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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐎𝐍𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʙᴀᴄᴋ 𝟸 sᴄʜᴏᴏʟ ꒱


❝ IF YOU TELL HIM I'LL
DISEMBOWEL YOU ❞

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On the first day of school, Juliet did what she'd always done: walked over to Shawn's trailer thirty minutes early. Chet was hardly surprised to see her when she knocked on the door. "Good, yeh're here. The boy's not even out of bed yet and I already threatened him with a bucket of ice. Maybe a pretty face will make 'im move faster."

The redhead rolled her eyes. "It's never worked in the past, uh, Chet."

"Isn't there a saying there's a first time for everythin'?"

"Well, I'll give it a go," she sighed, making her way to where she knew Shawn's room was. True to his father's word, the boy was still under his blankets and hadn't made a move to get ready for school yet. Her tone became stern as she announced: "Shawn, get up."

"Five more minutes," he pleaded sleepily.

"It's the first day of school, you don't want to be late."

"Yes I do."

"I don't want you to be late," she rephrased her sentence. "Besides, don't you want to see Cory?"

"No."

The girl rolled her eyes and stepped closer to his bed to shake the boy roughly. "Get up, Shawn," she tried again. "We go through this every year."

"'Cause it's not fair that I have to keep returning."

"You only have sixteen years left, one less than last year," she tried to encourage him as she always did by subtracting one year from the year before.

"We've talked about this before. I'm not gonna go to college."

"Yes, you are. Right now though you just have to worry about today. C'mon, get up."

The boy's eyes finally opened and he glared at her without anger. "Let me sleep."

"Nope. Besides, you're awake already. Might as well get up."

"I hate you," he grumbled, never actually meaning the words.

"I better see you up in five minutes or I'll let your father get the ice bucket," was her last threat before she left him in peace to get ready.

When Shawn finally made his appearance, Juliet was eating frozen waffles and neither one of his parents were anywhere to be seen.

"Your hair," was the first thing he noted.

Instead of the usual twin braids that Juliet had worn for the entirety of their middle school career, the girl had grown out her hair during the summer and was now wearing it loose down her back— the first time she'd ever done so.

She shrugged and kept her eyes straight forward so he couldn't see her pink face. "Yeah, I thought it was time for a change. Embrace the whole 'high school thing' and all that."

"Cool. I changed my hair too." He sat next to her and served himself some waffles.

The girl turned and her eyes widened before she let out a snort. "What are those, Shawn?"

"What? These? Nothing. They're just to make me look older."

"More like from the Civil War," she commented. "They look ridiculous."

"They're going to work, trust me. It's part of Cory's plan."

"Of course it is," she sighed.

🌎🌎🌎

They burst into Cory's house not long after with Shawn exclaiming, "Cory! I lost my copy of the plan."

"Good riddance. It wasn't gonna work anyway."

Juliet's comment went ignored as the boy continued: "I knew I shouldn't have left the old school. I was so cool in the old school. They had no right to pass me. I am an idiot!"

"You're not an idiot, Shawnie," the redhead told him firmly.

"See?" Mrs. Matthews chimed in, "Shawn and Juliet aren't reinventing themselves. Although I do like the hair, Juliet."

"Thanks, Mrs. Matthews."

"Shawn, are those sideburns?" Mr. Matthews asked.

"You mean the ones on my face?"

"It's just that when we saw you yesterday they weren't on your face, were they?"

"Mrs. Matthews, you just can't accept the fact that Cory, Juliet and I are growing up and we're old enough now to. . . buy our own hair," he finished quietly.

Something caught the redhead's eye. "You, uh, got a glue spot on your cheek." She pointed out helpfully.

"I got it," Mrs. Matthews volunteered. She mothered the boy until he wiggled out of her grasp.

"Alright, look, we've got all the answers to high school right here," Cory waved the notebook around. "Having a big brother finally paid off."

"Wow, the only time you've ever taken notes," Juliet observed dryly, which earned a laugh from Mr. Matthews.

Cory glared at her as Eric came into the room. "Cor, sign this."

"'With regards to my brother, Eric Matthews (hereafter referred to as 'Oh, Great One),'" Cory read. "I, Cory Matthews (hereafter referred to as 'Insignificant Speck') pledge never to contact The Great One verbally or nonverbally during any and all school hours, from this day forward, forever and ever.' Amen."

"Hey, nice to see you're looking out for your brother on his first day," Mr. Matthews observed.

"Dad, word gets out I'm related to a seventh grader, I lose all my status. I mean, I might as well strap on a tuba and join the band."

"So your social status means more to you than your brother?"

"Mom, look, I don't like walking all over Cory anymore than you do. It's just to keep up appearances. I mean, he's my brother." He put an unconvincing arm around the boy. "Of course I love him."

"Amy, Alan." Mr. Feeny was their next visitor. "Et cetera."

"So Mr. Feeny, are you feeling any regret that you're losing us from your class?" Cory asked him.

"Miss Capelwood, yes. You two, no."

"What can we do for you, George?" Mrs. Matthews asked.

"There is a large, rusty object blocking not only my driveway but most of the light into my kitchen," he explained.

"That's my new car," Eric announced proudly.

"May I assume it moves?"

"Sure, like the wind. Especially downhill." He paused. "Oh, you want me to move it?"

"Well, we certainly can't count on anyone stealing it."

As the two left, Shawn remarked, "you know, it just hit me. High school means we're through with Feeny."

"This is the greatest day of our lives," Cory remarked happily.

"Yes!" both boys exclaimed before they did their signature handshake. But, for the first time ever, they paused in the middle of it as the curly-haired boy spoke up thoughtfully: "you know what, Shawn? We're in high school now."

"Yeah, we do have to be cooler," he agreed.

They did the same exact handshake except slower. Juliet rolled her eyes.

"Why aren't you celebrating, Julie?"

"'Cause this is gonna backfire on you like every other plan you've ever had. Just watch, Feeny's gonna find a way to haunt us for the rest of our lives."

🌎🌎🌎

"This is it, high school!" Cory exclaimed happily as he threw open the doors. "What happens to us now will determine our futures."

"Are my sideburns on straight?" Shawn asked worriedly.

"Relax, Shawnie. They still look as stupid as they did before," Juliet reassured him.

"Thanks— wait," he realized what she'd said and she grinned.

"Look, it's just a school. There's the lockers, there's a class and. . . a kid in his underwear."

"They took my clothes!" he exclaimed as he passed the trio.

"Who?"

"Seniors. Seniors took my clothes."

"Why?"

"Just 'cause I'm a new guy."

"Well, I'm a new guy."

"Well, good luck to ya," he replied before he left.

"That was something," the redhead commented, trying to fill in the silence.

"Don't worry about it," Cory told them bracingly. "He must've had it coming. He must've done something—"

"Hey!" a larger student shouted as he picked up Cory and pinned him against the lockers.

"What did I do?"

"You were almost in my way."

"Hey!" Juliet called, catching the boy's attention. "Leave him alone!"

"Juliet, no! The plan!" Cory tried to remind her while he flipped nervously though the pages. "You're Frankie Stecchino, right?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Frankie asked as he put the boy down.

"'Strong territorial sense,'" Cory read.

"We were just looking for our homeroom, you know?" Shawn tried.

"It's in here." The rat-like one pointed to the lockers.

"In here?"

"Right there."

"Thank you," Shawn replied, opening the locker. "Thank you very much. Hey, I'm the first one here. C'mon, Julie."

The redhead looked at him in exasperation. Boys, seriously. "No thanks, I wasn't looking for my homeroom. I'm right where I need to be."

"Are you sure about that, girlie?"

She straightened as Shawn closed the locker. "It's a free country, idiot. I'm not about to let some rat-faced jerk boss me around."

"Juliet," Cory warned her nervously as the two came to tower over her.

Fear flickered inside her at their height difference but Juliet didn't want to spend the rest of her time here bossed around by idiots. "I've got an IQ that is more than both of your ages. You can't tell me what to do," she stated fiercely. "You're gonna leave my friends alone."

"And what's gonna make us do that, huh?" the skinny one asked.

"Uh—" the girl paused, realizing that she probably wasn't intimidating enough to scare them away. Then she realized she could use her height to her advantage and stepped down hard on the smaller one's foot, causing him to hop up and down. "Now get lost," she snapped, putting as much force into her voice as possible.

To her surprise, they left without a fight and Cory rushed over to her to pull the girl into a hug. "Thanks, Jules."

"No problem, they were scary," she admitted as she hugged him back. "But can you imagine the rest of our high school years if we were cowards? We'd end up like clothes-less guy."

They went to the locker Shawn hid himself in. "I think we can go now. You should've seen how Jules stood up to them."

"No thanks," the boy told them, shaking his head. "I think I feel a lot safer in here."

"Shawnie, please," Juliet implored.

"But the view is better out here," he allowed as his his eyes followed one of the older girls. Juliet's stomach turned as he stepped out of the locker.

Maybe it would've been better if he'd stayed there.

"Shawn, if Harly Keiner's the biggest and meanest, then who are those two who almost killed us?" Cory asked.

"What if they were the nice guys? What if they're the welcoming committee?"

"They were probably his lackeys," the redhead offered. "Mean guys always have muscle and idiots."

Then, the two boys were tapped on the shoulder, causing them to both jump in fright. After they finished screaming, Topanga gave the trio a smile. "Hi."

"Topanga!"

"What's with you guys?" The girl laughed as the three of them hugged her.

"We just missed you, that's all," Cory replied. "Walk in front of us."

"Yeah, walk in front," Shawn agreed, gently pushing the redhead ahead of him.

"What are you staring at?" the girl asked.

"Uh, nothing. New blouse?"

"Yeah, I got it over the summer."

"Summer was very good to you."

Juliet felt that sickening feeling again and crossed her arms over her own chest. Pig. Since when had he started paying attention to Topanga?

"Yeah, well, at least what I grew was real," the long-haired girl retorted as she ripped off Shawn's sideburns none-too-gently.

The redhead felt slightly better at that action and smiled. "It's good to see you, Topanga," she said.

"You as well, Juliet." The bell went off before they could say anything else. "That's homeroom. I checked the list— room 218, we're all together. We have Mr. Turner."

"Turner. . . Turner," Cory muttered, checking his own list. "He's not on here. What if he was so bad, Eric didn't want to tell me anything? What if he was just like Feeny? Only Feenier?"

"Teachers, the one thing here I'm not afraid of. I haven't met one yet that I couldn't take down," Shawn boasted.

Juliet gave him a half-reprimanding, half-indulgent look, causing Topanga to watch the redhead suspiciously for her lack of usual 'nagging' comment about the boy's behavior.

"Hey!" A man dressed in a leather jacket and sunglasses greeted them.

"Hey," the group replied in unison.

"That's Harley, I know it," the curly-haired boy announced confidently. "That is Harley Keiner."

"Here we go," the redhead mumbled under her breath.

"That guy's gotta be thirty years old," Shawn commented as the older man used the payphone.

"He's a lifer. I think I made a very good first impression."

"Please," Juliet drawled.

"Really, Jules, I did. Besides, I know it's him." Cory went up to the man. "Excuse me. Excuse me, sir? My name's Cory Matthews and I want to be your friend."

"Cool," the guy answered, totally uninterested.

"Yeah, I'll hold your coat for you, I'll stand in the lunch line for you. I'll even do detention for you."

"Yeah, nice offer. Why don't you just do the homework?"

"I'm not sure you want me doing your homework. That's more Jules' area of expertise."

"Hey!"

The man's eyes flicked over to the indignant redhead before he responded, "I want all my students doing the homework."

"You're so mean they gave you students?" the curly-haired boy asked in disbelief.

"They give all the teachers students. I'm Jonathan Turner— you can call me mister." The bell rang and he smiled, pointing up to the ceiling. "You're late."

🌎🌎🌎

"Okay," Mr. Turner addressed the class. "I'm here for homeroom, I'm here for English and I'm here anytime you just want to talk."

The four of them were sitting in their usual seats: Topanga in the front, Cory right behind her and Shawn right behind him with Juliet in the back row next to the dark-haired boy in the corner seat. Mr. Turner was sitting on the edge of his desk with his legs crossed in front of him as he surveyed the new class.

"Cool," Cory spoke up.

"Did I say you could talk?"

"I thought so?" The statement came out as more of a question.

"You trouble, Matthews? You the guy who's gonna bring down the new teacher?"

"No sir, that would be Shawn, although Juliet usually tries to reign him in. But," he continued. "She has been oddly—"Juliet hissed a shush towards the boy, causing him to stumble to a stop. "I-I mean that—"

"No, Matthews, good man. Good man," Mr. Turner praised him. He walked around the desks towards Shawn and Juliet. He spoke the boy's name slowly: "Shawn. Wait, don't tell me. Now, if Shawn is real trouble, Shawn is gonna try to avoid making eye contact," their teacher paused besides the boy's desk. "Hi, Shawn."

"How ya doin'?" he asked, turning to face the man again.

"I'm good. So, Shawn, buddy, you know anything about The Odyssey?"

The redhead straightened in her chair as Shawn nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Yeah, besides the fact that it's a book."

He slumped. "No, I don't."

"I do," the girl chimed in.

Mr. Turner turned to her. "'That would be Jules' area of expertise,'" he quoted Cory from earlier. "And you try to keep him in line?" He jerked his thumb towards the dark-haired boy.

The girl flushed slightly. "I try."

He nodded in acceptance. "Now, do you know what 'Oddessy' means?"

"Yes," she answered. "It means a difficult journey. It's an epic."

Mr. Turner gave her another nod. "Yes, that's true. It's an epic journey about a guy who is trying to get home alive. In fantasy worlds with characters who have their ancient notions about loyalty and heroism."

"Yeah, who wants to read that?" Cory mocked.

"I do— did," Juliet corrected herself.

"Besides you, Jules."

"Apparently you do." Their teacher walked up to Cory and held up the hidden comic book. "What is that, X-Men?"

"No, it's—"

"What, you think I don't know X-Men when I see one? It's a great issue, isn't it?"

"You read X-Men?" Cory asked excitedly.

"Do I read X-Men?" Mr. Turner scoffed as he flipped through the comic. "Fantasy worlds, epic heroism. Yeah I read X-Men. In fact, let's all read X-Men. Your assignment is to read The Odyssey and this issue of X-Men."

"Finally! A cool teacher!"

"My friend Mr. Matthews will lead the discussion on the similarities and differences."

"Feeny with an earring," Cory amended his statement.

"Cool," Juliet commented appreciatively.

🌎🌎🌎

"Guys, he's on to us. He singled us out on the first day," Cory declared.

"No, Cory, he singled you out on the first day and you singled me and Julie out," Shawn corrected him.

"Sorry," he apologized. "So, where's the next stop on this misery bus?"

"Uh, math," Juliet noted with a disappointed frown.

"I don't have math, I've got history," Cory disagreed with surprise in his voice.

"I don't have either of those," Shawn added.

The trio gave each other wide-eyed looks. "You mean—"

"We're gonna be separated?" Cory wondered anxiously.

The bell rang and students flooded the hallway, rushing to their classes. Shawn, Cory and Juliet were pulled away from each other as the three of them tried to fight the crowd.

"No, Shawn!" Cory called, struggling against the wave of students.

"Julie!" Shawn shouted in return as the redhead was pulled away from him.

"Cory! Shawn!" Juliet exclaimed as they disappeared from view.

🌎🌎🌎

The three of them were finally able to reunite at lunch and they walked into the cafeteria as Cory filled them in about his run-in with Harley Keiner.

"So he's not a thirty-year old teacher who's Feeny with an earring," Juliet surmised at the end.

"No, that would've been too easy for my luck," the boy sighed.

"Well, you got off to a rocky start but at least you made it to lunch," Shawn tried before he realized what Cory was eating. "Chicken, how appropriate."

They sat down at an empty table. "You know, I wish it'd been macaroni and cheese," Cory mused, "because when Harley punches me and I puke on him it would make a bigger mess."

"Can't you just ask for help?" Juliet asked. "Eric's right there."

"I can't, I signed a contract."

"We didn't," Shawn pointed out as he stood. Juliet followed suit and the two made their way over to the older boy's table.

"Pst," Shawn hissed. "Oh, Great One."

Juliet rolled her eyes. "Eric, we need to talk," she interjected.

"What are you doing, guys?" Eric whispered before he smiled at the two girls. "Not that I know either of them. I'm just pretending I do."

"Too bad," one of the girls purred, eyeing Shawn hopefully. The boy turned pink and started laughing goofily. The sick feeling returned to Juliet's stomach and she ignored the boy behind her.

"Do you have a moment or not?" she demanded of the older boy.

He sighed. "You two, follow me."

The three of them walked over to the water fountain where Eric leaned over for a drink. "It's about your brother," Juliet explained.

"In school hours I have no brother," he muttered.

"Yeah and at three you'll really have no brother," Shawn murmured back.

Eric didn't look convinced so Juliet added, "he had a run-in with Harley Keiner thanks to that stupid plan and information you gave him."

His eyes widened slightly. "Have him stand by the water fountain."

🌎🌎🌎

When it was three o'clock, Shawn and Juliet joined Cory in the main hallway.

"We got here as quick as we could," Shawn stated.

"Listen, we just want you to know that whatever happens we're right here with you," Juliet reassured him.

"Thanks, guys, but I'm pretty sure this is something I gotta face alone."

"Don't be more of an idiot than you usually are," the redhead told him firmly. "We're not going anywhere."

The curly-haired boy gave her a grateful smile. "You have to let me do this, Jules. You're the one who said that we shouldn't be pushed around for the rest of high school."

She sighed. "I meant us, as a group."

"Yeah, Cor," Shawn agreed. "We can't leave you here to die alone."

"There you are, Shawn," a girl greeted the dark-haired boy in passing.

"Now it feels right," Shawn sighed as he followed her away.

Juliet's hands clenched into fists at her sides. "I'm not leaving you, Cor. I could really punch something right now."

He gave her a curious look. "We will have to talk about this if I'm ever not in eminent danger," he informed her. "But really, Jules, you should go. I'll be okay."

The redhead hesitated some more, but then an idea sparked. 'Maybe he's a lifer' Cory's words echoed in her head. The only thing threateners responded to was someone higher up on the so-called food chain.

"You're right, you will be okay. I'll see you tomorrow, Cor."

The curly-haired boy gave her a confused look as he watched the redhead suddenly turn and walk off.

Juliet ran out the school doors to find a certain teacher, hoping to stop him from leaving. To her relief he was still there, putting on his helmet. "Mr. Turner!" He paused and waited for her to join him. "Mr. Turner, Cory needs help," she explained breathlessly.

"With his homework?" he guessed. "Yeah, he's told me. That friend of yours is a talker."

"No, not this time," Juliet explained quickly. "Cory's waiting by the lockers to get beat up by Harley Keiner. I know he's an idiot that only listens when he's not supposed to but I really, really don't want him to get hurt. I figured you'd be able to help him."

Mr. Turner gave her a smile and an impressed sort of nod. "Lead the way, then, Capelwood."

The girl made sure the teacher was following her the whole way back to the lockers. Harley was talking as they arrived. "Awe, how sweet. A chance to wipe out the whole baboon family."

"Are you sure you aren't talking about yourself?" Juliet snapped, crossing her arms. "It's only animals that go around beating up those who aren't as strong as them."

Harley's gaze fell on the redhead. "What did you say, Red?"

She straightened and glared back at him fearlessly. "You heard me. I'm only in the habit of repeating myself to people I care about."

The man laughed and took a step forward, causing both Matthews to shift in their positions to subtly block the girl.

"It's three o'clock, guys," Mr. Turner interrupted their standoff. "We gotta hose the place down."

"Who the heck are you?" Harley demanded.

"Oh, I'm your worst nightmare," Mr. Turner smirked. "I'm a teacher."

"Oh, a teacher. No wonder I didn't recognize you. What do you teach?"

"English Lit and kickboxing. What seems to be the problem?"

"Nothing, we were working it out," Harley tried to dismiss him.

"Actually, it looks like you were about to pound this kid into the ground. See, that's a problem for me." Mr. Turner clapped Harley genially on the back. "'If one of my students gets killed on the first day, I look bad. People start to talk, I get a reputation: I'm careless with students, y'know? So do me a favor and don't kill my student."

"Could I have taken you?" Harley asked the other man.

"Nah," he disagreed with a smile.

"But I could've taken the kids though."

"Not likely," Juliet scoffed as she gave him an unfriendly look.

"Good for you," Mr. Turner answered. Harley left and he turned to the remaining three. "So, Odysseus, looks like you may get home safely. You're lucky your friend is such a quick thinker. She's a smart one, came to get me just in time."

"Thanks, Mr. Turner. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Read the book," he replied before he left.

"I lived it," Cory called after him before he turned to his brother. "Hey, Eric, I wanted to tell you something."

"What d'you want to say to me?" he asked as he crossed his arms.

"Thanks for being my brother."

"Do I know you?" the older Matthews wondered jokingly before he gave them a little nod. 

Then it was just Cory and Juliet. The curly-haired boy made his way to the lockers. "Shawn, Shawn, the fight's over. Our high school reputations are set."

"I'm still working on mine," Shawn answered before he was pulled back into the locker by the girl.

Cory closed the door again and nodded in smug encouragement before he noticed the stormy expression on the redhead's face. Taking her gently by the wrist and to lead her towards the doors, he asked, "so, you wanna do that talk now?"

"After I just saved your butt?"

"I'm feeling pretty brave. So, what gives?"

The redhead avoided his eyes as they exited the building. "I'm not gonna get away with saying 'nothing' am I?"

"Nope. I'm going to find out one way or another," the boy reassured her.

She sighed. "Did— well, did Shawn ever talk to you about— about what he felt for me up until sixth grade?"

"He always claimed he was gonna marry you and that you were his wife," he recalled with a frown, "but he never really talked about his feelings. You know he's not like that."

"Right. I just— I don't know if he was serious or if he was just joking around the whole time."

"He was serious," Cory insisted immediately. "He might not've shared much but I know he did feel things for you he didn't feel for any other girl."

"Until that stupid hormones video," Juliet mumbled.

"That changed everything," he agreed before he turned to her. "No." She nodded miserably at his realization. "You too? What happened?"

"I. . . dunno. One minute Shawn's nothing but my best friend, the next I can hardly stomach the thought of him with another girl. I just— it's been like this the whole summer and I think he's gotten over me. He hasn't made a single marriage joke or anything like that for a long time now."

Cory stared at the redhead in disbelief. "You like Shawn?" he repeated, shocked.

"Yeah." Her gaze suddenly grew fierce and she used her free hand to grip his arm. "But you can't tell him, especially not now. His friendship is more important than anything and I can't lose him just because of some stupid feelings. They'll go away if I just ignore them so it probably won't last very long and we'll be able to laugh about this in a few weeks. Just-just keep it under wraps right now, okay? I swear, if you tell him I'll disembowel you."

He gave her a wide-eyed look. "You know how bad I am at keeping secrets."

"I know, which is why if you spill anything, I'll never speak to you again and you'll be losing important anatomy," she threatened him firmly.

"But I can find out if Shawn still likes you," he tried.

"No, Cory," the redhead insisted, "don't mess with it. It'll go away, like I said. I just need a bit of time."

He looked at her doubtfully. "If you say so. You'll keep me updated, right? I think you'd be really good for him, so if you want me—"

"I'll let you know," Juliet cut him off. "Just, don't do anything right now, okay?"

"Okay." He paused before he added, "and, uh, thanks. For telling me, I mean. And for saving my butt."

"Anytime, Cor." 

[edited may 2022]