𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 ━ shawn hunter¹

13│AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER

"What about my nose?" Jennifer asked, self-consciously covering it with her hand.

"Um—"

"Who said something about my nose?"

"Um—" he repeated. He glanced over his shoulder at his best friends, but they were of no help.

"So, it was your friends Cory and Juliet who made you say these bad, bad things, hmm?"

"Like I'd ever tell you," he scoffed.

Shawn's resolve didn't last as the blonde slid her fingers into his hair and pulled him close to kiss him soundly on the lips. Juliet's stomach clenched as she watched them. It was bad enough when they'd been dating but now that they'd broken up, it was so much worse.

When she pulled away, he answered, "Cory Matthews, son of Alan and Amy, grandson of Nana and Sam. Juliet Capelwood, daughter of Daly and Barron Capelwood."

"How could you sell out my Nana?" Cory gasped.

The blonde glanced at the pair across the hallway before she turned back to the dark-haired boy. "You know, I've been thinking. Maybe there still could be something between us."

Without warning, she grabbed him and swung them around so he was pressed against the stairwell before she gently brushed her nose against his. Juliet's stomach lurched and her hands fisted at her sides as she watched the gesture. Stiffly, she turned to Topanga. "Excuse me, I think I need to vomit."

The redhead quickly left the hallway, unable to watch any longer. She'd been so sure that she wasn't the only one who'd seen the spark— it had been stronger this year than it had ever been before— but the second Jennifer asked him out, Shawn had unhesitatingly said yes. It had been a blow to the heart to watch each time she'd stumbled in on them kissing and she'd had to excuse herself more than once when she'd third-wheeled them. (Juliet was pretty sure Jennifer had done it on purpose.)

It was easier to hate her since the blonde was a grade-A bitch who seemed to have it out for her. While they'd barely interacted outside of Jennifer hording Shawn's time, the few things she had said to Juliet hadn't been kind, including but not limited to: implying that she needed to lose weight (and sometimes outright saying it), mocking her for being a good student and prizing her academics, and— the one that took the cake— suggesting that she should dye her hair as it would look better blonde before she'd scoffed and said that not even changing her hair color could keep Shawn's attention.

Juliet had kept these insults to herself, not wanting to be labeled anything close to a homewrecker especially since Shawn seemed happy. Still, it burned every time Jennifer called herself his girlfriend when she couldn't help feeling like she'd been so close.

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Juliet joined Cory at Chubbie's later after calming down from the emotions she'd felt in the hallway. The pair slid into the booth across from their friend. "Shawn, hey. Listen," Cory said, "I was just curious. What does it mean when a girl goes—" He copied Jennifer's hiss.

"Cory, come on. She was just being playful."

"Right," the redhead agreed scornfully, "like when a spider catches a fly and sucks out his head meat?"

"She was upset, you know?" Shawn defended the blonde. "I mean, after all of those terrible things you guys said about her."

"Shawn, we said them to make you, our best friend, feel better about being dumped."

"She's not the nicest either," Juliet mumbled, earning a sympathetic look from the curly-haired boy next to her.

"May I speak freely?" he asked.