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❛ ʟᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ & ʟᴀᴄᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴋᴏɪ ɴᴏ ʏᴏᴋᴀɴ ꒱


❝ DO YOU HAVE ANY
PLANS FOR CHRISTMAS? ❞

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As a man of science, Farkle Minkus believed in facts as one might believe in religion or god. Facts were the hard, unequivocal truth in a constantly changing world. (That is, of course, unless the facts themselves changed, which was entirely possible as more data was discovered.)

FACT #1: 13.8 billion years ago, the Big Bang created the stars, the planets, the galaxies. Compared to the lifespan of the universe, human lives begin and end in a single day.

Compared to the vast expanse of space and time, Farkle's own human life was insignificant. Except for the few family and friends he had, there would be no real impact to show that he'd lived. It was part of the reason why he was so set on world domination; at least, if his name went down in history, he would be able to leave some mark behind.

FACT #2: of the 7.2 billion people in the world (as of 2014), there were exactly nine (9) people who would be affected if something were to happen to him.*

It was a daunting thought that he could count on two hands the number of people who cared about him. Two of them were his parents so they were sort of obligated to do so. Four of them were somehow related to his best friends (he wasn't sure if Maya's mom counted considering she was hardly there for her own daughter.) The last three were his best friends: Riley, Maya and Miya, the former two he was in love with. (Don't get him wrong— he loved Miya too, just not like that. . . at least, not yet.)

FACT #3: Farkle had always had a hard time making friends. Whether it was because of his name or his genius intellect, he didn't know, but very few people were willing to get to know him. Riley and Maya had been among the first to see him for who he was and when he noticed them in return, he'd seen how beautiful their souls were.

He'd been in class with Riley and Maya for several months before he had the courage to go up to them, projecting confidence into what would be the first of many 'ladies.' The perfect opportunity had presented itself with Riley's difficulty in understanding the apple bobbing game that had been set up. (Seriously, who thought a bowl of water that you put your head into would be a good game for first graders?) And, although Maya had laughed at his name (thus cementing that particular fear), he promised to love them 'both the same'— a promise which he continued to keep.

FACT #4: he (officially) met Riley and Maya at 9:33 am on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007. The first time he met Miya was at 9:33 pm on Saturday, December 22nd. As someone who took great interest in recognizing patterns, he often wondered if the next significant event in his life (that is, regarding the three girls) would take place at 9:33. . .

His father had known Miya's mother, Juliet, during his school days. They hadn't kept in touch until just a few years before Farkle was born when Juliet had reached out to Stuart to rekindle their friendship. They'd been trying to find a time for his father to come to England (as Juliet refused to set foot in the United States for unknown reasons) and on his third visit, Stuart had brought his young son with him to attend the Christmas concert that his friend was performing in.

December 22nd, 2004

As he'd only been three years old at the time, Farkle didn't remember much about the concert even with his excellent memory. (After all, the age of reason is believed to be around eight years old.) The most he could recall was cheerful music and a darkened room, though that might've been him projecting concerts that he actually did remember. In any case, the important event of the night took place after the recital.

As the guests left their seats to go into the lobby, Stuart had taken his son's hand to guide him out of the crowded theater. Some of the attendees milled around waiting for the performers to make their appearances while others made a bee-line for the exit, hoping to avoid traffic on the way out. Stuart was a part of the former group and Farkle knew who they were waiting for: Juliet Capelwood, his father's friend. On their way to England, the older man had explained that his friend had a daughter Farkle's age so there would be someone to hang out with. (Not that it would've mattered either way; Farkle was perfectly happy to be on his own as well.)

He remembered growing antsy as they waited since he saw some of the musicians coming out, noticeable in their all black. They greeted the audience members with smiles and thank-yous as they received compliments about their performance. It was all sort of a blur as he made several attempts to wander off (he'd wanted to ask the musicians about their craft) but his father kept preventing him from leaving.

Then, the crowd seemed to part ways and his attention was drawn to the woman who walked (albeit a little self-consciously) through the center. She wore different clothes than all of the other musicians: a sparkling, floor-length, rather form-fitting red dress with a slit up to her knee that had a strap on the right shoulder. Her dark hair was pulled up in a sleek bun with only a few pieces left out to frame her face. She practically exuded an image of grace and put-togetherness as she approached them, a smile breaking out over her face. Farkle could recall being awed by her appearance as he wondered how his father knew someone so beautiful (not that his mother wasn't, of course, but this was a more.  .  . natural beauty.)

Her approach was so stunning that he missed the fact that she was carrying a young girl in one arm while balancing her on a hip, and that her other hand was holding onto the handle of her violin. It was only once she was close enough to greet them and put the girl down that he noticed her. The dark-haired girl quickly hid behind her mother's skirt, peeking out one wide, dark eye. The older woman swept forward to embrace his father in a hug with a cheerful greeting of, "Stuart! I can't believe you made it!"

Stuart chuckled at her disbelief. "I said I would come, didn't I? It's not like a private jet is going to have delays."

She gave him an amused look. "It could have maintenance issues."

"Not with the way I keep my transport vehicles."

She merely shook her head before turning to the boy next to him. She bent over slightly to better look him in the eye, but he appreciated that she didn't crouch in front of him like most people would treat a child. In the same 'adult-tone' that she used to speak with his father, she remarked, "you must be Farkle; I'm Juliet, your father's friend. I've heard a lot about you. All good things, of course," she added with a smile.

He straightened importantly, pleased to be treated as an equal. "Dad's told me about you, too. You're very beautiful."

Juliet looked a bit embarrassed despite her lighthearted laughter. "Thank you." She straightened, aiming her next words at his father. "Quite the charmer already, I see."

"Yes, we're very worried about how he'll be in a few years," Stuart replied dryly. "I don't know where he gets it from."

"Well, Jennifer is very straightforward," the dark-haired woman responded as delicately as she could. Then, she quickly changed the subject, gesturing to her daughter. "And this is Miya." She turned towards the girl. "Are you alright, honey?"

The brunette nodded, though she didn't come out from behind her mother to greet them. Juliet faced the pair again. "Sorry," she apologized. "It's been a big night for her. I don't usually bring her to my concerts but I did this time since Farkle would be here. I think she'll be more comfortable once we're at dinner."

"Of course," Stuart conceded, getting ready to leave. "Are Kendrick and Celeste here?"

She shook her head. "They're in France for the holidays— one of the reasons why I'm glad you came."

As they left the concert hall, Farkle glanced up at the clock by the entrance. It read 9:40 pm. With some quick subtraction for crowd maneuvering and conversation, Farkle decided that he'd met Miya at 9:33 pm.

 --

Once they'd settled down at their booth in a dimly-lit restaurant (one of the fancier ones that still allowed children), the two adults sat across from each other while the kids sat on the same side. Miya was using a blue crayon to color in a rounded shape that was vaguely taking the appearance of a stocky human-like body. Her head was bent over her drawing, her dark hair hiding her face as she blew at her bangs once in a while to keep them out of her eyes. Farkle watched her curiously for a few moments before he slid closer to her. She noticeably stilled, tensing as she waited for him to speak.

"What are you drawing?" was the first question he asked.

She gave him a sidelong glance between the strands of her hair before she explained softly, "Doraemon."

"What's that?" 

"Japanese Manga."

Although she didn't seem keen on talking, he never turned down an opportunity to learn, whether it was about a subject or a person. "What's it about?"

"Doraemon is a cat that helps someone do better in school," she summarized in as few words as possible.

Farkle frowned. "But cats can't understand humans. I mean, they're smart, but not school-smart."

She straightened, speaking a bit louder as she countered, "robotic cats can."

Seeing her sudden interest in talking to him (even if it was arguing), he shook his head. "There's no such thing as robotic cats. Yet, anyway."

"I know. That's why Nobita's family sends it from the future. It's possible."

He huffed, also straightening to become slightly taller than her once more. "No, it isn't. Time travel isn't real. I'd know."

She eyed him dubiously now. "Why, because you're gonna invent it?"

"Yeah," he declared as if it should've been obvious. "And I'm gonna take over the world."

If they'd been on the end of the booth, Miya would've stood up to prove her 'dominance.' Instead, she switched to Japanese to prevent him from arguing further, since she definitely wasn't letting him win: "まあ、可愛いと思ってるし、ふりしてるだけなので、何でもありだと思います。そこで

(Well, I think he's cute and it's just pretend, so anything is possible. So there.)"

She stuck her tongue out at him after she finished speaking. Farkle stared at her with wide eyes, though not necessarily (just) because of the change in language. Although he hadn't understood her words, he did understand her tone, and he hadn't expected such a fire-y response from her since she'd been so quiet from the moment they'd met. It was then that he decided they'd be very good friends, because she could be both soft and protective (in this instance, of the things she liked, but he thought it could also be of her friends as well.)

"You didn't understand, did you?" she inquired smugly when he didn't say anything. "So that means I win."

"Uh, y-yeah," he agreed, though winning wasn't really on his mind anymore after his revelation. "What language was that?"

"Japanese."

FACT #5: it didn't take long for Farkle to become interested in learning Miya's native language (after all, he wasn't going to let her win so easily next time.) However, in his studies, he came across a phrase that perfectly encapsulated the feeling that had made him stare at the brunette in awe: koi no yokan. Unlike the English counterpart 'love at first sight,' this sentiment was closer to 'love at second sight.' It's the feeling when you meet someone that you're going to fall in love with them. Maybe you don't love them right away, but it's inevitable that you will.

🌎🌎🌎

Present day (summer 2014)

One of Farkle's favorite traditions were the yearly trips to Tokyo, Japan. It would just be him and his father and he got to spend a whole month with Miya in person. As much as he liked their daily video calls, nothing beat being in the same room as she was.

They tended to stay in the same part of the city each time as their launching point but visited different areas of the country by car or train. Since Juliet wanted her daughter to be familiar with her heritage, they did traditional Japanese pastimes as well as anything that piqued their interest. Being the music enthusiast that she was, one of the activities that Juliet insisted on was karaoke. They would spend a couple hours each week that they were there in a karaoke room so the two girls could sing their hearts out. Neither Farkle nor Stuart were much into singing but they could usually be cajoled into one song during their visit. 

Since they spent so much time in one place that neither of the Minkuses were interested in, Farkle tended to use karaoke time as an opportunity to do his summer homework. It wasn't too hard for him to focus, despite the loud music. He worked with his head down, not bothering to pay attention to Juliet singing Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. She cheered when the song ended, having gotten a score of 90.

Speaking into the mic, she announced triumphantly: "she gets As in school and on the music floor, it's me, Juliet Capelwood!" She gave Stuart a pointed look as she continued, "that's my 811th A! Ha!" (Adding the ha! in the trademark Minkus style.)

Stuart shook his head good-naturedly. "Those As don't count."

"You're only saying that because it would make me have waaay more than you," Juliet countered, though she set the mic down so her daughter could take her turn.

Miya rolled her eyes at her mother's competitiveness, not really understanding why she was so set on having perfect grades (especially as someone who usually just scraped by with a C.) Pushing the encroaching negative thoughts out of her mind, she picked up the mic and looked at the screen to make her music selection. While her mother often went with American songs from her favorite decades, Miya was more prone to picking Japanese music, since it was easier for her to read the kanji letters than the English ones.

When the pop song the brunette chose came on, Farkle was still deep in his schoolwork with his books spread over the booth's seat and perched on his lap. It was only when her bright voice filled the room that he glanced away from his notes to where the girl stood on the small stage.

"Whoa-uh-uh 머리부터 발끝까지 다 사랑스러
(Whoa-uh-uh everything is lovely from head to toe)
Whoa-uh-uh 니가 나의 남자라는 게 자랑스러워
(Whoa-uh-uh I'm proud that you're my man)
기다림이 즐겁고 이젠 공기마저 달콤해
(The waiting is fun and now even the air is sweet / I love you like this)"

He found himself unconsciously smiling as she bounced around on the platform, her movements sending her shoulder-length dark hair swinging around her face. As the song came to end, the instrumentalists behind the music slowed the tune until it was more of a ballad. Miya's voice became gentler with it as she finished earnestly, "oh 한가지만 약속해, 세상 끝날 때까지
(Oh I promise you one thing, until the end of the world)
나에게만 사랑스럽길
(I hope it's lovely only to me)"

There was a heartbeat of silence when the song ended before Miya's score was shown on the screen. She stared at the 100 in shock for a moment before she punched the air victoriously, jumping up and down in her excitement. Even Juliet sprang up from the booth to sweep her daughter into a happy hug ("you did it! You did it!")

The brunette managed to rest her chin on her mother's shoulder to avoid being crushed in the embrace and when she did, her eyes met Farkle's. He gave her a smile and a congratulatory thumbs-up, returning to his homework shortly after.

🌎🌎🌎

After their time in the karaoke room was up, their next stop was a bubble tea place. They made it a point to try a different one every time to compare them all and see which one was the best. This one was several blocks away, but no one minded, least of all Miya, who was still riding her high from 'winning karaoke' as she kept calling it. She skipped ahead of the group only to wait for them at each intersection, bouncing impatiently on her heels until they joined her.

It was during one of her running-ahead times that she came racing back, breathless, as she pleaded, "there's a Doraemon shop up ahead! Can we stop in? Please?"

Juliet laughed at her daughter's enthusiasm. "Alright, as long as nobody minds waiting three hours for Boba tea."

"I won't be three hours, promise! Thank you!" she called over her shoulder, already darting off again.

Once everyone had made it into the shop, their eyes were met with an explosion of color. There were calendars, posters, pencils and more, all with the design of the blue-and-white cat on them. It took a minute to find the brunette, but Farkle found her in front of a display of mugs. They were wider and squatter than a mug usually was, mostly blue, with the picture of Doraemon's face on one side.

Miya picked it up carefully and showed it to him. "It's so cute! Look!"

He shook his head. "You don't even drink coffee."

"I know," she huffed. "But I could use it for soup! Or ice cream! I mean, just look at its face!" She shoved the mug into his face to prove her point.

The brunet gently pushed her hands away, glancing between the merchandise and the girl. "Yeah, cute."

She didn't notice his dry tone as she cradled the mug in her hands. "I need everything in this store. Literally."

Not quite understanding the fact that she was speaking metaphorically, Farkle offered, "well, you can have everything. My dad could buy the store if you want."

His reply made her pause and she suddenly felt a little embarrassed by her excitement. "No— I mean, thank you, but I-I didn't mean it literally-literally. I-I'm good with just one thing. Really." She offered him a smile to reassure him that anyone could've misinterpreted her words.

Although he appreciated it, and that she would never hold something like this against him, he knew this was one of those moments when he had a hard time picking up social cues. There was some awkwardness between them now despite the bustling store and Miya hugged the mug to her chest protectively. They were both grateful when Juliet appeared behind them with a cheerful, "ooh, that's cute! Is that what you want?"

The brunette held out the mug to the older woman. "I know, right? I think I'll go with this one, yeah. We'll just have to pack it up carefully."

🌎🌎🌎

The Boba tea place was, thankfully, less crowded than the Doraemon store. After getting their orders, the kids took a table while the adults sat at another close by. Miya swirled her straw around her taro milk tea, kicking her feet against the floor as she looked around the café. Farkle poked his straw at the tapioca pearls that were at the bottom of his drink. To break the silence that lingered from earlier, the brunette offered, "are you looking forward to seventh grade this year?"

"Yeah, definitely," he confirmed. "I always like going back to school. My dad actually used to count the days until Monday instead of Friday when he went."

"You're such a nerd," the Asian girl teased him.

In this case he understood her tone and knew that she would never use the term as an insult, so he gave her an amused smile. "Well, what about you? Are those girls still giving you trouble?"

Miya glanced at her mom to make sure Juliet couldn't hear their conversation and sighed. "You know I never look forward to school. As for the 'triple As'— well, sort of. Jonah's pretty good at handling them— by the way, he's my boyfriend now— but they'll be in my grade until we go to high school. Even then I might get them in my grade again." She made a face of exaggerated horror at that.

Although she had told the brunet about her school troubles, she'd downplayed them so drastically that he only thought they were making her life difficult, not intolerable, while she was in class. While she wasn't afraid that he'd march down to the school like Juliet would, his opinion of her was important to her, so she wanted to act like she could handle it, even if she couldn't. (Jonah was the only one who knew the full truth of how awful those girls were.)

Farkle coughed a little on the sip of Boba tea he'd just taken. "Wait, wait— go back. What did you say?"

She pretended to be confused about his question. "What? It shouldn't be a surprise that I don't like school."

"Not that," he corrected her pointedly. "I meant about the part where you said Jonah was your boyfriend? You didn't think to tell me this sooner?"

FACT #6: at this moment in time, Farkle's interest was not based in jealousy over the fact that Miya had a boyfriend, merely that she had been more successful in wooing her love interest than he had been. Even now, ten years into their friendship, feelings on both sides remained extremely, completely platonic.

"Oh. That."

"Uh, yeah. How'd that happen?" He sounded exceptionally curious, and he even leaned forward to anticipate her answer with interest. "How is it that you have a boyfriend before I've wooed Riley and Maya? Is there a secret that you've been holding out on me?"

The brunette smiled in an embarrassed sort of way. "Well. . . I did sort of just. . . kiss him. Spur-of-the-moment thing."

"That actually works?" Farkle exclaimed, loudly enough to draw a few curious looks their way.

"Not at first," Miya made sure to tell him after shushing the brunet quickly, "but after we talked it out the next day, yeah. Although, with what I know about your girls, I don't think you should try that on Maya. I might be down a best friend if that happened."

He scoffed, shaking his head to swish his hair out of his eyes. "That wouldn't happen to me. So now you're in a happy, loving relationship and you're going to leave your best friend Farkle in the dust?"

"So— uh, yeah. About the relationship thing. I'd never leave you in the dust, though," she replied. Her dark eyes stayed trained on the movement of her straw as she continued to swish it around her half-finished drink.

The boy's eyes narrowed in response. "You don't sound too confident about that."

Her gaze jerked up to meet his, her eyes widening as she tried for a convincing look. "I am! It's great. Everything's great!"

"それは、人間関係に満足していない人が言いそうな言葉です。

[That sounds like what someone who's not happy with their relationship would say.]" Farkle commented, switching (as they traditionally did in these types of arguments) to Japanese. The usual whiplash of switching languages (a tactic used to make the other person falter) was rather lost since they were in the country where it was natively spoken.

Not willing to give up, Miya stood and pushed her chair back to stand over him with her hands on her hips. "そして、人間関係について何を知っていますか?ライリーとマヤとここまで仲良くなったのですから。

[And what do you know about relationships? Since you've gotten so far with Riley and Maya.]"

Farkle stood up as well, but the effect wasn't what he'd hoped since Miya was still a couple of inches taller than him (he hoped his growth spurt was coming sooner rather than later.) "「すべてが素晴らしい」というのは、電話中に母が言うのを私が聞いた言葉ですが、誰も聞いていないと思います。事実は事実です。Ha!

['Everything's great' is what I hear my mom say when she's on the phone and doesn't think anyone's listening. Facts are facts. Ha!]"

The brunette's expression softened as most of her annoyance at the boy's doubt of the security of her relationship faded. She sat back down, mollified at the mention of Jennifer.

FACT #7: unlike the front that Stuart present, not everything with Jennifer went as smoothly as he'd like people to believe. (How could it, with people are different as those two were?) There had been many nights, especially in recent years, when Miya had stayed awake on the phone with her best friend while both of his parents had gone out, separately, after an eruptive argument.

Farkle's loud ha! drew the attention of the pair's parents, who looked their way with fond exasperation. Juliet nodded to the younger two. "Oh, look, the kids are arguing again. I do wish they'd get along better," she commented with mock sadness.

"An old friendship torn apart," Stuart remarked in a similar tone, shaking his head. "It's truly tragic." They both laughed, breaking the faux-seriousness. He took a deep breath before continuing, "so, I have no good segway into this, but. . . do you mind if I change the subject?"

"Sure, go ahead," the dark-haired woman allowed, stirring her Boba tea around absentmindedly.

"Well. . . do you have any plans for Christmas?"

She eyed him warily, questioning slowly, "why. . . do you ask?"

He shrugged, trying for nonchalance (but couldn't quite manage it.) "It feels like we're always coming to see you. Why don't you spend Christmas with us this year?"

"I-I don't think so," Juliet stated, immediately becoming shifty as the still-uncomfortable topic came up. Her eyes dropped to the drink in front of her to avoid his gaze. "You know I haven't set foot in the U.S. for almost thirteen years."

"I know," Stuart agreed, with a surprising amount of empathy, "but are you really going to let one man tell you that you can't set foot in a whole country? That's not very Juliet of you."

She cracked a small smile at that, though it faded quickly. "I-I do know, for what it's worth. It's just. . . I can't risk. . ." She shook her head. "I am over Shawn, really, but I don't want to see him ever again. And-and I feel like the next time I go to the U.S., no matter what state I'm visiting, somehow he'll be there. At least, if I stay abroad, I have no chance of running into him."

"What about Miya?" he wondered. "I'm sure she'd love to see her grandparents and her uncles."

"I know that, too," she conceded. "She's said it before that she wished we could visit them more often. I just. . . travel during Christmas? That sounds like a nightmare."

Stuart didn't even hesitate when he suggested, "you can use my private jet. No delays, no lines, no crying babies— unless you're afraid of heights, that is," he added jokingly.

Juliet frowned at his quick answer. "What about a place to stay? There's no way I'm going back to Philly, so my mom and dad would have to come to wherever I am."

"You could stay with us, if you wanted. We have plenty of room— although I know you and Jenny don't have the best history, so that probably wouldn't make for a very good Christmas for you. Didn't you say that your family's bank was in New York? Your dad has an apartment there, right?"

The dark-haired woman glared at him half-heartedly, sort of annoyed that he was finding solutions to all of her excuses. "Sometimes I hate that you're so smart."

He merely grinned at her. "You have friend with a lot of money and brains, Juliet. Feel free to use either as you see fit."

She sighed. Although she knew that she couldn't stay out of the U.S. forever, she hadn't expected the inevitable day to be (what felt like) so soon. (And wasn't it just perfect that it was happening during her thirteenth year away?) "Fine; I'll think about it. Happy now?"

Stuart nodded, wisely choosing not to press the issue further. After all, 'I'll think about it' was the closest he'd ever come to getting a certified 'yes' from her, so he considered it a win.

🌎🌎🌎

When the Capelwoods returned to England several weeks later, Miya excitedly got to emptying their suitcases so that she could use her new Doraemon mug. Despite her enthusiasm, however, she was still extremely cautious as she hefted the luggage onto the bed to rifle through it. Instead of flinging clothes about like she usually did to unpack, she gingerly lifted each layer until her mug was revealed— and she let out a horrified gasp.

Despite the bubble wrap, despite the layers of clothes, despite the red fragile sticker on the outside of the suitcase, the Doraemon mug had not survived the transcontinental trip.

Immediately, without any regard for time zones (though luckily it was still in the afternoon in the U.S.), she Facetimed Farkle. When he answered the call, the screen showed the shattered ceramic as Miya all but wailed, "it's broken!"

A/n: Yes, I did borrow the koi no yokan sentiment from The Sun is Also a Star. :)

Also, I wanted to round out Farkle's character more than they did in GMW since we still don't know very much about his home life. I also wanted to introduce signs of the "Girl Meets Farkle" storyline earlier so it's more than just a plot device to include some "diversity." TBH, I think that they could've done a waaaay better job of "bringing awareness to autism" (or whatever they trying to do) especially with the way Riley and Maya reacted. I've been thinking about this for awhile, but I've been considering diverting from canon for that particular episode and actually going with the fact that Farkle does have Asperger's, because I know that I can do a better job than Disney Channel. (Because, if we're being honest, Disney Channel did a crap job with that episode.) I know it's a long way off before I get to write that episode, but what do you guys think about this?

On a completely different note, when I initially plan out stories, I often think of songs that encapsulate the theme/vibe (usually of the romantic paring it revolves around.) Sometimes I have a very clear idea of what song it is, like I did with Ocean Eyes (hence the book title) and Leather & Lace (again, hence the book title.) Since I've written them for so long, I have a very good idea of Shuliet's vibe which, if I had to pick a genre of song, it would be country/rock (kind of earthy, worn and weathered.) On the other hand, Farkle/Miya (I don't have a ship name for them yet) are more pop/bright, since their love is "newer" (or, as of this chapter, not even started, haha.) I really like the song Loveable (linked above) for them since it matches their vibe perfectly.

I'm actually especially proud of the playlist that I put together for this book and was kind of disappointed that the playlist for Ocean Eyes got more of a response. Maybe I was a bit too subtle, but if you go back and look at the playlist chapter for this book (in the Juliet & Shawn section) the selected lyrics from the songs hint at what I have planned for the rest of their story :)

(Maybe now you'll go back and look at the chapter with that in mind? For me?)

* This is before they meet Lucas and Zay, and while Smackle is still his frenemy.