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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛʜᴇ ɢʀᴀss ɪs
ᴀʟᴡᴀʏs ɢʀᴇᴇɴᴇʀ ꒱


❝ I THINK YOU'RE HAVING
MARRIAGE PROBLEMS ❞

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"Hey, Juliet."

The redhead jumped slightly at the sound of Topanga's familiar voice and pulled her head out of her locker. "Hey, Topanga," she answered, giving the girl a slightly confused look. "What's up?"

It wasn't unheard of that the two would hang out and work on school projects as partners; Topanga was, after all, Cory's girlfriend, so the two were bound to spend some time together. They got along pretty well, too, and often shared similar views. It was just that they didn't really spend any time after school together or talk unless they were already spending time together as a group, so Topanga initiating a conversation was kind of unusual.

The other girl looked surprisingly awkward as she said, "not much. I, um, had a question."

"Shoot," Juliet answered as she reorganized some of her books.

"How do you and Jack keep things interesting while you're dating?"

Juliet looked up from her task and over to her friend to study the girl's frown. "Uh, can I ask why you wanna know?"

Topanga shrugged and shifted her bag on her shoulder. "I'm just. . . curious, is all."

"Right," Juliet answered, not fully convinced. "Anyway, we usually go on different trips or do unusual things like bike through the Pennsylvania countryside or go to some type of expensive dinner or out to see a show. It helps that he has the money and resources to do that sort of thing but. . . the main answer I guess is that we change things up and don't let ourselves get into a routine."

"And you and Shawn?" she prompted.

The girl turned faintly pink. "We're not a couple, Panga."

"Not yet you're not," she corrected the redhead before she continued, "you've spent your entire lives around each other and aren't bored yet. There has to be some sort of secret."

"Not really. I mean, I don't spend every second with him so that helps. We both understand that we need our space. Um, Shawn's pretty spontaneous, too. We were invited to a school dance this week and I would've said no if only I had been invited but since he agreed, I did too." She turned away from her locker and closed it to study the other girl. "What's really wrong?"

Topanga sighed. "You're the only person I really know who's had more than one boyfriend and you always seem to have a great time."

"First of all, I only have had one boyfriend. Second, did you double with Cory's parents again?"

"Only on Friday and Saturday," Topanga answered.

"Panga, you need to double with someone your own age or at least have some space." At the girl's wide-eyed look, Juliet quickly added: "not for good! Just for the weekend. It might help."

"It wasn't all last weekend," she protested, "on Sunday, it was just me and Cory. I bought a new dress and Cory new slacks."

The redhead stared at her friend with wide eyes. "Who— our age— uses the word slacks?" she asked incredulously.

"You just did."

"Only because you did! Topanga, I think you're having marriage problems," she announced bluntly.

"They are not marriage problems," the other girl said defensively, crossing her arms.

"Anyway, I think what you need to cure your marriage problems is a girls night out," Juliet decided. "Just us. We'll go to that dance I was talking about— it'll be fun. You can wear your new dress."

"A party at another school?" Topanga asked thoughtfully, "this could be just wh—" she paused and her expression fell. "I have plans with Cory tonight."

"So?" Juliet asked, "I cancel on Jack all the time. Look, there he is now," she nodded to where the curly-haired boy was standing with Shawn. "Just go up to him and tell him you need a night out."

"Got it," she said determinedly, walking up to the boy with the redhead in tow. "Hi, Cory."

Immediately, the boy said, "I can't go."

"Cory, about tonight— can we reschedule? Juliet wants to hang out and if it's alright with you—"

"Oh, don't speak, don't speak. If you need to get together with another girl of your gender I completely understand," Cory told her.

"Cory, have you been reading the Couples magazine?" Topanga asked.

"I took the quiz on the back. Ninety-five," he announced proudly.

Both Juliet and Shawn gave the boy strange looks as Topanga kissed Cory's cheek before the two girls left the boys to plan their night out.

🌎🌎🌎

After school, the girls had spent several hours hanging out at Juliet's apartment and the redhead had showed Topanga around the complex. It wasn't necessarily something she was proud of but she wanted to become better friends with the other girl and figured the best place to start was showing where she lived. To her credit, Topanga didn't seem put off by the poor upkeep of the apartments or the surrounding area.

Now, they were getting ready to go out for the party and Juliet was pulling some of her new clothes out of the closet to see if there was anything Topanga liked. The redhead had decided on an emerald green and black long sleeved shirt with a matching black, pleated skirt that ended above her knees. Decorative gold buttons were spaced evenly down the front in two rows and on the black cuffs of the shirt and the black collar ended in a matching bow.

Topanga entered the bedroom wearing a black dress, causing the girl to grin. "Hey, we're almost matching!"

"I'd need green, though," she admitted before she asked, "is it suitable for tonight?"

"Definitely," the redhead said with a nod. "What about this?" she gestured to her own outfit.

"Green really suits you, but I'd wear your hair down," Topanga recommended.

"Good thinking," the redhead agreed and she walked over to her dresser to run a brush through her hair. On their way out, she paused. "Wait."

"What?"

"It's missing something. Stay right there," Juliet hurried over to her closet and rifled through her clothes before she found the two things she was looking for. Returning to her waiting friend, she handed her a leather jacket and a beret.

"Why do you have Shawn's jacket?" Topanga asked as she put it on.

"Believe it or not, I actually own one myself," she answered teasingly. "I just don't have anything to wear it with and Shawn would probably be offended. Put on the hat, too."

"Why the hat?" the other girl asked as she did as instructed.

"You're gonna be a French girl tonight," Juliet informed her. "It'll make it more exciting. I got that hat in Paris but I never wore it. I'm not really a hat person. You know how to speak French, right?"

"Oui."

🌎🌎🌎

The pair walked up to the welcome desk placed outside the door where a girl was checking names off a list.

"Hi, I need your Hamilton ID card," she said.

"We go to John Adams," Topanga answered.

"Yeah, but it should be on the guest list," Juliet added.

"What's the name?"

"It's under Capelwood. Juliet Capelwood."

"Oh, Juliet Capelwood," the girl said in recognition once she saw the name.

"Yeah and make it a plus one for my beautiful French friend."

"Oh," Topanga said and remembered to change her accent: "Bonjour."

"She's a foreign exchange student," the redhead explained.

"Cool," the girl said disinterestedly. "We heard you were coming, go right on in. Your French guest, too."

"Thanks," Juliet replied as she took Topanga by the arm and lead her inside.

"I can't believe that worked!" the girl exclaimed once they entered the party.

"'Course it did. All you have to be is confident. Most people won't blink twice after that," she paused. "What?"

Her friend gave her a slightly mischievous look. "You know you sound a lot like Shawn, right?"

"So what? He's my best friend. Hey— no Shawn or Cory allowed," she reminded her sternly.

"Right, sorry," Topanga said, "so. . . what do I do?"

"Keep up the accent and do nothing," Juliet advised her, "pretend you don't know English, it's quite funny."

"Have you done this before?" the other girl asked, amused.

"Vous ne parlez pas Anglais," the redhead reminded her.

Before Topanga could ask again in French, a guy came up to the two girls. "Hey, are you the girl from France?"

"Yes, yes she is," Juliet answered with a grin.

"Oh, would you like to dance, then?"

Juliet 'translated' the question into French for her friend. She'd learned a bit of the language from the times she and Jack had travelled there so she knew enough to be 'translator' for the night. Topanga smiled happily before she answered "oui" and took the guy's hand so he could lead her to the dance floor. Juliet was only by herself for a moment when another guy came up to her. 

"Juliet Capelwood?" he asked.

"That's me," she answered, glancing over him.

"Do you wanna dance?"

There was only a moment of hesitation before she answered, "sure, why not?"

🌎🌎🌎

After dancing to several songs with different guys, Juliet finally took a break and made her way to the refreshment table. Topanga must have seen her head over since the girl joined her a few moments later.

"How's it going, belle?" Juliet teased her.

"Amazing! This is the most fun I've had in a long time." She smiled brightly at the redhead. "What about you?"

"It's been pretty fun. We should do this more often," Juliet said, "I've always wanted a girl best friend."

"Well, we can totally plan—"

"Ah, ah, ah," she scolded Topanga. "No planning. It has to be spontaneous."

"Okay, Shawn," the blonde joked back. Juliet rolled her eyes and pretended not to hear her, so the girl continued: "speaking of, there's a rumor Shawn's here."

"I wouldn't be surprised since we were planning on coming to this thing together," she answered as she took a sip of her water. "I haven't seen him though."

"Are you gonna look for him?"

She shrugged. "Why should I when I'm having so much fun with you?" she asked with a smile.

Topanga beamed happily in response. "We should dance together."

"Sure!"

🌎🌎🌎

At her next break, Juliet spotted Cory talking to Topanga. She headed over to greet her friend but was surprised to hear the upset tone in his voice. "Do you want to explain to me what you're doing here? And in English, please?"

"Juliet and I thought it would be fun to come to another school's party," Topanga explained.

"Yeah, and pretend to be other people?"

"Well, what's wrong with that?" she demanded.

"What's wrong with being you, Topanga?"

"Nothing, but being French. . . I don't know, it seemed exciting."

"How's it goin' guys?" Juliet asked, breaking into the conversation.

Cory turned to her with a disapproving look on his face. "You came up with her being the French girl?"

"Yeah, and I'm her translator. What's wrong with that?"

"Yeah, well, it takes a pretty insecure person to pretend to be other people."

A girl came up to Cory. "Hi, Shawn. I've been looking for you."

"Shawn?" Juliet repeated disbelievingly. "You hypocrite. You could never pull him off in a million years."

"Can we talk outside, please?" Cory asked, ignoring the redhead. His girlfriend nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, Juliet," she said.

"You're welcome, Panga."

Juliet thought about ditching the party now that Topanga had Cory but she didn't get very far in the idea before another guy spoke from behind her. "So, you're the beautiful French translator I've been hearing about?"

She turned, slightly uncomfortable at the question until she realized who was speaking to her. "Hey, Shawnie," she said, feeling her face warm at the compliment.

He grinned down at her. "Having fun, Julie?"

"Yep. Topanga makes a very good dance partner."

"Yes, I'm sure you do."

"Huh?"

"I'm Cory tonight, so you're Topanga," he explained, "you wanna dance, Topanga?"

Juliet couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. "Sure, Cor." She made a face. "Nope, can't do it. There's no way I would dance with Cory."

Shawn wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he led the girl out to the dance floor. "Well, good. That's one less person I have to worry about taking my woman."

"I'm not your woman, Shawnie," the girl retorted lightly, rolling her eyes. (She ignored the sudden fluttering in her stomach.) 

"All the more reason to be glad that I don't have to worry about Cory." 

[written dec. 2020]
[edited may 2022]