Dear Verona Times,

I can see why you would report that my cousin was at the Capulet’s masquerade party. It is true. I will not deny it. But I ask that your newspaper and the public do not blame him for attending. Our friend Mercutio and I encouraged Romeo to attend in order to lift his spirits. Believe me, Romeo tried not to go to the ball. In fact, he kept trying to make excuses. First, he flat out refused to go. Then he asked “shall this speech be spoke for our excuse,” (1009) meaning that he was wondering if someone should announce our entrance at the Capulet’s ball. Since it is known that our families are feuding, if we had announced ourselves someone would have kicked us out right away. I think Romeo must have thought about this when he suggested that someone announce us. When he finally agreed to attend the costume party, Romeo said he would hold the torches because he did not feel like dancing. This is all to say that it is not Romeo’s fault that he was at the party. Mercutio and I dragged him along. This leads me to my apology. I want to publicly apologize in this paper to Capulet and Lady Capulet for crashing their party. I was not invited and because I am from the house of Montagues, I should not have come. As the servant told us, “if you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a cup of wine.” I went against this request and attended the party anyway. I am sorry for that. I also want to address the recent accusations that Romeo returned to the Capulets’ house and scaled the castle walls in order to talk with Juliet outside of her window. After the party, Mercutio,