a PH short story

     The time: four thirty-seven and eighteen seconds. The place: Hanging Grove Park, sitting on the far right swing. The issue:

     Juliet is calling me.

     I see the caller-ID and my heart starts fluttering light as a sledgehammer in my chest. My iPhone slips out of my frozen fingers and thuds into the sand. I throw myself to my knees to claw it up, drop it again in my panic. My little sister, Anita, waddles over and gurgles into my ear.

     "Shut up!" I scream at her.

     She falls backwards and starts to cry.

     The phone stops ringing. I look at it with a dull disappointment and shove it back into my pocket.

     "Hey," I say to Anita. "Sorry." The tears don't stop, running all over her face in salt water and snot. I sigh and sit her in my lap.

     Juliet called me. She thought of me, even for a moment. And I couldn't even pick up the phone, and now my little sister's crying because of me. What a failure at life.

     The phone starts ringing again, shooting soft little palpitations of sound through my soul. I manage to answer it this time.

     "H-hello?"

     "Oh my god, Alex, you won't believe it!" Juliet bubbles from the other side. That's one of the things I love about her. Bubbling with enthusiasm for absolutely everything. "I got a bunch of free tickets to the football game tonight! You want to come?"

     Oh my god, Alex, this can't be happening. "Tonight? With me?"

     "Yeah! Or if you want you can invite one of your other friends instead. But you said you liked football, didn't you? All my game freak friends are playing in the game anyways, so they don't need tickets."

     "Hahah. No, I'll--" Anita starts crying again, the kind of roaring cry tiger cubs make, except my shirt's getting covered my a slobby mess istead of blood. I realize I'm crushing Anita's ribs and loosen my grip.

     Juliet gives me a concerned gasp. "Is everything okay over there?"

     I give her a nervous laugh in return. "Yeah, yeah, it's just my little sister."

     "I mean, I don't want to force you into this if you're busy--"
     "No, no, my parents will take over after five. I'm coming."

     "Oh my god, really!?"

     "Really. I'm coming, Juliet. I'm coming."

     "Awesome! Oh my god, I'm so excited! See you there!"

     "Yeah, yeah, see you."

     "Bye!"

     She hangs up.

     Before I leave you thinking, oh how sweet, Romeo's gonna get a girl now, let's set one thing straight.

     My full name is Alexandra Lordes Martinez. I am a sad excuse for a human being and will never in my living days be able to become a Romeo.

     And Juliet is straight as a board.