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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ᴀ ᴛʜᴏᴜsᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴏʀᴅs ꒱


❝ WHATEVER YOU WANT, BABE ❞

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"Have you checked on Juliet and Shawn recently?" Barron asked as he looked up from the book he was reading to glance over at the redhead.

Daly kept her eyes focused on her notes, too focused on studying for her final tests. "What?"

"Juliet and Shawn," the man repeated. "Have you checked in with them?"

She pulled her gaze away from the papers in front of her to give the dark-haired man an irritated look. "What?"

"It's probably been half an hour," he informed her with a grin. "You should make sure they're still following the rules."

Daly looked over at the clock and her eyes widened. "Shit!" she exclaimed and hastily closed her books. The chair screeched slightly against the floor as she stood up abruptly. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I thought you knew."

The redhead picked up a crumpled piece of paper and hurled it at the man as she huffed with annoyance. "It wouldn't kill you to check on them."

Barron batted the ball away and gave her a smug look. "You're her mother. She'll probably listen to you more than me."

Daly sent him an irritated glare before she spun around and made her way to her daughter's room. The family (Daly and Juliet) had recently moved back in to the completed, fully renovated apartments a couple of weeks prior. Juliet had gratefully foregone going to whatever sports game Cory and Shawn were going to attend in order to help her mom move and now they were settled in to their old-new home. The other residents appreciated the new space as well and much thicker walls.

The older woman paused outside of her daughter's room where loud music could be heard pouring from the radio which covered up any other sounds. Daly knocked before she entered and announced "doors open at eleven!" as she pushed the door open the rest of the way.

The two teens looked a little too casual, with Shawn leaning against Juliet's headboard as he attempted to look bored while the redhead lay on her stomach while she pretended to read a magazine. She looked over at her clock. "It's nearly one in the afternoon, mom. Nowhere near eleven."

Daly wasn't fooled; she could see the obvious signs of an interrupted make out session with her daughter's rather breathless voice and flushed face and both teens had red lips and bright eyes. She gave the younger girl a stern look. "Three inch minimum, darling. Did you forget the half-hour check in?"

"Did you?" she countered, glancing up from the glossy pages of her magazine.

Daly ignored the remark and turned her gaze to include Shawn as well. "I don't want grandchildren before I'm sixty."

Juliet's face turned redder. "Mom!"

"I'm just saying, keep the door open—"

"Three inches, yeah, yeah, I know," she grumbled.

"Good girl."

Juliet gave her mother a mocking woof to imitate a dog as the older woman rolled her eyes. She left the door open as she returned to her studying. Once she was gone, Shawn rolled over until his shoulder was pressed against hers and he turned his head to grin at her. Juliet glanced up from the page she was reading. "What?"

The boy's gaze flicked down to her lips, making the question immediately obvious. The redhead turned back to her article. "We were almost caught."

"But we weren't," he pointed out as he leaned closer to her. "So kiss?"

She groaned and tossed aside her magazine so that it landed on her floor before sitting up cross-legged on her bed. Shawn pushed himself up to mirror her position with a grin on his face as she conceded to his wish, though she made a pointed effort to keep her mother's designated three inches.

🌎🌎🌎

"Ready to go?" Shawn asked as Juliet opened the door.

The redhead smiled happily at him and leaned over to pick up her Polaroid camera which was waiting by the door. "Yep!"

He groaned at the sight of it. "Do you really have to bring that thing?"

She gave him a look as she closed the door and they began to walk downstairs. "Yes, Shawnie. It's been awhile since I've used it and downtown has a lot of cool opportunities."

"You know I hate being photographed," he complained.

"Well, then I won't photograph you," Juliet said. She put her hand behind her back as she crossed her fingers. That was a promise she'd definitely break. "Anyway, you could try it out if you'd like."

"No thanks. I'm not a photographer."

"Who knows? Maybe it could something you really like," she suggested as he pushed open the door. He held it open for her as they stepped outside.

Together, they made their way to the bus stop where they would take the bus to the nearby downtown (the same one where she had gotten her ears pierced and picked up her pawn shop books.) They sat down at the waiting area and the dark-haired boy looped an arm around her shoulders as she leaned against him.

"I doubt it," Shawn replied. He ran his free hand through his hair as he looked down at the redhead with a grin. "There's only one thing that I really like."

Juliet turned pink and a shy smile appeared on her lips as she poked him gently. "I'm a person, Shawnie. Not a thing."

He waved dismissively. "Technicality. Besides, how'd you know I was talking about you? It could've been Cory."

She giggled slightly. "You would never talk about Cory like that. Besides, you like me better than him."

"Do I?" he asked. He gave her a questioning look. Rolling her eyes, she pressed a firm kiss to his lips and as she pulled away, he nodded. "Yep, I like you better than him."

The bus arrived shortly after and they climbed on. They took two seats in the back after they paid, their habits following them even outside of school. Juliet reached over and tugged at the boy's leather jacket. "Aren't you gonna be hot in that? It's supposed to be warm out."

He smirked slightly at her. "Aren't I always hot, Julie?"

The pink tinge remained on her face as she huffed. "Yes, but that's not the point. We're going to be walking around and you're going to complain."

Shawn grinned and leaned against the back of the bus seat. "You just agreed that I'm hot. I think I can handle a warm temperature."

"Fine," the redhead grumbled. "Don't start whining when you're not dressed appropriately for the weather."

They arrived at the downtown bus stop some time later and the two got off. They stood for a moment in the middle of the sidewalk as they considered where to go first. Juliet glanced to her left. "Why don't we check out the pawn shop? It's been awhile since I've made a trip down there."

"Whatever you want, babe," Shawn agreed as he took the first steps in the direction. He paused when he realized his girlfriend hadn't followed him. He turned and gave her a confused look. "Julie?"

Juliet was staring at him with wide eyes, the pink closer to red as she trained her gaze on him with her mouth slightly open. She didn't reply to his question so he prompted her again: "what is it? Did you forget your camera on the bus?" A glance to her right hand told him this wasn't it which only puzzled him further.

The redhead seemed to pull out of a daze as she finally composed herself to answer, though her tone still held a remnant of her awe. "You called me babe."

"Yeah, so? You didn't like it?"

"No!" she exclaimed quickly. Her gaze immediately darted away from his as she grew flustered from the quick (uncool) response. "Uh, no. You've-you've just never, uh, called me that before."

He shrugged and looked suddenly awkward. "'S nothing. I've-I've just been thinking about using it and— well—" he trailed off. It was true: he had been thinking about using that particular term for his girlfriend for some time, even going so far as to use it in his head when he thought of her. He hadn't expected that the first use would turn into a full discussion about it, though. It had taken enough mental pep-talking on his part to even use it out loud that he'd almost hoped she wouldn't hear it. He'd had no such luck, of course.

Smiling slightly at his obvious and unusual discomfort (she was always the one easily embarrassed, after all), she closed the distance between them to slide her hand into his as she lifted up on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek. As she pulled away, Juliet couldn't help but add, "come on, babe."

Giggling at his sudden deer-in-headlights expression, she tugged him along down the street towards their decided destination. The redhead pushed the door open and the familiar dark lighting swallowed them up as they entered, causing them to take a moment for their eyes to adjust to the change in brightness.

The shop hadn't changed at all, really, with stacks and stacks of miscellaneous items in no particular order piled up around them to create narrow alleyways that wound in dizzying paths to the inexperienced customer. Juliet, however, was not inexperienced and led Shawn confidently to the cashier's counter in the middle of the shop. Approaching the desk, they could see a white-haired man sitting on a stool with a cigarette in hand as he let out a stream of smoke.

Wrinkling her nose at the stench, Juliet quickly smoothed her expression over as they stood in front of the counter. "Hey, Tony."

The man jumped slightly before he leaned forward to get a better look at his customers. Once he had, he smiled. "Bookworm! Long time, no see!" He glanced at the boy behind her. "And you brought your tagalong too! What happened to that blond one?"

She smiled and squeezed Shawn's hand reassuringly. "Jack and I broke up a while ago." And— not that it was any of his business but Juliet liked him enough to explain— she added, "Shawn's my boyfriend now."

Behind her, the dark-haired boy straightened slightly and it was easy to picture the smug expression he probably had on his face. Tony glanced at him with a nod. "I'm not surprised. You have what the young folks call— uh— what was it? Oh, that's right— chemistry."

The redhead cleared her throat. "Right. Uh, well, you know what I usually come in here for so I wanted to check out your books and, if it's okay with you, take a few pictures? I brought a camera and your shop has some pretty interesting lighting."

"Sure thing, bookworm," the older man agreed. "You want to keep the books up here while you do that and pick them up on your way out?"

"Yes, thank you."

As they began to wander around the aisles, Shawn glanced at her curiously. "What are you looking for?"

She shrugged. "I'll know it when I see it. Just something. . . unique, I guess. People say that a picture is worth a thousand words."

The boy grinned at her. "You must have a lot to say then, Julie," he teased her before he helped her look with his hand still clasped in hers. In one of the rows, they came upon a spindly table covered with a rather ugly flowered tablecloth. On top of it rested a large lace doily that served as a coaster of sorts for a lamp that had a deer's skull for a bottom with the light covered by a plain white lampshade.

"Oh, here!" Juliet exclaimed as she pointed to the setup. "Now we just have to find something to add to it."

"Like what?" the boy asked, still completely lost as to the whole point of this.

"I dunno. Something old maybe." She released his hand and made her way farther down the aisle at a more rapid pace as her eyes scanned the shelves for what could work.

Her search resulted in a brownish-greenish clay mug with a thick handle that ended in a fancy swirl and it had a similar design pressed onto the outside. Her second find was an old pipe and finally a VHS tape of the horror movie Dolls. She returned to the table and placed the items down to arrange them in an interesting way.

"That's just stuff, Julie. There's nothing special about it," her boyfriend observed as he watched her.

"Sure there is," she countered as she propped the movie on its side before she lifted the pipe around to test different places. "It's all about angles and lighting, Shawnie. It's pretty cool, really. You could probably make at least three different pictures by just changing those two things." Juliet took several photos of the arrangement before she decided she'd done all she could with the setup. "Okay, next."

"Hey, Julie— wait," Shawn said. He was already grinning as he picked up the VHS tape. He held it in both hands as he showed it to her and adopted a spooky voice: "oooh I'm a possessed dooolll! I'm going to eat your children!"

The redhead chuckled and rolled her eyes at his antics. "You'd be lucky to get any children, Shawnie. That makeup is terrible. Who did it, a clown?"

He put the tape down and followed her as they moved down the aisle. "Dolls and clowns, the main market for horror movies."

"Who decided dolls were scary anyway?" Juliet wondered as she picked up an old pocket watch to look at it curiously.

"Probably someone who had their children eaten by one," Shawn reasoned. He held up a bulky, beaded necklace. "Do you want this for your birthday?" he joked. "I know that girls like jewelry."

She made a face. "That thing is hideous, put it back. It's not even worthy of being photographed." She paused and added, "if you get that for me, I'm breaking up with you."

He all but threw it back on the shelf and took several steps back. "Get it away from me!"

She grinned at him and they continued to talk as she picked up a few interesting items before she found the next location which was an overflowing bookshelf. "We could make an I Spy book," she remarked. After setting up the positioning to her liking, Juliet turned to her boyfriend and held out her camera. "Your turn."

"What? No, Julie— this is something you want to do," he instantly protested. "I'm not the camera person—"

"Oh shush," she told him, all but shoving the device into his hands. "Just try, okay? If you hate it I'll never ask you again."

He looked down at the Polaroid in his hands and at the hopeful expression on the redhead's face before he caved. "Fine, but don't expect too much."

Juliet watched as the dark-haired boy bent and took the picture as one might usually take a photo. He stood and handed the camera back to her as the picture developed. "There you go."

She pushed it back towards him. "You're not done yet, mister. Try it on a diagonal."

"A what?"

"Diagonal, like this." She demonstrated by twisting her head slightly to mirror the camera angle.

Sighing, he did as she suggested and looked at her for approval. The redhead crossed her arms. "If you're going to think you're done after every attempt I'm not going to stay here. Just do what feels natural, Shawnie."

"None of this feels natural," the dark-haired boy protested. "I don't know what I'm doing."

"And how is that new? You never know what you're doing," Juliet pointed out. "Since you're being difficult I'm going to go collect my books and come back. I expect you to have genuinely tried."

"Fine," he grumbled. "Trying isn't going to make me like it."

She patted him rather condescendingly on the arm. "Just trust me, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, she turned and headed back the way they came.

Of course, Shawn did trust her, beyond the dumb picture-taking. With a sigh, he tried again. The process wasn't wholly bad; it was interesting to watch the photo develop as it came out of the film slot but he didn't find taking pictures of stuff very exciting. He wouldn't be against trying it out on a person (namely his girlfriend.)

When Juliet returned, the shoulder bag she'd been carrying around with her was laden with books and she accepted the Polaroids Shawn handed to her to slide them in as well. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah. D'you, uh, mind if I hang on to this?" He held up the camera as he ignored her smug look.

"Sure, just don't lose it."

They made their way out of the shop and into the bright sunlight. Juliet made to take her boyfriend's hand to walk down the street with him but he shook his head. He rested his hand gently on her back to indicate she walk in front of him. "No, no. You go ahead."

Giving him a confused look, she did as he requested and slid her hands into her jean pockets since they were otherwise unoccupied. Letting her walk a few paces ahead, Shawn then raised the camera up to capture the image while he followed her at a slower pace as they went into shadow due to the trees lining the sidewalk.

As Juliet stopped outside a bakery, he took a picture of her standing in front of the shop window looking at the pastry display. She half-turned back to look at him, shading her eyes slightly with her hand to ward off the sun's glare. "Do you want to go in?"

Instead of answering, he captured the image.

[written may 2021]
[edited jun. 2022]