𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 ━ shawn hunter¹

14│ A KISS IS MORE THAN A KISS

"A little?" Shawn scoffed. Juliet ignored him.

"Quit your crying," Cory told his best friend before he turned to the redhead. "Jules, I'm just a guy in a tux walking down an aisle with his ex-girlfriend in a gown in front of the entire school. And you think I haven't moved on."

"Okay, Cor. If you're really over her, then you're ready to date other girls," Shawn told him.

"Well, I should say so."

"So you'd be up for a little double-date action?"

"Hey!"

"Montacute's banned from being in my space," Shawn said firmly.

"We don't need him," the curly-haired boy agreed before he added, "but what will you do, Shawn?"

"Oh, now this is the Cory I've always hoped for!"

Juliet huffed with annoyance and crossed her arms. She got it. Really, she did. Shawn had always been more protective of her feelings but this was almost ridiculous. She could make her own decisions, thank you very much.

"Well, fine," she told them, "I'll go on a date with Jack by myself."

"Absolutely not!"

"Shawn! He's my boyfriend!" the redhead exclaimed.

"Not a very good one. Now, as for Cory," he said dismissively before he looked around the hall. "Melissa, you wanna go on a date with Cory?"

"Sure," she answered.

"Alright, Cor, we just got you a date. What do you say?"

"You go."

🌎🌎🌎

"Hey," Jack said softly as he held the car door open for the red-haired girl. Juliet stood in front of him, dressed nicely for their night out.

"Hey," she replied, almost forcing herself to take a step forward to press a kiss to the boy's lips. She pulled away as soon as she could and slid into the car.

"Hi, John," she greeted the driver, who answered her in turn.

The ride was spent in mostly awkward silence as Juliet fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. When they arrived at the restaurant, she opened the door herself and got out, hesitating only a moment before she let Jack lead her into the upscale eatery.

After another long stretch of nothing while they waited for their food, Juliet finally tried asking a question "So, how's your job with your dad?"

Immediately, Jack made a face. "Terrible. I don't have a mind for banking at all and I don't know why he's insisting I do. I'm great with languages and pretty good with math but money and economics just. . . doesn't stick. It's exceptionally tedious and I don't know how I can spend the rest of my life doing this."

The redhead remained quiet, knowing that saying you could always leave wasn't an option. Jack wouldn't want to abandon his mother. The boy continued: "and now he's even more annoyed than usual since apparently his old banking arch-nemesis is back in town. I didn't even know that bankers had arch-nemesises. Uh, arch nemsesi? I don't know the plural for that. Anyway, he's been out late a lot to try and keep his reputation up— mostly at business meetings. I've attended a few and they're terribly boring. I don't even know why he's got a thing against Capelwood but—"

"Capelwood?" Juliet asked, finally interrupting the blonde's rant.

The boy's eyes widened slightly. "Uh, different Capelwood. He owns a bank, too, and is pretty much my dad's direct rival. They're in the same social sphere and everything. Apparently they had this rivalry all the way back in college."