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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴜᴘ ɪs
ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ, ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ʜᴀʀᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ ꒱


❝ I SUPPOSE IT'S A DATE ❞

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Shawn, Cory and Shawn's current 'love interest' were sitting at one of Chubbie's many high top tables. The curly-haired boy was complaining about things as usual: "'Stephanie and Todd invite you to a dinner party at Todd's place. Couples only,'" he read. "Shawn, that's discrimination! It leaves out a lot of people who have committed themselves to a single life. People like you, me and Juliet."

"Huh?" Shawn mumbled as he came out of his make-out daze.

"People like me and Juliet," Cory amended before a familiar flash of red caught his attention and he glanced towards the back room with the pool table. There, Juliet was hanging out with Jack. He sighed. "People like me."

Shawn wasn't paying attention. "Remember in health class, that section on the movement of blood? I understand it now."

"Fine, bail on your friend," Cory grumbled as he sat down.

The girl who'd captured Shawn's attention excused herself and the dark-haired boy focused on his friend. "Cory, just ask a girl and you can do too. Look, there's Wendy. You know her, you like her. Ask her to be your girlfriend."

"Just for the party? That's not right," he answered with a frown.

"It is right. You're supposed to do that. You're thinking too much. Do what I do, don't think," Shawn suggested.

"And where has that gotten you?" Cory huffed, earning a confused look from the other boy. He sighed again, since he knew the reason for Juliet's current absence. Shawn went through cycles of more and less girl-crazy, and currently he was in his 'more' phase. When this happened, Juliet spent less time with them and more time with Jack. When Juliet spent more time with Jack, Shawn had more attention for other girls. It was very frustrating and the only thing stopping Cory from spilling everything was the death threats he'd received from both parties to keep it a secret or else.

Shaking his head, he decided that he would ask Wendy out and he'd maybe be able to forget this madness.

🌎🌎🌎

The back room at Chubbie's provided a nice place to both talk and observe the goings-on at the dive. Juliet leaned on her pool stick as she waited for Jack to take his turn. The blond-haired boy moved around the table every few minutes to find the best direction to hit his striped balls into the net.

"Are you going to make a play sometime this century?" the redhead wondered testily.

"Pool is a game of patience, Ocean Eyes, which is something you seem to lack."

"I'm a redhead, I have a temper," she explained easily. "But seriously it's been, like, five minutes. This is pool, not a high-stakes tournament."

"Are my superior skills making you anxious?" Jack teased her as he looked up from the angle of his pole to give her an amused look.

"Hardly," Juliet scoffed. "Shawn's a far better player than you are and he doesn't take ten years."

"You play pool with Hunter?"

"'Course I do," she replied.

At the mention of her best friend (crush) her eyes drifted away from the game to look across the sea of students to where the dark-haired boy sat with Cory. Her stomach did its usual flip-flop and nauseating turn, both at the sight of him and the sight of him making out with another girl.

"You could go hang out with them you know," the blond-haired boy offered, having noticed her dozens of seemingly imperceptible glances towards her friends.

"Nah, I like it here," she countered with a shake of her head.

Jack gave her a disbelieving look. "You're doing terribly right now, Ocean Eyes. I'm only a few moves away from winning and whenever it's your turn, you lose focus like a goldfish."

"I do not!" she exclaimed heatedly as her face flushed pink.

"Do too. You're not even looking at me right now," he remarked.

The redhead jerked her gaze back to the boy in front of her and her head dropped. "Sorry," she mumbled with a sigh. "I've been trying really, really hard to forget about it but it's not that easy."

"I think I know what you need," Jack stated.

"What's that?"

"To go with me to the couple's-only party this weekend."

"Hello, genius, we're not a couple," the girl pointed out sarcastically.

"I was hopin' you'd overlook that little detail," Jack said with a charming grin.

The redhead wasn't impressed— or fooled— and raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking me out?"

"I dunno. Would you say yes?"

"Depends. Would you dump me after the party?"

"No way, unless you wanted to break up," Jack assured her firmly.

"I suppose it's a date, then."

"I suppose it is."

🌎🌎🌎

A week later, Juliet was back to hanging out with Cory and Shawn and the latter had toned down his girl-craziness. She and Jack weren't an official couple but they hadn't 'broken up' either. They were in a weird, somewhere-in-between place that Juliet knew was because of her unwillingness to have a boyfriend due to her. . . secret.

Cory had caught the redhead up on his new status with Wendy, which pleased the girl. Wendy was nice and she could definitely see her and Cory as a cute couple.

"Hi, Cory," a girl greeted him as she approached their lunch table.

"Oh, hi."

"Can you help me with my English homework?" she requested.

"Sorry, I can't tonight."

"Oh," was all she responded with before she walked away.

The curly-haired boy turned back to his two friends. "What's with the girls in our English class? That's like the fifth one who's asked me for help with homework."

Juliet sighed as Shawn questioned him, "Cor, are you that clueless?"

"Clueless? Obviously I'm the only one who knows what the homework is."

Juliet and Shawn exchanged a look. "Cor," the redhead began. "Don't take this the wrong way but even if you were the last person alive in school no one would ask you for homework help."

"They don't want homework they want you," Shawn added.

"Why?"

"Because you're a couple. You're off the market. They can't have you, they want you more."

"What sense does that make?"

"Ever heard of 'the grass is always greener on the other side?'" Juliet replied. "It's exactly that."

Boy, did she know.

"You're hot, use it. Go for it," Shawn encouraged him.

"What about Wendy?"

"How long have you been going out with her?"

"All week," Cory answered.

"Oh, break up!"

Juliet frowned at Shawn's exclamation as Cory wondered, "why? Wendy's so cute, she's adorable, she likes me."

"You are so superficial. End it this minute."

"Why?" Juliet and Cory spoke at the same time.

The curly-haired boy gave the girl an understanding look as Shawn told them: "because a week's too long to be going out with the same person. She starts waiting for you outside your class, she knows your schedule. In one extreme case, I even heard of a girl who wanted to know what the guy was doing next summer."

The girl's frown grew once Shawn stopped talking. Maybe it was a good thing they weren't a couple if he really agreed to this view, she thought. Although— did Jack think the same way?

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet quickly caught the boy's arm before he left through the doors. Jack spun around in surprise and gave the girl a startled look before recognition softened his features. "Hey Ocean Eyes, what's up?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she apologized as she shifted on her feet slightly.

"Don't worry about it," he brushed it off. "What's up?"

"Uh," the girl hesitated, preferring to look more at his feet than his face. "I had a. . . um, personal question."

"Sure, shoot."

"Well, I was talking to uh, somebody—"

"Hunter."

"Somebody," she insisted.

"Somebody," he agreed.

The redhead sighed. "Shawn. About uh, well, relationships and—"

"He asked you out!" Jack guessed as his eyes went wide with surprise.

The girl rolled her own eyes. "No, will you let me finish?" When he nodded, she continued: "well, I got a clearer view of his opinion on going out and, well, if we did, would you feel compelled to break up with me after a week?"

"What? No!" he exclaimed suddenly, then he sheepishly ran his hand through his hair. "No," he repeated more calmly. "Not all guys have the same ideas, Ocean Eyes, though I'm glad you're asking. While I would never want to trap you in a relationship you don't want to be in I certainly wouldn't feel obligated to date around after a week. If we get along and enjoy being together that's all that matters to me."

The girl tilted her head up to look at the blond-haired boy and her own expression softened. "That's really nice, Jack. That— that really helps your case," she confessed, looking a bit embarrassed.

Jack gave her a bright smile. "I didn't even say it with that in mind! This is the best news I've gotten all day!"

Juliet rolled her eyes. "You're such a dork."

"A highly intelligent dork."

"No matter what way you say it you're still a dork."

"Yeah, but I'm almost your dork," Jack teased her.

The girl— predictably— turned pink. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch, dork boy. That's, uh, all I wanted to ask. I'll see you later, then."

"See you, Ocean Eyes," the blond-haired boy responded as he backed towards the doors. He gave the redhead a (dorky) salute that made her smile as she did the same back before he disappeared outside.

🌎🌎🌎

At school the next day, Cory was telling Shawn and Juliet about his dinner with Wendy: "so after she made us desert and read to us, I walked her home and right there on the porch, I laid it out. I said 'Wendy, it's over. Forever.'"

"How'd she react?" Shawn inquired at the same time Juliet crossed her arms and decided, "you didn't break up with her."

"She invited me in for oatmeal cookies, Grandma Jansen played the organ and we all sang Big Rock Candy Mountain."

"It was nice knowin' ya," Shawn told him. He winced slightly as the redhead poked her finger in his side.

"Be nice," she scolded him before she reached out and placed a hand on top of Cory's. "Cor, call us when you need someone to plan your funeral," she instructed him with complete seriousness.

A smile appeared faintly on Shawn's lips as Cory rolled his eyes. "You know they have four generations living in the same house? The men don't say much."

"Listen man, we've got class," Shawn excused them. "Stay here. I'll come back to get you."

"You sure you're okay, Cory?" the redhead questioned him with concern as she stood.

"Yes, dear, I'm very happy. I don't have to think about anything for the rest of my life," he stated robotically.

Juliet's eyes widened and she moved closer to Shawn. "Shawnie, he's scaring me."

The boy immediately straightened and wrapped a familiar arm around the girl's shoulders. He gave Cory a look. "Hey man, you're scarin' the—" He froze, having been about to say 'wife.' His arm quickly dropped from it's resting place and he took several steps away from the redhead.

Juliet shot him a confused glance and he shook himself slightly. He'd almost fallen back into their old pattern— something that he'd promised himself he wouldn't do. Instead, he shrugged. "Relax, Julie. He'll be fine. Let's go."

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Shawn and Juliet were sitting at one of Chubbie's tables again waiting for Cory to show up. Wendy passed by them. "Hi!" Shawn greeted her. She ignored him as the curly-haired boy joined his two friends. "Hey, Cory, where's Wendy going?"

"We broke up," he murmured.

"She let you go?" Shawn asked.

"Yep, for good."

"Alright! Free man again on the prowl. Tell you what, tonight— we get you a date. Party 'till we drop. Whaddya say?"

"No, you go," Cory answered sadly.

"Why?"

"Because I miss Wendy," he explained softly.

Juliet stood and moved to his side of the table to sit next to the curly-haired-boy. Wrapping her arms around him in a sideways hug, she rested her chin on his shoulder. "You'll be okay, Cor," she said. Then, more softly, she added, "look at me." 

[written nov. 2020]
[edited may 2022]