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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ғɪsʜɪɴɢ ғᴏʀ ᴠɪʀɴᴀ ꒱


❝ THAT'S WORTH A LOT
IN MY BOOK, JULIE ❞

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Juliet stood in the lunch line with Cory and Topanga as Brenda, the lunch lady, served them from behind the counter. She beamed at the curly-haired boy's greeting and replied, "hi, Cory. My little tiger likes his gravy, doesn't he?"

"Oh, Cory likes the way Brenda does it," he agreed, "ooh, she builds a nice potato mountain and then she turns it into a horrible volcano of doom. Oh, look at the lava running down the volcano. Run, peas. Hide behind the roll!" At the looks he got from the two girls, he turned to them. "What, you don't see that?"

Juliet couldn't help but smile at her goofy friend. "I can see it now."

"Brenda, do you have anymore cherry pie?" Topanga asked the lunch lady.

The redhead's attention switched to her as she looked at the woman hopefully. "Or apple?"

"No, sweetie. I'm sorry, we're all out," she paused, "oops, I forgot. I accidentally hid two pieces under the counter. Looks about your sizes too."

Juliet took them from her as Topanga said, "aw, you never let us down, Brenda."

After they got their food, the trio left the line to find a table. Before they could, though, Shawn ran in and rushed straight to Cory and Juliet. "I got a major problem."

"Oh, you never let me down, buddy," Cory said.

"How long has it been since I've seen my mother?"

"You mean since she took her little vacation?" the curly-haired boy asked.

"She ran away. She ran away for a year, Cory. Deal with it. I have," Shawn told him.

"And you're doing much better," the redhead put in supportively.

"Thanks. Now, how long has it been since I've seen my mother?"

"I don't know," Cory answered, "how long do you think it's been?"

"A minute," he replied as his eyes met Juliet's. "I saw my mom, Julie. She was right across the street at the Trailer View Motel. Guys, my mom's back."

🌎🌎🌎

As soon as school ended, the trio rushed back to Shawn's trailer to tell Chet what his son had seen that morning. Surprisingly, he didn't seem entirely happy about it. "You're telling me for the last year I've traipsed across these United States searching for my long lost Virna and you find her right across the highway?"

"It's her, dad. She's been watching us," Shawn said.

"How long she been there? How's she look? When's she coming home?"

"I don't know. I haven't gone over there yet."

"Why not?"

"I'm afraid I'm gonna chase her away again," he admitted.

Juliet's expression softened at his words and she stepped up next to him. She instinctively slid her hand down to clasp his and squeezed it gently as she murmured, "Shawnie."

At her action, he met her eyes, giving her a soft smile despite the situation. She knew exactly how he felt, having experienced the same feelings for most of her life before Barron returned. Chet stood and drew his son's attention to him as he explained, "you didn't chase her away. You're the only reason she stayed here as long as she did."

"Thanks, dad."

"Why's she over there spyin' on us? Hey, she's probably after my secret plans."

"What secret plans?" Cory asked.

"Nice try, Corky."

"Guys let's talk. You've been looking for this woman for a year and now you've found her. Now go get her before she leaves again," Cory told them firmly.

Shawn joined his father at the table. He reluctantly slipped his hand from the redhead's so he could sit next to Chet as the older man said, "no, no. It's like some beautiful butterfly that sat down just for a moment on the branch next to you. You know if you so much as breathe wrong, it'll fly away and you'll never see it again."

"So this is a real delicate situation," the dark-haired boy agreed.

"What we need is someone who won't be thought of as a threat," Chet decided. His gaze fell on the red-haired girl who was watching Cory with interest as he greeted a butterfly that had landed on his hand.

He looked up when he felt their eyes on him. "What?"

🌎🌎🌎

Cory knocked on the motel door and it was opened quickly to reveal Virna on the other side. "Come on in, Juliet and Cory. I've been expecting you."

"Really?" the redhead asked in surprise as the boy wondered, "you have?"

She nodded. "I saw you through the window crossing the turnpike."

"Then you know how lucky we are to be alive," Cory told her.

She pulled the girl in for a hug, which Juliet returned. "It's nice to see you, Juliet."

"It's nice to see you too, Mrs. Hunter."

The older woman pulled away to give her a stern look. "What have I told you about my future daughter-in-law calling me 'Mrs. Hunter?'"

Juliet gave her an embarrassed smile. "That it's far too formal for someone who's gonna be in the family."

"Exactly," she said with a nod before she turned to Cory and hugged him next. "Oh, you're growin' up real handsome."

"Thanks."

"Look," the redhead started, "we're just here to tell you on behalf of Shawn and Mr.— er, Chet—"

"Couple of chickens," Cory mumbled. 

She glared at him and continued: "that they miss you. They miss you very much."

"Yeah, well, I miss them too," Virna admitted.

"Well, if they miss you and you miss them then why aren't you guys together?"

"Well, I suppose I could just go over there and we'd all have ourselves a big emotional reunion. We'd hug and kiss and five minutes would go by and then where would we be?"

"You'd be a family."

"No," she told the boy as she sat on her bed. "We'd just be together. I left because we were three unhappy people livin' under the same tin roof. Just bein' married doesn't make you a good husband and wife and just havin' a little boy doesn't make you a good father and mother."

Juliet thought about her mother and the effort— or lack thereof— she'd put in over the years and compared it to the desire to better that she was feeling now. She and Cory sat on either side of the older woman and she sighed, agreeing, "yeah. I guess you have to wanna be."

"I know I have no right to hope for anything because I left my family but in that time, I learned that all I wanna be is a good wife and a good mother, but I need to know that Chet wants to be a good father, too."

"Well, okay then. I'll just go back and tell them that," Cory said.

"It doesn't help comin' from you, but from my family. I need to see it in its own time."

"Well, how long are you gonna wait here?" Juliet asked.

She didn't answer. Instead, the older woman stood and patted Cory on the cheek as she said, "you're good kids for bein' their little messengers and if you wanna take back a message, go tell Shawn I love him and you give him a big kiss right on the lips for me."

The redhead's face turned pink at her words and she avoided the woman's eyes as she replied, "I'll definitely do some version of that."

🌎🌎🌎

"Eight lanes and not one stinkin' island," Cory complained as they reentered the Hunter's trailer. "I mean, you gotta be Moses to get across that highway."

"Well Moses, is she in or is she out?" Chet asked.

"Look," Cory said, "I can only tell you guys that she's gonna be watching you from right where she is."

"That's creepy and somewhat exciting."

"So what do we do now, dad?" Shawn asked.

"Guess we stand next to the window and try to look appealing," he answered before the two Hunters did exactly that.

🌎🌎🌎

"Where's Brenda?" Cory asked at lunch the next day.

"Yeah," Topanga agreed, "she's never been sick a day in her life."

"She's probably playing hooky."

"Where would a lunchroom lady play hooky?"

Mr. Feeny entered the cafeteria, calling everyone's attention to him. He waited for the students to fall silent before he announced: "it is my sad duty to inform you that Brenda Hibbard, our lunchroom lady, has passed away."

"What?" Cory asked in disbelief as he stepped forward to address their teacher. "Mr. Feeny, she was just here yesterday doing the lava on my mashed potato volcano."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Matthews," he said, "uh, may we— can we have a moment of silence in her remembrance?"

Sympathetically, Juliet placed her hand on Cory's shoulder. The cafeteria remained silent as the students bowed their heads. Then a heartbeat later, normal conversation resumed as if nothing important had happened.

"Wait, wait, wait," Cory tried, "Mr. Feeny, aren't we going to do something here, like have an assembly or a ceremony?"

"No. No, Mr. Matthews. There's nothing planned at the moment."

Juliet frowned at the lack of effort. "That's sad."

"It truly is, Miss Capelwood," Mr. Feeny agreed before he walked away.

🌎🌎🌎

As they walked home from school that day, Juliet was quiet as she thought about everything that had happened so far this week. Shawn walked next to her as usual, though most likely thinking about his own perspective of the events. The redhead finally broke the silence as they approached the trailer park. "Shawnie?"

"Yeah?"

"There's something I need to tell you."

He glanced at her curiously. "What's that?"

"Well," she started, fidgeting slightly from both nervousness and embarrassment, "I didn't tell you everything about our visit with your mom."

"What's that?" he repeated.

She turned to look up at him. "Well, your mom wanted me to tell you that she loves you very much."

The boy's expression softened. "I love her too."

"That's not all," the redhead added, feeling the warmth returning to her face. Shawn looked at her expectantly, though his expression changed to one of surprise as she gently grasped his arm to help her push up on her toes as she pressed her lips briefly to his cheek. "That's from her," Juliet explained. She quickly released him and turned to go, calling "bye!" over her shoulder as she sped off, leaving him staring after her open-mouthed.

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet had mostly recovered from her embarrassment the following evening, though she declined to tell Cory what had happened on their way to check in on the Hunters. After he knocked on the door and was admitted entrance, the pair saw both Chet and Shawn on the floor of the living room, laughing at a picture that the older man was holding up. The redhead smiled at the sight, pleased that her best friend was finally having the type of relationship with his father he'd always wanted.

"Hey, look, here's when me and your mother were teachin' you how to ride a two-wheeler," Chet said, showing his son the picture.

"So our family wasn't always messed up all the time was it, dad?" he asked.

"No. We had a Kodak moment or two."

Juliet sat on the floor next to the dark-haired boy. She was instantly reminded of the summer nights from elementary to middle school when they'd been in the same exact position watching TV long past their bedtimes. They'd eaten popcorn together and had thrown it at the TV while booing loudly whenever someone had answered a quiz show question incorrectly. She smiled softly as she leaned against him to get a better look at the picture. The boy's arm wrapped automatically around her shoulders just like he used to do when they were younger.

"It looks like you're riding indoors," Cory observed, breaking the redhead from her thoughts.

"Oh, sure. That's Toys 'R' Us," Chet answered, "that's Shawn ridin' down aisle five."

"We couldn't actually afford to buy a bike," he added.

"Remember when we found that old one on our way home from school that day?" Juliet asked.

"Oh yeah," Shawn agreed brightly, "we were gonna paint it and clean it up to make it look new."

"But then your mom said it smelled funny from sitting out with the garbage all day and made us put it back," she finished with amusement, "though now that I think about it, she probably didn't want to clean us up after we got all messy with paint."

Chet remembered that incident as well, though the reasoning wasn't exactly true; neither family had had funds to spare to buy extra paint for the bike. "Money was a little short that year," he said instead, "sorry about that, son."

"Hey, it doesn't matter to me. Fun is fun."

"At least we have the memories," the redhead agreed.

"You guys have been up all night looking at pictures?" Cory asked, feeling suddenly out of place as Shawn and Juliet talked about stories that he didn't share with them.

"Yeah. Yeah. Boy, time really flies when you're— well, when you stick around and hang out with your son," Chet said. He picked up the next picture and laughed. "Hey, look. Here's you on a bear rug. That's your butt."

Shawn turned pink and quickly placed his hand over Juliet's eyes to cover them, causing the girl to let out a quiet "aw" of disappointment.

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet joined Cory at Brenda's funeral after she uncharacteristically decided to skip school for it, though she thought being there for her friend was the more important of the two.

"Jules, have you been to a funeral before?" Cory asked.

She shook her head. "My grandparents died before I could meet them properly and my mom doesn't really have any other family except for an estranged brother and a nephew."

"I didn't know you had a cousin," he replied, surprised.

She shrugged. "I've never met him but I've heard a few stories and he's not exactly pleasant. With a name like Theobald I'm not exactly surprised."

The curly-haired boy gave her a small, weak smile that didn't reach his eyes. Juliet sighed, wishing there was a better way to cheer up her friend. "Come on, Cor," she said as she gently took his hand and tugged him into the room with the casket.

There was only one other person in the room and Cory tapped him on the shoulder with his free hand, saying, "excuse me, Mr. Undertaker, sir. It's our first time in a funeral home and we're a little nervous. Could you please tell us what it is I'm supposed to do?"

He turned around and Juliet couldn't even bring herself to be surprised that it was Mr. Feeny (somehow he seemed to be everywhere), though Cory startled. Their teacher observed them sternly. "You're supposed to be in school Mr. Matthews, Miss Capelwood."

"Mr. Feeny, you don't do that to a person, especially in a place like this," Cory told him.

Their teacher ignored him as he addressed Cory's previous words. "Ah. First time you've ever been in a place like this?"

"Yeah," the curly-haired boy admitted and Juliet nodded in agreement as he continued: "you know, I didn't even know her. I mean, all I know is that she served us food."

"She was always there until one day she wasn't," Juliet added quietly.

"But there's gotta be more to a person's life than that."

"Oh, Cory, don't lightly dismiss something that meant the world to this woman," Mr. Feeny said.

"Serving us food?" he asked incredulously.

"That's right, and she loved you kids. When anyone would ask her if she had children, she always said 'I have nine hundred.'"

The redhead smiled at the sentiment as Cory wondered, "I mean, she didn't have any kids of her own?"

"Not everyone's that blessed," Mr. Feeny replied, "but she did have a place where she was cared about, a place where she knew she belonged. That blessing she recognized. I, for one, will miss her."

"I will too," Juliet agreed.

"Yeah, well, her nine hundred kids are gonna miss her, too," Cory replied and paused before he added, "Mr. Feeny?"

"Mr. Matthews?"

"How do you make people feel that they're wanted and they should be together even if they don't recognize it?"

"Do you recognize it?"

The Hunters weren't the only people Cory thought of when he answered, "yeah, I do."

"Well, then, tell them, Mr. Matthews. That's what friends are for."

Cory and Juliet exchanged a look as they stood. "Thanks," the curly-haired boy said.

As they walked out, their teacher called after them: "and be careful crossing that highway!"

🌎🌎🌎

The duo found themselves in front of the motel door again and this time Juliet knocked for admittance. The door opened with Virna on the other side. "Well, if it isn't Cory and Juliet, the little go-between children." They stepped into the room as she continued: "and what message do you carry today?"

"No message, Mrs. Hunter," Cory answered, "we're here on our own."

"Well, you're awful dressed up. Do you intend on asking me to a picture show?"

"Actually, we're dressed up because we just came back from saying goodbye to someone we really cared about," the boy replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Yeah," he agreed, "but I guess I never really realized how much I cared about her until after she was gone."

"Well, unfortunately sometimes it takes leavin' to make you realize what you had."

"Look," Cory began, "I know you left because you guys weren't a happy family but you wouldn't have come back this far, to this place, unless you felt like they were still your family waiting for you across the road."

"Cory, I did the worst thing somebody can do. I gave up and left."

Juliet, who had been quiet during the conversation until now, finally spoke up. "You're wrong." She turned from the window where she'd been looking out at the Hunters' trailer across the highway to see Cory staring at her with wide eyes and Virna looking mildly surprised.

"I'm sorry?" the woman questioned her, sounding slightly offended.

"You're wrong," she repeated. She ignored the warning hiss of her name from the curly-haired boy. "Leaving isn't the worst thing you can do. Barron— my dad— left before I was born and I thought that was unforgivable, that he was some sort of terrible person for doing so. But he came back and I learned that wasn't true at all. Eventually I forgave him for real. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that leaving isn't the worst thing you can do. Never returning is, and you're here, so that proves you're trying to make amends already."

"Juliet's right," Cory agreed, "leaving affects everyone. Right now, they feel like they did the worst thing by driving you away."

She looked between the two teens. "Well, you've been back and forth between us. What do you think?"

"Well, I. . . I think. . ." He looked for the right explanation before he continued: "I think you can make a hole in somebody's mashed potatoes, okay? And you can make that gravy just like lava and you can do it and they'll never appreciate it until the first day it's not there."

At Virna's slightly puzzled expression, the redhead picked up on the boy's explanation. "I think he means that you can take the little things for granted and never realize how good you have it until it's gone. Not everyone gets a second chance to after that but you, Virna, are lucky because you do."

"You think they want me back?" she asked.

"Well, I think you'll never find out until you cross that highway and knock on the door," Cory told her.

They could hear the catch in her voice as she said, "you know, it's dangerous crossing that highway."

Juliet gave her a wry smile. "Believe me, we know."

"But, you know, maybe once you get there you'll be happy so you'll just wanna stay," Cory added.

Virna was quiet as she looked out the window. Taking that as a cue to leave, Juliet grabbed Cory's arm. "Let's go."

"Hey, Juliet and Cory?" she called after them.

"Yeah, Mrs. Hunter?" the boy asked, turning back around.

"Shawn's got good friends."

Juliet gave her a smile. "Yeah, well, he's got a good mom, too. Lucky guy."

🌎🌎🌎

At the funeral home, Mr. Feeny stood next to Cory and Juliet as he addressed the curly-haired boy: "Mr. Matthews, normally your little schemes alarm me but I must say that with this one, you've outdone yourself. As for Miss Capelwood, I expected nothing less."

Juliet straightened, pleased with the praise as Cory rolled his eyes at her lighthearted boastfulness. Mr. Turner glanced at the pair. "Yeah, I still think you take your mashed potatoes a little too seriously."

The redhead shrugged and looped an arm awkwardly around the boy's shoulders. "Yeah, but he wouldn't be Cory if he didn't."

"Thanks," he told her as he gingerly placed her arm back by her side while he made a face. It was the girl's turn to roll her eyes at him.

"Nice work," their teacher told them.

"Well, the woman did have nine hundred children," Cory stated, "I just thought they should all get their chance to say goodbye."

Slowly, the students of John Adams High filed through the door of the funeral home, each holding a flower on a silver tray. One by one, they placed it on top of the casket in honor of their well-loved lunch lady.

🌎🌎🌎

After the funeral, Shawn and Juliet walked back to the trailer park together. She'd been dying to ask how it had been going with his mom back but hadn't really known how to start that conversation so she hadn't brought it up. Only now, she didn't want to do anything too late as the events of the day had taught her, so she tentatively broke the silence: "so, how's your mom?"

Almost immediately, a smile curled on his lips and his expression brightened. "She's good. I think she's really going to stay this time."

Juliet gave him a pleased look. "I'm so glad," she said, but the sentiment fell too short of what she really felt. "For what it's worth, I think so, too."

He glanced at her. "That's worth a lot in my book, Julie. I don't know what you told her to convince her but whatever it was, I'm grateful for it."

A light blush colored her face and she shrugged modestly. "I only told her the truth." 

[written mar. 2021]
[edited may 2022]