𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 & 𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄 ━ girl meets world²

1│WELCOME TO NEW YORK

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❛ ʟᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ & ʟᴀᴄᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐎𝐍𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ɴᴇᴡ
ʏᴏʀᴋ ꒱


❝ YOU'RE MY CANADA ❞

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School had let out for the summer, which was a relief for Miya as she had a brief respite from enduring interactions with her classmates. Jonah was a little less happy as school had always come easily for him, but he'd promised to help her with her summer homework. They had just passed their one-year anniversary as boyfriend/girlfriend and nothing was really different from being friends. They still weren't big on PDA even when they were alone. Sometimes Miya would hold Jonah's hand while they watched a movie or she would kiss him on the cheek as they parted, but she was still the only one initiating the contact. She didn't mind, but it would've been nice if he thought to do it once in a while.

Juliet was busier with work than usual but the Asian girl didn't really mind— she could accept that as a reason for absence more than her mom going out on a date with a different guy every night. The truth was, Juliet's late nights weren't just due to work. She was also wrestling with the idea of sending her daughter abroad to do her last year of middle school in America.

Miya had seemed to like John Quincy Adams and going to class with Farkle more than she ever had her British school. But that could've been the newness of the setting or the novelty of seeing her other best friend in person, which had been solely relegated to holidays for most of their friendship. And then there was Juliet herself. There was no way she was ready to move back to the same country that Shawn lived in. Sure, she was in a better state than she had been thirteen years ago, but seeing him this past Christmas had rattled her to her core.

If she moved to New York— as that was where Miya's friends were— she'd be seeing Cory a lot more, which was fine; she'd missed him. But with Cory came Shawn, as it always had, and she couldn't do that. She could move to another state or even another part of the city, but that would defeat the purpose of Miya seeing her American friends more often. So she spent many nights drawing up lists of pros and cons as well as researching subjects related to the potential move.

She didn't want to talk to Miya about it until she was more certain, so her usual line of discussion was closed. She could talk to Cory, Topanga or Stuart to see what they thought, but they were biased— they'd only said a hundred times that she should move back to the U.S. That left the one pair of friends who'd always stood by her: Celeste and Kendrick. The only problem with talking to them was that their jobs provided a lot of flexibility for travel and they were hardly ever home. But, luckily, she was able to pin them down when they returned home for a few weeks in June.

They scheduled an evening for the three of them to get together in Kendrick and Celeste's airy apartments— Juliet teased them for having a bigger home when they were both never there and didn't have any children. Miya went over to Jonah's under the pretense of Juliet working late again. While she didn't like lying to her daughter, she just didn't want Miya to get her hopes up until a plan was in place.

The trio settled on the Johnsons' balcony, which overlooked a quiet street. Juliet slowly turned the stem of her wine glass between her fingers, watching the red liquid spin with the same motion. The couple had caught her up on their most recent travels— pictures included— and she was looking for the best way to bring up what she wanted to talk about.

"So, you've heard all about us; what's new with you?" Kendrick asked, and she felt a surge of gratitude towards her friend. Even if he hadn't known it, he'd given her the perfect lead-in.