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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚ ▎❛ 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ❜ ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏʙᴏᴅʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇs sᴛᴜᴀʀᴛ ꒱
❝ HE'S A DISGUSTING ASSHOLE ❞
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"I believe a person is responsible for her own destiny and can be anything she wants if she wants it bad enough and she never, ever gives up," Topanga finished her argument.
Their teacher, Stuart, opened his arms to gesture in her direction. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for Topanga Lawrence, the next President of the United States."
As they clapped for her speech, Cory spoke up: "uh, everybody, that makes me the first lady." He chuckled. "You see how secure I am in my sexuality?"
"Now come on Topanga, do you really believe in all that Little Mary Sunshine stuff?"
"Yes, I do."
"So do I, to a point," he agreed before he noticed a hand in the air. "Come on, Juliet. What have I said about classroom formalities? Just speak up, let's hear what you have to say!"
She lowered her arm and stated clearly: "I disagree."
"Ooh," their teacher cheered enthusiastically. "Go on."
"You know I love you, Panga," Juliet began, "but motivation can't solve everything. Something will always try to stand in your way. There are always contingencies and thresholds to achievement that can prevent someone from reaching their full potential. Financial setbacks, natural hazards, even a person's own self-doubt. It doesn't matter that a person wants to be something, there has to be the opportunity to get there as well and more often than not an obstacle will keep a person from the end goal."
"Excellent," Stuart said as he clapped his hands. "Any word from the peanut gallery? Shawn!"
"Stuart!"
"Nice haircut."
"Thanks, eight bucks."
"Looks like it," he replied. "Now, Topanga and Juliet have two different arguments. Topanga says that you are in charge of the path your life takes. What philosophical belief is that?"
"Free will."
"Hey, he's a big deal with the new hair."
"She's in charge of her own actions and therefore creates her own destiny," Shawn answered.
"Good hair and good answer. Do you believe either of them?"
"In my experience, when those two debate, it's best to remain neutral."
"I don't doubt it," the man agreed with a smile before he turned to the curly-haired boy. "Now how about it, Romeo? You buy what they're saying?"
"Yeah, I do. I think you have to have at least some control over things that happen to you even if it's not complete," Cory stated.
"Really?" Stuart questioned him. "Cory Matthews wakes up one morning. He kisses his lovely wife. He leaves his nice suburban home and then gets hit by a bus."
"I'll miss you, buddy!" Shawn called out.
"No, I don't get hit by a bus."
"Why not?"
"Because I use the cross walks, I memorize the bus schedules and if I got a wife like Topanga, I ain't leaving the house!"
"Now we'll look at Juliet's side. You do everything possible to avoid the bus. It hits you anyway. Now, what's that called?" their teacher asked.
"Fate," Angela said. "It doesn't matter if you stay in or go out, your life is predestined and there's nothing you can do about it."
"So you mean the bus is going to drive right through my house to get to me?"
"Yes, it is."
"I'll miss you, buddy!" Shawn exclaimed again.
"Alright guys, we got to get out of here," Stuart said as they approached the end of the lecture. "Now, uh, I read your papers and most of them were bad. This isn't high school anymore. Free up your minds." He held up their assignment. "You're smarter than these."
🌎🌎🌎
After school, everyone gathered in the common area around the pool table. Juliet pulled up a seat next to Topanga and watched boredly as Angela went up against Stuart. They went for several rounds and the older man continued to preform poorly. As the brunette missed one of her final shots, she stood and leaned against her pole. "You're a good teacher but a bad pool player. You owe me a coffee."
"Alright. Anybody else? It's on me." When he received several requests, he chuckled. "Hey, guys, I only have two hands here. Topanga, Juliet, do you want to help me out?"
The girls exchanged a look before they shrugged. The blonde nodded. "Sure."
As they walked over to the order counter, their teacher glanced at them. "You know, actually, I wanted to thank you."
"What did we do?" Topanga asked.
"You took my class. It's always an interesting debate when you two go up against each other. A teacher likes it when there's a discussion that shakes things up. It makes the class more exciting."
"Oh, no problem," Juliet said easily.
"Thanks," the other girl agreed. "Thanks a lot."
"Keep it up," he told them before he turned to the waiter. "Six coffees." As they waited for them to be prepared, he continued: "'if we don't challenge our leaders, we have no right to complain over how they lead.'"
"That's a quote from my paper," Topanga sounded surprised.
"'Leaders should be held to the same moral and ethical standards as every day citizens as positions of power do not exonerate them from the law.'"
"And that's from mine!" Juliet exclaimed.
"They were good papers. Topanga, you got a little lazy on the summary and Juliet, yours was a bit wordy but we'll go over it, okay?" he reassured them. "How's campus life?"
"Well, we're in McKay so small rooms, lousy food."
When their order arrived, Juliet picked up the extra coffee while Topanga gathered the sugars and creamer and he took the caddy. "Welcome to college."
🌎🌎🌎
Juliet waited outside of Stuart's office a few days later with her Violin in one hand and her open history book in the other as she previewed the homework chapter. She'd asked to have a meeting after school that day to go over the paper and he'd agreed, saying he'd be free around four. It was now four-fifteen and he was nowhere to be seen.
Finally, he came around the corner wearing a genial smile. "Sorry about the wait. I was held up by a student. Ready to review that paper?"
"Definitely. I've been told before that I use too many words," she admitted sheepishly as he unlocked his door. "I guess I just want to make sure people know what I'm talking about."
"That's a common mistake that students make," he said. He opened the door and stood back to allow her inside. "Would you like the door open or closed?"
"Open's fine. There's not a lot of noise out there right now," she answered as she passed him.
Nodding in agreement, he followed her steps as she went by and she startled when she felt a hand on her back. He guided her gently to the chair and with his free hand and gestured for her to sit down. As she followed the direction, he went around to the other side of his desk and rifled through some papers to find hers. "If you want, I can sit in what I like to call 'the old stodgy chair,'" he offered as he pointed to the formal one next to him. "Or I can sit next to you."
"Well, you're definitely not old and stodgy," Juliet joked. "Anywhere is good with me."
He opted for the seat next to her. "Now, I have a hypothetical question for you before we start."
She gave him a curious look. "Alright?"
"If a teacher were to visit a student's dorm during study hours to go over an assignment, do you think that would be an abuse of power by the instructor?"
"Er, no. I don't think so."
"Interesting. Now, what if while the teacher is with the student, the student sends away their roommate which consequently leaves the instructor alone with them? Is whatever happens in the room the professor's responsibility or the student's?"
"The—" Juliet paused. She'd been about to say the teacher, of course. But then it was also the student's room and therefore their domain.
"See where ethical use of power gets tricky?" Stuart asked with a knowing look. "Alright, let's take a look at this paper." He took out a pencil and traced underneath her title as he read: "'The Importance of Holding Authority to the Rules of Morality and Ethics.' Do you see anything that immediately stands out?"
"Um," she began, "no, actually. Not really."
Her tone must have shown disappointment because his expression became reassuring. "That's why we're here to work on this," he said. He reached over to lay a hand on her arm. She tensed slightly under the unexpected touch and pressed her lips together as he left it there. "Now, I assigned you the paper, right? You don't have to tell me that it's important. You also use a lot of prepositions that make the title redundant. 'Of,' 'to,' 'the' and 'of' again. If we rearrange this." He removed his hand to hold the paper steady as he wrote. "It can read 'The Moral and Ethical Accountability of Authority.' Better, right?"
"Uh. . . yeah," the redhead agreed somewhat warily.
"Let's see if you can figure out the first sentence: 'many cultures in history believe in the Divine Right of Kings or something similar, which exempts rulers from the rules that bind common people.' See anything there?"
"I use 'ruler' twice in different ways," she offered, "and I suppose 'something similar' is a bit informal."
"Good!" he exclaimed. "That's what we're looking for. Instead of 'rules' you could use 'laws,' 'regulations' or if you want to get fancy, 'ordinances.' For 'something similar,' be confident in your position! Either give another example to show the variation or just stick to the Divine Right of Kings; don't make the reader choose between the 'or' options."
"Okay," Juliet said. "And maybe 'many cultures' could just be 'cultures.'"
"Exactly," Stuart told her. "Now you've got it. The trick is to be as nitpicky as your most critical reader. If they're the hardest to please, everyone else will fall in line. Let's move on to the next sentence: 'while the Divine Right of Kings has faded out of practice, it is often difficult to bring authorities to justice.' While you're not wrong, this could be seen as controversial. Let me give you an example. I'm a teacher, right?"
"Yeah."
"And you're a student. Let's say I find you intriguing and want to spend more time with you but you say no. Well, I could use my authority to say that if you don't, I'll fail you. Whose side do you think the University would take?"
"I— what?"
"Think about it," the man said as his hand reached out again but this time it grasped hers. "I could just say you were struggling in my class. They wouldn't know it was sabotage."
Juliet gave him an uncomfortable look as she pulled her hand away. "But my other grades would prove that that would be an abnormality. They'd look into it."
"They might," he agreed. While he was no longer holding her hand, his was now resting on her leg which was so much worse. "But do you really think they'd take a student's testimony over a teacher's, especially when there's no proof? Now, what if it's outside school hours? I'm no longer a teacher and you're no longer a student. I ask you to hang out as friends. You say yes and I give you an A in the class without you having to do any work. Is that outside of the school's jurisdiction to look into?"
In an effort to lighten the tense atmosphere, she attempted to joke: "well, I wouldn't necessarily compare you to a king."
"Perhaps not," Stuart agreed, "but it would be hard to bring the situation under the rule of law, right?" His eyes met hers. "But what if it wasn't so hypothetical?"
The redhead quickly looked down into her lap and some of her hair fell in front of her face. Before she could push it out of the way, the man's fingers were already doing so. Her head jerked up as she stared at him with wide eyes. "What?"
He gave her a soft smile. "I happen to be quite fond of brilliant people. It's quite interesting to learn how their brains work."
She stood up roughly and her chair tilted back towards the carpet at the sudden motion. She caught it quickly and set it back. "I-I'm not comfortable with this. I have to go."
"Are you sure? We have more of your paper to go over."
"No— no. Goodbye, Stuart."
🌎🌎🌎
Juliet rushed down the hallway to get as far away from him as possible. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she could still feel the lingering warmth where his hands had touched her— and not in a good way (like how she felt with Shawn.) All she wanted to do was take a shower and play her Violin until it was time for dinner. As she burst into her dorm, she was surprised to find Cory and Topanga sitting somberly on the girl's bed. The sight made her stop short. "What's wrong?"
When they turned to face her, the blonde's expression sharpened. "He got you too?"
"I— yeah," she said. Her eyes widened at the realization. "He's a disgusting asshole."
"Wait," Cory exclaimed as he stood. "You were with Stuart just now?" At her nod, he came over to stand in front of her. "What did he do?"
"We-we were going over my paper, like he said," she began shakily as the memory caused her to relive the discomfort. "He was a little touchy at first but I thought it was because it was-it was like a habit or something. But then he started asking me these weird questions and-and all I could think about was how much I wanted to get out of there."
The boy's face softened, though his eyes remained angry. "Do you want a hug, Jules?"
"I— yes," she conceded, and he quickly wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back tightly and buried her face against his shoulder.
"Make sure you're not alone with him again, okay?" he murmured. "If he asks you to do anything just say you have to meet me somewhere." She nodded against him to show that she'd heard.
🌎🌎🌎
"So you take your middle name and you put it with the street that you live on," Rachel explained as they sat in the common area the next day.
"And that's your soap opera name?" Jack asked.
"Yeah," she replied. "Like mine is Kimberly Beaumont."
"Johnathan Cumberland," Eric said.
"Eric, your middle name is Randall."
"Tony Randall!" he exclaimed as he snapped his fingers. "The Odd Couple!"
"Didn't you listen to the rules?"
"Who is Tony Randall?"
Jack sighed. "Right. You win."
"Mine is Patrick Trailer Park," Shawn offered, causing everyone but Juliet and Topanga to laugh.
"Mine is Shanaynay Martin Luther King Boulevard." Angela's words were met with silence. "Gosh, I gotta get me some black friends."
"Jules, what's your middle name?" Rachel prompted the other redhead.
She tore her eyes from where she'd been watching Cory's interaction with Stuart outside. "Er— Riley Rainbow Falls." She nudged the blonde. "Panga?"
"I don't want to play."
"Why not?" Rachel asked.
"I have a weird middle name."
Jack stared at her. "Your first name is Topanga."
Before she could respond, there was a shattering of glass as Stuart was sent through the door of the Student Union. As he righted himself, he glared at Cory. "Congratulations. You just got yourself kicked out of college."
🌎🌎🌎
After the incident, Angela, Topanga, Cory, Juliet and Shawn went to the boys' room to regroup. The dark-haired boy spoke first: "how could you do this to Stuart?"
"Shawn, I don't know, okay?"
"I think you went too far," he continued. "You could get in trouble for this."
Mr. and Mrs. Matthews ran into the room. "Hey, no matter what happened, we're behind you. No matter what happened."
"I hit a teacher," Cory said plainly.
"You idiot! I thought you hit a student."
"What on earth could have possessed you to do this, Cory?" Mrs. Matthews demanded. "You hit a teacher?"
"What did he say?" his father asked. "Did he threaten you?"
"No."
"Did he hit you?"
"No."
"What did he do?"
Cory glanced at Shawn. "He made a move on Topanga and Juliet."
The dark-haired boy stiffened as his tone dropped. "He what?"
"In the class?" Mr. Matthews questioned him.
"No, in her dorm room," the boy replied, "and his office."
As Eric joined them, Shawn's gaze met hers. "Why didn't you say anything?"
Juliet shrugged. "You seemed to think he was cool. I didn't know— well, it never came up."
His expression fell as she turned back to the conversation. He couldn't believe it. Why hadn't she come to him? Sure, it had been awkward between them since the break up but didn't she know that he would always, always take her side? That he would gladly get whatever punishment Cory was about to receive if it meant that she was safe?
Shawn was oblivious to the rest of the conversation as he reached over and gently placed his hand on top of hers in a gesture of reassurance. Juliet tensed slightly at the unexpected touch but it was leagues more welcome than Stuart's had been. After only a moment's hesitation, she flipped her hand over so that their fingers could properly intertwine. She tried to ignore the painful thump her heart gave at the familiarity of action.
🌎🌎🌎
The tension of the hearing room was so thick that it could have been cut with a knife. Cory, Topanga and their friends sat on one side of the u-shaped tables while the Dean sat in the middle of hers and Stuart was across from them. Those not immediately involved sat in chairs against the wall or stood off to the side. The proceedings began. "Alright. First of all, this is not a trial so let's not make a big courtroom drama out of it."
With perfect timing, the doors opened to reveal Eric dressed in a suit and he carried a briefcase in his hand. Music played from it as he walked purposefully through the entrance and stopped beside the head table. He opened the case and switched off the player before he began to speak. "Your Honor, Jonathan Cumberland for the defense."
"Mr. Matthews, please leave," Mr. Feeny said.
"Mr. Feeny, we're partners, man. You know, Feeny and Cumberland, Cumberland and Feeny. Look, Mr. Feeny. I know you got a thing going with the Dean, alright? So if it looks like we're gonna lose just play the love card, okay?" His voice lowered to a whisper as he finished.
"Will you shut up?"
Thankfully, he did and the Dean turned to the teacher. "Alright, Stuart, what happened?"
"I was in the Student Union when Cory asked me to step outside. I thought it was to talk about a bad grade I gave him on a paper which I called 'pedestrian.' He then accused me of making a move on Topanga Lawrence and Juliet Capelwood," Stuart answered.
Mr. Feeny's eyes narrowed. "What were you doing in Topanga Lawrence's room?"
"I was going over her paper."
"In her room? That sounds odd to me."
"My students and I have a relationship outside the classroom which allows us to connect better inside the classroom," he replied. "Ask any of them. Shawn? Do you have any problems with my teaching methods?"
"I didn't—" the boy began.
Stuart interrupted him, "in fact, didn't you just tell me that I was the best teacher you've ever had?"
"I no longer believe that."
"But you did at one point. Why did you think that?"
"I don't think really matters what I think," Shawn said, his tone nearing unfriendly. If Cory hadn't already hit this scumbag, he would without hesitation.
"I'd be interested to hear your answer," the Dean told him.
He sighed. "You treated us like equals. Like adults. I guess a lot of other teachers, you know, make you feel like you're a kid."
"Like Mr. Feeny for example."
"Mr. Feeny is a really good teacher."
"Yeah, but he. . . he treats you like a kid."
"Okay, you made your point, Stuart. We've had Mr. Feeny in grade school and in high school, too, so maybe feels like he has to protect us. I don't know. I'm sorry, Mr. Feeny," the dark-haired boy apologized.
"Don't worry about it, Shawn," the older man said before he turned to the other teacher. "How did you know what dormitory Topanga was in?"
"She told me. She told me she lived in the McKay dorms and she offered it to me unprompted. Isn't that right, Topanga?"
"Yes, that's true, but that wasn't. . ."
He cut the girl off, "thank you."
"Do you really think it was proper. . . I mean, I'm talking about simple human propriety. . . to be in a young, female student's bedroom?" Mr. Feeny had stood from his chair and stalked over to the teacher during his questioning. His hands rested on the tabletop as he stared the other man down.
"A dorm room," Stuart corrected him evenly, "also serves as a living room. Or a TV room or a study. It was not a bedroom when I was in there. It's general student opinion that it's not outside my power to visit them in their room to go over an assignment. Isn't that right, Juliet?"
The redhead tensed as she remembered her words and began to agree reluctantly, "well yes, but—"
"Thank you, Juliet," he interrupted her like he had Topanga. "It could be said that the student is responsible for what happens in their room."
Mr. Feeny walked away from him to pace behind Cory's chair. "Stuart, do you believe, as a college professor, that it's okay to be alone in a dorm room with a young female student?"
"The door was open. I even asked her roommates to stay. In fact, it was Topanga who shooed Angela away and Juliet was not even in the room. Isn't that right, Topanga?"
"She was on her way to the Student Union. I didn't feel. . ."
"Thank you. Any more questions, George?"
"Just one," the man answered fiercely. "Is it okay if I rip off your head and roll it down the hallway?"
After that jab, the questioning continued for some time until the Dean declared Cory's punishment of a one-day suspension. Stuart was, obviously, angered by this but now that the school knew to track him, there wasn't much he could do. As the hearing's audience filed out of the room at the end, the core five stayed behind for a few minutes to let the finality of the event sink in.
🌎🌎🌎
Once Shawn suggested that they get ice cream, they piled into the car to drive to there. After they ordered, they found a table near the back and fell into a relaxed conversation about normal things after everything that had happened. When their number was called, Shawn stood. "Julie? Do you want to come with me?"
She hesitated for a moment before she nodded. Together, they went up to the counter. "What's up?"
He glanced at her. "How did you—"
"Please, Shawnie, you're my best friend. I think I know when you want to talk to me."
The boy sighed. "You're right. Would you really not have told me about that scumbag?"
She smiled slightly at the insult. "I never said that I wouldn't. It just didn't come up."
"Because you didn't want to tell me."
"No—" the redhead began, but sighed. "We haven't really been doing well at keeping things how they used to be, have we?"
"I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so." He gave her a suspicious look. "You haven't been avoiding me, have you?"
Yes. "No!" Juliet exclaimed quickly. "I've just been. . . busy."
"Right," Shawn agreed, clearly unconvinced as he took their order from the waiter. The girl picked up the remaining ones as he continued: "you do know that I would've believed you, right? I'd take your word over his any day even before I found out what he did."
"I know," she admitted. "The next time someone hits on me, I'll come straight to you."
He chuckled. "Well, I don't know if I want that. I just wanted to make sure that you know I'm still here for you, yeah?"
Her expression softened. "Yeah. You wanna hang out sometime, Shawnie?"
The dark-haired boy beamed happily. "I'd love that."
She let him take the lead back to the table so that she could give him a longing look. Even if spending time with him— just him— would hurt, it would be worth it.
[written oct. 2021]
[edited jun. 2022]