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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʙʀᴇᴀᴋ ᴄᴏʀʏ ꒱


❝ YOU MAKE A CUTE
SNOWBUNNY, JULIE ❞

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"Alright, everyone," Mr. Feeny addressed the assembled class. "The bus will be here in a few minutes. Now remember, even though this ski trip is about having fun, we live in a land of laws which must be obeyed if this society is to survive. In other words, I'll be watching you three." He pointed to the two boys and the redhead across the hall before he went to check on other arrangements.

Juliet, Topanga and Angela stood together as they watched the boys put their heads together. The blonde cast the other girls an amused glance. "Look at those two. You know they're planning, don't you?"

"The only time they ever do their homework," the redhead said with mock disappointment. "If I didn't know any better, it looks like they care more about this than school."

"The midnight switch," Angela agreed. "You gotta love the effort."

"It looks like they're working hard, too," Topanga observed. "I see diagrams."

"It's a shame that all their dedication is going to waste," Juliet commented.

"You know, the humane thing to do would be to tell them they don't have a prayer," the brunette told the two girls.

"Oh, sure, but the fun thing to do is. . ." she trailed off as she wiggled her fingers at them and the redhead copied her. The boys returned the gesture as Topanga finished, "never gonna happen."

Their teacher returned. "Alright everyone. The bus is here. Now remember, I don't want another incident like last year's fiasco in the Amish country." All eyes turned to Cory. 

He gave the students a confused look. "Why is everyone looking at me?"

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet cleared a path into the lodge as Shawn and Topanga carried and injured Cory between them; it was no surprise that the boy complained the whole way: "ow! It's broken! It's broken in several places! Give me fifty cc's of St. Joseph's chewable aspirin, stat!"

His friends set him down on the couch and Topanga took the empty seat next to him as a brunette girl joined the group. "The slopes are treacherous."

"He fell getting off the bus," Mr. Feeny corrected her.

"Those buses are treacherous," she amended her statement while she checked Cory's foot. "Well, I don't think anything's broken. It's probably just a mild sprain."

"Embellish it for my friends."

"I'll have the doctor come and embellish it for you," she replied. "My guess is you'll live but you won't ski. Sorry."

"Well, there goes our senior ski weekend, huh?" Cory sighed as she walked away.

"No, Cory, we can have a great weekend here together," the blonde reassured him. "We can sit here while everybody else is out playing in the snow and skiing and having fun and we can talk about how much fun they're having without us."

"Go ski," the curly-haired boy gave in.

"Thank you!" she told him gratefully before she took off to collect her snow gear.

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet was apprehensive as she followed Shawn out to the slopes with a snowboard tucked under her arm. Everyone knew she was terrible at any type of sport (except swimming, she could do that without a problem) and she doubted snow sports were any better. Shawn glanced behind him as he noticed the redhead slow down with a worried expression on her face. He stopped and turned to face her as a happy smile appeared on his lips. "You know what I just realized?"

"What?"

"This can be our first kiss in the snow."

Juliet gave him an amused look. "Shawnie, we already did that this past Christmas." When he began to appear crestfallen at her words, she quickly added on, "but this could be our first kiss at a ski resort?"

He brightened instantly and came towards her to loop an arm around her waist and pull her closer. Juliet's breath stuttered in her throat as her face turned pink when the boy leaned down to press a sweet kiss to her lips. Her eyes shut as she let the snowboard drop to the ground in order to grasp the front of his jacket. They didn't separate very far and she could see Shawn's breath puffing out in little clouds of air as he gave her an adoring look. "You make a cute snowbunny, Julie."

"Snowbunny?" she repeated. She released her grip on him to press her mittened hands to her face in an effort to hide her red cheeks.

"Yeah, y'know, 'cause we're on the slopes. Snowbunny."

He was rewarded with a giggle from the redhead as she shoved him lightly. "You're such an idiot," she complained (though there was no real irritation in her tone) as she bent to pick up her fallen board.

Shawn gave her a winning grin. "I'm your idiot though, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," the girl agreed, her lips curling to match his expression. "C'mon, let's go ski."

"Snowboard," he corrected her immediately. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked to the lift.

"Whatever," Juliet said with an airy wave of her hand. "It's all the same thing. Just promise me you'll stay on the bunny slope with me?"

"You got it, snowbunny."

🌎🌎🌎

The trio— Shawn, Juliet and Topanga— returned to the lodge much later in the day after several rounds of skiing (sorry, snowboarding.) The group found Cory sitting with the same brunette from earlier as his girlfriend took the remaining seat. "Cory, I had so much fun. I got on the wrong lift and wound up doing six runs with the Olympic team."

"Good for you," the curly-haired boy told her.

"No, but the best part is I think I'm gonna be in a Chapstick commercial."

"Good for you," he said again.

"I'm sorry, Cory. You must be so bored. Okay, I'll change out of my ski suit and when I get back, we'll spend the rest of the night together, okay?" The blonde kissed her boyfriend before she headed off to her room.

Shawn handed his girlfriend a cup of hot chocolate as the brunette knelt in front of Cory. "Looks like you'll be in good hands," she observed before she passed him a puzzle piece. "Here, your own piece of the mountain. Keep it as a souvenir."

"Lauren," Cory called after her. "Thanks. It's been the best day with a mildly sprained ankle I've ever had."

The girl— Lauren— smiled at him before she walked back to the front desk. Juliet and Shawn joined their friend on the couch. "Well, somebody's got a crush."

"Lauren's just being nice, that's all," he said defensively as the pair sat opposite him.

"Cory, you think we don't know you better than anybody?" Shawn asked.

"And you don't think I know pining when I see it?" Juliet added. "After all, I'm practically the queen of pining."

"Shawn, Jules, Lauren's being nice to me because it's her job, okay? As a matter of fact, after today, I'm not planning on spending any more time with her."

The expression he gave the puzzle piece didn't go unnoticed by either of his friends and Shawn gave him a knowing look. "Cory, you think we don't know you better than anybody?"

🌎🌎🌎

That night, the five of them gathered on the couches. Topanga sat next to Cory, Angela sat on the bench of the fireplace and Juliet and Shawn took the other sofa. The redhead hesitated, not nearly bold enough to initiate anything, much less in front of their friends. Seeing her indecision, Shawn reached up and grasped her hand to gently tug her forward to sit on his lap. Despite her warm face, Juliet did her best not to overthink her seat and leaned her head against his shoulder and the dark-haired boy slid an arm around her.

"Okay, Topanga, it's your turn," Cory announced. He read from a book they'd found: "'if you could change your mate into one animal, what pet would it be and why?' Please, nothing fuzzy-wuzzy."

"A falcon."

"Yes!" he cheered. "A falcon, the hunter of all that is fuzzy-wuzzy."

"No, a falcon because I want you to be free to soar majestically as long as I know that you'll always come back to me," Topanga explained.

"I bet I could guess your animal for me," Juliet said. She looked up at her boyfriend with a grin.

"Oh yeah? What would I say?"

"A snowbunny," the redhead teased him.

Shawn rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna have to kill you now. That was way too cheesy."

"Hey, Lauren!" the blonde called over to the other girl. "Why don't you come join us?"

"No, Lauren's probably got better things to do," Cory protested.

"Oh, yes," Angela said. "Please come join us. We could use someone whose answers aren't so pukey."

Immediately, Juliet and Topanga stood as the latter girl gave the brunette a challenging look. "You know, we could take you."

"Two against one," the redhead agreed. "That's a fair fight."

"You don't want to dance with me, girls," Angela countered.

"You don't see us running, do you?" the blonde asked.

"I laugh in the face of danger!" Juliet added and she let out a fake, mocking laugh to prove her point.

The three girls located pillows and squared off since the brunette wasn't backing down. "Bring it on, girls."

"Oh, it's on."

Shawn cheered behind them. "Alright, chick fight! Move the table."

"Ready?" Juliet asked Topanga.

"Ready!" the blonde agreed.

The trio made to swing at each other but instead of making contact, their aim landed on each of their respective boyfriends and Angela ganged up on Shawn with Juliet. The boy raised his hands to protect himself, groaning in complaint as the girls laughed.

"You look comfortable enough without me," Lauren said.

"No, no, no, come on, let's keep playing." Topanga calmed down as she returned to her seat. "You can ask the next question. Cory's up."

She passed the book to the other girl who had taken the remaining seat on the opposite side of the curly-haired boy. Cory sat very straight and looked incredibly uncomfortable as Juliet returned to her previous position, reminding herself to relax.

"Is it hot in here or is it just me?" Cory asked. "Because I'm hot so I can't be the only one who's hot, so who's hot?"

"Well, maybe you're sitting to close to the fire," Shawn suggested.

"Yeah, you don't wanna get burned do you, Cor?" Juliet added, giving him a pointed look.

Cory gave a nervous chuckle. "Why would you say that? I can't believe you said that."

"If you had an affair—" Lauren's question was cut off as the boy screamed. "—do you think the guilt would change your behavior?"

"Where do they come up with that? Why, I mean, that is such a crazy question. I mean, why would they ask me that question?" the boy rambled uneasily. "Me? The falcon! I mean, everyone knows that falcons are notoriously monogamous birds. I mean, it's just so crazy. I can't believe it."

The group laughed at his expense, though Juliet wasn't quite sure what was so funny. Once they'd composed themselves, Topanga sighed. "Now I'm exhausted."

"Me too," Juliet agreed. "I'm going to bed."

"Well, I'm right behind you," Shawn said. He stood with her. "I mean, I'm going to my room. Right? That's where I'm going?"

"Right," the redhead replied sternly. "That's where you're going."

"Right, right," he repeated as he followed her out. "I'll be in my room, reading. The Bible."

🌎🌎🌎

The next morning, Juliet and Shawn made their way downstairs but paused at the sight of Lauren and Cory standing together. The brunette looked reluctant. "So I guess you'll be skiing today."

"Yeah, that's what I came up here for."

"Yeah. I mean, you wouldn't want to stay inside on your last day. Have fun, don't get hurt."

"All night?" Shawn asked as the pair joined their friend.

"Nothing happened, guys," Cory objected. "We were just talking."

Juliet crossed her arms. "All night?"

He sat on the couch as Topanga came out with a blanket wrapped around her. She sat next to her boyfriend. "Good morning, Cory. How's your ankle feeling?"

"It's confused."

"What?"

"I mean, it's bothering me and it's not bothering me. I don't know what I should do," he explained.

"If it's bothering you at all then you should stay off of it," Topanga said.

"Yeah, it's bothering me."

🌎🌎🌎

"Hey! We saw you with Lauren," Shawn accused Cory, who was sitting on the couch. "Your ankle's fine." He took his glove off and pointed at the boy. "You lied to Topanga!"

"And as her friend I feel obligated to tell her," Juliet added. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't."

"I didn't do anything," Cory immediately said.

Shawn pointed at him again. "You lied to Topanga!"

"Guys, all we did was talk."

"Right," the redhead agreed flatly, unconvinced. "All you did was talk?"

"That's it."

"No kissy?" the dark-haired boy asked.

"Just talky."

"And you're gonna talk to Topanga about it, right? So I don't have to?" Juliet questioned him.

"Why would I tell Topanga about something that's not going to turn into anything?"

She closed her eyes briefly before she opened them again. "Cory, it's more suspicious that you're hiding it. Why did you lie about your ankle?"

"Listen, I've been with Topanga forever, okay? I don't want to have feelings for another girl. I can't have feelings for another girl. Lauren will understand that."

"Uh-huh."

"She will," he repeated, trying (and failing) to sound convincing.

The couple stood, leaving their friend on the couch as Shawn looked at the other boy. "Everything's fine, you don't have a problem at all."

"I hope that you know what you're doing is blasphemous," Juliet told him.

"I don't know what that means but read the Bible!" the dark-haired boy added.

🌎🌎🌎

"You kissed her?" Juliet demanded after Cory finished confessing what he'd done.

"What am I gonna do?"

"Well, I'll tell you what you're not gonna do, Cory. You are not gonna tell Topanga, do you understand me?"

The redhead turned to give her boyfriend a disbelieving look. "Are you serious? He definitely should tell her. Hiding this sort of thing tears relationships apart!"

"I know women, Julie, and I know she'll forgive him for talking to Lauren and I know she'll even forgive him for lying because he never has before but she will never forgive him for kissing another girl."

"And she shouldn't!" Juliet exclaimed. "If you ever kissed another girl I certainly wouldn't forgive that especially if you lied about it. At least telling Topanga the truth won't make him feel worse!"

"See, this is why I handle affairs of the heart, Julie. Your plan would break them up," Shawn told her.

"I wouldn't want my best friends to be living in a relationship based on a lie, Shawn. I'll always accept and appreciate the truth even if I don't like it."

Before the boy could reply, Cory sighed. "I want this whole thing never to have happened."

"Well, it's too late for that," the redhead said matter-of-factly. "Tell her the truth, Cor."

"Hi, Topanga," the boy greeted his girlfriend as she joined them.

"Hi, Cory. You're back on your feet," she observed happily. "Do you wanna ski a few runs with me before they close the lifts?"

He turned to her. "We need to talk."

As they moved away for privacy, Juliet faced her boyfriend with her arms folded across her chest. "You would really lie about kissing another girl?"

He shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't really know, Julie. I've never really thought about it before. I've been chasing this relationship for so long that I've never thought about what might happen during it."

She reached forward and took his hand in hers. "Well, while I hope that it never happens, if it does, I want you to know that I'd much prefer the truth. I'll be even more upset if I find you lied."

"Got it," Shawn agreed.

[written may 2021]
[edited jun. 2022]