At school, Shawn and Zoey were standing in the middle of the hall, reading off activities for Cory to try out.
"Football?" Shawn suggested.
"No, no. Pain. Cleats on face." Cory answered.
"Modern dance?" Zoey wondered.
Cory shook his head. "No. Lotta girls. Tights. no."
"Drama club?" Shawn asked.
"No. Lotta guys. Tights. No." Cory responded.
"That's the list, Cor." Zoey said, passing the piece of paper that had the activities to Cory.
"None of these are me, guys." Cory stated, looking at the list. "I mean, here I am, going into my eighth year of public education, and who am I, really?"
"You're you. You're Cory Matthews." Zoey responded and Shawn nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, but there's no Cory Matthews club on here, there's no club for ordinary guys who doesn't know who they are and aren't great at anything." Cory complained.
"So start one." Shawn suggested.
Cory sighed in defeat. "Oh, I probably wouldn't get in."
The school bell rung.
"Cory, come on, you got a lot of good qualities. Hey, you're honest, loyal and decent." Zoey pointed out.
"Housebroken, too. I'm a stinkin' beagle." Cory said with a frown.
Zoey pattered Cory's shoulder before the three walked into the English classroom, where Mr. Turner sat on his desk. Zoey smiled to herself as she sat down at her desk.
"All right, people, this just off the wire. Elections for the next year's eighth-grade class president will be held next week." Mr. Turner announced to the class.
"Who cares?" Cory questioned, fake sneezing into his hands.
"Detention!" Mr. Turner said as if coughing.
"Sorry!" Cory apologized into his hands.
"Too many people whine and moan about the way things run around here." Mr. Turner began, walking around the classroom. "Well, this is a chance to change things by getting involved. But remember, this is a student election..."
"It's not a popularity contest." Zoey and the rest of the class repeated back to Mr. Turner's previous words for last week.
"You know, I think we've been spending a little too much time together." Mr. Turner said. "The point is, your class president doesn't need to be quarterback or a cheerleader. You'll be much better off with someone who's honest, loyal and decent."
Zoey quickly turned her head to her friend. "Cory, that's you."
"What?" He asked.
"You wanted to know who you were. You could be president." Zoey said.
Cory scoffed. "Come on."
"All right, let's have have some nominations." Mr. Turner called.
"I got somebody good. I nominate me." Meese spoke up and Zoey rolled her eyes at the kid.
"Your humility is impressive, Meese, but someone else has to nominate you." Mr. Turner explained.
"Topanga, how about it?" Meese asked.
"No, go away, and don't look at me." Topanga quickly responded.
"Come on, Meese here has the guts to run. Someone should have the guts to nominate him." Mr. Turner said.
Cory raised his hand. "All right, big deal. I'll nominate him."
"What are you doing? That's your competition." Shawn told him.
"I'm not running." Cory stated. Both Shawn and Zoey exchanged a look and nodded.
"Anybody else?" Mr. Turner asked.
Shawn quickly stood up. "The great state of Shawn nominates the people's choice... Cory Matthews."
"I second that." Zoey said, standing up and stood beside Shawn.
"No!" Cory shouted, getting up quickly.
"No! He's not gonna settle for second-rate leadership." Shawn covered.
"Matthews, you've been nominated. Do you accept?" Mr. Turner asked.
"No way." Cory answered.
"No way would he turn down a chance to serve his fellow students." Zoey said, covering while Shawn nodded in agreement.
"What are you two, his handlers?" Mr. Turner questioned.
"Yes, we are." Shawn responded.
"No, they're not." Cory said. "Look, I don't know anything about being president, okay? I wouldn't have a clue. I'm not somebody special. I'm just an average guy like all of you, the simple, hard-working..." He stopped himself when he noticed the class all looking at him. Zoey smiled. "... Students who struggle day after day with too much homework, unfair teachers, and an antiquated justice system that relies too much on detention. And if elected... if I win and you guys vote for me... I would say to each and every one of you, 'Hey, thanks'!"
••••
"You've got something, man. You could really win this." Shawn told Cory as the three walked into the hall.
Zoey nodded in agreement. "You're president material, Cory."
"Yeah, but guys, there are like four-hundred kids in our grade, and I don't even know most of them." Cory said.
"That's why we have to take your message from the lunchrooms to the bathrooms, from the halls to the stalls. We have to tell everybody who you are!" Zoey said, raising her voice in excitement.
"But I'm not anybody." Cory stated.
"Say it again." Shawn insisted.
"I'm not anybody." Cory said normally.
"That's what they like." Zoey said. "You're not some handsome, smart, popular guy. You're not cool. You're not even halfway..."
"Hey! I got it." Cory said, cutting his friend off. "Thank you. You're both on my side, right?"
"There is no other side." Shawn said and Zoey nodded in agreement. "Zoey and I are gonna put together a campaign like this school has never seen, an unstoppable tidal wave, gathering snow, blazing through the sky, crushing everything in its beak."
"You two are getting off on this, aren't you?" Cory asked.
"I gotta say I am." Shawn answered.
Zoey nodded. "It's going to be really fun, Cor."
••••
Shawn and Zoey had come up with a plan on making Cory a commercial, which he can show during class, making the seven-graders vote for him.
The three currently stood in the hallway. Shawn held the camera and talked straight into the lens. "This is Cory Matthews' campaign commercial, directed by me."
"And me!" Zoey shouted as she pushed herself into the frame.
"The following is paid for by Citizens to Elect Cory, which so far is... just me and Zoey Francis." Shawn informed before he held the camera towards Cory. "Action!"
Cory leaned on the glass that had the statue of John Adams' head inside, he also had a coat draped over his shoulder.
"Cory Matthews... loyal, honest, decent, a leader who dares to say..." Zoey narrated as Cory walked through the halls and shook random kids hands.
"Hey, I'm average." Cory said into the camera before making his way Topanga, who held cue cards. "Why, hello there, young lady. And what do you think of me?"
"Hi, Cory." Topanga greeted. "Tell me how you plan to make this school a more effective institution for the entire student body."
"Well, that's a very... Shawn, Zoey!" Cory called.
"Cut!" Shawn shouted as he lowered the camera. "Topanga, could you please just read what I wrote out for you?"
"Yeah, like I'm gonna say, 'Cory's cute and cuddly. That's what's important to me as a girl'." Topanga said, reading from her cue cards.
Zoey gave Shawn a pointed look. "You wrote her that?"
"What?" Shawn questioned.
"This is not how I think." Topanga stated. "This is not how any girl thinks, right Zo?"
Zoey nodded. "That's right. How about next time, let me write the lines."
"And there's no 'm' in 'cuddly'." Topanga pointed out.
"Topanga, please, Shawn knows what he's doing." Cory said.
"No. No, I don't." Shawn answered.
"What?" Cory asked.
"Really. She's right. I should have been more sensitive to our female brothers. Tell you what. These... these are gone." Shawn said, taking the cards out of Topanga's hand and ripped them. "I want you to say whatever you think needs to be said as a human being who just happens to be female."
"Apology accepted." Topanga said.
"Before you start, could you wet your lips?" Shawn asked and without hesitation, Zoey slapped him upside the head.
"You are so sleazy." Topanga said before she walked away from the three of them.
"What? What?" Shawn questioned in confusion.
••••
After school the three went over to Cory's place. Shawn and Zoey stood in the kitchen and explain to Eric, who sat at the kitchen table what they were doing.
"Okay. The idea here is that you and your brother share a common bond - brotherhood. We want to show that to the voters." Zoey explained to Eric.
"So basically you just want to see me being an older brother." Eric responded.
Shawn nodded. "There you go. Okay, action!"
Zoey held up the camera towards Cory, who had walked into the Kitchen through the back door.
"Hey, Cor!" Eric greeted.
"Hey, there, older brother." Cory said with a smile.
"You know, Cor, I was just sitting here thinking, what makes my little brother special? What sets him apart from the other seventh-grade candidates? Is it his allergy to scallops?" Eric wondered, looking straight into the camera.
"Eric." Cory warned.
"Is it his Scooby-Doo thermos?" Eric asked, showing the object to the camera.
"Where'd you find that?" Cory asked, beginning to panic.
"No, I think it's his fuzzy bunny pajamas with the cottontail." Eric said, pulling out a small blue bunny onesie.
"I haven't worn these for years, I swear." Cory said into the camera with a worried expression.
"Boinky, boinky, boinky." Eric said as he began bouncy the pajamas on the table.
"Cut!" Shawn yelled.
••••
"Oh! Hey, guys, watcha doin?" Mr. Matthews asked as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Cut!" Shawn called and lowered the camera.
"Campaign commercial." Zoey answered as Mrs. Matthews walked over to the kitchen table. "We're helping Cory with all of it."
"Is this your script?" Mrs. Matthews asked, looking down at the paper on the table.
"No, no, no.." Cory said, trying not to let his mother see the piece of paper, but it was too late.
Mrs. Matthews grabbed the script and began reading it. "It's morning at Cory's house and Cory's having pizza for breakfast. Yes, Cory does pretty much whatever he wants. Why? Because his parents are dead."
"Shawn wrote it." Cory quickly accused.
"Mrs. Matthews, I could lie to you." Shawn started.
"Oh, why stop now?" Mrs. Matthews asked.
"Our research shows that parents are not thought of as cool, so if we can position Cory as being 'on his own', individual, independent, we increase his level of cool." Shawn explained.
"And, Cor, how cool do you feel about the recent demise of your parents?" Mrs. Matthews wondered.
"It's just temporary, Mum." Cory assured. "I mean, as soon as I'm elected, you and Dad will be found living amongst the bears in the Oregon woods."
"Okay." Zoey muttered.
••••
At school, Shawn, Cory and Zoey leaned against the lockers when they see Mr. Feeny walking down the stairs with Michael McGruder.
"Mr. McGruder, I don't care to hear what your little brother tore up or what your dog ate. I want your paper on my desk by first bell tomorrow or else." Mr. Feeny scolded.
"You'll give me an F." Michael said.
"I'll give you a G. As in 'Gee, id I'd just done my work on time, I wouldn't be the only forty-year-old in the seventh grade'. Ta-ta." Mr. Feeny responded before he walked away.
"He's not human." Micheal stated as the three approached him.
"You want him gone?" Shawn wondered.
"Can you do that?" Micheal questioned, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Cory can." Zoey simply answered, pointing at her friend. "If he's elected, Feeny's gone."
"You can do that?" Micheal asked Cory.
"If that's what you want, that's what Cory will do." Shawn replied, patting Micheal on the back. "Spread the word."
Micheal smiled and walked away from them.
"Shawn, Zoey, I want to win too, but in what part of your diseased minds does the eighth-grade class president get to fire the principal?" Cory asked.
"Cory, come on. It's just a campaign promise. It's what you say to get elected." Shawn explained. "Now, repeat after me. Give the people what they want."
"Yeah, but I..." Cory was stopped by Shawn placed a hand on his mouth.
"Give the people what they want." Shawn repeated along with Cory. "Give the people what they want."
••••
Later during the day, the three walked inside the cafeteria. Zoey saw some of her classmates surrounding Messe, who stood on the table, looking down at them. Zoey crossed her arms over her stomach as she stood beside Cory and Shawn.
"And if teachers get paid for teaching, then the students should get paid for learning." Meese said.
"Yeah!" The students cheered.
"And this homework thing... what is that about? If they can't teach enough during school hours, why is that our problem?" Meese questioned.
"Yeah!" The students cheered once more.
"This guy may be cheesier than we are." Shawn said.
Zoey slowly nodded. "Yep."
"What do we do?" Cory asked.
"We break out the heavy cheese." Shawn said in complete seriousness before he stood up on a table. "Let me tell you something, my friends. How can you believe anything this guy says? He's got straight A's. He's been making you look dumb for years. Can you really trust this... this curve breaker?"
"Curve breaker!" Zoey shouted which caused all the students to chant it to Meese.
Shawn jumped off the table and pushed Cory ahead. "Talk to 'em, Cory. Tell 'em what they want to hear."
Cory nodded and stood up on the table. "My fellow students, there are many challenging issues which currently face John Adams High, issues that seemingly have no solutions..." The students began walking out of the cafeteria, not paying attention to Cory. "And I say there'd be fewer problems if we spent less time here." He said, gaining everyone's attention. "I mean, what's the deal with this five-day school week? I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty much shot by Wednesday, so let's end the week there. If I'm president. Thursdays and Fridays are part of the weekend."
"Yeah!" The students cheered.
"Mondays are optional." Cory shouted.
"Yeah!" The students yelled.
"Tuesdays, come in prepared to learn." Cory said.
"Yeah!" The students cheered once more.
"We are the future!" Cory shouted.
"Hey, you can't make five-days weekends." Meese said as he jumped from the table and approached Cory.
"Yeah, well, you can't pay kids for going to school." Cory replied.
"Are you questioning my integrity?" Meese asked.
"Yes, we are." Shawn answered.
"Well, I question yours, and I have proof. Nobody move." Meese said before he rushed off somewhere.
Cory looked down at Shawn, worried. "Shawn, he doesn't have anything on us, does he?"
Shawn huffed as Cory jumped down from the table. "No, it's a bluff. It's gotta be. Listen man, a lot of weird stuff goes on in the trailer park.
"Uh-oh." Zoey muttered when Meese returned with a blonde girl beside him.
"Voters and voterettes, this poor, exploited young woman is named Paula, and she had a sordid story to tell." Meese informed the students. "Go ahead, Paula. Tell them what you told me."
"I was in third grade with Shawn Hunter." Paula started which caused Zoey to furrow her eyebrows in confusion. "One day, he and I were standing near the monkey bars, and... I can't go on."
"Go ahead, Paula. Be strong." Meese encouraged.
"Well, Shawn said that... that all girls... were icky!" Paula announced.
Zoey simply rolled her eyes at how ridiculous this was while the students in the cafeteria gasped in shock.
"Oh, God, come on. I never said that." Shawn said.
"You write it on my notebook. 'All girls are icky'." Paula said, revealing the notebook with the words across it.
"You still have it?" Zoey wondered in disgust.
"Give me a break. I was only eight." Shawn said, defending himself. "I didn't like girls then, but I love them now."
"So you changed your mind?" Meese questioned.
"Of course." Shawn answered.
"Flip-flop." Meese accused.
"What?" Shawn asked.
"Flip-flop. He changes his mind about girls." Meese explained. "Who knows what he's gonna change his mind about next? Flip-flopper!"
"Flip-flopper! Flip-flopper!" The students all chanted.
"Wait a minute!" Cory called, standing on a chair. "Wait, wait, wait. Shawn's not even running here."
"but he represents you, doesn't he?" Meese questioned.
"I sure do." Shawn answered.
"Then Cory, are you prepared to drop out of the race?" Meese asked.
"No." Cory replied.
"Are you prepared to drop your flip-flopping one-time sexist campaign manager?" Meese questioned.
"All I want is justice. Shawn has to go." Paula said.
Zoey looked at Paula as if she was crazy. "What are you eight?"
"Shawn must go!" Meese shouted and everyone began to chant.
"Wait a minute. Don't you guys want a president who's loyal to his friends a hundred percent?" Cory asked the students.
"No!" They all shouted.
"Really? That's what you guys want?" Cory wondered.
"Yes!" The students answered.
Cory took a deep breath. "Then Shawn is out."
"Yeah!" The students cheered.
Zoey crossed her arms over her stomach, giving Cory a death glare. How could you do that to your best friend?
••••
Later when everyone had left the cafeteria, Shawn, Cory and Zoey were the only ones inside and sat on one of the empty tables.
"How could you do this to me?" Shawn asked, sounding hurt.
"Did you hear them cheer, guys? I think we picked up a lot of girls votes. You said we were weak on girls." Cory said.
"Cory, you fired Shawn." Zoey pointed out in a serious tone.
"Well, yeah, just a little." Cory responded.
Shawn shook his head. "No. No, no, it was all of me."
"But I had to. We're in this to win, right?" Cory said.
"'We? We? We?" Shawn squealed, his voice slightly cracking.
"Shawn, you're squealing." Cory told him.
"Yeah, I'm squealing. That's the sound you make when your best friend takes a gun and stabs you in the back right in front of your eyes." Shawn said. Zoey sighed and patted Shawn on the back.
Cory sighed. "Look, I just did what you told me to. I gave the people what they wanted."
"Well, I want my campaign back." Shawn said with a frown.
"Yeah, since when was it your campaign?" Cory asked.
"Only since we nominated you and he told you what to say every step of the way." Zoey simply answered while Shawn nodded in agreement.
"Okay, you were helping in the early going, and I'll never forget that." Cory said.
"You fired me!" Shawn shouted.
"Shawn, my friend, this is not a time for bitterness. This is a time for healing." Cory responded.
"You know what, Cory Matthews? If I met you just this minute, I wouldn't know who you are." Shawn said, jumping off the table and grabbed onto Zoey, the two of them walking out of the cafeteria.
"I'm Cory Matthews, the next president of the eighth grade." Cory said.
"Not without us, pal." Shawn said. Zoey nodded before the two of them left.
As much Zoey wanted to go along with Cory, she didn't want to support someone who chose random people than his best friend.
••••
Shawn had decided to go up for class President with Zoey's help. The two of them were up all night trying to come up what Shawn would say in the debate.
When they arrived at school, they immediately went straight to the cafeteria where the debate was held at. Zoey noticed Cory and Meese on stage, standing behind their podium.
"Hey, Mr. Turner, we're here." Zoey greeted.
"Finally, we just barely started." Mr. Turner responded. Zoey smiled at Shawn while Mr. Turner picked up a wooden podium and walked over to Mr. Feeny, who was already on stage. "Slight change of plans, George."
"You said I could be moderator." Mr. Feeny said.
"Well, now there's even more to moderate." Mr. Turner responded, placing the podium down. "All right. Technically we never closed the nomination process, and so, as of just now, there's a new candidate for president."
"Oh, good. Perhaps a serious-minded student appalled by the tawdry level of the campaign thus far." Mr. Feeny said.
"Shawn Hunter." Mr. Turner announced.
"I quit." Mr. Feeny quickly said as Shawn walked on stage.
"How you doing? Vote for me. Vote for me." Shawn told the audience members before he stood behind his podium.
Cory looked at his friend in shock. "Shawn, what are you doing?"
"What I should have done in the first place - run for president myself. Zo nominated me." Shawn explained.
"Can he do this?" Cory asked, looking at Mr. Feeny.
"Mr. Turner, this is your little experiment in democracy." Mr. Feeny said to the English teacher. "Can he do this?"
"I don't see why not." Mr. Turner answered. "Democracy is always invigorated by the infusion of fresh, new ideas."
"Do you have any ideas, Mr. Hunter?" Mr. Feeny questioned.
"Oh, yeah. Big honkin' ones." Shawn replied confidently.
Mr. Feeny turned to Mr. Turner with a smug expression. "'Big honkin' ones'."
"So, flip-flopper, call any girls 'icky' lately?" Meese asked Shawn with raised eyebrows.
"Thank you for bringing that up, Alvin." Shawn started. "Yes, I... I have made some mistakes in the past. I have called some girls icky, but that was a long time ago, when I had cooties. That's right. That's right. I, Shawn Hunter, had cooties, but I fought my way back, and I stand before you today cootie-free and girl-friendly. And to prove that, I'd like to introduce to you my co-candidate for president... Zoey Francis."
Zoey smiled as she made her way on stage and towards Shawn, who had given her a rose.
"Can he do this?" Cory asked, looking at the teachers.
"Can he do this?" Mr. Feeny asked, turning to Mr. Turner.
"I don't see why not." Mr. Turner answered. "Democracy is always -"
"Oh, be quiet." Mr. Feeny told him. "How far are you willing to let this go?"
"I have faith in these students and the electoral process, and... maybe just another minute." Mr. Turner responded.
"Shawn Hunter's only in this race so he can get back at me for firing him." Cory accused.
"And you're only in it because you didn't know who you were." Shawn retorted.
"Well, I know who I am now." Cory said.
Zoey raised her eyebrows. "Who are you then, Cory?"
"I'm Cory Matthews, man of the people." He answered.
"Okay, man of the people, didn't you lie to the people?" Shawn asked.
Cory hesitated for a second. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."
"Didn't you make them outrageous campaign promises you knew you couldn't possibly deliver?" Shawn wondered.
"Yeah, only cause you told me to." Cory said.
Shawn huffed. "If I told you to jump off a bridge, would you listen to me?"
"Yeah, I did that one time." Cory replied. "Don't you remember?"
"How can you vote for a guy who's dumb enough to jump off a bridge?" Meese asked the audience, pointing at Cory.
"It was a miniature gold bridge." Shawn corrected. "He jumped in to get my ball, and don't call my friend dumb."
Zoey nodded. "Yeah, nerd. No one bullies my friend but me."
"Yeah, there's no room in this campaign for name-calling, you four-eyed, frog-voiced geek. " Cory told Meese.
"My mother does not buy my clothes." Meese stated. His eyes widened at what he had just said. "I resign."
And with that, Zoey watched Meese quickly walking off stage, leaving her, Cory and Shawn.
"Order. Order!" Mr. Feeny called out, gaining everyone's attention. "This has all gone far enough. Go back to your classrooms and cast your votes for the remaining candidates, and may God have mercy on your souls."
"Wait a minute, Mr. Feeny. Before they vote, shouldn't they hear what we have to say?" Cory wondered.
"No." Mr. Feeny answered firmly.
"Look, I just want to say that before this election, I really didn't know who I was or what was important to me, but now, weeks later, after looking deeply into my soul. I still have no idea." Cory explained.
"I know less than he knows." Shawn added, raising a fist into the air.
"Thank you, Mr. Lincoln, but wait your turn." Mr. Feeny told Shawn.
"So I ran for president to find out who I was, and what I think I'm finding out is that... I'm not a good candidate or a good friend." Cory continued. "So I withdraw from the race, and I think everyone here should vote for Shawn. He's really the best friend you could have."
"No, I'm not. I'm worse than you." Shawn stated before looking at the audience. "I made up every lie he told. I've known Cory all my life, and he really is honest, loyal and decent. That's what you are, Cor. That's all you need to be. I withdraw from the race, too."
"Well, Mr. Feeny, we're both out." Cory said.
"Yes, well, I'm sure you'll do well in the private sector." Mr. Feeny replied.
"Wait a second." Zoey said, stepping forward. "Maybe I want to be president. I wanted to address important issues like -"
"Zo, you want to grab a burger?" Shawn asked.
A wide smile spread across Zoey's face. "Never mind. I'm out everyone."
___________________
PUBLISHED: March 21, 2018
WORDS: 4235