpack up; infuriating Bella. How can Sloan act as if she hadn’t disrupted her entire world. She slams her door shut as she frantically searches for Edward, her lifeline.
“Wherefore art thou, Bella? Sloan?” Mike calls out as he, Eric, Angela, and Jessica approach the two twins. “You finish the Shakespeare assignment?”
Jessica pitched in, “He means will you finish his assignment?”
“No, I don’t—okay I do.” He admits.
“I can help you with it — but first —” She pulls out her new camera, a birthday gift from her father that she was gifted earlier today. “I need a picture. My mom’s expecting a scrapbook full of memories.”
Angela holds out her own camera and says, “I take ‘em; I don’t pose for ‘em.”
“You do today.” Bella lightly pushed Angela towards the rest of the group as they arranged themselves.
“I can take the picture, Bella,” Sloan says while holding out a hand. “Go stand with your friends.” Bella reluctantly hands it over before awkwardly walking towards them as the group rearrange themselves for Bella to be in the center.
“You’ll photoshop my nose if it looks big, right?” The question was aimed at Bella.
“Don’t worry, I’m in the picture; no one will be looking at you guys.” Eric proclaimed confidently.
Jessica scoffs at his joke as the group decided on their final poses. Angela, incorporating her love for photography, points the camera at Sloan; Mike and Eric joust, and Bella stands in the center of their delightfully carefree selves stiffly. The clicks of the camera shutters as it freezes them in a moment in time and archives it forever.
Sloan lowers the camera before noticing their playful smiles dissipates except for Bella’s. The timid smile she faked grew into a real one as she had obviously spotted Edward, her boyfriend.
Although her friends did not mind the male, they did not appreciate how quickly she discarded them for him. When Bella and Edward started dating, they became placeholders for when he wasn’t around.
“Oh good. Cullen’s here.” Mike noticed the way Edward stared at Bella; it was not out of love but something more nefarious. At first, he chalked it up to jealously. His feelings for Bella were still ever-present, but he genuinely cared for her well-being. He believed, with all that he’s seen, that Edward did not love Bella the way she loves him. It was only a matter of time before he hurt her, and he prayed to be wrong for her sake.
Jessica’s response was even drier. “Yay.” Once upon a time, she had feelings for Edward, but the second he became unavailable, she pushed those feelings aside. Bella was her friend, even if she didn’t act like it most of the time, and she would never stand in the way of her friend’s happiness. However, she had noticed Bella’s co-dependency on Edward, following him around like a lost puppy craving his attention. It wasn’t healthy. Not one bit, but she had no right to say anything.
Sloan, too, did not like the relationship her sister had with Edward. Edward had stripped Bella away from her independent lifestyle. There was never a moment away from Edward. Bella would choose him over everyone, and the realization of this truth stung. She missed the days when the two of them would read together; although both were silent during this time, the conversations that happened afterwards were fun. Those days were gone, now filled with an empty chair and an untouched book, and Sloan having no one to talk to. She never thought she would become familiar with loneliness.
“Check ya, later.” Eric replied, sensing the uncomfortable atmosphere, and lead his friends away.
Bella hadn’t responded, nor did she notice; her attention solely remained on Edward, who approached her figure, his eyes never leaving hers. This was the moment when Sloan decided to leave, her absence going unnoticed by both her twin and the vampire. She preferred to be in her English class going over Romeo and Juliet than forced to watch her sister pine about her boyfriend.
From across the parking lot, someone shouted. “Sloan!” She turned her attention to the person, Jacob Black, her friend from the nearby reservation. His presence brought a smile onto her face as her worries vanished in an instant.
“Jake!” Her excitement could not be contained. It has been a while since the two of them hung out; both busy with school work and other responsibilities. “You grew.” She noticed. His muscles were more refined than the last time she saw him, he was now a head taller than her.
He laughed, “And you didn’t.” Now he can hold the television control over her head like she had done to him in their childhood. Sweet, sweet revenge.
She pouted, “Not my fault I’m bite-sized.” By no means was she short, not was she unusually tall. She was average, yet compared to the massive monster known as Jacob, it would appear so.
His glee was energizing, her thoughts on Edward and Bella fading into the foreground of her mind, acting as a life jacket keeping her from drowning in her thoughts and worries.
“Happy birthday.” He offers her a warm hug before reaching into his pocket, pulling out a small hand-woven bracelet. “It’s not much, I know, but.” He drops it in the palm of her hand, eyeing the marvel embedded in her chestnut eyes. “I hope you like it.”
“I love it!” She exclaimed, “You didn’t have to get me anything.” It was a thoughtful gift—something she’ll treasure forever. She quickly slips it on and makes a silent vow to never take it off. She won’t, however, except when she bathes or swims. She does not want his hard work to be ruined by water.
“I’m glad you like it.” He looks around for the other birthday girl, seeing her in a quiet conversation with her boyfriend. “I’m going to give your sister her gift.”
Sloan nods. Class is going to start soon, and she needed to get to class. “Bye Jacob.”
“Bye.” He rushed towards her sister, yelling her name to get her attention, managing to break up the couple for a few moments.
~~~
Bella quietly dropped off her sister at home before rushing away to her boyfriend’s house. Apparently, his family were throwing her a small party for their family only—the Cullens and the birthday girl—and no one else. Leaving Sloan and her father to celebrate the twins birthday alone.
The two didn’t plan much but it was just right for them. Both Bella and Sloan weren’t the party type, they preferred the quiet hums of their home, a homemade dinner with their father, and a hushed evening filled with television and soft conversation.
Sloan spent the day prepping for their meal, spicy honey garlic chicken with garlic Parmesan fries. It was a favorite she and her father shared. Bella’s absence remained a constant in their conversations. They spent their evening watching her favorite movies: Legally Blonde, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Scream, and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.
Charlie loved the days when he and his daughters would sit together and watch TV. Bella would hide under the covers whenever a horror sequence became too much, opting to stay under until the danger passed. Sloan would mindlessly make comments under her breath throughout the movie, only audible to the person sitting next to her. He enjoyed days like this, as they were a small snippet of the past, his daughters reminding him of their younger selves, and now they were all grown up.
Wrapped up in one of her blankets, she laid her head on her father’s shoulders, her eyes drooping. It was late, and Bella still hadn’t arrived. Their birthday was already over and not a single second of the three of them had celebrated as a family. It truly broke her heart.
She didn’t know when, but her father carried her to her bedroom and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before tucking her in. He was going to miss moments like this. His children are adults now, and soon they will be leaving the nest. He never prepared himself for this day, always believing he had more time with them, but he guessed every parent came to the same realization when the time finally arrived.
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The 20th anniversary of the Sims 2's coming up next month
Fun fact.
Also, on a semi-related note, I'm FINALLY doing a definitive remodel of the Goth house. (I've done it once before but the LAST time I did it they added in ponds like immediately afterwards and a pond was a significant feature in the remodel.)
Just to give you a scope on how HUGE this remodel is, here's some quick numbers:
It took me exactly 6 minutes and 32 seconds to strip the landscaping, delete the furniture, and lower the foundation of Ophelia Villa in its original lot in Willow Creek. I then saved a copy of the resulting house and then bulldozed the lot entirely before moving on to Oakenstead. (moving it from a 30x20 lot to a 50x50 lot)
It took about two minutes to strip the spandrels, trims, windows, porches, doors, etc.
Landscaping has taken me 24 minutes just this session. JUST. THIS. SESSION. At the rate everything is going, it will probably about an hour total on JUST landscaping.
The remainder of the 2 hour 6 minute recording is dedicated to the structure of the house--this includes setting wall height, reconfiguring porches, remaking the rooms, setting windows, spandrals, fences--EVERYTHING but paint and interior flooring. If you're keeping score, you'll see that that's 96 minutes JUST for that.
Anyway, here's a sneak peak of things so far. I am going to be uploading the final and complete speedbuild of the new Ophelia Villa for everyone to enjoy, as well as placing it on the gallery. You will need most of, if not all packs. No CC will be used.
(this guy reminds me of Reaver from Fable, anyone else see it?)
Is this very much at all? In retrospect, no. But considering the fact that I legitimately was able to watch Caddicarus's ENTIRE Crash Bash 200% video during this recording session, I think that should just be indicative of how HUGEEEE this is.
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