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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ɴᴇᴡ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅs & ᴏʟᴅ ꒱


❝ YAY, I LOVE YOU! ❞

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Juliet's mouth opened in surprise as she came out of her classroom to find Cory and Shawn standing in the middle of the hallway wearing cheerleading outfits. She tried not to laugh too obviously as kids around them whistled at and mocked the pair.

"Hey, check out the new competition. Pretty hot, huh?" Eric asked from behind the redhead.

"Look at them, they must starve themselves," Topanga agreed.

"They could be on the cover of Vogue," Juliet added as she fought a smile.

"No wonder I never made the squad," Topanga finished, walking away.

"Well, Cory, those Buns of Steel videos must have paid off," Shawn said.

Juliet stepped towards them and bit her lip to keep her laughter from spilling out as she took in the full uniform, which also included pom-poms. Cory sighed. "I know you want to laugh."

"Who, me?" she wondered innocently.

"Yes, you. You're always telling us how stupid we are so now you can laugh at us."

"Cor, I say that from a place of love and affection," she defended herself, though her lips twitched in a smile.

"Come on, this is Julie. She's not gonna laugh at us," Shawn put in.

"He's right," the redhead confirmed. "I don't find this funny at all. I do think that we're going to remember this for a long, long time, though."

The boys gave her suspicious looks. "What does that mean?" Cory demanded.

"It means. . ." The redhead began slowly as she reached in to her bag to pull out her Polaroid camera. "That I'm going to immortalize your shame. Smile!"

Neither boy followed her direction as they both glared at the camera while she took the picture.

🌎🌎🌎

At lunch, Juliet pulled out the photos and showed them to Topanga, who couldn't help laughing (again). "Oh my god, I can't believe you took pictures of them! You're gonna keep them forever, right?"

The redhead grinned. "I'll use it to blackmail them and then show it to whoever I want," she replied cheerfully, stowing them in her backpack again so no harm would come to them.

The two girls had been spending a lot of time together after Topanga broke up with Cory. It seemed as though the boy had been the reason for the two girls not hanging out with each other since Topanga had spent a lot of time with him. It had been rather surprising at first for how well they'd gotten along but it really should have been expected since they shared similar women-empowerment opinions and world views as a whole. Juliet had also always spoken up for her when Shawn and Cory had been unnecessarily mean in elementary school so there was no reason for them to dislike each other.

It was nice to finally have a female friend as Juliet had never had a good one before. There'd been a few girls here and there that she'd hung out with but eventually they'd either gotten on her nerves (usually for insulting Shawn) or she got on theirs (usually for being not "girly" enough.) Topanga, on the other hand, was very open-minded about her lack of "girl knowledge" and Juliet had been an enthusiastic learner of what girls did for fun. While she didn't like everything, obviously, there were some things— like going to the mall just to walk around— that the two girls did often.

"I'm surprised you took a picture of Shawn like that," Topanga commented as they ate their lunch. "I'd think that, y'know, with your crush on him you'd let him off the hook."

Warmth rose to Juliet's face. She still wasn't used to talking about her. . . feelings for Shawn so openly. "Well, he's only my best friend, Panga. You know I'm dating Jack. Besides, I'd go after Frankie to defend him but it's only humiliating, not hurtful. He'll get over it."

"Still, I would've thought you'd only want Cory's picture."

The redhead gave the other girl a suspicious look. Topanga did talk a lot about Cory even though they weren't together anymore. "Do you want Cory's picture?" she inquired.

"What? No, I'm good. I'm just saying that he looked even more absolutely ridiculous than Shawn did. I mean, did you see how he pulled off that skirt? It's not fair!" she complained.

Juliet held back a smirk. "Who pulled off the skirt: Cory or Shawn?"

Topanga gave her a half-hearted glare. "Shawn, Jules. I meant Shawn."

"Sure you did," she conceded, completely unconvinced. "Though you are right. I bet he'd even look attractive as a girl than I do which definitely isn't fair. You shouldn't be allowed to pull off both genders. I know I'd look terrible as a boy."

The girl caught her friend's look. "What?"

"You just went on a rant about how attractive Shawn is. Again."

"I did not! I was complaining about how attractive he is. Not ranting."

"You still talked about him for a solid minute. When are you going to dump Jack? You're clearly not interested in him anymore."

Juliet turned pink. "It's not like I'm not going to ask him out! And I do like Jack. He's just been busy with his father so he hasn't got much free time."

"Why not?" Topanga questioned her, "and you said like not interested in. You know you're kind of stringing him along, right?"

"Well, no, but I'm-I'm not ready yet," she argued in terms of the first subject, and then: "I'm still dating Jack so that would be wrong and I'm not stringing him along. I really do like him." She paused to take in the other girl's expression. "What?"

"You sound as if you're trying to convince yourself," Topanga remarked mildly.

This was one of the only points of contention between the girls: the boys she like(d). Topanga thought that Juliet should suck it up, ask Shawn out and dump Jack (not necessarily in that order), while Juliet was convinced she and Jack were still a good match and that it wasn't time for her and Shawn yet.

"I'm not," the redhead sighed. "I just don't know what to do."

To Topanga, the answer was extremely obvious and therefore she wasn't nearly as sympathetic as she probably could've been. Instead, in a slightly mocking voice, she teased her, "you poor thing. You've got two incredibly attractive guys to decide between. Whatever will you do?"

🌎🌎🌎

When Juliet returned to her apartment after school that day, she paused at the door as she heard the voice machine leave a recording. "'Daly? Daly, are you there? I guess not, since I'm leaving a message.'" There was an amused chuckle in the man's voice. "'Anyway, call me back when you can.'"

The machine clicked off once he'd hung up. The redhead frowned as she flicked on the lamps in the living room to let the small space fill with light. She'd known it was a man her mother was seeing (though in what capacity, she had no idea.) Coming to a decision before she could talk herself out of it, the girl dropped her schoolbag on the floor and made her way over to the phone. Picking up the handset, she dialed the number from the last message. 

The man on the other side answered after the second ring. "'Daly! I wasn't expecting you to call back so soon. Anyway, I'm glad you did. I wanted to see if you're available this weekend. I'm in town, surprisingly, and I thought we could go out to dinner one night. Bibou— you know, that fancy French place?'"

As Juliet let the man's voice filter through the phone, her words caught in her throat while she listened to him speak. She'd thought as far as calling him back and not about anything else so she didn't really have a plan for answering whatever questions she had. A stupid idea, really, she scolded herself. What had she been thinking? (She supposed she hadn't been.)

"'Hello?'" the man prompted her from the other side.

The redhead cleared her throat. "Um, I'm not Daly. I'm Juliet, her daughter."

There was a pause as the man processed that information. "Oh."

"She's, uh, not here right now," the girl continued, uncertain of how to interpret the 'oh.' It didn't sound particularly good. "Can I take a more direct message?"

What she really wanted to ask was: who are you? What are you doing with my mother? Why does it seem like you two know each other so well?

"'You sound a lot like her, you know.'" There was a new softness in the man's voice.

"Um, thanks."

"'Just let her know I called, okay? I can talk to her when she calls me back.'"

"Okay," Juliet responded. She wished she had something more intelligent to add but it seemed as if she had forgotten every word she knew. "Uh, I'll let her know. Bye."

She quickly hung up the phone and went over to her backpack to take out one of her school folders. She hit herself in the head with it and muttered: "stupid, stupid, stupid."

🌎🌎🌎

"I can't believe I was that stupid!" the redhead exclaimed dramatically as she slumped onto the cafeteria table.

Next to her, Topanga rolled her eyes after having been caught up with yesterday's events. "It's not so bad."

"I was a complete idiot, Panga. That's bad, especially for me."

"You wanted information and now you have it," the girl reasoned. "You know he's meeting your mom at the fancy French place so he's obviously rich. He also has good taste. I've heard Bibou is one of the top ten restaurants."

"I didn't even ask for his name!" the redhead protested. "That was the whole point of me calling him! I just froze up for no reason!"

"Well, you can try again. I'm sure he's forgotten by now."

"And what if he hasn't? I still don't know what he's doing with my mom!"

The blonde rolled her eyes. "You could just ask her when she comes back from her date."

"But what if it's not a date? What if she lies again?" The red-haired girl shook her head. "I have to be my own source of information." She paused to think before her eyes widened. "I know! We can go to Bibou and spy on her!"

Topanga sighed. "That's not— that's not what I—" she tried, but the other girl already looked determined. "Don't you need to know a person to get in there?" she asked hopefully.

"I know Jack. All I have to do is ask him for a reservation for me and a friend for this weekend and there we go!"

"I'm not sure if I like this 'we.'"

Juliet turned to her friend. "C'mon, Panga. Please? You're the only person I know with any intelligence to pull this off."

"What about Jack? It'll be his reservation, after all."

"He's busy. Besides, it will be part of our 'spontaneity!'"

Topanga didn't look exceptionally happy about this but she gave in to the girl's pleading. "Alright, I suppose."

Juliet's expression brightened and she threw her arms around her friend. "Yay, I love you!"

The blonde laughed. "Don't let Shawn or Jack hear you say that."

🌎🌎🌎

The two girls entered the fancy restaurant at exactly seven p.m. as their reservation called for. Juliet had eavesdropped during her mother's conversation to hear all the details. Jack had pulled through, too, even going so far as to offering to pay for their dinner since he felt guilty about being so busy recently.

Both were dressed to match the style, with Juliet wearing a nice white, high-collared, knee-length, short sleeved dress and her long hair curled over her shoulders. Topanga wore a lilac dress with a full, floaty skirt and short sleeves with her hair down as well, but Juliet had insisted she wear the black beret again just to fit in with the theme. Topanga had given in after much eye rolling.

"Hi, we're here for a reservation under Montacute," Juliet told the host.

The older man scanned through the written names before he nodded once and reached for two menus. "Right this way, mademoiselles."

The redhead rolled her eyes at what was probably a phony French accent. They were in the middle of Philly so there were probably only a few genuinely-French people in the restaurant and none of them would be a host. Still, they followed him to a booth lit with the type of hanging lights that fancy restaurants had.

The two girls sat and opened their menus but Juliet used hers as a subtle way to stare at the other patrons rather than figure out her order. As she looked around at the other fancily-dressed diners, she noticed that they were the youngest ones there, though no one was paying them any mind. Most were older, white-haired women with their equally old husbands, dressed to the nines with expensive jewelry and rich fabrics that Juliet knew she'd never be able to afford (nor would she want to.) There were a few younger couples: two with light brown hair, two with blonde, a blond and brunette and red and dark brown—

The redhead's gaze snapped back to the last couple and gave a sharp intake of breath. Hearing the sound, Topanga looked up from her menu in concern. "Jules?"

"My mom," the girl said quietly, using her menu to hide her pointing finger.

The familiar red-haired woman was sitting with an unfamiliar man who was (by a stroke of luck) facing their way. He had what could only be described as poofy dark brown hair, blue eyes and a rather long face. He was smiling fondly at the red-haired woman across from him and he seemed to be the type that did so— smile, that is— often. He was dressed in a sharp black suit that still somehow managed to look purposefully rumpled even if there were no actual wrinkles on the fabric to be seen.

"Who is that?" Juliet asked quietly as she studied the man with rather unnecessary intensity.

Her friend could offer her no answer but Topanga's eyes narrowed slightly as she took in the man's face. While he looked friendly enough, there was something about him that seemed. . . oddly familiar. She wasn't sure if it was something in his appearance (his eyes, perhaps?) or how his expressions changed as he listened to the woman across from him talk, or how she could see the intelligence in his face, but there was just something recognizable about him that seemed to just escape her.

"They look like they've known each other for a long time." Was all Topanga could say after watching them for a moment.

"Do you think they're old friends?" the redhead suggested. Immediately, the blonde shook her head. 

"Do you see the way he's looking at her? It's as if he lost her and now that he's found her, he never wants to let her go." The girl paused and glanced at her friend.

Juliet was only half-paying attention to her. Her menu had slipped down into her lap and all subtlety was lost as she stared fixedly at the dark-haired man who was now speaking. While she couldn't hear his voice from where they were sitting, she imagined it was the sort of deep, comforting tone that she imagined a father would have.

She shook her head to clear it. What was she thinking? Had she lost her mind? The man was probably just her mom's date— she didn't know anything about him! And besides, she'd moved on from that wish. 

🌎🌎🌎

"Now that you've seen who your mom's been talking to are you gonna ask her about it?" Topanga questioned the redhead on Monday morning. The blonde was leaning next to the girl's locker as Juliet prepared her bag for the day. 

"Nah," she answered, shaking her head regretfully. "My mom will probably just lie and say he's her boss, though what she was doing with her boss in a fancy French place would be hard to explain."

"It doesn't hurt to ask," the girl insisted. "You'll only continue to be curious and maybe if you sit down with your mom you guys could work things out."

Juliet pulled her head out of her locker to give her friend a flat look. "There's nothing to work out."

"You've been complaining about your mom lying to you since we started hanging out," Topanga told her. "Maybe if you told her how you felt she'd make more of an effort."

The redhead snorted and continued to sort through her books. "She's my mom. She's supposed to be making the effort, but has she ever? No, and I'm fine with that. I'd at least like her to truthfully not make an effort than make a false one."

"Maybe she really is trying," the blonde offered with a sigh, slightly tired of their circular conversation (this was another topic they couldn't seem to come to an agreement on.) 

[written jan. 2021]
[edited may 2022]