4. Juliet's first boyfriend.

...Although first I suppose I should explain the story behind the whole Bianca Seger thing.
If you ever had to pick Juliet’s worst enemy, it would probably have to be Bianca Seger. This description is going to sound like some cliché annoying girl straight out of an 80s film, but it’s all true.
Bianca Seger would be pretty if she weren’t so mean. She spends so much time squinting her eyes at people that it’s contorted the rest of her face. Other than that, the only word to describe her smile is simpering and her hair is thick and blonde. She’s usually got a haughty expression on her face; one of those girls who tries to appear girly to impress the boys but is actually a bully who would rather punch a kid in the face than wear shorts above the knee.
Bianca’s only redeeming quality is that she can sing. I don’t understand the reasoning behind this, and neither does Juliet.
She often complains to me, “It’s not fair. She doesn’t deserve a good voice. When you look at her, would you think she can sing?” (I shake my head.) “Well, I guess God had to give her something.” Juliet finishes doubtfully.
You’re probably asking, why doesn’t Juliet like Bianca?
Bianca’s a year ahead of us in school. She should be in the next grade up- age-wise, she’s two years older- but she was held back in first grade. According to the rumors, she didn’t know any of her colors. I wouldn’t know for sure, but that sounds like a plausible reason.
When we were really young somebody warned us not to mess with Bianca. She was a bully, and bad news, and she wasn’t going to college. Stay away.
Inevitably, of course, one day we ran into her by accident in the cafeteria. Bianca was talking to some other kids- although just an obnoxious, pudgy little kid back then, she still had all that potential for evil. “Oh, my gosh. Did you hear who Jenna has a crush on? It’s Louis! Isn’t that like so gross?”
And Juliet, bless her heart, couldn’t help mocking the girl, little imp that she was. “Oh, my gosh,” Juliet mimicked in her high, babyish voice, “That is like so gross. Did you hear about that, Carter? How dumb is that girl?”
I was laughing, but Bianca grew silent and turned to us. She towered over Juliet menacingly. “What are you doing?” she demanded with all the attitude a seven-year-old can dish.
One of the girls Bianca had been talking to mumbled something like, “It’s just some little kid, Bianca.”
Juliet’s eyes widened with recognition. “Oh. You’re Bianca. So that’s why no one likes you.”
Bianca reached over to the lunch line, grabbed an open carton of milk off some kid’s tray, and poured it all over Juliet’s perfectly braided hair.
I don’t know why Juliet didn’t completely lose control. I felt like freaking out- not only would Juliet smell like milk the whole rest of the day (we both hate milk) but her mom had also spent ages this morning doing her hair, and we’d been nearly late to school because of those braids. Don’t tell me it was all for nothing!
With milk streaming down her face, to her chin, and dribbling onto her jumper, Juliet blinked the liquid out of her eyes and looked up at the older girls. “I’m not just some little kid. Someday I’m gonna rule the world.”
Kids say funny things sometimes.

Ever since then, every time we cross paths with Bianca, she turns especially nasty. But mostly she’s just plain annoying.
Now, the fact is that Juliet’s first boyfriend was her leading man in Guys and Dolls. His first girlfriend was Bianca.
The two of them had tried out together for the roles, until Bianca got strep throat and had to drop out.
I don’t know if I mentioned, but Juliet is one of those people who is easy to fall in love with. Stick her in a room with five guys, and within an hour four of them will be smitten and the other will have gone crazy. Either you love her or you dislike her. There’s no in between for Juliet.
She’s smart, and pretty in a bookish way with her wide-eyed innocent look behind those glasses, plus she likes a laugh and hardly ever takes things seriously. The greatest thing about her is that you don’t get the drama most girls come with. You can hang out without worrying about how the things you do will sound when she describes you in detail to her gossipy friends the next day.
The worst thing about her is how fickle she is. Her opinions change almost daily. This is because Juliet over-thinks everything, so the most minute piece of information can alter her whole outlook on life.
Back to the boy. His name was Eric. He was cute, he could sing, and he was obsessed with Juliet. He talked to her constantly, even outside of the drama room.
It got really serious when Eric blew off Bianca in favor of spending time with Juliet. There was this big dramatic breakup that the whole school talked about for days.
Since it was the spring play, and she didn’t see Eric over summer, Juliet officially started dating him when we’d started fourth grade and he fifth.
Although he was her first boyfriend, they never actually did anything.
He sought her out on the playground at lunch:
“Juliet, I was…wondering if maybe, well,” he swallowed hard while Juliet watched him interestedly, “If you want to go out with me.” (That was how we said it. Go out with me. Not that anybody ever actually went on dates in elementary school.)
Juliet tried to hide a smile and squinted in the sun, her hair blowing in front of her face. “Okay. Yeah. Okay.”
And then they hugged. After the initial asking, they spoke about once a week. It was mostly, you know, “Hi.” “Hi.” And they’d smile at each other like they both knew a secret.
That was the extent of it, basically.
They broke up four or five months later because they never saw each other.
Not very exciting really, but then relationships like that never are.