At school, Shawn, Cory and Zoey were in Mr. Feeny's class, listening to him as he talked about the books report they did last Friday. Zoey paid no attention as she watched Cory mess around with a big red nose on. She couldn't help but laugh at her friend.
"I have graded your book reports last Friday." Mr. Feeny informed the class. "And after I pass them out, we'll discuss them." He sighed when he noticed Cory messing around. "Ah, Mr. Matthews." Shawn and Zoey sat straight in their chairs while Cory turned to Mr. Feeny. Cory gave him an innocent smile. "Shall I express my usual disappointment or just ask you to guide my sleigh tonight?"
"Uh, wrong holiday, Mr. Feeny." Cory said, taking the red noise off. "See, Halloween's coming up and I was just test driving my clown nose."
"Then I insist you stay in the driver's seat. Put the nose back on..." Mr. Feeny instructed, and Cory hesitantly put the nose back on. "for the rest of the morning.." He added. A few kids laughed at Cory, while Mr. Feeny continued to hand out reports. "Mr. Minkus, excellent work as usual. I particularly enjoyed your haiku on Captain Ahab's obsession with the great white whale."
"The calm blue ocean. Sun lights up the monster's eye. He sees me - Whale food." Minkus said, quoting from his haiku.
"It only works on so many levels." Mr. Feeny stated.
"Brown-noser." Shawn hissed towards Minkus.
"Troglodyte." Minkus retorted.
"Miss Francis, nice work." Mr. Feeny stated, placing her paper on her desk. Zoey grabbed the paper and quickly looked at it. She got a B+. "Mr. Lewis, very good work. Mr. Matthews, not one of your better efforts. Mr. Hunter."
"Hey, this isn't fair." Cory snapped. "Rick and I both got C's. How come you tell him he did good work... and you tell me it wasn't one of my better efforts?"
"Would Bozo please come to the center ring?" Mr. Feeny asked. Zoey chuckled slightly as Cory made his way over to Mr. Feeny. "Mr. Lewis has worked very hard to get his C... and I respect him for that. You, on the other hand, waste your efforts on being the class clown."
"How come you always pick on me, Mr. Feeny?" Cory questioned. "How come you never pick on Minkus?"
"Have you taken a blow to the head, Mr. Matthews?" Mr. Feeny asked, staring at the younger boy in disbelief. "Stuart Minkus gets nothing but A's. If there were a letter after A, he would get that."
"I guess that's why he gets away with so much." Cory muttered, as he made his way back to his seat.
"And just what does he get away with?" Mr. Feeny questioned.
"Well, how come when I make paper airplanes I get detention and he doesn't?" Cory wondered, holding a paper plane in his hand. Zoey glanced over to Minkus and saw him making a realistic plane. Cory sighed in defeat. "I withdraw the question."
••••
After school both Shawn and Zoey had detention. Zoey got detention because she threw paint at a kid called Mark, who had said that she was ugly, and of course, she had cracked it. And now her and Shawn were leaning against the lockers, waiting for Cory to get out of his detention.
"I still can't believe you threw paint at Mark." Shawn said with a proud smile.
Zoey huffed. "Well, that's what you get when someone calls me ugly."
Shawn shook his head slightly. "You're not ugly, Zoey."
"Thanks, Shawn." Zoey said, her cheeks are suddenly kissed pink like a spring rose, the blooming color so cute against her skin.
Before either one of them could say anything else, Cory walked out of detention. He smiled when he noticed Shawn and Zoey.
"You two waited for me?" He asked, smiling wide.
"Are we not your best friends?" Shawn questioned, raising his arms slightly.
"You two got detention, didn't you?" Cory said.
Zoey nodded. "Oh, yeah. Mrs. Engles nailed Shawn."
Cory narrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "How did you two get detention in art?"
"Ah, that what makes me one of the greats." Shawn responded as he threw his drink into the janitors bin.
"And you, Zoey?" Cory wondered.
"Oh, you know... Mark called me ugly, and I just simply threw a couple of paint cans at him." She simply explained with a proud smile across her lips.
"Hey, check this out." Shawn said, reaching inside the bin and grabbed out a piece paper. "Check this out. Answers to a test."
"Shawn, Zoey." Cory began. The janitor came back, and the three of them walked past him, acting normal. "We can't be looking at test answers. That's major cheating. Detention for life."
Shawn examined the paper. "No, these aren't for a real test. They're for that stupid IQ exam we're taking tomorrow."
Shawn then scrunched the test paper into a ball and threw it towards the bin, but before it could go in, Cory caught it.
"Wait a minute. Let me take a look at this." Cory said, unfolding the test paper and examined it. "Wow. The person who knows these answers get the perfect score."
"On a test that doesn't even count for a grade." Zoey pointed out. "Why bother?"
"Are you kidding?" Cory questioned, looking at Zoey like she was stupid. "This is my one ticket to get Feeny off my back. If Feeny thinks I'm a genius... he'll treat me just as good as he treats Minkus.
"Hey, Cory, do yourself a favor. Crumple the paper up, throw it away in the trash. Don't complicate your life." Shawn told him.
Cory sighed and folded the paper. "You know, that makes a lot of sense and if I was a smarter person, I'd probably listen to you... except I'm not a smarter person... but tomorrow, I'm going to be a genius."
Cory smiled brightly. Both Shawn and Zoey scoffed before the three of them walked out of school.
••••
At school, everyone in the classroom were all sitting in their spots, waiting for Mr. Feeny to give them their grades. They took the test a couple of days ago. Zoey leg shook under her desk, she was nervous. She wanted a good grade so her mother could be proud of her.
"I have in my hands the results of Tuesday's IQ test... and one person here deserves special mention." Mr. Feeny said to the class. Shawn, Cory and Zoey all smirked. "This person achieved not only the highest score in the class...not only the highest score in the school... but a score so high as to give rise to the question... 'Is there, in fact, a ceiling on human intelligence'?"
"Please, Mr. Feeny, you're embarrassing me." Minkus said, flattered.
"Mr. Minkus, you came in second." Mr. Feeny informed him.
Minkus' face fell. "Second?"
"Uh-huh." Mr. Feeny responded.
"As in the context of not first?" Minkus asked, his facial expression shocked. "Someone scored higher than I did on the IQ test?"
"Blew you out of the academic water." Mr. Feeny responded. Zoey snickered lightly. "Someone sitting in this very classroom, is a junior Kierkegaard."
"A what?" Cory asked.
"A great mind, Mr. Matthews, just like yours." Mr. Feeny said, standing beside Cory's desk. "I have clearly underestimated you and I bow to your genius."
Mr. Feeny than began to proudly clap for Cory. After a couple seconds, the entire class began to clap for him. Zoey couldn't help chuckle at the situation Cory was currently in now.
Cory got out of his seat and stood in front of Mr. Feeny with a smile.
"It's no big thing, Mr. Feeny." He said.
"On the contrary, Mr. Matthews, it is a big thing. It is a very big thing." Mr. Feeny said.
Zoey glanced at Mr. Feeny in confusion as he walked back to his desk without another word. Cory turned around to face Shawn and Zoey, his facial expression scared.
"Uh-oh." He whispered.
••••
After school, Shawn and Zoey followed Cory, who apparently wanted to talk about something back at his place.
When they opened the front door, Zoey saw Mrs. Matthews and Morgan -Cory's little sister. She was blonde and was around the age seven- who was on Eric's back.
"Can't talk, Mum, lot of homework. Got to go." Cory said quickly as he walked straight past his mother.
"Yeah. What he said." Shawn added before him and Zoey followed Cory upstairs.
Shawn and Zoey followed Cory up to his room. Once they entered, Cory chucked his school bag on the floor.
"Feeny knows." Cory suspected. "Somehow he knows and he's gonna get me."
"You're wrong." Shawn stated as he sat down on Eric's bed.
"You two think he's just sending a thank you note to my parents? 'Thank you for bringing up your son. He's a genius He's smarter than Captain Kirkaguard'." Cory asked, and without hesitation, Zoey snatched the letter out of Cory's hand and ripped it open. Cory's eyes widened. "Zoey, what are you doing? That's a sealed enveloped address to my parents. Now they're gonna know I opened it."
Zoey raised her eyebrows at him. "Cory, do your parents ever write letters to anyone?"
"Yeah." Cory said.
"And when they do, what do they put the letters in?" Zoey asked.
"Envelops." Cory said, glancing between Shawn and Zoey. The two nodded and Cory glanced down at the letter with a smirk. "Just like this one."
"So we could read the note..." Shawn trailed off.
"And seal it back up in a new white envelope." Cory finished, glancing between his friends with a smile. "I love how we think."
Shawn grabbed the letter out of Zoey's hand and pulled the note out of the envelope, and began to read it.
"What's it say?" Zoey wondered.
"Uh-oh. He's bringing in the S.E.A." Shawn informed.
"What?" Cory questioned.
"The State Education Authority." Shawn said, looking up at Cory, nervously. "They have special field agents who handle intelligence fraud."
"Cory, that's a huge deal." Zoey stated.
"I'm cooked! I'm cooked, guys!" Cory exclaimed, as he began to stress out. "For the first time in my life, I'm in real trouble."
Shawn smirked as he waved the note around. "Not if I'm making this up."
"Are you?" Cory asked.
"No." Shawn quickly said with a frown.
"I'm cooked!" Cory shouted.
"Relax. Of course I'm making it up." Shawn confessed. He handed the note to Cory. "He just wants to talk to your parents."
Cory took the letter and sat down at his desk. "What If he tells them he doesn't think I'm a genius?"
"Who cares if Feeny doesn't think you're a brilliant?" Shawn said as he approached Cory. "As long as the test says so."
"But I'm not, and my parents know I'm not." Cory said.
"Then you'll have to make them think you are." Zoey told him as she sat down on his bed.
Cory's gazed shifted onto the brunette in confusion. "How do I do that, Zoey?"
Zoey sighed. She got off his bed and approached him. "Get with the program, Cory. It's Halloween. This year you're going as a genius."
Cory smiled. "That's great. Thanks Zoey."
"Anytime, Matthews." Zoey responded with a smirk. "Well, I have to go. Bye boys."
She waved to Shawn and Cory before she walked out of Cory's room, and made her way back to her home.
••••
Next day at school Shawn, Cory and Zoey were sitting on their desks, discussing the IQ test. The brunette sat beside Shawn, with her legs crossed over.
"Shawn, Zoey. This whole thing is getting out of hand." Cory said, sounding nervous.
"Relax. Everybody thinks you're brilliant." Shawn assured him. "You should enjoy it."
"I agree with Shawn." Zoey said. She then paused, realizing what she had just said. She sighed. "Never thought those words were going to come out of my mouth. I meant to say that you should just be a genius, you'll never have this experience again."
"When it's just Feeny, I could enjoy it. But now my parents are involved, and I don't like lying to them." Cory told them.
"You don't?" Shawn asked, narrowing his eyebrows.
"No." Cory said.
"Cause it gives me a little rush." Shawn muttered. "Besides, you didn't tell them you were a genius, Feeny did."
"And I didn't tell Feeny I'm a genius." Cory said, catching on what Shawn was saying.
"The test did." Zoey pointed out. "And you didn't ask to take the test."
"They gave it to me." Cory said, a wide smile spreading over his lips.
"And you wouldn't ever seen any of the answers...." Shawn trailed off.
"If they didn't give us..." Cory said, trailing off along with Shawn.
"Detention." Shawn and Zoey both said in unison.
"We're innocent victims." Cory stated.
"Nothing we do is actually our fault." Zoey said, smirking between the boys.
"It's good to be kids." Cory said with a wide smile.
"I don't get it." Minkus said as he approached the tables that the three were sitting on.
"What?" Cory asked.
"If you're smarter than I am, how come you keep trying to copy from my paper?" Minkus asked.
Cory hesitated. "Uh..."
He was struggling for an answer. Cory then looked back to Shawn and Zoey for help.
"He's not copying, Minkus." Zoey quickly said, as she was trying to think of a lie that he would believe. "He's just glancing over to admire the work of a fellow genius."
"You are?" Minkus asked Cory.
"He is." Shawn said, wrapping an arm around Zoey's shoulder.
Zoey gave Minkus an innocent smile. Her blush seared through her cheeks and for a minute she thought her face was on fire as she felt Shawn's arm around her shoulder.
"I am." Cory quickly assured.
"Oh, well, that's okay. In fact, from now on... I'll kind of tip my test papers up so you can admire the answers even easier." Minkus said.
"Would you do that?" Cory wondered.
"No." Minkus said with a smirk, before he walked back to his own desk. Cory turned back to Shawn and Zoey, confused.
"Genius envy." Shawn told him.
The bell rung. The three of them sat back down into her seats while Mr. Feeny entered the classroom with another teacher beside him.
"Class this is Miss Chin. She'll be with you for the first half hour while I have a word with Mr. Matthews." Mr. Feeny informed.
Cory looked scared. He slowly got out off his chair and slowly walked to Mr. Feeny but stopped between Shawn and Zoey's desk.
"Tell my Mum I went out like a man." He whispered before he followed Mr. Feeny outside the classroom.
Meanwhile, Zoey felt awkward, demure and coy; even going as far as attempting to hide her rosy features behind her slim fingers. She couldn't believe that she blushed because Shawn had wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
••••
After school, Shawn and Zoey both received an emergency call from Cory. The two of them raced over his place, they walked inside his house and sprinted up the stairs to his room. When they walked in, Cory was sitting on his bed, looking sad.
"Okay, we're here. What's the big emergency?" Shawn asked, while Zoey panted slightly from running.
Then all of a sudden Cory pulled out his foam gun which fired tennis balls. He didn't hesitated as he fired it at Shawn and Zoey.
Tennis balls came shooting out of the gun, causing Shawn and Zoey to stumble backwards towards his window. Shawn quickly grabbed Zoey and used her as a shield.
"Let me go, Shawn!" Zoey hissed, getting out of his grip.
Shawn looked at Cory as if he was crazy. "What are you trying to do, kill us?"
"Kill you? I'll tell you two about kill. How about what you two did to me." Cory said quickly.
"What did we do?" Zoey asked, breathing heavily.
"Where are you spending your next recess?" Cory questioned. "Playground, shooting hoops, playing ball?"
"So?" Shawn asked.
"Cory, what's going on?" Zoey wondered.
"So let me tell you two what I'm doing. I'm searching for Bobby Fischer!" Cory exclaimed. Zoey scrunched her face in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" Shawn questioned.
"Geniuses go to a special school." Cory explained. "Did you two know that? You two killed me. I'm going to be in a class full of Minkuses. Wait a minute. What am I talking about? These kids make Minkus look like Fabio."
"Wait a minute." Shawn said, taking in the words Cory said. "They're putting you in another school?"
"Yes." Cory said. "The lady is going to be here in half an hour and they're going to give me another genius test and then they're gonna take me away. So I just called you two up to say goodbye. Or as geniuses say, goodbye in Latin."
Zoey let out a small scoffed when she realized something, while Cory sat on his brother's bed.
"Hey, idiot." Zoey called.
"What?" Cory questioned.
"Are you a genius?" Zoey wondered.
"No." Cory said.
"Do you have the answers to this test?" Zoey asked, crossing her arms over her stomach.
"No." Cory said.
Shawn sighed. "Don't you see where Zoey is going with this?"
"You two want me to threw the test?" Cory questioned.
"Oh, no, no. We want you to take the test to the best of your ability." Shawn said, as he and Zoey made their towards the door.
"And no guessing. I wouldn't want you to stumble onto a right answer." Zoey added, before her and Shawn walked out of Cory's room.
••••
During school, Zoey was currently sitting in her desk beside Shawn, doing work. The bell rung, and everyone immediately stood up and walked out of the classroom.
"Please read chapter seven and be ready to discuss it tomorrow." Mr. Feeny informed while everyone left the classroom.
As Zoey was walking through the halls, holding her books to her side, Shawn appeared beside her with a smirk on his lips.
"So, Zoey. What are you going to dress up for tonight?" He asked, as they approached Zoey's locker.
"I don't know." Zoey said, honestly, as she placed her books inside her locker. "Maybe a ghost."
"Really?" Shawn questioned with a slight frown. "Just come with a mask on and wear a black cloak."
Zoey sighed in defeat. "Fine."
Shawn smiled. "Cool, see you tonight."
••••
It was Halloween night. Everyone was out on the street getting candy. Shawn, Cory and Zoey all dressed up in different costumes. Shawn was dressed up as Frankenstein, Cory was dressed as a vampire, while Zoey dressed up as the guy from scream. The three of them saw one of their friends, Max who dressed up as a scarecrow with a mask on.
They then approached Cory's house and saw Mr. Feeny standing by the door.
"Trick or treat." They all said in unison.
"Uh, the candy is on it's way." Mr. Feeny said.
"Hey, aren't you that Feeny guy from school?" Max asked through the mask.
"I'm Mr. Feeny, yes." Mr. Feeny responded.
"My brother's friend, Cory Matthews said I'm gonna have you for a teacher next year." Max said. "He said you're the best teacher in the whole school."
"Oh, please, Mr. Matthews. I wasn't born yesterday." Mr. Feeny said. He then pulled Max mask's off to reveal his face. Mr. Feeny was shocked. "I'm terribly sorry. Happy Halloween. Here have a ruler."
Zoey couldn't help but smirk when Mr. Feeny placed a ruler into Max's bag.
"George?" Mrs. Matthews called out, standing between the door of the lounge and the kitchen.
"Yes?" Mr. Feeny asked.
"There's plenty of candy here in the kitchen." Mrs. Matthews said.
"Thank you." Mr. Feeny said, before he rushed to the kitchen.
When Mr. Feeny was out of the lounge room, Shawn, Cory and Zoey took their makes off. The brunette let out a soft chuckle.
Cory smiled. "And they say I'm not a genius."
_____________________
PUBLISHED: November 18, 2017
WORDS: 3350