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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ɪ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ,
ᴅᴏɴɴᴀ ᴋᴀʀᴀɴ ꒱


❝ A GUITAR PICK, A
GREENPEACE STICKER
& A BOX OF SNO-CAPS ❞

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"Juliet and Shawn are so cute together," Topanga observed as she and Cory sat at a table in Chubbie's watching the couple from afar. "I wish we could have gone on a double date together before their two-week rule ended. Maybe they'll forget about it—"

"Forget about it," Cory repeated as he chuckled.

"What?"

"Shawn isn't going to forget, Topanga. He cares about Juliet too much to risk hurting her feelings," he explained.

"But aren't they going to feel worse when they're apart?" the blonde asked.

The pair in the booth remained oblivious to their friends' conversation as they sat across from each other instead of side-by-side. Their two weeks had officially ended and, while Juliet was reluctant to break up, she'd known all along it was coming. In an effort to make it easier, she removed her hands from Shawn's. "So I guess that's it. It's over."

"Two weeks," he replied. "We knew that going in."

"We did," the redhead agreed. She shrugged out of the black jacket she was wearing and tried to hand it to him. "I guess you'll want this back."

Shawn pushed it back towards her. "No, no. You can keep it."

"Shawn—"

"It's alright. I can always get another one," he insisted. Sighing, Juliet folded the leather jacket over her arm and made to stand, causing him to look up in surprise. "Wait, where-where are you going?"

She really didn't want to stick around. All she wanted to do was go back to Cory's, eat as much ice cream as she could and maybe watch My Best Friend's Wedding as an excuse to be upset for a few hours. Instead, she heaved another sigh and sat. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought we were finished here."

"Well I thought we could hang out but never mind." He was clearly startled by her short tone.

"I've got homework to finish, maybe later," she told him. "Anything else?"

"You're just taking this so well," Shawn said with disbelief. It was a lot harder to let her go than he'd originally thought it would be, yet here she was acting like it was a normal day.

"It was a great two weeks," Juliet stated with a shrug. "We had fun."

"Yeah, we did," he agreed. His voice softened as he remembered the fourteen days that had seemed to pass by faster than normal.

"So I'll see you around." The redhead tried to make her escape again.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow, I guess," he conceded.

Grateful that she could leave, Juliet wasted no time in standing and making her way to the stairs. Shawn stood as well, though he went over to the table where their friends sat. As he faced them, Juliet paused on her way out the door and turned to look back at her now ex-boyfriend. She wished that there was some way to convince him that his two-week rule was stupid. When nothing came to mind, she resumed her path to the exit.

"That Juliet's alright," Shawn commented to the couple. "I'm gonna miss her."

"You're going to see her again in less than twenty-four hours," Topanga pointed out as she rolled her eyes, "and if you're going to miss her, why'd you break up with her?"

"As they say south of the border, dos semanas," the dark-haired boy answered.

"Shawn, you guys were really getting along. She's been the one person you've always wanted a relationship with and now you're just going to let her go?" the blonde demanded. "Your two-week rule is dumb."

"No, no, no," Cory disagreed. "Trying not to push his feelings on to her was dumb, this shows growth."

"Shawn, just face it," the girl said, "you're afraid to make a commitment."

"I'm not afraid to make a commitment!" Shawn protested, which was true. What he was afraid of was hurting his best friend beyond all hope of forgiveness.

"You're afraid to get to know someone," Topanga continued. "You're afraid that if you do have a relationship with Juliet, it's not going to be as good as you've always thought it could be and unless you get over this, you're going to go through life all alone because Juliet will have moved on. Except for Cory, who will bring you magazines and pudding. There, I think I got through to him."

Cory gave her a incredulous look as he nodded to the boy who had turned around and started kissing another girl. "Sure you did, honey, and now he wants to hear what she has to say."

🌎🌎🌎

"What did Topanga mean about me being afraid to commit?" Shawn asked Cory the next day at school. "You know, most relationships don't work out and I just want to get out before Juliet gets hurt, okay?"

"Shawn, Topanga just wants you to be happy."

As they passed the sitting area in the hall, an unattended bag caught their attention. "Hey, somebody left their purse."

Cory walked over and picked it up as their teacher left his office. "Hey, Mr. Feeny, we found this purse. Who runs the lost and found?"

The older man paused. "I do, Mr. Matthews. I teach English, history and film and I run the lost and found."

"We'll put up a notice," Shawn told him quickly.

Mr. Feeny sighed before he walked away. The two boys made their way to the couch. "Maybe you should go through it and see if there's an ID?"

"No," Cory replied immediately. "I once went through my mom's purse. Yeah, I can't look at her anymore." He passed the bag to the other boy.

"There's got to be something in here that lets us know who she is, right?" Shawn asked as he sat down. "I'm goin' in." He pulled out a container.

"Lip gloss," Cory remarked, taking it from him. "She cares about her lips." He unscrewed the cap and sniffed it. "Kiwi-mango."

"Kiwi-mango?" Shawn repeated. A certain redhead instantly came to mind. "No way! Kiwi. . . that's so sexy! Did you know that Ted Koppel show called that 'the lip gloss of forbidden love?'"

"Huh," the curly-haired boy responded. "And look at this, a book of sonnets."

"Shakespeare, I hear he's good," he joked, opening the book. "Notice the bookmark, a ticket stub to a Van Damme movie, only the greatest actor ever made."

"So what we got here is a purse-losin', lips protectin', poetry readin', Van Damme lovin' gal."

What Shawn said next surprised both of them: "wow, I'd give her two weeks."

🌎🌎🌎

Shawn Hunter was in a dilemma.

While that not entirely unusual, this sort of problem had never happened to him. He'd continued to look through the bag in the hopes of finding the owner's identity but as he did so, he found the girl to be more and more interesting. This resulted in his mind being occupied (for once in his life) by more than one girl.

He wasn't quite sure what to make of it as he'd. . . loved Juliet for so long that being with anyone else was unthinkable, at least until purse-girl showed up. If he truly loved her, though, how could he even waste a second thought on this unknown person? Before the fateful find, he'd known with one-hundred percent certainty that Juliet was the girl for him. Now. . . he was unwilling to put an exact number on that statistic.

"Hey, anyone call about that purse yet?" Cory's voice drew him out of his thoughts and he looked up from the book of sonnets.

"'Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove,'" he read.

"No one called, huh?" the curly-haired boy said. "Bummer. Anyway, listen. Topanga and I were talking about your problem—"

"I don't have a problem," Shawn interrupted him, though that was very much a lie.

"We feel that if you gave Juliet another chance—"

"Wait, wait, wait," he cut the other boy off. "Is this you or Topanga talking?"

"She decided that we're one person," Cory replied. "Anyway, you're keeping yourself from being happy, Shawn, and I get that you don't want to hurt her, so maybe if you met Topanga's friend—"

"No. No, no, no," he interjected immediately. "I don't want to be fixed up. Hey, you know what else I found in this purse? A guitar pick, a Greenpeace sticker and a box of Sno-Caps, only the greatest movie snack ever made."

"Wait a minute, Shawn. Listen. Don't you want that feeling you had when you were dating Juliet?" Cory asked.

"What feeling?" Shawn asked, pretending to be oblivious. It was better than the alternative, which was admitting to it and hearing Cory's nagging to have him get back together with Juliet and increase the risk of hurting her feelings.

His friend didn't look entirely convinced at his act. "You know, that feeling that you get when you look at Juliet? Everyone's seen it, Shawn. It's the same way I feel about Topanga. You know, it's warm and happy and fuzzy. I-I can't describe it, but there are bunnies. Lots of bunnies. You know, we just want you to have that feeling, okay? So if you won't try again with Juliet, at least meet Debbie."

"Fine, I'll meet Debbie." He sighed. Maybe admitting it would've been better.

🌎🌎🌎

Cory hurried down the stairs to join Shawn as they waited for their dates only for him to see the other boy dancing to the music playing from the stereo. "I wonder if Debbie's anything like this girl," Shawn called over to him.

"What girl?"

"The purse girl," he answered. "Did you know that she likes classical music?"

"Shawn, you hate classical music."

"I just never gave it a chance!" he exclaimed. "This is the part where the violin rocks."

The dark-haired boy turned up the volume and conducted the air, pretending he was in front of the orchestra. Cory ran over to him and quickly grabbed his hands. "Shawn, Shawn, please don't. Don't-don't do this, okay? Because your date, Debbie, is under the impression that you don't do this."

The doorbell rang, prompting Cory to drop his hands and answer it. The door opened to reveal Debbie and Topanga on the other side. He greeted his girlfriend with a kiss before he introduced himself to the other blonde. "Debbie, how are you? Hi, I'm Cory and this is my best friend, Shawn Hunter."

"You're very thin!"

"Is that bad?" Shawn asked.

"No!" she replied. "It's good. Low impact, high impact, kickboxing, cross training, what are you doing? Whatever it is, it's working."

"I eat a lot of burgers."

"Good! Eat fat to burn fat."

"Debbie is an aerobics instructor!" Topanga explained quickly.

The boys gave forced laughs as Shawn pulled Cory aside. "Why would you think this girl is for me?"

"Word around the gym is that Shawn Hunter is quite a kisser," Debbie commented.

Cory gave his best friend a pointed look before he moved to stand next to his girlfriend. "This could work. She's not anything like Juliet at all."

"I don't know," he replied. "Shawn doesn't sweat much. I hope she's okay with that."

As the dark-haired boy sat down on the couch with the blonde, he started the music again. "What kind of music do you like?"

"Not this," Debbie replied bluntly. "You can't work out to this."

"I like it," Shawn said. "Debbie, if you close your eyes, you can actually see spring. Animals awakening from their winter rest, flowers blossoming into full bloom. Try it."

She tried it, though the she didn't get the same feeling he did. "I just see fat people bouncing."

Cory sat in the chair with Topanga perched on the arm. "I think there's a relationship happening here."

"Let us go to our new couple friends and make plans for weekends at the cottage," he suggested. "Though you can break the news to Juliet."

"Why me?" Topanga demanded. "She's living with you! Where is she anyway?"

"Well, I just thought she would appreciate a fellow female telling her that her best friend has already moved on. I sent her out with Morgan because I was scared of her reaction."

The blonde gave him an exasperated look while Shawn reread the line of poetry: "'love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove—'"

"Why are you doing this to me?" Debbie cried as she covered her ears with her hands.

Cory pulled his girlfriend over to the other pair. "Hi! How's the happy couple doing?"

Shawn's expression bordered on sour as he turned the music off. "I need chocolate," he declared, and dug through the bag to pull out some candy.

"That's fourteen grams of fat," the blonde protested, "and you have a purse!"

"Yes, I do."

"Come on, that's not really his purse," Cory said quickly. "He found that purse."

"He found an ugly one."

"Hey, I happen to like this purse," Shawn told her defensively. "Cory, I don't think this is working."

"Shawn, give it a chance."

"No, no, look," the dark-haired boy said as he stood. "I can't do this, okay?"

"Shawn—"

"Don't fix me up," he insisted, heading for the door.

"Shawn—"

"No, you know what? I'm perfectly happy with the way things are." Shawn swung the bag onto his shoulder and stalked out.

🌎🌎🌎

Cory joined his best friend on the couch the next morning at school. "Hey, listen, sorry about last night. On paper, Debbie sounded pretty good."

"Forget about it," Shawn told him breezily. "Here, have a Sno-Cap."

"Why are you so happy?" Cory asked suspiciously, noticing how the other boy had an almost constant smile on his face.

"Well, I think I met someone. Someone special," he replied, giggling.

"Shawn, you just giggled."

"Yeah, I've been doing that a lot," he admitted, giggling again. "I have the feeling, Cor. Do you know the one you were trying to explain? Well, I woke up this morning and it was like rays of sunshine were— no, no, no, it was more like those really nice summer days, you know the long ones that are warm and bright? But that wasn't all, I can't explain it either but I'm pretty sure I saw a bunny."

"Well good for you, Shawn. So who is it?"

"Well, I always thought it would be Juliet, but. . . but now I think it's the purse girl, Cory."

"Shawn—" Cory started, wondering how on earth he was supposed to tell Juliet that Shawn was feeling this way for someone else. "You don't know this girl. You do know Juliet and you've always felt this way around her—"

"Cory, I do know this girl," Shawn cut him off. "Look, I know as much about her as I do Juliet. I'm in love."

"Well, hey, I hope you have a good time telling Juliet you're going to be perfectly fine being just friends with her."

The smile faded slightly from his face. "Why do I have to tell her?"

"Because that's what she deserves, Shawn. She deserves her best friend being honest with her."

🌎🌎🌎

As much as he hated it, Cory was right and Shawn resolved to tell the redhead the truth the next time he saw her, which was right before lunch. "Hey, Julie, you got a minute?"

She paused, turning to face him. "Yeah, sure. What's up?"

It was then that Shawn realized they hadn't spent much time together after their breakup. "Are you avoiding me?"

"No, of course not," she replied. "Why would you say that?"

"I haven't seen you very much since, well, y'know—"

"We broke up," Juliet said. "Yeah, I've just been busy."

"Right, right," he agreed, though her eyes suspiciously didn't meet his. "Anyway, there's something I've got to tell you."

"Okay?"

"So, well, I've found someone. Someone special."

The girl's expression remained blank. "I'm not following."

"I'm in love, Julie," Shawn told her earnestly. "I know it seems unbelievable but there's this girl and, well, while I've never met her—"

"The purse girl," Juliet finished. "Topanga told me."

"Oh," he said, surprised. "Yeah. Are you okay?"

"'Course I am," she replied. "We knew it was two weeks going in. You don't have to worry about my feelings you know. You can do whatever you want without my permission."

"It's just that— well, it's just that—" he couldn't seem to find the right words.

"I'm happy for you, Shawnie," Juliet said. "I hope you find whoever it is. Now if you'll excuse me, I have homework to finish."

He let her leave, feeling oddly let down. He'd expected her to make a bigger deal of this than she had. There was a strange ache in his chest as he watched her go, as if something was terribly out of place yet he didn't know how to fix it.

What he'd said had been true: ever since he'd met her, he was sure Juliet was the one meant for him. He'd never been torn over who he'd chose, yet the purse-girl was now the one making him feel like this while thinking of Juliet only made him feel guilty and confused.

🌎🌎🌎

That evening after school, Shawn went over to the Matthews' to find Cory sitting at the kitchen table. "Shawn, I'm glad you're here. Listen, based on the information we've gathered from the contents of the purse, I've put together a composite drawing of the woman you love." He showed off his childish drawing. "Okay, she's gorgeous, but she's sad. Sad because she lost her purse."

"She called," Shawn said. "She saw the notice and she called."

"That's great!" Cory exclaimed. "Who is it? Who is it?"

"I don't know. Jack took the message. I'm supposed to meet her at Chubbie's."

"Why don't you take this with you to make sure it's her?" the curly-haired boy asked as he pushed the drawing towards him.

"I'm not going. You go."

"I don't understand."

"Cory, I can't meet her," Shawn explained. "This feeling is so incredible, I just want to hold on to it for as long as possible."

"I know, but do you understand that when you meet her, that feeling will only get better?"

"And what if doesn't? What if it's not as good as what I have now?" It was one of the reasons why he wouldn't commit to a relationship with Juliet.

"With the purse?"

"Just drop it, Cor."

"What are you so afraid of?" Cory asked.

"I'm afraid of getting hurt and hurting the people I care about. I mean, I've seen the pain on my father's face every time a woman walks out because he's not good enough. That's something I would never wish on anyone, especially Juliet," Shawn replied.

"Shawn, you're not your dad, okay? And if you weren't such an idiot, you'd realize you'd never do that to her. This thing is not real," Cory said, throwing the purse.

"Hi guys," Topanga greeted them as she entered the kitchen.

Cory stood and walked over to his girlfriend as she wrapped her arms around him. "This is real. I smile at her, she smiles back. She's there for me through the good and the bad."

"Yeah, well, I've never seen love work."

"But it can," Cory stated. "This girl here could be your love, your destiny."

"That was beautiful, Cory," the blonde told him and he leaned down to kiss her softly.

🌎🌎🌎

At school the next day, Cory was sitting with Topanga on the couch when Shawn approached them angrily. "Hey! Don't ever talk to me about love or destiny again."

"What happened?"

"I went there, okay? I put my heart on the line," Shawn said harshly. "She's got a boyfriend, Cory and do you know what I feel right now? Pain. It's like my heart's been ripped out and stepped on! So just do me a favor and stay out of my personal life, okay?"

"Shawn, I'm sorry."

"I mean it!" he shouted.

"I will."

As he walked off, Juliet, Angela and Angela's friend approached the table. "I'm sorry I lost your purse," the redhead apologized. "I'm not usually that careless."

"I'm just glad someone found it," Angela said as the other girl dumped out its contents.

"I know, I thought it was gone forever," the brunette replied. "Well, here's your stuff back. It was nice meeting you."

Juliet accepted the items and placed them into her backpack as Topanga watched them in disbelief. "Wait, this was the purse that Shawn was obsessing over?"

"What, you didn't see him carrying it around like a security item?" Cory asked sarcastically.

"I didn't pay attention! Juliet, that was your stuff that was in there?"

"Yeah, I was going to show Angela my Vivaldi CD."

"Her stuff was in your purse?" the curly-haired boy questioned her suddenly. "The lip gloss, the Sno-Caps?"

"Yeah," the redhead answered. "I put them in there for the concert and forgot to empty it."

Cory and Topanga exchanged wide-eyed looks as the three girls parted. 

[written apr. 2021]
[edited may 2022]