𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 ━ shawn hunter¹

3│FATHER KNOWS LESS

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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ғᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ᴋɴᴏᴡs ʟᴇss ꒱


❝ CAN IT BE FOUND AT THE
BEGINNING OF 'FAJITA? ' ❞

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Feeny's test wasn't too hard. Juliet had studied and was confident in the material; she was pretty sure she was getting a grade better than the first multiple-choice answer of C. Unfortunately, Cory wasn't so lucky. The few times she'd glanced over to check in on him, he'd been asleep.

"Alright class, time's up," Mr. Feeny announced as he came around to collect the papers. "Please pass your tests to the front of the rows." Once they'd followed the directions their teacher picked them up. "Mr. Minkus, the test didn't require an essay but how refreshing you've chosen to include one."

Juliet rolled her eyes. As much as she didn't truly mind the boy doting on her, she didn't think she could ever be best friends with someone so focused on academics. Besides, she liked being the smartest one in the group even if Cory teased her about it incessantly.

"Suck up," she heard Shawn mutter next to her.

"Future plumber," came Minkus' reply.

Their teacher weighed their papers in his hand. "Feels a C-minus short." He noticed Cory's sleeping position. "Ah, yes. Here we are."

The redhead made to kick her friend awake but Feeny pulled his test out from under him first. "Huh? What? Is the test over? How'd I do?"

"Looks like an A."

"I got an A?"

"No, A is the answer you put down before you slipped into your coma."

"So what did I get?" he asked.

"Well, you answered one question out of forty and got it wrong, so what grade do you think I'm going to give you?"

"Can it be found at the beginning of 'fajita?'" Cory asked.

"Si señor."

"C'mon Mr. Feeny," he pleaded. "I was up 'till after midnight."

"Oh? And what earth-shattering event kept you up till that time of night?"

"A no-hitter," he explained proudly.

Juliet rolled her eyes again. Boys.

"You got to stay up and watch the game?" Shawn asked, impressed.

"With my dad."

At that, the redhead slumped in her seat. Even if she didn't understand baseball, she'd make an even greater effort to do so if she had a dad to watch the game with.

"Ah, baseball," Mr. Feeny said. "Silly me. Here I thought you might've stayed up for something frivolous, like the announcement from Stockholm of the Nobel Prizes."

"Biophysics: Dr. Ira Soochek," Minkus said promptly. "Medicine: Dr. Lin Yi Pao. Economics: Professor Narwhal Foab. And I'm fresh as a daisy."

"Teacher's pet."

"Fix a sink."

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet and Shawn took their normal route back home after saying goodbye to an irritated Cory who had complained most of the way about either being tired or how unfair Mr. Feeny was.

The redhead had stepped onto the familiar wall and stuck her arms out for balance as Shawn sighed. "I would've liked to stay up late for the game. Cory's so lucky."

"Even though he failed the test?"

He scoffed. "Like I've ever cared about grades."

The girl glanced down at him. "You should, Shawnie. You're selling yourself short, y'know."

Shawn rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna turn out like my dad, Julie. I've told you that before."

"Only because you believe it," she countered. "Fathers don't know everything. I don't think I'm gonna turn out like my mom."

"That's 'cause you're special," he protested and then he grinned. "And I'm not just saying that 'cause you're my wife."

The redhead blushed slightly and concentrated more than necessary on climbing off the wall to join him on the sidewalk. 

"Cookie partner," she reminded him for the umpteenth time.

"Same thing. But seriously Julie," he continued once they started walking again. "You've got potential."

"So do you," she argued back. "Why don't you start reading some of those books I get you for Christmas? Then you'd see reading isn't so bad."

"I read!"

"Comic books don't exactly count."

"I like the pictures."

Juliet sighed. It was a never-ending quest of trying to encourage her best friends— because Cory was included— to not slack off during school.

🌎🌎🌎

After she said goodbye to Shawn, the redhead entered the apartment and closed the door quietly behind her as a thick silence filled in the room. She could hear the muted sounds of the other people living on their floor and even the heavy music from above but the space where she and her mom lived was empty of sound. It was deafening after being surrounded by the noises of her friends all day.

Juliet crossed the carpeted floor to the lamp on the table and flicked it on before she moved to turn on the other as well. Rainbow Falls had no central lights except for in the hallways and even half of those were broken. The AC consisted of fans and window units that you had to shift just so or else they wouldn't work and even then the air was weak.

Their kitchen was tiny with old fixtures and a leaky faucet. Their furniture wasn't much better. Juliet's room was a postage-stamp sized space big enough for a single bed, a dresser, a lamp and her bookshelf which was filled to overflowing with used books. She was lucky, really, that she even had her own room. Her clothes consisted of as-clean-as-possible hand-me-down outfits that she found in thrift stores during the summer.

It hadn't always been like this. When she was younger, her mom, Daly, had been home almost all the time to take care of her. Once Juliet was old enough, her mother had picked up a waitressing job to make ends meet. The red-haired woman had been a rather well-known name in the New York theater business before she met Juliet's father, had a child, and then been left as a single parent so the service industry was something to get used to. Now that Juliet was old enough to manage for herself, Daly tried to take as many shifts as possible to save up.

This resulted in them not being able to spend much time together and the redhead being unwillingly jealous whenever she saw Cory with his family. At least Shawn kind of understood with them being practically neighbors. Juliet had promised herself that if she ever had a daughter, she'd be prepared to be an actual parent and that was what encouraged her to try her best at school even if it caused her friends to tease her for being smart. 

[edited apr. 2022]