During the nice warm day, Zoey was currently leaning against the fence, watching Cory and Shawn collect snails from Mr. Feeny's backyard. The brunette smirked as she got to do nothing, meanwhile Mr. Feeny was outside, gardening.
"Hey guys." Mr. Matthews greeted as he approached them. "Mm, collecting snails?"
"Yeah, Mr. Feeny said we could take them of the flowers and use them as bait for when we all go fishing Sunday." Cory explained.
"Fish don't eat snails." Mr. Matthews pointed out.
Mr. Feeny turned to them with a smile. "Gee, I guess I was mistaken."
"Whenever you guys are ready the bass master here is all set to pass on to the younger generation some of the finer points of spin casting." Mr. Matthews said as he grabbed onto a fishing rod.
"Manipulating young and impressionable minds." Cory told Mr. Feeny, crossing his arms over his stomach. "I hope you're proud of yourself, Mr. Feeny."
"Indeed I am, Mr. Matthews." Mr. Feeny said proudly.
Zoey smirked as Shawn and Cory jumped back over the fence. Shawn sat down on the small lounge beside Zoey, while Cory stood beside his father as they all watched Mr. Matthews cast the fishing rod.
"Now, the main thing to remember is that basically it's a simple flick of the wrist." Mr. Matthews explained. "You open the bail... hold the line with your finger and then it's two o'clock, ten o'clock."
While Mr. Matthews was showing them how to cast, suddenly Mr. Feeny's pot behind Mr. Matthews smashed. Zoey covered her mouth her hand, trying not to laugh.
"Kind of a quarter after three o'clock thing you got going on there, Dad, huh?" Cory said, trying not to laugh either.
"May, a, fellow angler try his luck?" Mr. Feeny asked Mr. Matthews, standing opposite the fence.
"Be my guest, George." Mr. Matthews said, passing the fishing rod to him.
Zoey, Shawn, Cory and Mr. Matthews all watched Mr. Feeny practice casting a couple of times before he actually casted and the line landed in a bucket near the back door.
"It's like getting back on a bicycle. One never forgets." Mr. Feeny simply said.
"Mr. Feeny, you fish?" Zoey asked, crossing her leg over the other.
"Oh, sure." Mr. Feeny said with a smile. "I'm an old bass hog from way back. I'll never forget that September morn, 1956. I was after small-mouth bass on the Louisiana Delta."
"Sounds fascinating, George." Mr. Matthews stated, not interested on the story.
Zoey leaned closer to Shawn. "It sounds boring."
"It really does." Shawn said, nodding in agreement.
"Spanish moss hanging down and the cypress knees jutting up through the brackish water of the bayou." Mr. Feeny continued.
"Sounds fascinating, George." Mr. Matthews repeated. Zoey snickered lightly.
"Dad, how come Eric's not coming with us this year?" Cory wondered.
"Well, you're brother's discovered girls. He can't sit still." Mr. Matthews explained. "When you're Eric's age and you can't sit still, I'll take Morgan. It's the endless cycle of fishing."
"And what about after Morgan?" Cory asked.
"Well, then I'll just be some guy in a fishing hat with a lot of boring stories...." Mr. Matthews trailed off as he glanced over to Mr. Feeny. He breathed heavily and placed a hand to his chest.
"Did you just scare yourself, Dad?" Cory asked.
Mr. Matthews nodded. "Oh, yes. I think I did."
Zoey laughed at Mr. Matthews. He was basically a father figure towards her.
When her father had left her, she didn't have any father figure's around at all, but when she started spending time over at Cory's place, Mr. Matthews started being a parental figure to her.
And Zoey couldn't ask for a better father figure than Mr. Matthews.
••••
After being at Cory's place, Zoey walked back home. When she walked inside, she saw her mother on the lounge reading a magazine.
"Hey, Mum. What are you ready?" Zoey asked as she sat down beside her.
"Oh, nothing important, sweetie." Lucy said. She placed the magazine down and focused on her daughter. "So, are you going fishing with the Matthews?"
Zoey nodded. "Yeah, is that okay?"
"It's fine by me." Lucy responded, before pulling her daughter into an embrace.
••••
Next day was the fishing trip. Zoey went with Mr. Matthews and Shawn while Cory went to Baltimore with his Grandma, that was the reason he didn't come with them. But overall Zoey had a good time. Her and Shawn talked a lot and joked around with each other, which made Mr. Matthews joined.
When the three of them arrived at Cory's place it was night fall. They walked into the yard and Zoey's eyes widened when she saw Eric kissing a pretty girl, who stood on Mr. Feeny's side of the fence. Eric and the girl immediately pulled apart when they saw Mr. Matthews, Shawn and Zoey.
"Nice night, huh?" Mr. Matthews asked, looking up at the night sky and he tried to cut the awkwardness. Meanwhile Shawn and Zoey couldn't stop smiling as they caught Eric kissing someone.
"Yeah." Eric awkwardly agreed.
"Well, we're just.. uh, passing through." Mr. Matthews said.
"Good. Pass." Eric told him father, embarrassed.
Mr. Matthews sighed before he walked towards the backdoor.
"Eric, the lipmaster." Shawn commented, and Zoey couldn't help but laugh.
"Yeah. Sure. Look, anybody else, or are we all done here?" Eric questioned.
"Everyone had a great day without me?" Cory wondered. Zoey turned around to see her best friend sitting up in his tree house.
"How long have you been up there?" Eric demanded, pointing at his younger brother.
"Long enough to see you swap spit with a Feeny." Cory said.
"Well, I'd say the mood is sufficiently killed, wouldn't you?" Eric asked the girl, as the two of them looked embarrassed.
"Dead and buried." The girl agreed.
"I think my little sister's busy tomorrow... so it looks like it's just you and me." Eric told her.
"I'll bring the pen. Goodnight... everyone." She said, walking inside Mr. Feeny's house.
Shawn, Mr. Matthews, Cory and Zoey approached Eric.
"She's related to Feeny?" Mr. Matthews questioned.
"Niece." Eric said.
"Nice." Mr. Matthews congratulated.
"Nice? She's beautiful." Eric stated. "That's the most incredible girl I ever kissed."
"Which puts her at the top of a list of what... Two?" Cory asked. Zoey couldn't could help but snicker.
"Look, making out is not a spectator sport." Eric pointed out before he walked back inside, while Mr. Matthews, Shawn, Cory and Zoey clapped for him.
"What are you doing form Baltimore so early?" Mr. Matthews asked his son.
"I didn't go to Baltimore." Cory said with a slight frown.
"Why not?" Mr. Matthews wondered.
"Because I stayed here all day because Grandma dumped me... while my best friends were stealing my dad." Cory explained, giving a pointed look between Zoey and Shawn.
Zoey scoffed. "Grow up, Cory."
"Yeah, we weren't stealing your father." Shawn added.
"Goodnight, Shawn. Night, Zoey." Mr. Matthews said as the two of them grabbed their stuff.
"Goodnight, Dad." Shawn and Zoey said in unison. The two of them walked out of Cory's backyard and back to their homes.
••••
During the next day, Shawn and Zoey were both at Cory's house, in his bedroom. Cory was showing the two of them the Cal Ripken rookie card that his Grandma had gotten for him.
"Cal Ripken junior." Shawn said, holding the card. "Rookie year. I never thought I would actually be holding one of these things."
"My Grandma picked it up from the swap meet for seven bucks." Cory informed.
"Seven bucks in dog years. This baby is worth $150 each easy." Shawn said.
"Is it?" Cory questioned.
"Yeah." Shawn said, placing the card away. "Boy, your Grandma must really love you."
"Yeah, or else she shot a man in Reno just to watch him die." Cory muttered.
Zoey looked at her best friend, weary. "You're kidding, right?"
Cory shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure."
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PUBLISHED: November 19, 2017
WORDS: 1334