Anna made her way to the kitchen on one rainy morning, only to find her grandmum scrambling eggs over the lit stove, “Grams, here let me.”
With tired eyes, Anna took over at the stovetop, giving her grandmother a rest so that she could take a seat at the empty kitchen table.
“You know,” Grams began, “The ladies in the waiting room the other day were talking about this writing.. was it a contest? Whichever, I think you should write in, you’re a wonderful author, dear.”
“Grams,” the recently turned 20 brunette nearly whined in response, “I don’t write for other people. Just for myself.”
“No, no, Bella. it’s called ‘Letters to Juliet,’ ya see? I reckon you’d just be writing a letter on why you deserve to go to Verona, Italy. Did I mention it’s in Italy?”
Anna sat her spatula and turned to lift an eyebrow at the elderly woman, “You know I can’t go to Italy, Grams. Who would take care of you?”
“Now I don’t need someone to take care of me,” She pushed herself out of her chair and walked closer to Anna, her features softening, “I just don’t want you to be alone here and never know love like your dear old Grams.”
“I want to stay here with you. You aren’t ready to be on your own.” Anna stubbornly shook her head, searching her mind for excuses to get her grandmother to drop it.
“Bella, I’ll be fine.”
“I—I wouldn’t even know what to write, what to say.”
“Love. Italy’s popular as a country of love, right? Just open up your heart to this Juliet person. Or, you know what, you could send in one of your old short stories.”
Anna’s eyes widened on the spot as she froze in her place, the eggs charring ever so slightly now. She urgently shook her head in protest, “Grams, no. My stories are personal.”
“No one will see it but Juliet. I’ve read it, you’re a great writer. Embrace it.”
She relaxed a bit when it was brought to her attention that no one but Juliet would read her story, “Grams, do you even know anything about this program? Heaven knows where I’d end up.”
Exasperated, Anna left the stove and marched to her room to get her laptop. After traveling the hall twice, she brought her laptop to the table, where she searched ‘Letters to Juliet'. The first link to come up was the one she clicked as her grandmother joined her at the table, “Dear Juliet..” She read the site’s header aloud after the site had loaded.
Anna and her Grams had spent hours exploring the site, looking at snapshots of the scenery of Juliet’s mansion for whoever was personally invited. This further excited Anna, though she felt guilty because of this excitement, not wanting to leave her grandmother's side. Later on in the evening, Anna was going through her old journal, searching for the perfect short story to send in. She ripped the story out of its place in her journal and sealed it in an envelope. A kiss to the letter for luck and a stamp for shipping later begins her story.
Immediately arriving here felt like I was out of place. What merits do I have to be chosen by this Juliet character? I didn’t even want to be here. I should be back in London, taking care of Grams but, she wanted me here. She saw it to be best for me to make some outside-of-the-family acquaintances. So I’ll respect her wishes so long as she keeps in touch.
Speaking of which, I just got off the phone with her and she’s preparing me a fun, little care package. It should be lovely. I’ve held two significant conversations today. One with Oliver and one with Skylar. The Skylar girl seems nice, I think she called me the new girl? Oliver gave me a bad vibe, albeit he was cordial with me. Maybe tomorrow will be more eventful and I’ll make some new friends? We’ll see. Yours truly.
25 Most Played
I. You Don’t Know Me by Ariana Grande II. Should’ve Been Us by Tori Kelly III. Catch Me by Demi Lovato IV. Daydreamin’ by Ariana Grande V. Nobody Love by Tori Kelly VI. #getitright by Miley Cyrus VII. Fool’s Gold by One Direction VIII. Avalanche by Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato IX. Kiss Me by Ed Sheeran X. Exceptional by Jojo XI. Hallelujah by Kate Voegle XII. I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston XIII. I Love Your Crazy by Jasmine V XIV. My Everything by Ariana Grande XV. A Team by Ed Sheeran XVI. Lie to Me by Ne-Yo XVII. Like I’m Gonna Lose You by Meghan Trainor and John Legend XVIII. Wipe Your Eyes by Maroon 5 XIX. She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5 XX. Just A Little Bit of Your Heart by Ariana Grande XXI. Pretty Hurts by Beyoncé XXII. Heaven by Beyoncé XXIII. Talking to the Moon by Bruno Mars XXIV. I Turn to You by Christina Aguilera XXV. Beautiful by Christina Aguilera
Bella walked home from work yet again, the lack of a car being because of her lowly part time wages. Her parents hadn’t wanted her to grow up as a spoiled rich girl on behalf of the old family money. Her arms instinctively brought her lunch bag on her shoulder as she walked up the front steps to her home of 14 years now.
“I’m home from work.” Bella’s voice resonated through the empty house as she walked passed the threshold.
With a curious perk of her eyebrow, Bella shrugged off her jean jacket and tossed it over the back of a nearby sofa.
“Hello?” The acoustics of the empty home sounded melodious as Bella checked every room for any other signs of life.
She had decided no one must be home yet when she travelled into her own bedroom. Bella took a seat on the end of her bed, bringing each of her legs up to use her hands to assist in pulling off her shoe. Moments passed before Bella, left with no shoes, slid back on the bed to her headboard. She sat in silence for several moments, not expecting any calls or visitors. Only waiting for one of her parents to arrive home. It had always been like this. Bella waiting. Waiting to meet someone who would befriend her. Waiting for that raise at her dead end job as a waitress. Waiting to live. Alone and waiting.
After Verona, Dominick found that it was better for him to drop medical school. Being a doctor? That wasn’t his wish at all, that was his parents’ dreams and desire. Free from the chains of Mr. and Mrs. Potter’s expectations, the man decided to roam the world.
Traveling to foreign countries in South Asia and Africa, Dominick became more culturally aware. Enlightened one may say. He never let an opportunity slip through his finger rips, not this time. He was determined to live life to his fullest.
Four years into his travels, Dom returned home. His intentions were to visit Steven’s grave, deliver to his deceased brother the journal he’d kept of his travels and experiences. Included were the trinkets from Verona, most importantly the little autograph book he’d collected for Steven from Disney. It was then and there that Dominick decided that in order to move on, to live his life, he’d have to forgive his parents.
Forgiving was harder than he’d expected, and it was no surprise that when he walked over to his childhood home, only his mother greeted him. Mr.Potter had been unfaithful, leading to a divorce. Dominick held his mother for the first time in a decade, even kissing her forehead. The seven years he’d been away from Boston had aged the woman beyond recognition.
Dominick did not see his elder brother, apparently Alexander had moved to become a successful surgeon in England. The man made no effort to reach out to his father either. What was the past was nothing more than the past. Dominick was now free.
The man gave up his life of comfort. Sure, there were many trust funds to his name and a whole inheritance, including a will from his mother, but those materialistic affairs no longer interested Dom. Finally, at the age of 29, the man settled in a small loft off the coast of South Africa.
It was there that Dominick started a charity, reaching out to children in third world countries dealing with cancer. The charity was named Steven’s Sanctuary and has helped thousands of children in ways the man hadn’t believed were possible.
Making a name for himself, Dominick Potter, 33 of years, is now a respected, wealthy entrepreneur. His works include funding for cancer research and charity work. In fact, Wall Street labeled him as one of the top ten single business men of 2025.
Love never found him, but he did find love for something else. A love greater than any romance could provide him: A love for changes
Special note: Given a combination of the fact it is show week for my play and I won’t have the time to be on both Owen and Brad, and the nature of Brad’s character, he won’t be attending the reunion, as he is busy on tour. However, I would like to establish what happens to him in the ten years after he leaves Verona
-Brad had already been building a successful career in music before coming to Verona. He’d just finished touring with Muse as their opening act, and prior to that he had a very successful stint on Broadway. He came to Verona wanting to find inspiration to write songs for his first full length album and to find love. Though his success in the latter in still unknown(another reason I would prefer not to include him, as there is still so much that is yet to be discovered about his character), I can tell you about his success in making an album:
-By the time he left Verona, Brad had written enough material for several albums. However, he chose the songs he liked the best and compiled them onto his first studio effort titled The Cracked Stepping Stones. His record company promoted it relentlessly, and it ended up charting in the Top 50 in most countries throughout the world after a few weeks of being released.
-After the record charted, he went on tour, opening for Ed Sheeran. It was a dream come true for Brad, as he has always idolized Ed, and hoped to create music as genuine and good as the music Ed makes. The quality of his live performances, and the further exposure of crowds to his material helped his record sales. After dropping out of the Top 50 for a few months, it resurfaced near the end of the tour.
-While on the road, Brad found a lot of the inspiration he needed for writing songs for the second album. About a year and a half after The Cracked Stepping Stones was released, he released Falling Through the Cracks. It debuted in Top 20 in most countries. This was enough for the record company to finally let Brad be the headlining act for his own tour, where his great live performances only helped propel him further.
-The third album Brad released, titled The Value of Time was what launched him into his highest level of success and mainstream attention. It debuted at #1 in most countries. The tour that followed it sold out quickly.
-He has since released a few more albums, all successful. The hype around him has died down slowly over time, leaving him with less mainstream attention, but a still very large and loyal fanbase. In all of his career, this is the happiest he has ever been.
- Shortly before leaving Verona, Owen’s search for The Philosopher’s Stone came to an end. He discovered a stone that appeared to be the real thing, but he never tested whether it could do the things the legends said it could, deciding it was better that no one ever found out for sure. Instead, he destroyed all his research and had the stone he’d found broken down almost completely; except for one small shard which he had put into a ring that he used to propose to Vivienne.
-After returning home to Bibury, Owen went to university at Oxford. He excelled at an extremely high level and after completing his courses, was offered to take over a teaching job at the school.
-Owen and Vivienne got married after a long engagement. He didn’t want to have the wedding until he’d saved enough money to give her the one she’d always dreamed of. He wouldn’t accept money from anyone else. He worked for every penny and gave her the perfect wedding
-They’ve been trying to conceive a child for quite some time now. So far they have had no success and now they’re starting to become a little worried.
Chastity and Colton tried dating in Verona but it didn’t work out. After the mansion, they went their separate ways but remained very close.
Back in Adelphi, Chastity picked up music again. She became a mildly famous solo indie artist and has traveled a lot, something she always dreamed of doing.
Colton practically begged her to move to London with him to help expand her career. She did, and she has since move into a career in theater.
When she came to London, they rekindled their romance and a year and a half into dating again, Colton popped the question. chastity said yes, without any hesitation.
They now have two children, Seth Greyson Avery, age 3, and Nicolette Alessandra Avery, age 14 months.
