Rom and Jules.

It was fascination, flawed by teenage human nature, taken to the max. Rom had walked to his bus stop as normal, clad in his very expensive private Christian school uniform. He had always been a bit of a loner, but played the game. Top student in final year, expected to excel in his mid-year exams. He continued on as vice-captain of the football team.

But he had become fascinated by Jules, as her friends called her. She was only a couple of years younger than him, yet a fully formed young woman. Her dark flashing eyes had captivated this teen character. He could not resist admiring her, but she attended her equally exclusive Muslim academy. Girls only, all their fathers and devout, obedient mothers would have been horrified by their teenage girls wanting to live their lives for love. Yes, Jules and her class were writing essays about Romeo and Juliet. Such a tragedy, a classic Billy Shakesbeer film. The music was okay anyway, bit old time, but these dutiful girls were not brought up to question their curriculum.

Jules, unfortunately, was also casting melodramatic eyes at the handsome, brooding Rom. He always stood behind her as the teen students boarded the bus. One morning, she smiled, and pretended to drop her sports bag on his rather large foot. Their conversation flourished, it was soon a date to meet on the home-time bus.

That first afternoon, Rom and Jules did not get off at their usual bus stop. They both texted their folks that they were planning to study for their exams at the local library. It was thoughtlessly planted in their large suburban shopping mall. Here they soon spent a happy hour wandering to the food court, not much studying was being done for their exams, looming ahead.

One might say that Rom had a few issues, concerning his love interest, his exams, and the recent separation of his parents. That had affected him too, his father had a new young flame, and Rom's new baby brother was on the way.

Rom had great self-doubts. He did not believe he even cared about high achievement in academics or football. He was a known middle-class twerp.

Undercover at his teenage success academy, there was a covert drug trafficking ring. Teen addicts had targeted anyone who did not turn away. Rom was secretly shooting up, hidden under his general good boy behaviors. Jules was no trouble either. They both realized their families would always oppose their uniting, it would be transcending the rules of their faith. It would cause a family feud, just like Romeo and Juliet.

Rom and Jules never said anything in their respective home environments. Absolutely nothing worth discussing with any parent or authority figure. Rom started sharing his doubts with Jules, she was tempted. On the sunny afternoons, they sat behind the mall, under the eaves, sharing syringes, in between embracing, holding hands, exchanging shy kisses. Both so innocent in some ways.

Rom took care of obtaining their drugs of addiction, and the syringes. That was what dumpsters were there for, ditch the used needles. Wintry afternoons soon set in, so they headed indoors, to hide in public, cuddling in their expensive uniforms. Any passing shopper did not notice or care, they did not want to waste their time. The stores there were mostly cashless and automated, any purchaser was occupied with swiping a debit card, instead of asking embracing teens why they were sharing a syringe in the concourse before 5 pm. The bystanders made it none of their business, they did not want to annoy a drug addict teenager the size of Rom, in case he overreacted.

Apathy was their usual response. Not their circus, let's face it. It is one of the great tragedies of humanity in this current world, that the planet is being littered with addictive drugs and used syringes, even for communists and democracies. The drug traffickers made many profits, either they fed their own addictions, or hoped their individual offspring would not take drugs.

The sun shone again, so Rom and Jules got off their bus at the shopping center, had a snack in the food court, and walked to 'their' secret hiding spot, at the rear of the mall, under the eaves, right in front of the dumpster. They could do nothing about their dramatic status of being star-crossed lovers, but Rom and Jules believed that true love transcend all rules.

But Rom's male fascination for Jules and drugs led to very human consequences. That fateful afternoon, Jules had an adverse reaction to the syringe, it had been laced with something even more powerful than love. She became blue of lips, and died there, leaning against the dumpster, dead already of a drug overdose.

Rom panicked, he thought she was acting, but no. Gone to her great God. Rom left that tragic scene, pocketing the syringe, left Jules there. He did not know what to think. He caught the bus home, and tried to phone his father. "I am busy, what is it now?"

"Dad," Rom stammered, "I am very upset."

"Well, ask your mother to take you to the doctor."

Rom hung up, that had been a waste of his phone credits.

Rom picked up his fridge magnet his mother had in the kitchen. Phone "Nurse on Call". He phoned a nurse. At first, he got some think music, then a pre-recorded info segment, about which digit to press with which symptoms. He listened, then pressed 7 and the hash key to speak to a human. More think music and pre-recorded information. This was global development, E-Nursing and E-Counselling.

Eventually, a human nurse, maybe, responded to his phone call. "Hello, welcome to Nurse on Call. Please state your symptoms, so I can redirect your call. Your medical concerns, matter, speak after the tone."

Rom did not know quite what to say, so he did not answer. He left the rather uninspiring phone music play on, he supposed someone would find Jules sooner or later, and notify her side of this not quite right family divide.

So much for true love. Flawed by his own very dramatic human nature, in despair, Rom injected himself again. The nurse on call music wafted him off where his young heart wished to be, united forever. His mother did wonder why Rom had not appeared for dinner, she found him with a needle in his arm. She noticed the card to phone, and listened to the think music. She and her absent husband ended up blaming the nurse, but they had to pull themselves together and get up with life.

The girls at the teen school where Jules had laughed and sang did draw a heart on their school oval, but that was quickly trampled by their sports classes and athletics team. At Rom's school assembly, their strict and repressive principal addressed the gathered future of society.

"Year Seven, you are in detention again. Trying to blow up your fellow students with the Bunsen burners in the Science wing is not permitted. This transcends all the rules here. Year Nine, there is a cross-country race on tomorrow. It is compulsory. We need a new leader for our star football team, Rom overdosed yesterday. Anyone who needs counselling here in our successful teen college can see the chaplain after 4 pm and not before."

Some of the lads thought their principal was beyond insensitive, but rules were rules. All Rom's fascination for Jules and drugs had cooled his lips forever, a flawed male, tragic to the end, or was it? Their dramatic young love had transcended time, their families, the nurse, all the rules. They could have been anyone's teenagers. A very human form of a classic tale. No longer star-crossed, but teen stars in love.