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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ꒱


❝ JUST LEAVE THE
WINDOW OPEN ❞

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Juliet couldn't stop staring at the dark-haired boy next to her, and for once it wasn't because she found him attractive. Well she did, but something else was just. . . strange. Shawn noticed the girl's attention and he smiled slightly. "Take a picture, Julie. It'll last longer," he teased her.

The girl turned faintly pink. "Sorry. I just— well, something seems weird about you today and I can't put my finger on it."

"Good-weird or bad-weird?"

"Uh, the jury's out on that one."

"Shawn, is that the new shirt my mom gave you?" Cory wanted to know as he came up to the pair.

"Yeah. Looks alright now, huh?"

Juliet blinked as she took in both boys' different versions of the same yellow sweatshirt. "That's it! You're wearing Cory's clothes! You didn't tell me you two were dating," she joked.

Her friends made nearly identical disgusted faces at her before Cory turned back to Shawn. "Do you know what she's gonna do when she sees that?"

"My guess is clean it, sew it back together and put an S on it."

The redhead frowned at the boy's tone but since she didn't know how the morning started, she didn't want to get involved unnecessarily.

"Look, she's just trying to be nice to you," Cory said.

"And I'm just trying to get through this without making any waves," Shawn answered. He grabbed Juliet's arm and tugged her off in another direction.

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet had worried about how the boys were getting along in the second half of the three weeks they'd spent together seeing how they got more on each other's nerves than usual. A side effect of them living together was that they tended to spend more time together which, of course, made sense but left her feeling rather. . . alone. Not lonely since she was used to living at home by herself, but she missed spending time with her best friends.

The red-haired girl was lying flat on her back on her bed, faceup to the ceiling with her headphones over her ears and her Walkman playing ABBA. She didn't even hear her window slide up or see her (favorite) visitor slip inside, the two-story climb hardly a preventative for the boy to take the route. It was only when Shawn shook her gently did she sit up abruptly and slide her headphones off. "Shawn! What are you doing here?"

He gave her a slight pout. "I thought you'd be happy to see me."

"Well I am, but don't you have a curfew with Cory's parents?"

"And you claim to know me, Julie," he quipped as he sat on the edge of her bed. "What are you listening to?"

"ABBA."

"Nice. What are you doing by yourself?"

"Well, since you're spending so much time with Cory I don't have anyone else to spend time with," she explained. "Besides, it's late and it's a school night."

Shawn rolled his eyes at the second excuse. "What about that Jack guy?"

"He lives too far away." She shrugged.

"You could call him."

"I thought you didn't like him."

"I don't, but you're usually better at problem solving than this."

"What if I just wanted to be alone?" she challenged him with a sigh.

The dark-haired boy stood up. "I'll leave you to it, the—"

"You can stay," Juliet cut across him, and gave him an almost pleading look. "I just— I don't want just anybody. I'm. . . well, I guess I don't really want to be alone."

The boy sat back on the bed and gave her a sympathetic look. "When's the last time you saw your mom?"

"The same time you did," she replied. "I haven't even heard from her."

"Same," Shawn agreed, then he paused as if he were thinking about something before he added, "why don't we go out?"

"What about the Matthews?"

"If I want to spend time with my best friend you better believe I will," he stated firmly. "We could do something to feel free, y'know?"

Juliet frowned. A majority of her was tempted to do what Shawn wanted to do but the responsible part was holding her back. She glanced towards her bedroom door, knowing that the rest of the apartment was completely empty and dark. The thought of staying behind seemed more depressing by the minute.

"Alright, I'm in."

🌎🌎🌎

It turned out his brilliant idea had been to go to the school at night, which Juliet had joked that he spent so long wanting to be away from the place during the day it was ironic they were there again. They weren't alone, though, and a group of older kids had brought spray paint to "decorate" the school. As one of them handed a can to the redhead, Juliet glanced towards the dark-haired boy uneasily. "I don't know if this is a good idea, Shawnie."

"'Course it is," he reassured her, shaking his own can. "No one can tell us what to do and we're having a great time."

Their 'great time' only lasted a few more seconds when bright blue-and-red lights lit up the area, causing the group to scatter. Shawn grabbed the redhead's hand and they both dropped their paint cans to run down a nearby alley. "I knew this wasn't a good idea!"

"Yeah, yeah, you can say 'I told you so' later, okay?" Shawn whisper-yelled as they ran.

"If we get caught let me do the talking. Got it?"

"We won't get caught!"

The dark-haired boy was never known for being right, though and the police caught up to near Mr. Turner's place. Juliet thought quickly about the most trusted adult they knew and came up with a lie about how they were staying at their teacher's apartment. 

Shawn knocked on the door when they arrived and it opened to reveal their teacher. "Capelwood, Hunter, look. This really isn't a good time."

"You're telling me," Shawn conceded as the cop who'd brought them stepped into Mr. Turner's sight. "He's a cop."

"You Johnathan Turner? You know these kids?"

"Yeah, Shawn Hunter and Juliet Capelwood. I'm their teacher at John Adams High. Officer, you wanna tell me what this is all about?"

"We spotted your friends here loitering outside the high school with some older kids. They had about twenty of these." The cop held up one of their dropped spray cans.

"Spray paint?"

"Looks like they were planning on doing some redecorating."

"No, no, no," Shawn corrected him. "We were just gonna sell them to some bad kids and overcharge them, of course. Serves them right."

Juliet elbowed the boy in his side, causing him to wince as the cop continued: "these two take off down an alley. We caught up with them outside your place. They say they're staying with you."

They both looked at their teacher hopefully as he sighed. "Yeah, yeah, they're staying with me. Their folks are out of town."

"Got called out of town to save a baby in East Virginia who fell down a blowhole," Shawn chimed in quickly and Juliet slapped a hand to her forehead in exasperation.

"Look, officer, I'm sorry. I thought they were in their rooms."

"If you wanna do your friends a favor, keep them in the house." The cop peered past their teacher to see Miss Thompkins. "Sorry to bother you, Mrs. Turner."

Once he left, Shawn moved towards her with his hand outstretched. "Mrs. Turner? Hey, congratulations!"

Too late, Juliet hissed out: "Shawn, stop talking."

"No, Shawn," Miss Thompkins replied as she stood. "It's still Miss Thompkins."

"Good night, Kat," Mr. Turner told her.

"Good luck, Johnathan," she responded, pecking his cheek before she left. Shawn made an effort to follow her but Mr. Turner commanded him to stay.

"Well, how come she got to go?" he wanted to know.

"Because she's not in trouble," Juliet sighed.

"I got more to say to you two," Mr. Turner informed them. "A little girl who fell down a blowhole? Wow."

"I told him to let me do the talking," the redhead protested.

"Yeah, I probably should've let you," Shawn allowed, glancing the girl. "Thanks for covering for us. Cory's folks would've freaked if we showed up with that cop. It's a good thing Julie's a fast thinker."

"Oh, like this?" their teacher shouted. "Would they have yelled at you like this?!"

"Yeah, that's pretty good," Shawn laughed.

"Would they have told you how stupid you are for being out so late?"

"Okay, we get our point," the dark-haired boy muttered, realizing their teacher wasn't joking.

"No, I don't think you do!"

"Fine, then we'll just get out of your way. I thought you were cooler than that," Shawn complained. He grabbed the redhead's arm to lead her towards the door.

"No, no, I'm not cool at all," their teacher stopped them again. "In fact, I get real old fashioned when I see two people I care about being brought home by cops! I thought you were more responsible than this, Capelwood!"

Juliet hung her head, knowing she should've stopped Shawn instead of encouraging him. She was slightly surprised when the boy stepped in front of her protectively. "Hey, it's not her fault, alright? I didn't listen and I'm the one who convinced her to come out. If it weren't for her it probably would've been even worse," he argued. "And do you have to yell? Tonight has just been awful."

"Oh, do you see me ballroom dancing here?" Mr. Turner snarked, though his voice had softened considerably after Shawn's explanation.

"Look, is this gonna take all night? 'Cause I got places to be, man."

"No, you don't, Shawnie," Juliet spoke up quietly. "You shouldn't go anywhere else. If you keep doing this you're gonna end up somewhere you don't wanna be."

The boy turned to her and gave the girl a confused look. "What d'you mean?"

The redhead shrugged and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I just want you to be safe, okay? I-I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

He placed both of his hands on her shoulders, causing her to look up at him. "Hey," he began quietly. "With you here, I think I'm gonna be okay. I won't go anywhere else," the boy promised her and the girl gave him a relieved look. Shawn turned to their teacher. "Look, I'm sorry we messed up your night."

"Aw, I already messed it up before you got here," Mr. Turner sighed as he sat down.

"Yeah, women," the boy agreed as he sat next to the man and Juliet sat next to the boy.

"What do you know about women?"

"What do you wanna know?"

"Oh, you think you can help me out, Hunter?"

Shawn glanced at the redhead next to him, whose eyes were closing sleepily as she rested her head on his shoulder. His heart gave a little thump as it always did when she did something like that and he turned back to their teacher. "Hey, you helped me."

"Now, see, why can't you be this sharp in my class?"

"Math's not my best subject," Shawn answered.

"I'm your English teacher!"

"Then why are you teaching math?" he asked, confused.

"Are you kidding me?"

🌎🌎🌎

The next morning, Shawn and Juliet entered the Matthew's kitchen as Mr. Turner followed behind them.

"Jonathan, thank you for the phone call and letting us know what's going on in our own house," Mr. Matthews remarked.

"Hey, where were you last night?" Cory wondered.

"We were at Turner's. Would you relax?" Shawn huffed.

"Everything's okay, Cor," Juliet reassured him.

"Cory, Juliet, Shawn— upstairs, now!" Mrs. Matthews commanded them.

The three went upstairs as Cory pestered the duo what had happened last night. Then, they heard Chet's voice coming from the kitchen and Shawn immediately turned to head downstairs, only for Cory to grab his arm. "Hey, my mom said to stay upstairs."

"So?" Shawn scoffed. "She's not my mom."

Juliet hesitated for a moment before she followed the dark-haired boy, and stopped a step above him to listen to the conversation.

"'Oh, hey, you sound out of breath there, dear. Did I interrupt something?'" Chet's voice inquired.

"Listen, Chet, where are you? It's been three weeks," Mr. Matthews questioned him.

"'Well, if the license tags are any indication, I'm either leaving Ohio or coming into Georgia.'"

"Well, that doesn't sound anywhere near Philadelphia."

"'No, it's a— ew, roadkill. Porcupine. How'd he not see that coming?'" Chet interrupted himself.

"Chet, have you found your wife yet?"

"'Nope, but I found the motor home, though,'" he shared. "'Seems like my Virna traded in on a '92 Miata. Nice car but I don't think three people can live in it.'"

"Listen, Chet, don't you think it's time you came back here? Took some responsibility for your son?" Mr. Matthews demanded.

"'Well, I wish, but unfortunately I don't think I'm gonna be much good to anybody 'till I find my Virna and win her back.'"

"Chet, Shawn is having a very hard time and besides, we've got three kids of our own—"

"Alan," Mrs. Matthews cut him off. "We'll manage."

"I don't think it's fair to you, to Shawn or to us to live with this kind of open-ended commitment."

Juliet could see Shawn tense in front of her as they listened to the conversation, and a part of her became angry that Mr. Matthews would want to kick him out after so willingly taking him in.

"'Look, Al, the boy needs somebody, okay?'" Chet reasoned. "'Now, don't hang me up here—'"

"If you're not coming back right now then you be the one to tell your son."

"'Oh, I just did.'"

"Huh?"

"'Well, if I know my boy, even money, when adults are talkin' about him, he's probably somewhere behind 'em, listening.'"

The three adults turned to the duo on the stairs to take in Shawn's hurt look and Juliet's angrier one.

"None of you want me. Well, that's fine! I don't need any of you! I never needed anybody!"

Ouch. The redhead knew he was upset and probably didn't mean the words but they still hurt. As he pushed past her, he paused to look at her and she could see the guilt on his face before it was quickly replaced by defensiveness. "Don't bother following me, Juliet."

As he ran the rest of the way up the stairs, the girl stayed rooted in place for a moment at Shawn's use of her real name— something he'd only called her once, at the very beginning of their friendship. Shaking off the sting, she ran down the stairs and followed Mr. Turner out the front door to stop Shawn on his way out.

"Fall down a blowhole, did you?" their teacher asked.

"I'm not in class, I don't have to listen to you. I told you not to follow me," he added.

Juliet opened her mouth to object, but Mr. Turner placed a gentle hand on her should and shook his head. "Go back inside, Capelwood. I've got this."

She gave him a doubtful look but caved. She stood right in front of the kitchen door as she watched Shawn talk to Mr. Turner. As Cory fell on to the porch from the tree, she used the excuse of checking on him to quickly make her way outside again to help the boy up. "Are you okay, Cor?"

"I'm good," he confirmed.

"Look, I'm gonna go square things up with your dad 'cause that's what the responsible adult-type would do," Mr. Turner decided before he disappeared inside the house, leaving the trio outside.

"So, you're moving in with Turner, huh?" Cory inquired.

"You were listening?"

"Well, I was snagged up there for a while. I had to wait 'till a squirrel lost interest."

"Yeah. You know, Cory, your folks are great and all, but this seems right."

"I think so, too," Juliet agreed with a nod. "It seems like my lie wasn't really a lie after all."

"Yeah, but you know what this means, don't you? I mean, you're not a stray anymore."

"Huh?"

"You had to be there," Shawn told her. "So, what's it like being a house broken dog?" he asked as the three sat down.

"It's not so bad. I mean, you get your meals regular, you get your own chew toy and if you bring in the paper, they are so thrilled," Cory said.

"Maybe I should try bringing in the paper sometime," Juliet mused thoughtfully.

"What if I hate it?"

"I'll have my mom and dad put in a doggy door for ya."

"Just leave the window open," Shawn glanced at between the two. "Both of you."

"You got it," Cory agreed.

"'Course, Peter pan," Juliet conceded. 

[written dec. 2020]
[edited may 2022]