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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ɪᴛ's ɴᴏᴛ ʏᴏᴜ, ɪᴛ's ᴍᴇ ꒱


❝ SHAWN, YOU'RE
CHEATING ON ME! ❞

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"And that, Mr. Hunter, is how babies are made," Mr. Feeny announced as he looked up from the passage he'd been reading.

"I still don't believe him," Shawn said.

"Before I forget, next Friday will be college recruitment day," their teacher continued. "Representatives will be here from USC, NYU and Rutgers." The bell rang and he raised his voice to talk over the leaving students: "and Mr. Matthews, your interview with Stanford has been rescheduled from three to three-thirty."

"Stanford?" Shawn repeated. He paused at the door. "What's that all about?"

The redhead sighed. "Here we go."

"It's just an interview," Cory replied. "It's nothing from nothing."

Juliet followed the boys into the hall as she wondered how much of a blow up this was going to be.

"Cory, when we were little kids, you and Julie promised me that we'd go to the same college together."

"Did I say that?"

"Yes and you also told me that if I graduated high school, you'd take me to Vermont to watch the leaves change," Shawn added.

"I get to come too, right? I worked hard to do so well," Juliet put in. If this was going to turn into a thing then she might as well be a part of it.

"Right, Vermont. October. Write it down," Cory agreed. "And you get to make the arrangements, Jules."

"Oh, fine."

"You know I could never get into Stanford," the dark-haired boy told them as they stopped by their lockers.

"Well, Stanford's just one of the many schools I'm applying to, Shawn."

"I don't think this is gonna help, Cor," the redhead commented mildly as she leaned against the lockers.

"I'm also applying to Wisconsin and Penn."

There it was.

Shawn gasped dramatically. "Wisconsin and Penn? We never discussed those!"

"Well, it doesn't have to be Wisconsin or Penn, Shawnie. It can be a school from your list. What's on your list?"

"You wanna know what's on my list?" he demanded. "Number one: I don't need a list because my best friend Cory wouldn't apply to any school that I couldn't get into which just goes to show Julie's my only real friend."

"Your list makes me feel bad," Cory complained as the boy opened his locker.

"It makes me feel great," Juliet countered cheerfully. She ignored the grumpy look from the curly-haired boy.

"Shawn, you know it's early," the boy continued. "I have no idea what my plans are."

That caused Shawn to slam his locker shut. "Oh, interesting. Your plans, not our plans. Hmm."

"Don't you take that tone with me, Shawn Hunter."

"I'm not taking any tone. If you want to go to college at Stanford, then go. In fact, go now. It'll give you plenty of time to start making new college friends," Shawn snapped. He looped an arm around the redhead's shoulders. "C'mon, Julie."

"But I don't want to make new friends," Cory protested.

"You know what?" he asked. He turned to the other boy. "Maybe I should start making new friends too, huh?"

"But I don't want you to make new friends."

"Well, you need to, Cory. What did you think? That I was always going to be here? Is that what you thought? Well, I'm not."

🌎🌎🌎

"You know he didn't mean it like that, right?" Juliet questioned Shawn as they returned to their lockers.

"It doesn't matter how he meant it, I should've seen this coming," he replied bitterly.

The redhead huffed. "You're not really upset with him. I know college is scary but he'll come back, you'll see."

Shawn scoffed slightly. "I'm not scared of college. It was only a matter of time before he broke his promise."

"And what rash thing are you going to do in response?" Juliet asked evenly.

"Shawn, I think we need to talk," Cory's voice interrupted the boy's response.

The dark-haired boy rolled his eyes as he turned to his friend. "No. Everything's fine. Our little conversation this morning was very helpful in making me realize that our entire relationship has been nothing more than a lie!"

He shouted the last word, which attracted everyone's attention to their argument. Cory gave them a nervous look. "Move along, move along. Just a couple of seniors rehearsing a little playlet." Their audience dispersed at his words and continued on to their destinations. He turned back to Shawn. "Don't you think you're being a little dramatic about this?"

"Yes, yes he is," Juliet answered for him.

Shawn didn't deny it. "Dramatic? Perhaps a little. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go look out the window. I paid a skywriter a lot of money to write 'Cory, I hate you' in the clouds."

"I can't believe you actually did that," the redhead said with a sigh as she followed him to the classroom. It took much self-control not to roll her eyes at the boy— Andy— who was sitting in Cory's seat. Instead, she sat down and leaned her head against her hand to wait for Cory's reaction.

The curly-haired boy yelped as he attempted to sit moments later. "Who are you and what are you doing in my seat?"

"His name is Andy," Shawn informed him.

"Who's Andy?"

"He's my new. . ."

"Best friend?" Cory guessed as a kicked-puppy look appeared on his face.

"Friend," the other boy answered. "Cory, we agreed that we were going to go out and meet new people."

"I'm not making you happy?"

"No, Cory, it's-it's not you, okay? It's me, and right now I just need my space."

Juliet groaned at their drama. "Topanga and I get along better than this and we're girls!"

"But we're still friends?" Cory asked, ignoring her outburst.

"Right now, I don't know what we are. Give me my space."

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet reluctantly agreed to go to Chubbie's with Shawn. She'd decided that for the most part, she'd let things just play out. She knew that Cory and Shawn's friendship was stronger than this and they'd "get back together" eventually; it was only a matter of time before the dark-haired boy stopped being so thickheaded. She was sure there'd be a spectacle as soon as she met up with the boy seeing as he had two other unknown guys in tow.

"Well, let's see how this goes," she said with a sigh. "C'mon, Shawnie."

They entered the restaurant together and headed down the stairs with Shawn in front. Sure enough, Cory was standing at the counter with Topanga and another boy from their class was sitting in their booth. The quartet made their way over to a table and the two boys sat down. As Shawn pulled out a chair, the curly-haired boy took notice of him. "Shawn? Boys. Jules."

"Hey, Cory," she replied, though she'd only seen him not even an hour ago as he'd left to meet his girlfriend.

"Well, this certainly appears to be a lot more than just giving each other space."

"Cory, we agreed that we were going to make new friends."

"No, you agreed," Cory corrected him. "I was perfectly happy with the way things were."

"Then explain him!" Shawn said, pointing an accusing finger at the new boy.

"His name is Lionel. We met today and we are getting along just famously because I'm young, Hunter, I'm vital, and I have a lot to offer," he replied fiercely.

"Yeah, well, so do I."

"The difference is that I have the dignity to keep my friendships personal and private, not parade them around in public for your twisted amusement," Cory snapped.

"You little punk!" the dark-haired boy shouted.

"You dirty man!" the other boy returned.

"Cat fight," Juliet commented with amusement. She hadn't expected it to go any other way.

Cory picked up a glass of water that sat nearby and splashed the contents against Shawn, who retaliated by grabbing his glass and repeating the gesture. "Face it, Matthews. Our friendship never made any sense in the first place."

"You're right! Why?"

"Because we're different. You're college, I'm townie. It was only a matter of time before that caught up with us."

"Then let's end it now before it lasts any longer than it did," Cory declared.

"No!" Shawn countered. "Now! Come on, Julie."

The redhead rolled her eyes, her self-control tossed out the window as she followed the boy back up the stairs.

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet watched Shawn with a bored expression on her face as he picked up Cory's stuff from around the apartment. "You know it's all gonna just end up back over here. Why waste your time giving it back to him?"

"Because its not," he replied firmly. "Cory and I are done, Julie. That's just a fact you're going to have to accept."

"It's about as done as you and I are," the girl said.

Shawn paused in putting items in the box he was carrying to face her with a wary look on his face. "What, you're leaving me too now?"

"No," she exclaimed exasperatedly. "That was an analogy, you idiot. What I'm saying is that you and Cory are going to get back together. I'd bet a million bucks on it."

"Well it looks like you're gonna be wrong for once and I'll be a millionaire," the boy argued. Juliet slumped against the couch and didn't bother to press the point.

Eventually, he found all of Cory's things and put them outside before he decided to spontaneously have a party. Even then, though she could clearly see that he was sulking and he didn't even bother to be a good host. Sighing, she made her way over to him and slid her hand into his. Taking the boy by surprise, she lifted up on her toes and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips. She smiled slightly as his face colored and he quickly looked around to see if anyone noticed. "Julie there are people here!"

"I know," she agreed, "but they aren't anyone we care about. Did you enjoy that?"

"What?"

"Did you enjoy the kiss?"

He looked impossibly (adorably) confused. "Maybe I need another one to support my answer? You're always telling me to do better research."

Juliet grinned and patted him on the arm with her free hand. "I'm gonna take that as a yes. Just checking."

"Just checking for what?"

Loud knocking cut off her answer and Juliet let go of the boy's hand to answer the door, which revealed Cory on the other side. He looked mildly surprised to see her. "Jules? What are you doing here?"

"I'm hanging out with Shawn." She shrugged.

"Shawn?" Cory raised his voice. "I know you're in there."

He appeared behind the redhead. "I'm having a party, what?"

The curly-haired boy laughed in disbelief. "Yeah. A party, right."

Shawn opened the door wider to allow him to see inside. "That certainly is some shindig. I thought you were hanging out with Shawn," he added pointedly.

"I am," Juliet replied. "I'm hanging out with Shawn and other people."

"Yeah, you know," Shawn said, "just pounding down some sodas, swapping a few stories with some close friends."

"Close friends? You hardly know them."

"Exactly. So if they leave, who cares?" He raised his voice: "get out, all of you!"

Everyone started heading towards the door. Catching on to the idea, Juliet turned and ordered them: "now get back in there!" As they followed her command, she smiled. "This is fun!"

"You see?" Shawn asked. "No emotional attachment, nobody gets hurt. That's my kind of friendship, baby."

"What about her?" Cory demanded, pointing at the redhead.

"Have you met us?" Juliet questioned him.

"Yeah, you're right," he conceded. "So, this is it."

"I guess so."

"Well, it's been a fun run."

"It has been."

"Hey," Cory said suddenly. "Remember the time the three of us ate cake in the Paramus mall?"

"Cory, please don't. No emotion, it's too hard," Shawn cut him off. "Have a nice, you know. . . whatever."

"I don't hate you."

"Just go."

"Lionel, we're through here." The curly-haired boy turned to his new "friend." He picked up the waiting box and headed to the elevator. Making his way around her, Shawn caught up to the departing pair. 

"Lionel? Lionel," he called after the other boy and pulled him aside. "If you guys ever play basketball, make sure there's plenty of water around because Cory tends to get dehydrated."

"Lionel!"

"And let him win once in a while," Shawn added. "He likes that. And Lionel— never eat cake in Paramus. That's ours." He let the boy go then and turned back to the apartment to see Juliet giving him a fond, amused look. "What?"

"You miss him."

"I do not," he huffed. He looped an arm around her shoulders to lead her back into the party as he closed the door behind him.

🌎🌎🌎

"Do you think Mr. Feeny will be able to fix them?" Juliet asked Topanga as they walked to their teacher's office.

"Well, I failed, you failed and they failed so he's our last hope," she replied.

"Hey! You may accept the blame but it certainly wasn't my fault," the redhead exclaimed. "Shawn would listen to me eventually."

"You keep telling yourself that," the blonde told her. She turned the knob to open the office door.

Immediately, the two boys turned and gasped. "Topanga and Juliet!"

"You won't listen to me, you won't listen to Juliet, you won't listen to each other, so maybe you'll listen to Mr. Feeny," she announced.

"Well, it hasn't happened yet," Mr. Feeny said, "but I'll take a shot at it. Okay, who wants to start?"

"I have nothing."

"Me either," Shawn agreed.

"Okay, that was my best shot."

"What?" Topanga demanded as she approached his desk. "Mr. Feeny, these people are ready to throw away ten years of friendship and you call that your best shot? Shame on you, shame."

"I show up. I teach. Why isn't that enough? Why?"

"Because we need your advice, Mr. Feeny," Juliet told him. "And fine, I'll admit it. Even I failed, so that's when you know it's bad."

"Mr. Feeny, let's not waste anyone's time, okay?" Shawn said as he stood. "Cory and I, we broke up."

"It should have happened sooner."

"But we stayed together for the kids," he added, earning an odd look from their teacher.

"In the class," Cory explained.

"You two have been best friends for as long as I've known you. Now, when did this problem start?" the older man asked.

"His problem started the day he met me!" the dark-haired boy stated. "You didn't think I was good enough for you since the day you met me!"

🌎🌎🌎
[13 years ago]

Juliet and Shawn were sitting on a wall with their feet resting against the seat of the bench beneath them. A group of their classmates ran past and the redhead nudged the boy. "Go on, ask him!"

Her best friend had been wanting to invite Cory to sit with them for the past week and she'd been constantly suggesting times for him to "pop the question" as she put it (he hadn't even been this nervous when he'd first declared her his wife!) As the curly-haired boy ran past them, Shawn decided that now was the time. "Hey! Want to have lunch with us?"

Cory stopped with Topanga by his side. "I don't think I should. Those guys say that you live in a trailer park and I shouldn't like you." He blinked as a grape hit him in the face and he glanced at the redhead to see her glaring at him.

"Oh, well, if you want to have lunch with us, we'll be right here," Shawn said hopefully.

The pair ran off and Juliet gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Shawnie. I thought he'd say yes."

"It's alright," he replied with a shrug (she could see that it wasn't.)

The boy's raised voice reached them, causing the duo to watch as he knelt to perch on a wall. "Hey, Topanga. I'm a llama! Look, I'm a— whoa! Whoa!"

He tumbled into the llama pen, causing Topanga to scold him: "Cory, I told you not to play by the llamas!"

"Help! Help!"

"Somebody help!" she added.

Their classmates ran off but Shawn and Juliet approached them. The dark-haired boy climbed into the pen and helped Cory out before he returned to his place beside the redhead.

"Hey, thanks for pulling me out of the llama pen," Cory said. "My name's Cory."

"I'm Shawn."

"I'm Juliet."

"She's my wife," he explained.

The redhead sighed. "Cookie partner, Shawnie."

"Same thing!"

"I'm Topanga," the blonde introduced herself quietly.

"The wife," Cory told them. "I'm sorry I didn't have lunch with you, my friends were wrong. They're not even my friends."

"I'll be your friend."

"Me too," Juliet added. "Just don't make me throw grapes at you."

"Really?"

"Just promise me when we grow up, you won't go to college and leave me. Julie's already agreed."

"Okay," Cory promised. "Friends forever?"

"Forever."

The two boys hugged and the girls exchanged a look. "Stop it, you're boys!" Topanga exclaimed.

Juliet turned to the girl. "Watch this, Panga." She raised her voice slightly, "Shawn, you're cheating on me!"

The dark-haired boy quickly separated from his new friend. "Sorry, Julie. You know I would never, right?"

The redhead grinned at his predictable response.

🌎🌎🌎
[Present day]

"Stop it, you're boys," Topanga repeated, an echo of her younger words as the two boys hugged.

"Watch this, Panga," the other girl told her. "Shawn, you're cheating on me!"

The dark-haired boy quickly jumped away from Cory. "Sorry, Julie. You know I would never, right?"

"Thank you for pulling me out of the llama pen," Cory said.

"Thank you for having lunch with me."

"Here we go," Mr. Feeny sighed.

"Cory, I want you to go to the best college you can get into. We'll be best friends all our lives, no matter where you go," Shawn promised.

"And I should have been more aware of your insecurities and how sensitive you can be," he replied.

"Do you think I'm sensitive?"

"I do."

"You know what, Cor?" he asked. "I'm going to work real hard so whatever college you get into, I'll be right there with you."

"You mean it?"

"I've never meant anything more in my whole life," Shawn said.

They went for another hug but Topanga spoke up: "stop it! We still all have to be ready for the possibility we may end up in different places."

"Yeah," Juliet agreed. "That's why we have to do our school work and put in hours of studying—"

"Whoa, whoa," the dark-haired boy interrupted her. "Hours?"

"I keep telling you to do better research," the redhead pointed out. "Your homework would go a lot faster if you did."

"Julie, you know I find that stuff boring!"

"You two," Mr. Feeny said to the pair. "Sit down."

Juliet and Shawn took the seats opposite him and the boy began to speak: "well, it all started the day I failed my first test and she began nagging me—"

The girl leaned forward and hit his knee. "I don't nag!" 

[written apr. 2021]
[edited may 2022]