Sitting at her desk in Mr. Feeny's classroom, Zoey tried not to laugh as Minkus and Cory were dressed up as King George and George Washington. Minkus was wearing a crown, while Cory was wearing a pirate hat with white hair.
"Taxation without representation. Kind George?" Mr. Feeny asked, turning to Minkus.
"We provide the colonists with all their finished manufacture goods. We deserve remuneration." Minkus explained.
"General Washington." Mr. Feeny said, turning to Cory.
"Fine. Keep your goods. Like we need your stinking British goods. We're American. We're independent. We'll get our goods from Japan." Cory said.
Mr. Feeny crossed his arms over his stomach. "General, I'm dying for you to elaborate."
"What's the point, Mr. Feeny?" Cory asked. "We all know that we kicked British butt."
"Winners and losers aside, General. If we do not understand history... we are doomed to repeat its mistakes." Mr. Feeny explained.
"Oh, who cares about George Washington? Who cares about King George? Was every boring guy in history named George?" Cory wondered. Zoey couldn't help but chuckle as Mr. Feeny looked up at Cory, who smiled innocently at him. "I mean, every dead boring guy."
"Apparently, the past holds no fascination for you." Mr. Feeny told Cory.
"No. It's happened. It's done." Cory said.
"It's history." Mr. Feeny corrected.
"I'm saying." Cory said, and Zoey smiled slightly.
"Perhaps we should study your history, Mr. Matthews." Mr. Feeny suggested.
"I have no history, Mr. Feeny. I'm eleven. I'm more interested in my future." Cory said, as he took a seat beside Mr. Feeny.
"Oh, well, then it might be more interesting... for us to look into our future... to see if we can avoid our mistakes before they happened." Mr. Feeny said to the class, standing up.
Shawn sighed. "I smell an assignment."
Zoey turned to Shawn and taunted him, as she tilted her head to the side and pouted. "Awe, doesn't Shawnie want to do the assignment?"
Shawn gave her a pointed look. "Shut up, Zo."
"I swear I didn't see it coming." Cory muttered.
"The assignment for all of you is to create personal histories for yourselves... as if you were returning for your twentieth high school reunion." Mr. Feeny told the class.
"More like a pre-union." Minkus suggested.
"Well said, Mr. Minkus." Mr. Feeny said, before turning back to the class. "You are the graduating class of the year 2000. What is your profession? Do you have children? Are those children tormenting their sixth-grade teacher?"
Minkus stood up. "Mr. Feeny, would it be okay if I brought my wife?"
Shawn scoffed. "Oh, come on, Minkus, what's going to marry you?"
"Topanga." Minkus said, looking her at flirtishly.
"Ooh!" The entire class said as they turned to Topanga.
"Why, Stuart, I'm flattered that you would consider me as a potential life mate..." Topanga trailed off.
Zoey turned to Shawn, confused. "She's flattered?"
Shawn shrugged his shoulders, before the two of them turned their attention back to Topanga.
"But I'm not sure... I even recognize the institution of marriage." Topanga finished, holding her hands together on top of her desk.
"Trust me, babe, I've seen the future and it's me." Minkus said, pointing at himself.
••••
Shawn, Cory, Zoey and Larry, one of their friends, were in the cafeteria walking to their table as they held their lunch trays. Zoey had grabbed a ham and cheese sandwich and a soda.
"You're going to show up as a tire salesman?" Cory asked Shawn.
The four of them had reached the table and placed their trays down, before sitting down. Shawn had told them that he wanted to be a tire salesman.
"That's what my dad does." Shawn told him.
"So?" Zoey questioned.
"I know what to wear. I know how to use a pressure gauge. I can spot a retread from a mile away." Shawn simply explained.
"Shawn, you're so boring." Cory commented.
"And lazy." Shawn added, before taking a drink from his soda.
"What about you, Larry?" Zoey asked, taking a bite out of her sandwich.
"I got an angle." Larry said.
"Let's hear it." Cory insisted.
"I'm going to be a sixth-grade teacher." Larry informed. "Better yet, I'm going to be Feeny."
Zoey furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Why?"
"Because imitation is a sincere of butt kissing." Larry explained.
"Wait a minute. Weren't we supposed to be what we wanted to be?" Cory asked, before he turned to Shawn. "I mean, you're going to grow up to be your dad..." He trails off, before turning to Larry. "and you're going to grow up to be a Feeny clone. Am I the only one left here with some vision?"
"I'm going as a Photographer." Zoey simply said.
Shawn turned to her and furrowed his eyebrows. "Why?"
"Because I like taking photos when I'm bored." Zoey explained, before she turned to Cory. "What are you going as, Cor?"
"Cory Matthews... center fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies." Cory said. Shawn, Zoey and Larry all started cracking up laughing. "What are you laughing at?"
"You have thirty-one errors in Little League last season." Shawn said, which made the three of them to laugh harder.
"Okay, so I didn't play up to my enormous potential." Cory told them. "Come on, guys, let's be what we really want to be. Are we going to men and woman... or are we going to be men and woman with boring jobs?"
Zoey chuckled. "I reckon you'll be men with boring jobs, and I'll be the one with the actual job."
Shawn slammed his fist onto the table. "We're gonna be men!"
The brunette shook her head as the three boys began to bark like dogs.
••••
The Pre-union reunion was on the next day, and Zoey was dressed up as Photographer. She wore her mother's old office clothes and had a camera wrapped around her neck, and a bag over her shoulder.
She walked into the classroom and saw Shawn and Cory. Cory was wearing a baseball outfit, while Shawn was wearing a tire salesman outfit, stuffing a pillow in his stomach so it made it look big.
"A tire salesman. I can't believe you came as a tire salesman." Cory told Shawn.
"And muffler specialist." Shawn added. Zoey walked up beside Cory and looked at Shawn's fake gut.
"What's with the big gut?" Zoey asked.
"My dad's fat, my uncle's fat, my grandpa's fat. Let's face it, guys, I'm going to be fat." Shawn told them.
Cory and Shawn than turned to Zoey, and looked at her outfit.
"What's with the whole outfit, Zoey?" Cory questioned. The brunette looked down at her clothes. She thought that it suited her well.
"I'm a Photographer." Zoey said, with a small smile. "Like I said yesterday, I like taking photos and this is the type of clothes that they wear."
Then the three of them watched Larry, who was dressed exactly like Mr. Feeny. He approached Mr. Feeny, and the two of them talked. A couple of moments later, Larry had failed and he ran out of the classroom.
Cory was up next. He ran towards Mr. Feeny, excited. "You ready for me?"
"Yes, I'm ready, Mr. Matthews." Mr. Feeny said.
Meanwhile, Zoey nudged Shawn's the ribs. Shawn let out a groan, and gave the brunette a harsh look. She didn't care and pointed at Cory, and the two of them watched his presentation.
"All right. Center fielder for the Phillies." Cory informed.
"Most impressive." Mr. Feeny stated.
"Yeah, my fans seem to think so." Cory said.
"So, you're quite well known?" Mr. Feeny asked.
Cory then pulled out a cereal box out, which had 'Cory-o's' on the front. Zoey was surprised at how much detail Cory had put into this.
"Breakfast of me. How does it feel to be in the presence of a legend?" Cory wondered.
"Well, legends are not born overnight." Mr. Feeny pointed out. "You must have been playing for quite a while."
"Oh, ever since the eleventh grade." Cory confidently responded.
"You didn't graduate high school?" Mr. Feeny asked.
Cory chuckled. "High school's kind of a joke... when you're pulling down six mil a year."
"Six million?" Mr. Feeny questioned, raising his eyebrows, surprised.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" Cory muttered.
"Well, adjusted for inflation that's a paltry sum compared to even the average ballplayer's salary today." Mr. Feeny pointed out.
"But I've got investments." Cory said.
"Such as?" Mr. Feeny asked.
Zoey couldn't help but chuckle when Cory couldn't think of anything to say.
"You know, investments. Buildings. Buildings with floors and people in them doing stuff. I'm diversified." Cory explained.
"And do you handle these investments yourself?" Mr. Feeny wondered.
Shawn turned to Zoey, smirking. "He'll think of nothing."
"No." Cory said. "My guys do that stuff."
"Oh, you've got guys?" Mr. Feeny asked.
Cory nodded. "Lots of guys. They're in my buildings."
"And what percentage of your salary do they charge for their services?" Mr. Feeny asked.
"Mr. Feeny, you're dragging me down." Cory complained. "Can't we discuss, like, my batting average?"
"You're floundering, Mr. Matthews." Mr. Feeny told Cory, as he turned back to his desk.
"No. I thought of this. Look." Cory said as he pulled out a homemade baseball card. "I made my own baseball card."
"Yet you have no clue... as to how your affairs will be managed... no education to help you get a clue... and no marketable skills after you ball-playing days are over." Mr. Feeny told Cory.
Cory paused for a moment. "But I've got guys."
"Well, Mr. Matthews... you've made an attempt at this assignment. You just didn't think it all the way through. And until you do, I'm going to give an incomplete." Mr. Feeny said, handing Cory his paper.
"An incomplete?" Cory questioned. "That's an 'I'. That's lower than an 'F'. That's down there by 'M'. You can't do this."
"Why not?" Mr. Feeny asked.
"Cause it's not like you're giving me an incomplete on some dinky quiz. You threw me out before I even got to first base. You took away my future." Cory explained with a frown.
Mr. Feeny sighed before he left Cory. Zoey felt bad for Cory, knowing how much he wanted to be baseball player growing up. She let out a heavy sigh and turned to Shawn, who was giving Cory an sympathetic look.
••••
When school was over, Zoey walked back home. When she walked through the front door, she saw her mother folding up laundry in the lounge room. The brunette placed her bag onto the couch.
A bright smile appeared on Lucy's face when she saw her daughter. "Hey, Zo. How as the assignment?"
"I think I did alright." Zoey said, holding up her assignment paper which had a big 'B+' on it.
Lucy smiled even more as she pulled her daughter into an embrace. "I'm so happy for you, Zoey." She said, before pulling away. "But you need to change, I'm doing another load of washing soon."
"Sure." Zoey said with a nod.
She raced up the stairs and went up to her bedroom. Her room walls were was creamy white. She had a single bed that was off to the side by a wall, and was draped over with a quilt. Lamps of varying sizes and shapes were all around her room. A desk sat in one corner, littered with books. A few shelves were pushed against the wall and filled with books. Some books sat on the floor in front of the shelves.
She had changed into some jeans and a simple black top, with a grey jumper on top. As she was in her bedroom, the phone from downstairs started to ring.
"Zoey, it's for you!" Lucy called out. Zoey sighed before rushing downstairs to see her mother holding the phone. "It's Cory."
Zoey nodded and grabbed the phone, placing it up to her ear. "Hello."
"Zoey, call everyone and get over to my house now. Jim Abbott's in my kitchen." Cory quickly said through the phone before hanging up.
Her eyes widened at what Cory had just told her. She quickly dialed everyone's numbers, including Shawn and told them that Jim Abbot was at Cory's house. Zoey quickly raced up to her room and grabbed her baseball.
Not ever a second later, the front door sprung wide open to reveal Shawn running in, breathing heavily.
"Come on, Zo. Let's go." Shawn breathed out.
Zoey raced down the stairs as fast as she can, and before she could say anything, Shawn grabbed onto her hand. The two of them sprinted over to Cory's place.
••••
Everyone Zoey had called over the phone was over at Cory's house, holding baseball in their hands, hoping that Jim Abbot could sign them.
"Hey, Jim. Mind signing for these guys?" Mr. Matthews asked Jim from the living room.
Shawn, Larry and Zoey busted through the back doors, that led straight into the living room. They held onto their baseball.
"I want one too." Shawn said.
"Me too." Zoey insisted.
"So do I." Larry added.
Minkus looked down at his basketball. "Apparently I have brought the wrong ball."
Everyone was ecstatic that Jim Abbott had signed their baseball.
When everyone went back home when they got their baseball signed. Zoey opened the front door to her home to see her mother standing in front of her, arms crossed over her stomach, tapping her foot.
"Where were you, young lady?" Lucy asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Sorry." Zoey apologized. "Shawn dragged me out of the house. Check this out." The brunette passed her baseball to her mother. "I got it signed by Jim Abbott."
"Fine, you're off the hook." Lucy told her daughter, throwing it back to her. "Now go to bed."
Zoey nodded with a smile before she raced up the stairs to her bedroom and went to sleep.
_____________________
PUBLISHED: November 29, 2017
WORDS: 2321