𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 ━ shawn hunter¹

17│THE FUGITIVE

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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛʜᴇ ғᴜɢɪᴛɪᴠᴇ ꒱


❝ I DON'T KNOW WHAT
I'D DO WITHOUT YOU ❞

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Juliet was curled up on her bed with the covers pulled up over her head as the storm outside worsened, flashes of lighting throwing the room into occasional sharp relief. Underneath her covers, the redhead had a flashlight, popcorn and a Catcher in the Rye propped open. The storm was loud enough that she didn't even hear her window sliding open or the footsteps made by a soaking-wet boy.

It was only when her covers were tugged back and the light shone on Shawn's familiar face did the girl let out a startled yelp, one hand reaching to flick on the lamp. It was quickly caught by the dark-haired boy who said in a whisper, "don't turn on the light."

The redhead propped herself up and used her flashlight to take in the boy's appearance. "What did you do now, Shawnie?"

He didn't even have to ask how she knew he'd done something. Instead, he continued to speak in a quiet voice: "the cops are after me, maybe even the FBI. You're not involved unless you want to be."

Juliet's eyes widened and she blinked a few times as his words processed. Then, she did something he never would've guessed: she laughed. "Shawnie, you've been hanging out with Cory too much. I'm sure whatever you've done isn't bad enough to get the government on you. You're being overdramatic." When he didn't make a move to claim this was all a joke or that she was right, the girl frowned slightly. "What did you do?"

"Do you want to be involved or not?"

"If you're being serious about this you know I'm here to help," she told him firmly. "What's this about?"

"I'm a fugitive," the boy said.

"Huh?"

"You remember that cherry bomb I showed you at lunch?"

"Yeah?"

"All day long I kept feeling it in my pocket, all round and waxy just begging me to light it. I mean, I could actually hear it saying 'light me, light me Shawn. Blow something up.' I heard your voice, too, telling me not to be stupid, but I— well, I kind of ignored it."

Juliet gave him a worried look. "What did you blow up, Shawnie?"

"Well, I was riding my bike down K Street and I parked at the Market Giant—"

"Cory's dad's store," Juliet said with sudden, dawning horror.

"But there on the ground by the shopping carts was a matchbook. It was like a sign, y'know, saying 'now, Shawn, now. Let the sucker blow.' You were still telling me not to be an idiot and that I would get in trouble for this but I couldn't help it. I don't remember lighting it but suddenly there it was in my hand, sparks flying off the fuse and suddenly I realized 'this thing's going to go off!' I mean, I could lose an eye, lose an arm, wind up looking like our shop teacher!"

"So why didn't you just throw it?" the girl asked with a frown.

"There were people all around, I could've hurt somebody," Shawn explained. "I just knew I had to get it far, far away, so I mailed it."

"You blew up a US mailbox," the redhead realized, aghast.

"Well, it's still standing although the sides did puff out like a fat guy burping. All the stuff inside got torched, though. You should have seen the flames and the freaked-out look on people's faces."