Romeo and Julian: The Modern Love Story

Act XVIV

This went on for weeks, the couple never once called each other, suffering in their own vast pits of pity. They wanted to reach out, they wanted to help each other, but somethings stopped them from reaching for their phones. Romeo spent all of his time in his room, occasionally crying onto Benvolio's shoulder, who was more than happy to support his cousin through rough times. Julian, who was forced to 'repent' every weekend, never even stuck his nose out of his bedroom threshold when at home. His eyes had lost their shine, cheeks sunken, and he was losing weight fast. He would stare at himself in the bathroom mirror for hours on end, marveling at how his skin stretched tight over his ribs. Julian even got himself to go on a couple dates with Paris, just to make his parents happy. He was back in his cycle, forcing himself into excruciating pain to please his parents.

The flame inside him only grew larger, burning up through his body, almost reaching his brain. And one day, it did. Julian found himself wondering nervously through the back allies of his school. He scuttled by tall shadowed figures, the small four feet of space between the walls filled with the stale smell of weed until he found who he was looking for.

"Samuel." He squeaked, coming up behind the young man.

"Oh, hey J. Didn't think you'd actually have the balls to come." Samuel's voice was monotone, dragging through the stale air at a snail's pace.

"Well, here I am," Julian mumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets, and pulling out a wad of cash.

"How much do you want?" He said, feeling more and more shame piling onto his shoulders, pushing him down irretrievably deep into the swirling pit inside him.

"25 will do."

"Really?" Julian raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah, how much did you think it would be?" Samuel replied, smirking as he reached into his backpack.

"I dunno. I mean, I don't. I don't normally do this." The shorter boy stuttered, starting to regret his choices now, but the 25 dollars were held out to the other young man anyway. And as soon as a syringe in a plastic bag was handed to him, he knew there was definitely, no going back.

Julian walked down the quiet neighborhood, tracing the outline of his release in his jacket pocket. He walked past a park, where mothers and children were laughing, the colorful sound echoing around the cold park. He and his mother used to be like that, Julian used to love going to the park, shouting at his mother excitedly to push him on the swings.

"Don't take too much. You're going to overdose. And dude, trust me. You do not want to do that."

Samuel's words echoed in the curly-haired boy's ears as his pointer finger brushed the tip of the syringe.