Best friends share laughs, memories and inside jokes. They will always be honest and stand by your side no matter what. They wipe your tears, pick you up when you fall, and are forever a piece of your heart.
Early in the morning, at Jefferson Elementary, Zoey Francis was currently sitting in the school cafeteria with her best friends Shawn and Cory along with a kid from their class; Nicholas Bornihay.
Zoey Francis was a one of a kind person. She's sarcastic and lazy, but ultimately a good person. She's also generous and very loyal to her family and especially to her best friends Cory and Shawn.
Shawn Hunter was a deeply sensitive person. He's also contemptuous of most authority, after being let down by his elders for most of his life. He has a fear of abandonment and a difficulty letting others in.
Cory Matthews is witty, goofy, neurotic, and always willing to poke fun at himself. Friendly and approachable, he is very dedicated to his friends, family and girlfriend, often putting their happiness before his own. He's the guy who wants everyone to be happy and will put in the legwork to make that happen.
Zoey took a bite into her sandwich while Cory got up from the table and approached the vending machine on the other side of the cafeteria. He turned around and was faced with their teacher; Mr. Ferny.
Mr. Feeny was around sixty years old and is extremely professional. He's a wise teacher to his students and someone to look up to, he taught numerous life lessons to his students, which has greatly affected their lives.
Cory and Mr. Feeny continued to talk for a moment before Cory slowly made his way back to the table where his friends sat at.
"He's a teacher, man." Shawn stated simply when Cory sat sat beside him. "Keep raggin' on him, he's gonna make your whole sixth-grade year miserable."
"I'm gonna be miserable anyhow. At least this way, I'm taking him with me." Cory said.
Zoey couldn't help but smirk before her attention focused on Mr. Feeny, who was talking to an elderly woman that they didn't know.
"Hey, who's that?" She wondered.
Shawn, Cory and Nicholas all turned in their seats to face Mr Feeny and the mystery woman.
"I think she's new." Nicholas said.
"She must be new, she's talking to Feeny." Shawn joked.
"Okay... So how late did you stay up last night?" Nicholas asked Cory.
"Monologue." Cory said with a smirk.
"Monologue, first guest." Nicholas added proudly, trying to beat Cory.
Zoey huffed. "Monologue, first guest, bad sketch, funny zoo animals."
"Monologue, first guest, bad sketch, funny zoo animals... Steve Lawrence." Nicholas announced.
Shawn, Cory and Zoey gasped in shock.
"Woah!"
"Steve Lawrence!" Shawn exclaimed.
Then the bell rang throughout the entire school. Shawn, Zoey, Cory, and Nicholas sighed heavily before they stood up from the cafeteria lunch table.
Zoey frowned. "And there's the bell."
"Four hours till lunch." Cory said.
Zoey grabbed her books off the table before the four of them began to head off to class.
••••
In their class, Zoey was in the back row beside Shawn, who was sitting behind Cory. The class was currently learning about Romeo and Juliet as Mr. Feeny picked out two student to demonstrate a scene from Romeo and Juliet.
"She's dead, Mr. Bonihay." Mr Feeny told Nicholas, gesturing to the girl named Vanessa, who laid on the desk pretending to be dead. "Pick up the knife and kill yourself."
"Come on, Mr. Fenny, you and I both know she's not really dead. May I please stab her a few times just to make sure?" Nicolas asked.
Vanessa immediately sat up and grabbed onto Nicholas' shirt.
"Hey!" She shouted, staring straight into Nicholas' eyes. "You touch me with that knife.... you better kill me the first time."
"Mr. Feeny." Nicholas pleadingly called out.
"All right, all right." Mr Feeny said, placing Vanessa back down onto the table.
"Cory." Shawn whispered, leaning forward in his chair. Zoey turned to see that Cory was hood something against his ear and not paying attention to the class... like usual. "What's the score?"
Zoey raised her eyebrows. "You're listening to the game?"
Cory nodded and continued to listen to the baseball game.
"Bottom of the third, two outs." Cory informed. "Dystra's on second, Kruk's on first, three and two to Daulton--"
Zoey's eyes widened and gulped nervously when Me. Feeny strolled over to Cory and removed his hand away from his ear, revealing the radio piece.
"What's this Mr. Matthews?" Mr. Feeny questioned, gesturing to the radio.
"Huh?" Cory called out, narrowing his eyes. "What did you say Mr. Feeny? You took my hearing aid."
Mr. Feeny grabbed the radio and placed the earpiece into his ear, listening to the game.
"Smolts delivers, Daulton swings. Oh, he got a piece of that one. It's a long drive deep to center... Otis Nixon back, back to the warning tracks, climbs up the wall and...." Mr. Feeny trailed off before he pulled the earpiece out of his ear and turned off the radio.
"Ohh!" Shawn, Cory and Zoey groaned in frustration, wanting to know what happened with the game.
"Mr. Matthews, Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare's ultimate testament of love between a man and a woman." Mr. Feeny explained.
"Help! Help!" Nicholas cried. "Mr. Feeny! Help!"
Zoey turned to the front of the classroom to see Nicholas laying on the desk while Vanessa was on top of him, trying to stab him with the fake knife.
Mr. Feeny immediately rushed over to the two students and separated them.
"Miss Kincaid, thank you. For that vigorous interpretation." Mr. Feeny said. Vanessa nodded before she walked back to her seat. "Mr. Matthews, you do not listen to the ballgame in the middle of my class."
Cory stood up from his seat. "Mr. Feeny, who cares about some guy who killed himself over some dumb girl?"
"The tragedy here, Mr. Matthews." Mr. Feeny started, slowly approaching Cory. "Is not about a dumb girl, or the boy who kills himself because of her. It's about the all consuming power of love. And the inevitability of its influences on each of our lives."
Cory narrowed his eyes. "Are you aware that I'm only eleven years old?"
"Are you aware that you have detention Friday afternoon?" Mr. Feeny wondered.
Cory shook his head. "No, actually, I did not know that."
Zoey rolled her eyes. "Oh, my God."
••••
Magnificent, heavenly light filters through the wispy clouds, signifying a new day. The thin clouds slowly drift apart, presenting a beautiful sky beneath. The sky is but a canvas of light, creating a new picture within seconds. Weaving a story through the delicate clouds, the picture grows beyond the expanse of sky.
At school, Cory, Shawn, Nicholas, and Zoey were all sitting down at a table in the cafeteria having lunch.
Zoey looked up from her lunch at Shawn and Cory to see that they were staring down at their food in disgust.
"Well, mine's got fuzz." Shawn declared.
"Mine's got lips." Cory added.
Nicholas then brought out a small brown bag and placed it on the table. Zoey's eyes widened slightly when he pulled out a small cake and a bottle of soft drink.
"Hey, bag man, rough life being the only child, huh?" Shawn asked with a small frown.
Cory scoffed. "Yeah, rougher life being an orphan which is what I am as of last night."
"What happened?" Nicholas wondered.
"I dumped my family, and my family dumped me." Cory explained simply. "It was mutual. They're keeping the house."
"Well, we're here for you, Cory." Zoey assured with a warm smile.
"Thanks. You're my new brothers and sister." Cory said, patting Shawn and Zoey's shoulders. "Hey, how about we go to the game Friday night?"
"I thought the game was sold out." Nicholas pointed out.
"It is." Cory confirmed. "So we go down early. There's always guys with extra tickets."
"Don't you have detention Friday?" Shawn asked, raising an eyebrow at his best friend.
"Ah, don't worry about detention. I can handle Feeny. Feeny loves me." Cory said confidently.
Zoey huffed. "Feeny hates you."
"Well, it's one of the two. We'll see who's right." Cory responded. He got up from the table and walked over to the other side of the room where Mr. Feeny sat, reading a book. "Mr. Feeny, may I sit down?"
"I'd rather you didn't." Mr. Feeny replied.
Cory turned to his friends and nodded. "Hates me."
"Mr. Matthews, I spend thirty-five to forty hours a week dealing with the perceived problems of whiny little people like yourself. Now, this is my lunch period, my respite from the fray. I spend four hours with you every morning and three hours with you every afternoon. Now, for God's sake, get out of my face." Mr. Feeny simply told Cory. His expression changed slightly when the mystery woman approached the table. "Evelyn."
Evelyn saluted. "George."
"I saved a place for you." Mr. Feeny said, gesturing to the seat beside him.
"Oh, aren't you sweet." Evelyn smiled and sat down before noticing Cory standing beside her. "And who is this young man?"
"Um, my name's Cory Matthews." Cory introduced himself, shaking Evelyn's hand. "Mr. Feeny's my teacher. He hates me."
"Now, Cory, I'm sure that Mr. Feeny doesn't hate you." Evelyn said.
When Evelyn turned her attention down to her food, both Cory and Mr. Feeny gave each other fake smiles.
••••
After school, Zoey walked back to her house.
Her house was long and narrow, perhaps only twelve feet wide at the front, but it stretched some thirty feet back like a giant shoe box. It was two stories high and had a one story extension at the rear for the kitchen.
When Zoey walked inside, the house was welcoming from the open door. Upon the walls were the photographs of her.
The floor was a crazy quilt of smooth, flat stones. The walls were warm wood. The beehive fire in the corner held the remains of a slow flickering fire. It was drift wood burning there - the low flames were blue and green from the salt.
Zoey placed her bag on the couch before she walked into the kitchen to see her mother, Lucy, sitting at the table with a stress expression as she observed the bills in front of her.
"Hey, Mum." Zoey greeted as she walked over to the fridge.
"Hey, sweetie. How was school?" Lucy asked, holding a bill in her hand.
Zoey simply shrugged her shoulders as she grabbed a can of soda.
"You know, the usual. Boring." Zoey replied before noticing the stress expression on her mother's face. "Mum, are you okay?"
Lucy smiled at her daughter. "Oh, Zoey it's fine. Nothing to worry about. It's just when your father left... money has been very low."
Zoey placed a gently hand on her mother's shoulder. "Maybe... you should look for another job?"
Lucy smiled. She stood up from her seat and wrapped her arms around her daughter. Zoey smiled and returned the gesture.
"I love you so much, Zoey." Lucy whispered. "You know that, right?"
"I know, Mum." Zoey said, pulling away from the hug. "You tell me that everyday."
Lucy couldn't help but chuckle. Zoey gave her mother a smile before she walked back into the living room and rushed up the stairs towards her bedroom.
••••
The next morning at school, Nicholas, Cory, Shawn, and Zoey were currently sitting at their table in the cafeteria, watching Mr. Feeny talking to Evelyn once more.
They all were shocked that the older woman was still talking to him.
Nicholas turned to his friends in confusion. "Two days in a row."
Shawn shook his head. "She just doesn't learn."
"Evelyn, I hope not being forward but instead of cafeteria lunch, maybe one evening we could have dinner together?" Mr. Feeny questioned.
The four of them were completely shocked.
Evelyn smiled. "Of course, George. I'd love it."
Mr. Feeny smiled before he stood up from his seat. "Good. I'm quite the cook you know?"
Evelyn and Mr. Feeny walked past the kids table and to the rubbish bin.
"Really?" Evelyn wondered.
"Oh, yes. And just the other night I prepared a lovely salad nicoise for my sister. But she had to cancel at the last moment." Mr. Feeny explained before he stood beside Cory. "Confused, Mr. Matthews?"
Cory nodded. "Yes, I am, sir."
Mr. Feeny smiled. "As it should be."
___________________
PUBLISHED: October 8, 2017
EDITED: March 7, 2023