At school, Zoey was currently drawing on a random piece of paper in Mr. Turner's classroom, while Cory pulled out a papaya out of his bag and began to play with it. Mr. Feeny then walked inside the classroom and glanced at Cory,
"Mr. Matthews, where did you get that papaya?" Mr. Feeny questioned.
"From home. Is there a problem?" Cory wondered.
"I've got my eye on you." Mr. Feeny told him.
Cory turned to Zoey with a confused expression. "I'm confused."
"Seniors are sending him gifts baskets with foods and such." Zoey simply explained.
"Oh." Cory said with a small nod.
"Hey, George, what's up?" Mr. Turner greeted, approaching the principle.
"Well, I just wanted to be sure you knew that the Hunter boy missed his history test this morning." Mr. Feeny informed.
"He what?" Mr. Turner questioned in shock.
"Oh, that's my fault, my fault." Zoey began as she stood up from her seat and approached the teachers. "I was supposed to tell you that Shawn had a severe case of, uh.... " She looked at Mr. Feeny. "Help me out here."
"Sloth?" He suggested.
Zoey nodded. "Yes. Hong Kong sloth."
"That's it." Mr. Turner said and walked out of the classroom.
"Not your best work, Miss Francis." Mr. Feeny told her. The brunette couldn't help but agree.
••••
The next day at school, Shawn was finally there. Zoey and Cory currently sat on the bench beside the small flight of stairs, while Shawn stood beside them with a confused expression when Zoey told him the excuse she had made up.
"Hong Kong sloth?" Shawn questioned his girlfriend.
"Well, Feeny came up with the 'sloth'. but I added the 'Hong Kong' part." Zoey explained.
"Turner didn't even wanna talk about it." Shawn said, leaning against the wall. "He's all, 'Hunter, tomorrow you're seeing the new guidance counselor.' I tell you one thing, though. Shawn Hunter is not gonna waste an hour of his life listening to some baldheaded, long-winded, leisure-suit-wearing know-it-all."
Zoey narrowed her eyes when a young woman walked up beside Shawn and pointed at the door beside Cory and Zoey.
"Oh, my name's on the door! They didn't have to do that!" The woman exclaimed, walking up to the door.
"You're the new guidance counselor?" Zoey wondered, standing up beside Shawn.
"Hi, I'm Devon Collins." She introduced herself.
Zoey leaned towards Shawn. "Be nice."
Shawn reluctantly shook Devon's hand. "Hi. Shawn Hunter. Guide me."
"His had a lot of coffee today. Sorry, I just need him for one minute." Zoey told Devon before pulling Shawn aside. "Please don't hit on the guidance counselor, okay?"
"I won't. I promise." Shawn said with a small smile.
"You better." Zoey said.
Shawn leaned down and pressed a kiss against Zoey's lips before he went inside the guidance counselor room.
••••
After class, Zoey slugged her bag strap over her shoulder as she walked through the halls. When she walked around the corner, she saw Cory talking to a couple of his friends about Harley Keiner as he walked out of Mr. Turner's class.
Zoey's eyes widened in shock when she saw Harley in the middle of the hall, standing beside Joey and Frankie.
"Guys, come on. It's just a stupid rumor. I mean, there's a better chance of me running into the Loch Ness monster than ever seeing that greaseball Harley Keiner here again. I mean, re..." Cory stopped himself when Harley grabbed the back of his neck and turned him around. Cory then spoke in a Scottish accent. "And here I am in Scotland."
Zoey gulped nervously. "Oh no."
"Baboon. Did you get those threatening letters I sent?" Harley asked.
"Yes, I did. Thank you. Sorry I didn't answer. I've been busy." Cory replied before he pulled out his wallet from his pocket and handed it to Harley. "Here's my wallet. Enjoy."
Cory then immediately started running down the halls, Zoey sighed before she followed after his, slightly worried that Harley was going to go after them.
••••
Cory and Zoey were currently sitting in a booth in Chubbies at around five in the morning. They were both waiting for Shawn, who had told them to meet them at Chubbies. Zoey fell asleep on her arms, very tired as she had to sneak out of her house.
"No, clown, no!" Cory shouted in his sleep.
Zoey fluttered her eyes open to see Shawn standing beside them.
"What's so important that you had to get us up at five in the morning?" Zoey asked with a yawn. She was exhausted.
"I'm taking off, guys. I just wanted to say goodbye before I left." Shawn told them.
"Okay, bye." Cory said, placing his head back on the table.
"Yeah, bye Shawn." Zoey yawned once more before she placed her head on her arms, about to fall asleep.
"No, really. I'm leaving." Shawn said, sitting beside Zoey.
Cory sighed and lifted his head up. "Shawn, I know what this is. Today's Ms. Birnbaum's biology test, and seeing that you've never met Ms. Birnbaum, you're ditching."
"This has nothing to do with school. This is about me. I'm doing a little traveling. Getting to know myself. I mean, I can't be happy in school until I'm happy with myself." Shawn explained.
Zoey furrowed her eyebrows. "Where'd you get an idea like that?"
"From the guidance counselor." Shawn answered.
"So, Turner's just letting you take off?" Cory asked.
"He doesn't know, and I don't want him to find out." Shawn replied. "He'd just try and stop me. So, could you two just do me a favor and cover for me long enough so I can get out town?"
Zoey sighed. "Shawn, this is stupid."
"Look, I've thought all this through. I've never been more psyched, more ready for anything in my whole life." Shawn told them. "You guys got a few bucks?"
"No!" Cory answered.
Zoey shook her head. "Sorry, Shawn."
"Okay. Just asking. Well... see ya." Shawn said. He turned to Zoey and placed a kiss lovingly kiss against her lips. When they pulled apart, Shawn began to walk towards the stairs.
"Wait, Shawn. Shawn, stop." Zoey called, getting up from the booth and walked up to him. "This whole thing is crazy. I mean, you don't even know what you're doing here."
"Zo, are you really my friend and girlfriend?" Shawn asked.
"You know I am." Zoey answered.
"Then you'll let me go." Shawn replied, pressing a kiss against her cheek before he walked up the stairs out of Chubbies.
••••
"I can't believe he does this to us. Over and over and over again!" Cory ranted as he and Zoey walked through the school halls. Zoey yawned, not having enough sleep due to Shawn.
"He's our friend, Cor. We'd do anything for him." Zoey said.
"Yeah, but he always does something stupid." Cory responded.
Zoey huffed slightly. "You both do. That's why your such good friends."
"Zoey, why are you okay with Shawn leaving?" Cory asked.
"I'm not." Zoey admitted with a small frown. "I'm worried about Shawn and what might happen to him. But I want Shawn to be happy, that's all I care about."
Cory shook his head. "No, if you love Shawn, then you need to see what's best for him, not what he wants."
"You're right, Cor. We need to do the right thing." Zoey said before the two sprinted into their English class where Mr. Turner sat on his desk. "Mr. Turner, we gotta talk. It's about Shawn."
"Wait, don't tell me. Today he has African sloth." Mr. Turner sassed.
"Look, we're not supposed to tell you, but I got to. Shawn took off." Cory informed him.
Mr. Turner furrowed his brows. "What are you talkin' about? Where's he go?"
"I don't know!" Cory answered.
"See, Mr. Turner, Shawn had that meeting with the guidance counselor, and the next thing we know, he splits." Zoey explained.
"Matthews, Francis, thanks. You two did the right thing." Mr. Turner told them before he walked out of the classroom.
"Yeah. I'm cursed." Cory muttered.
Zoey sighed. "Yes, you are, but so am I because mu conscience is really strict on me."
The brunette then walked over to her desk and began to do her work. And after an hour the bell rung, much her her relief. Zoey scooped up her books, chucking them in her backpack before zipping it up and throwing it over her shoulders, walking out of the classroom beside Cory, who was talking to a couple of kids.
"And the beauty is I gave ol' Crisco-head Keiner a fake wallet. I'd like to see his face when he finds out." Cory said.
Zoey's eyes widened when she saw Harley standing behind Cory. Harley grabbed the back of Cory's neck and made him face him.
"It'll look a lot like this... but perturbed." Harley told him.
"Can you please stop appearing out of nowhere?" Zoey asked.
••••
During later in the day, Zoey was walking through the school halls. She slugged her bag strap over her shoulder as walked towards her locker. She then stopped in her tracks when she suddenly saw Shawn leaning against her locker.
A wide smile spread across Zoey's lips as she sprinted towards him and jumped into his arms. Shawn caught her and held her as tight as he could to himself, breathing in the scent of her hair. Shawn pulled her body against his chest, stroking her hair with his fingers. He pulled away a little so he could look at her properly.
"You're here." Zoey said with a wide smile. "I thought you were leaving?"
Shawn nodded. "I was... but some things made me stay."
"Like what?" Zoey wondered.
"Like you. You were the first thing on my list." Shawn answered.
"I like the sound of that." Zoey said with a smile and reached up to plant a kiss on his lips. Shawn smiled widely.
_________________
PUBLISHED: April 1, 2018
WORDS: 1662