Romeo and Juliet: High School Horror Twist

By Erin Morgan

“A modern telling of Romeo and Juliet, straying from romanticism and exploring new, gruesome and horrific routes of forbidden love with a modern high school twist.”

First period ends at 9:00. Second period starts at 9:10. Will I have enough time to grab my textbook…? Juliet pondered, staring out the window. The droning voice of her English teacher was merely a white noise as she anticipated her next class. It was the first day of her junior year in high school, and with every new period awaited a new class experience. She desperately hoped her next class would be significantly more interesting than her current Historical Literature course. The simulated BING of the bell sounded over the school intercom, and she was snapped out of her thoughts. Juliet grabbed her bookbag and made for the door, flanked by her peers discussing the summer’s activities and mischief.

Oh, shit! My water bottle… Juliet spun to look back into the classroom. The bottle sat on her desk, but she quickly noticed that the student who had been sitting behind her had yet to head to his next period. He sat at his own desk, face turned down to his notebook as he wrote. The morning light that was cast through the window they had been seated next to highlighted his clean-cut black hair that glowed with a healthy light. While Juliet could not see his face well, his toned hands and forearms revealed by his rolled-up uniform sleeves were enough to catch her attention. She had not seen him at school before. She was sure she would remember if she had.

“I, uh, yeah. This semester,” he responded, looking out the window away from Juliet. Something lingered about his statement. Something left unsaid, but Juliet decided not to pry.

“Well, I have to get to my next class… I’m Juliet, if you ever need anything for this class. You should know that literature is not my jam, though,” Juliet said, grabbing her bottle and shoving it in her bookbag. 

“I’m… Romeo,” he responded. Juliet stopped for a moment, turning to face Romeo. Something about the way he paused made Juliet… nervous. She turned to leave with her bottle and glanced back at the mysterious young man, and he had already turned his head back down to his notebook. She was all the more curious about what Romeo was all about. 

–

She hated to admit it, but the only thing that kept Juliet from dropping her historical literature class before the cut-off date was her growing crush on the boy who sat behind her. She hated him for it, as literature was in fact not her jam. Her grade in the class was less than stellar at the moment. But Romeo… he had a knack for it.

“And the point of view?” Romeo questioned, pointing to the second question on the printed study guide that sat before the two, laid out on a library study table. She stared blankly at the sheet and sighed. Only two days. Two days to study for this exam that Juliet felt miserable about. She looked up from the sheet to meet Romeo’s dark eyes, shaded by his wispy dark hair. 

“Third-person point of view. This isn’t really the part I’m struggling with,” she huffed, picking up the novel that lay in her lap and setting it on the table. The Lord of the Flies. “The whole thing is just a mystery. What was ‘the beast’? If there was no actual beast, then what were the boys even trying to appease?”

Romeo gave Juliet a small smile. His white teeth glinted.

“Isn’t it obvious? Just think about it.” He paused a bit, letting the silence ring. What a tease.

“I really don’t know. Can’t you just give me this one?” She begged. 

“Fine,” he sighed, “the beast was what lay inside the boys all along. Dormant until they found themselves stranded on that island.”

“And what was that?”

He smirked. “The beast inside all of us.”

–

The evening hung over the pair as they left the school in a heavy haze. Cicadas hummed as Romeo pushed the door open and held it for Juliet, watching her as she passed him. The humidity alone was enough to announce the approach of summer break. Romeo felt the cicada symphony in his heartstrings, studying his friend as she adjusted her long dark ponytail and waited for him to take his place at her side to walk her home. She was ethereal. His chest pulsed with something deep.

“So, what are your plans for the summer?” Juliet asked, her voice sweet. Genuine.

“Oh,” Romeo paused. What to say… “just spending time at home.”

They continued their walk home, the sunset growing warmer.

“You know, you walk me home every day after studying, but I have no idea where your home is. Where do you live?”

Romeo’s heart skipped. He ran a hand through his hair, stretching his back with an attempt to appear casual. “It’s not close,” he murmured as a response, avoiding Juliet’s gaze. He could feel her eyes lingering. 

“Well, where is it anyway? Maybe I could… stop by sometime?” Juliet inquired, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. Romeo couldn’t help but feel a guilt clawing at his heart.

Romeo had wanted this. For many reasons, he wanted this. Juliet was exactly what he needed. But the deep pulsing in his chest coiled in on itself faster now, excited. Raging.

“I… like you, too.” 

Like a drop of clotting ink in a clear pool, it was done.

–

With the year coming to an end, Juliet had desperately been seeking more from Romeo. Despite their budding romance, she knew relatively little about his life outside of school. The more she asked, the less Romeo revealed. And without school in session, seeing Romeo would be impossible with the information she had. 

They sat at their usual library table, work laid in front of them. Juliet chewed on her pencil eraser, pensive, but not over her math homework. She laid it down, turning to Romeo who was similarly invested in his own reading.

“Romeo,” she stated, “why won’t you tell me where you live?”

He closed his book into his lap with a deep breath.

“Do you really need to know?” he snapped, not even sparing a glance to Juliet.

She gaped, shocked at his sudden change in demeanor. “I… yeah… I do! If we are more than just friends, then it’s only right for me to know. Frankly, it’s weird that you won’t tell me. I don’t like it,” she scowled.

He turned to look at Juliet, an unfamiliar glazed expression. Not at all fueled with the animosity that Juliet had expected. He looked… unwell.

“Fine,” he resigned, suspiciously easy.

“Fine? So now you’ll tell me?” Juliet questioned.

“I’ll show you.”

–

Now. Now. Now. Romeo’s head sang with the instinct ingrained in him. He was moving without his rational mind, and he knew what was coming. The pulse in his chest was near bursting. Grasping Juliet’s hand, he led her out of the library and down the hall at an unreasonable speed.

“What? Right now?” She demanded, stumbling behind him. “Can’t we wait until later?”

“No. It has to be now,” Romeo responded, not looking back as they approached the school bathroom. He turned to go into the restroom, and felt a harder tug from Juliet. She said something, but Romeo couldn’t hear her over the beating in his ears. Now.

He flung the pair into a stall, against both of their wishes, and locked the door. He whirled around, staring at Juliet before him. Tears streamed down her face, and he had not known how long she had been crying. Tears began to creep from his eyes as well, but he knew that he was too far in to back out now.

“What the fuck? Romeo, what’s going on? Let me go,” she cried, thrashing to get out of Romeo’s grip on her wrist. Romeo felt the coil in his chest rising up into his throat, hot and painful. He fought to keep his composure. He simply shook his head, pleading to Juliet with his dark eyes. His tears were waterfalls down his cheeks now, but his mouth stayed closed. This was his least favorite part. Juliet had been his favorite out of all of them. The host liked this one, too. What a loss.

–

Juliet’s heart was a bullet train. 

“Romeo, what’s going on?” She sobbed again, unable to escape him. The stall. She shook with fear, rage, confusion, and the amalgamation of all the worst feelings she had ever felt. She wrenched her arm again, slamming both of their arms into the walls of the bathroom stall, but Romeo held firm. He was crying, but something kept him from speaking. His face was growing a bright red unlike anything she had seen before. Pain radiated from her wrist where Romeo’s hand was locked around it, and she clamored desperately for a way to get out. She curled her right knee up to her torso and kicked out, hitting Romeo’s stomach. He lurched, his eyes even wider, and he looked like he was going to vomit. His beautiful face was strained beyond recognition. Without warning, his mouth parted. A sharp object poked from between Romeo’s lips. A rich, vibrant red. . . leg? His lips tightened around the insect-like jointed appendage as if to try to keep it from emerging further, and his frantic eyes met Juliet’s. They were bloodshot. 

His jaw stretched until Juliet heard a grotesque pop. From his limp jaw, a worm-like creature burst from his throat. Blood sprayed from his split jaw onto the sides of the stall, soaking Juliet’s uniform. She shrieked and scrambled onto the toilet seat, but her foot slipped and she fell hard onto the tiled floor. Her head slammed onto the toilet rim and a crack in her tooth echoed between the barren stall walls, and her entire world flashed into darkness. 

–

An entire year. He had an entire year with Juliet without having to pay. It was only fair, right? Romeo sat on the bathroom stall floor, blood soaking his pants as he rocked back and forth, back and forth, back and…

He was alone. Juliet had been… gone… for hours. The school was long closed by now. The cold bathroom light remained on, flickering. He had known this was coming, but this time had been far worse than the previous meals. Juliet had really begun to mean something to him. But to the monster that lay dormant in his gut… Juliet was just another creature to feed the never-ending hunger. Tears streamed down his blood-crusted cheeks as he chewed on his lip, preventing himself from wailing in defeat. The parasite consumed his body, his mind, and those he loved. He silently begged it to take him next, but he knew that as the host, the creature would not give his body up. Especially not one that had been able to feed it so well. 

Romeo tried to stand up, his shoes slipping in Juliet’s blood that painted the floors and walls. He trudged out of the stall, trailing sticky footprints in his wake. He caught a swift glimpse of himself in the mirror, his hair wild and his eyes red, but this was the least of his concerns. If the only solution to kill the monster was to kill the host, Romeo had to avenge Juliet. He sauntered his way up the stairs of the school to roof access, turning the cold doorknob with his warm and wet hands. He opened the door to a cool night breeze, peering over the empty schoolyard with a field of stars that covered the sky. This would make for a lovely ending, he thought, as he made his way to the edge of the roof.