Garrick and Olivia looked at each other and continued the scene. Olivia had to raise her voice over a muttering that she thought might be a disapproving Mr Wagenbach.
‘Sometimes, the fates do not stand for good people making mistakes,’ Olivia intoned.
Oddly, there was a silence. Has Garrick forgotten his next line? Olivia wondered.
But then Garrick started up again. ‘Thou lookest most delicious, my Julietron.’
What? Olivia knew that wasn’t what he was supposed to say. It should have been something about the power of love.
‘Cometh into my alien arms,’ Garrick went on.
Olivia could see Ivy just off-stage frantically gesturing at Garrick to get back on script.
What is he up to? Olivia started to panic. Is this the extra stuff he had planned? That fake Shakespeare sounds awful!
‘A taste, sweet Julietron, of your tinny flesh. Just one bite!’
Bite? Garrick leaned closer and Olivia saw that he was wearing a set of false vampire teeth! When did he put those on? He was trying to turn Camilla’s sci-fi theme into a vampire one.
Olivia hopped off the tomb to get away from him and continued with the lines as Camilla wrote them, trying to force Garrick back on script. ‘A peace between our races would serve the fates.’
‘Who cares about peace? You’re supposed to be mine!’ Garrick advanced, his ten arms outstretched, trying to grab hold of Olivia.
She decided to buy herself some time, running away from Garrick. But she had to stay in character and run like a robot. Garrick chased her with his twitchy, itchy shuffle.
The both looked absolutely ridiculous.
She should have known, when it came down to it, they could not trust Garrick.
You are in so much trouble! Olivia thought. When this mess is over, I am going to pluck your arms off one by one! And then Ivy and I – and Camilla – will bash you with them!
Just as Garrick was about to catch her, someone shouted, ‘Behold!’
Garrick froze.
Jackson, in only part of his Merc-X88 costume, leaped on stage from the wings. ‘I thought my fate was sealed by that foul Tybalt,’ he said, improvising much better Shakespeare than Garrick. ‘Now it seems I am the cat with nine lives.’
‘You cannot stop me,’ Garrick muttered.
Jackson darted in front of him. ‘Romezog, selfishness has consumed you. You must be banished from Veronova.’
Olivia saw Camilla pushing three supporting actors on stage to help Jackson restrain Garrick and haul him off, making it look like an arrest. He shouted the whole time that Romezog would return.
When the silence fell, Olivia realised that it was just her and Jackson on stage, and that they had to end the play.
Jackson extended an arm and said, ‘Will you take my hand, beautiful Julietron?’
Olivia wanted to rush across the stage to him, but she couldn’t break character. She had to do her robot-walk across the stage.
But what are we going to do when I get there? Olivia wondered. How can we end Romezog and Julietron without Romezog?
Finally, Olivia reached him, and felt her heart threatening to bounce right out of her chest. Jackson had the same look on his face as when he had pulled her into the wings.
‘May I kiss you?’ Jackson asked.
In a rush, she realised that she was going to get her wish after all. Not really how I imagined it, but it’s super romantic all the same.
It took everything Olivia had to nod like a robot and not like a human in love.
As Jackson leaned in towards her, the theatre lights blacked out. Their first kiss was in complete darkness. A moment shared by only them.
Jackson pressed his lips against hers, and Olivia closed her eyes. It was soft and gentle, and sent a shiver down her spine like goosebumps.
A short pause later, there was thunderous applause and they broke apart. The lights came up, and the rest of the cast, with a grumpy-looking Garrick, joined them on stage for a bow.
Olivia held Jackson’s hand as they bowed together and felt tingly with happiness. She knew she would never forget her first kiss.
Chapter Ten
‘Nice save,’ Ivy said to Jackson as the cast rushed backstage, buzzing with the excitement of the closing scene. ‘I am going to kill Garrick.’
‘Not if I get there first,’ Olivia said.
Ivy chuckled. Garrick wouldn’t stand a chance with the twins after him!
‘Mission accomplished,’ Sophia said, hurrying over from the wings and taking off her headphones.
‘Was that … the lights? Was that you?’ Olivia asked.
‘Ivy’s idea over the headphones, my execution,’ Sophia admitted. ‘Just in time, too.’
‘I wanted you two to have a little privacy,’ Ivy explained.
‘Thank you,’ Olivia said at the same time as Jackson.
Ivy could see that her sister was absolutely beaming – from the buzz of performing, or from finally getting that kiss with Jackson? Probably both.
Camilla burst into the green room, with an unreadable look on her face.
Uh oh, Ivy thought. Camilla had been so strict through all the rehearsals. What did she think of the chaos of her carefully constructed ending?
Camilla broke out in a huge smile. ‘That was better than I could have ever imagined. Why didn’t I think of putting Juliet with Mercutio?’ She gave them both a hug. ‘We’re going to do the rest of the performances like that, as long as I can keep Garrick in check.’
By then, other cast members’ families were flooding backstage, presenting everything from neon flower bouquets to boxes of gold-painted chocolates.
‘Olivia!’ called Mrs Abbott, waving from the curtains. ‘Can we join you?’