"Love... sex... slander." Mr. Turner said as he wrote the words on the blackboard. "Now even though Much Ado About Nothing was written four-hundred years ago, Shakespeare has captured raw human emotion in a way that is still riveting today. Still had us glued to our seats."
Zoey lifted her head from her desk when she heard a thud. She tiredly looked down to see that Shawn had fallen from his chair and was now sleeping on the ground.
Zoey and the rest of the class were so bored that they all were asleep.
Cory kicked Shawn, who let out a groan when he woke up.
"You know these chairs really aren't the best for sleeping." Shawn said as he got up and sat back down at his desk.
Mr. Turner sighed. "Oh, come on! You got this innocent young girl and somebody says that she slept with this other guy, right? And her reputation is shot and we think she's killed herself. Now where you going to find this kind of stuff?"
"Melrose Place?" Zoey wondered.
"NYPD Blues?" Shawn guessed.
"Barney?" Cory asked. Everyone in the classroom, including Zoey gave Cory a confused look. "My sister says he's gotten edgier."
"Mr. Turner, we just can't relate to these characters at all." Topanga said.
"Why not?" Mr. Turner asked.
"Because nobody acts like this." Shawn responded as he held up the book that they were reading for class.
"Just because some guy says something about some girl, the girl wants to kill herself over it? They say that stuff about Heather Locklear every week and she doesn't want to kill herself. She's on the cover of TV Guide." Cory told Mr. Turner.
Mr. Turner nodded. "You're right, Matthews."
Cory's eyes widened in shock. "I'm right?"
"No, you're exactly right." Mr. Turner said.
"So am I done with my education? Can I go?" Cory asked.
"In Shakespeare's day, the play's the thing. In our day, I guess the thing is TV." Mr. Turner began as he walked around the classroom. "So maybe we should put ourselves on TV and ask ourselves what we think about love, sex and slander."
"You mean interview each other?" Cory wondered.
"Kind of like a documentary?" Shawn asked, slowly getting excited.
Mr. Turner nodded. "Exactly."
"Hey, you know, my uncle Ralph was in a documentary. They put a big blue dot over his face and changed his voice." Shawn said with a wide smile. Mr. Turner opened his mouth to say something to Shawn, but quickly decided against it and continued on with the class.
"All right, the school's got video equipment. Let's wear it out, okay? We'll split into teams of two. I want a video report. Interview your friends, your families and each other." Mr. Turner informed the class as he sat down on his desk. "Let's just see who's got the more mature attitudes - Shakespeare or us."
"Us." Cory said confidently.
Mr. Turner raised his eyebrows. "Really? Okay, my mature young friends, pick partners." And straight away Topanga and Zoey smiled at each other, knowing that they'll be partners. "Uh, boy-girl pairs."
Zoey turned her head to see that Shawn was already looking at her with a wide smile.
"Partners?" Shawn asked.
"Partners." Zoey agreed, smiling.
••••
After school Shawn and Zoey walked over to her house to start on their English project. When the two of them walked into the house, Zoey saw her mother on the couch, watching the news channel.
When Shawn shut the door behind him, Lucy looked up and saw her daughter before a wide smile spread across her lips when she saw Shawn.
"Hey. Shawn." Lucy greeted warmly. "How come you're over?"
"We're just doing a project." Shawn responded with a small smile.
Zoey and Shawn raced upstairs to Zoey's room. When they reached her room, they placed their bags down by her bed and got to work. Shawn grabbed the camera and pointed it at Zoey.
"So, Zoey... How do you feel about love and sex?" Shawn asked.
"Love is the key thing of a relationship, it also makes you and the other person have something more in common with. And with sex, if there's no love there's no point in having sex." Zoey simply responded.
After the question, Shawn passed the camera over to Zoey. She held the camera and pointed in Shawn's face.
"How do you know if you're in love, Shawn?" Zoey questioned.
"Well, love is the most amazing, rare and precious thing in the whole world." Shawn answered softly.
"Have you ever fallen in love?" Zoey asked with raised eyebrows.
"Five times a day." Shawn replied with a wide smile.
Zoey placed down the camera and noticed that Shawn was still smiling. Her cheeks are suddenly kissed pink like a spring rose, the blooming color so cute against her skin.
"Let's interview my mum." Zoey suggested.
Shawn and Zoey walked downstairs and asked Lucy if she wanted to do the interview and she agreed. Lucy sat down on the couch while Shawn placed the camera on her, and Zoey sat beside Shawn.
"Okay, mum here's the deal. I need you to be very mature about this. And talk about sex." Zoey told her mother.
"Sex is like voting. It's a privilege that you may choose to exercise, when you're old enough. And you don't want to vote for somebody you haven't known for a really long time, or have strong feelings for, because you may be stuck with that person for quite a while." Lucy explained.
Zoey smiled. "Thanks, Mum."
"Anytime, sweetie." Lucy responded.
When they were finally finished with their project, Shawn and Zoey walked into the kitchen to get drinks. Zoey grabbed two sodas out of the fridge and walked towards the kitchen table, where Shawn was sitting at.
"So, you and Leo? What's happening between the two of you?" Shawn wondered, looking down at his hands.
"I mean, we're together." Zoey said as she sat down beside him.
"I mean... have you two even kissed yet?" Shawn asked.
Zoey huffed lightly. "No. I want to wait for the right moment."
"Do you really love him?" Shawn questioned.
Zoey furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Shawn, what's with all the questions? I like Leo, but I don't love him yet."
Shawn hesitated for a moment before he spoke. "It's just weird... seeing you with another guy apart from Cory and I... it's kind of like we're losing you."
"You're not gonna lose me." Zoey simply assured.
Zoey reached out and held Shawn's hand. Her skin tingled where he was touching and her heart beat erratically in her chest so hard that she thought it might fly out. There were butterflies - no, lions - in her chest, but it felt good.
The emotions in Shawn's eyes was fathoms deep, yet they carried the warmth and life of the sunlit surface. They had a thousand hues of blue and a small touch of hazel radiating of softly swooping arcs.
"I think you should go." Zoey said as she finally snapped out of her thoughts and pulled her hand away from Shawn's.
Shawn nodded in agreement. He got up and walked out of the kitchen and after moment later she heard the front door shut. Zoey let out a groan of frustration and slammed her heard against the table repeatedly.
She finally admitted to herself what she knew all along, but was too afraid to admit it: She liked Shawn. A lot.
Zoey wanted to be with him. But she also liked Leo. A lot.
••••
During the next day at school, it was Chaos. Zoey slugged her bag strap over her shoulder as she walked down the hall when she heard rumors' going around that Topanga and Cory had slept together. She was so confused.
Zoey leaned against the locker, standing beside Shawn as Cory and Topanga walked around the corner together. The students in the hall all clapped for them as they walked down the small flight of stairs.
Shawn and Zoey immediately rushed over to their friend, wanting to know what happened between the two.
"What's going on?" Cory asked, confused.
"You are a god." Shawn said proudly, wrapping an arm around Cory's shoulder.
"What are you talking about?" Cory questioned.
Shawn chuckled. "Like you don't know. Like you didn't spend the night with Topanga."
"All we did was edit." Cory explained.
"Hey... you call it what you want. But you are the man." Shawn said with a wide smile.
"I'm not the man." Cory stated.
"There's the man." Harley's voice called. Zoey looked over to see him and Joey approaching them. "There he is, barely three feet high. I mean, not much to look at, but inside... there lurks a little Harley Keiner."
"So uh... so Matthews... Come on, tell the truth now." Joey insisted. "Did you sleep with her? Did you sleep with Topanga?"
Cory hesitated for a moment. "Well, that's a very private, personal, intimate question -"
"Hey!" Harley shouted, interrupting Cory. "Are you the man... or are you just you?"
"I guess...." Cory trails off as he looked behind to see Topanga by the lockers, watching him. He turned back to Harley with a smile. "I'm the man."
All the boys that were surrounding Cory clapped for him while Zoey looked around in disgust.
"Come. Let us commemorate this occasion." Harley announced as Joey handed him a can of spray-paint.
When Harley, Shawn, Joey and Cory all walked away, Zoey was the only one left standing. She turned to the lockers and noticed Topanga with a frown. Zoey walked over to Topanga and immediately wrapped her arms around the girl.
"I know you and Cory didn't do anything." Zoey muttered.
"Thanks, Zo." Topanga said as they pulled apart. "I think you're the only one who believes me."
As the two girls were smiling at each other, Zoey looked around the halls and noticed that every boy was looking at Topanga with a seductive and teasing look on their faces. Topanga frowned sadly and walked away.
"Topanga!" Zoey called before turning to the boys in anger. "You are all disgusting!"
••••
During English Class it was the day where everyone was going to watch the documentary about sex and love that the students had made. Zoey sat at her desk, fumbling with her fingers as she waited.
"Okay. Everybody settle down. Settle down, it's show time." Mr. Turner told the class, gaining their attention. "First up, the tape by Topanga and Mathews."
Everyone 'ooed' at Cory and Topanga who both sat uncomfortable at their desks. Zoey rolled her eyes in anger at the people who thought that Topanga slept with Cory.
Zoey snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Harley leaning against the door frame.
"You're in this class?" Zoey questioned.
"I'm in the movie." Harley responded.
"Mr. Turner, a word." Mr. Feeny asked as he walked into the classroom and towards the front of the class.
"Mr. Feeny...You here to watch the tape?" Mr. Turner wondered.
"No, actually I'm here to express my surprise that you're going to watch the tape." Mr. Feeny responded. "Any chance you might rethink that decision?"
"All right, class. Mr. Feeny's of the opinion that our discussions about sex and love and gossip and slander can only lead to more sex and love and gossip and slander. I have to say, so far he's right. Now, I have not seen this tape, but I hope my trust has not been misplaced in you guys. Has it?" Mr. Turner asked, directing his question to Cory and Topanga.
"Why don't you ask him?" Topanga said with a frown, pointing to Cory.
"Matthews?" Mr. Turner questioned.
"I think if we don't watch it, we'll never know anything." Cory simply responded.
Mr. Turner turned to Mr. Feeny with a confident expression. "My student says we should show it."
"Well then, perhaps we should." Mr. Feeny said.
Mr. Turner turned the lights off and pressed play. They all watched the video, but in the middle of the video Cory appeared saying that he never did anything with Topanga and that he was very sorry for saying that he did.
"Friend?" Cory asked Topanga.
"Friend." Topanga agreed as her and Cory shook hands.
__________________
PUBLISHED: March 1, 2018
WORDS: 2051