𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 ━ shawn hunter¹

23│A SUMMER OF CHANGE

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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴀ sᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ ᴏғ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ꒱


❝ HOW DO YOU KNOW IF
YOU LIKE-LIKE SOMEONE? ❞

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Juliet had been out of school for almost a week now and she was very much enjoying her time off. There was only one thing worrying her, though: whenever she'd join Shawn on their walk to hang out with Cory, she wasn't able to meet his eyes without her face going red or the urge to puke rising in her stomach. Luckily, she never actually embarrassed herself by doing something like that, but she was pretty sure that even her not-very-smart best friend was bound to notice something amiss if she failed to meet his eyes all summer.

So, to try and solve this problem, the redhead sought out her not very available mother. Daly, however, was prone to taking less shifts during the summer break to be there for her daughter when the girl didn't have school to take up a majority of her time. Sundays were especially light for the red-haired woman so Juliet found her mother sitting at the kitchen counter paying their bills for the month.

"Mom? Do you have a minute?" the girl asked hesitantly.

The older woman looked up and smiled warmly at her daughter. "Please, anything to save me from this mess."

Despite both women being smart, neither preferred numbers over words. The girl climbed onto the stool next to the woman. "I have a question," she stated.

"Yes, you've already asked one," her mother teased her, causing the girl to roll her eyes.

"I have another one," she hesitated, not sure where to start. Alright, might as well get it over with. "How do you know if you like-like someone?"

Daly's eyes widened slightly in surprise before her expression softened. "You think you have feelings for Shawn, right?"

"How on earth could possibly know that?" came the surprised demand.

"Honey, I've seen the way he looks at you. It was only a matter of time. Besides, I was a girl once myself, falling for someone for the first time. Tell me, how do you feel when you're around him? Is it different than what you've always felt?"

Juliet nodded immediately. "I was always super comfortable with him. He was— is— my best friend. Now I just feel really. . . giddy whenever we hang out. I can't stop smiling when we're together and, well, I can't look him in the eyes anymore," she admitted as her voice grew quieter. "He hasn't teased me about being married in weeks but if he did it now and I tried to deny it, I'm sure he'd know right away how I feel."

"Oh, honey," Daly said sympathetically as she reached forward to wrap her daughter in a hug. "You wanna know the good thing about falling for your best friend?"

"What?"

"You already know them better than anyone else in the world. Even if they don't feel the same way— which I can assure you Shawn does— there's a very high percentage that they're not going to be a jerk when you share your feelings. I'm sure if you told him he'd be ecstatic. He's been wanting to kiss you since kindergarten."

"But that's the thing, mom." The girl pulled out of the hug. "I'm not sure he does feel that way anymore. He's noticed there are other girls now and that I'm not the only one. I've rejected him so many times that he's probably interested in wanting to 'marry' someone else."