During school, Shawn was talking to Zoey over the phone. Zoey was sick and couldn't make it to school, which made Shawn miss her even more.
Topanga was also sick, which caused Cory to miss her as well.
"Zoey, how could you be sick? I mean, you said you'd never catch a cold as long as you were taking that trout fluid." Shawn said.
"It's fish oil." Zoey corrected him. "And I'll be fine. Just take good notes for me and I'll be back in school Monday."
"I miss you so much and I'll call you after next period, Zo." Shawn said, hanging up the phone. Everyone around them 'awed'. "Oh, drop dead. We're in love."
"Not us." Cory said, motioning Shawn and himself. He then turned to Shawn. "Do that again and I will hurt you. But I'm not embarrassed. I mean, Topanga and I are serious like you and Zoey. We do everything together."
"Hi, Cory." Libby Harper greeted as she approached him. "Love that shirt."
"Hey, thanks. Underneath it I'm half-naked." Cory joked. Libby chuckled and walked away.
"You and Topanga do everything together, huh? Even flirt with Libby Harper?" Shawn wondered.
"Flirt? I was just being friendly. And besides, girls like Libby Harper don't flirt with me." Cory responded.
"That was before. Now you have 'the scent'." Shawn said.
"Well, what exactly is 'the scent'?" Cory asked.
"I'll tell you about 'the scent'." Shawn said.
"All right, stop." Cory said, pushing Shawn's hands down from making the quotation marks at 'the scent'.
"It means women want you." Shawn told him.
"Why?" Cory asked.
"Because they can't have you." Shawn replied. "You're with Topanga, they think you're unavailable, virgo, they want you. Zoey and I go through every day. Both men and women."
"You're batty." Cory stated. "So one girl may have flirted with me. You're making it sound like all girls... I don't know, Missy Robinson, are gonna come over and suddenly make small talk."
"Cory?" Missy Robinson called as she walked up to him.
"Yes, Missy?" Cory asked.
"Did you know the sun sets today at 6:52?" Missy wondered.
"I did not know that." Cory replied. He turned to look at Shawn. "Shawn..."
••••
In Mr. Feeny's class, Shawn sat down at his normal desk but frowned slightly when he noticed a pretty brunette girl sitting in Zoey's spot. He then spotted Missy Robinson sitting in Topanga's seat.
"And then the paper bear said, 'Missy's taking Topanga's seat'." Shawn whispered, leaning forward. "Hold onto your porridge, Cor."
Cory shushed him. "I'm trying to listen to what Feeny's saying.
"All right. Mr. Matthews, what was I saying?" Mr. Feeny asked from his spot on his desk, holding a history text book.
"I-I-I was too busy absorbing to listen." Cory answered.
Mr. Feeny sarcastically smiled. "Very good. Mr. Hunter?"
"Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal." Shawn answered.
Mr. Feeny quickly placed a hand over his heart. "Dear Lord, he's right."
"It's been my answer for two years, Mr. Feeny. Sooner or later, it had to pay off." Shawn said.
The bell rung which caused Shawn to gather his stuff from his desk.
"Not, don't forget, for next week's assignment you'll need to choose partners." Mr. Feeny called out.
"Shawn?" Cory asked as he stood up.
"Who else?" Shawn wondered with a smile.
Mr. Feeny then stood in front of them. "Mr. Matthews, Mr. Hunter, spread the wealth, hm?"
"But Mr. Feeny, you can't split us up." Shawn said, as Mr. Feeny walked out of the classroom. "Oh, Cor, this is plain wrong. He can't break us up like that. I mean, if I can't do this project with you, my very best friend in the world, then I'm just not gonna."
"Hey, Shawn, got a partner?" Libby asked as she approached him with a flirtatious smirk.
"Remember Zoey. Zoey. Zoey. Zoey." Shawn muttered to himself, walking out of the class with Libby.
••••
At lunch, Shawn sat at an empty eating his lunch before he noticed Cory approaching him, looking around the room holding his lunch tray.
"What are you looking for?" Shawn asked.
Cory placed his tray on the table and sat down. "You're not gonna believe this. I go to pay for my lunch and Bertha says: 'Don't worry, it's already taken care of'. This makes no sense.
"Cory." Missy Robinson called from the table she sat at. "Over here."
"All right, Corrance." Shawn said with a smirk.
"What?" Cory asked.
"You still don't smell it, do you?" Shawn wondered.
Cory sniffed and looked down at his food. "The shawarma in a pocket? They said it was fresh."
"No, I'm talking about 'the scent'." Shawn said, making the air quotes once more.
"Stop with the fingers." Cory told him.
"Cory, I saved you a seat." Missy called once more.
"All right, look. I'm gonna go over there, but only talk about the history assignment." Cory said, standing up from his seat.
"Hey, Cor, remember..." Shawn trailed off.
"I know, just be myself." Cory said.
"No. Be me." Shawn corrected, and Cory walked over to Missy's table.
••••
After school, Shawn was over at the Matthews' place. Him and Cory were walking down the stairs from Cory's room down to the kitchen while Cory had told Shawn that Missy invited him to her party.
"Yeah, I do some of my best studying at parties." Shawn said, as he grabbed two sodas from the fridge.
"Shawn, really. This is all innocent. I'm gonna go to the party, have a good time and nothing's gonna happen because I'm my own person and I don't care what anybody else thinks." Cory said as he walked through the kitchen door and into the living room.
"Where are you going?" Shawn asked.
"I'm gonna run it by Topanga." Cory answered as he walked over to the front door and walked out.
"He, Hunter, take this." Eric said as he stood by the fireplace, holding out a picture of the Matthews' family.
"Okay." Shawn simply said.
Shawn took the photograph and began walking towards the open front door. As he walked out of the building, Mr. Matthews came back from work and wrestled the photo back.
••••
Shawn was currently standing on the porch of Zoey's house, he wanted to see how she was feeling. He knocked on the door and waited for a moment. The front door open to reveal Lucy on the other side.
Lucy smiled. "Hey, Shawn. How are you?"
"I'm good, Mrs. Francis." Shawn said with a smile. "I'm actually here -"
"She's up in her room." Lucy told him.
Shawn nodded before he walked into the house and up the stairs. When He reached Zoey's room, he opened her door and frowned slightly when he saw his girlfriend stuck in bed with tissues surrounding her.
"Hey, Zo.. How are you feeling?" Shawn asked with a sympathetic expression as he walked over to her.
Zoey sneezed. "I'm slowly getting better."
"Oh. I have to tell you something. Missy Robinson's having a party." Shawn informed his girlfriend, sitting at the end of her bed.
"Shawn, you know I'm alright with you going to parties. But no kissing at all." Zoey said.
"I'm not kissing any girl." Shawn stated. "But except you, because you're the only girl in my world."
Zoey smiled. "I wish I could kiss you."
"Please don't." Shawn said.
••••
On Friday night, Shawn and Cory arrived at Missy's place and was currently walking down the staircase to the basement. Shawn then noticed the lock of people in the basement.
"Hi, guys." Libby Harper greeted.
"Are we early or something?" Shawn asked.
"No. You're right on time." Missy answered.
"Oh, wait a minute. Is this a surprise party?" Shawn wondered.
"In a way." Libby said.
Cory chuckled nervously. "Come on. What's going on? Where is everybody?"
"This is everybody." Missy simply said.
"Surprise!" Both girls exclaimed.
"That's right. It's just the four of us." Missy told them.
Cory leaned towards Shawn. "What are we gonna do?"
"You take Missy, I'll take Libby." Shawn said.
"No, no. I have a girlfriend. You have a girlfriend. Her name is Zoey Francis, remember?" Cory told him.
Shawn nodded. "Right, Zoey. I love Zoey."
Libby walked over to Shawn and held his arm. "I just love your shirt."
"Thanks. It rhymes with your skirt." Shawn said, chuckling nervously as he pushed her hand away.
Cory then pulled Shawn aside. "Shawn, you didn't have anything to do with this, did you?"
"No, I dreamed it once, but you weren't here and Zoey was the one doing it." Shawn responded.
"All right, look. Easy way out of this, you and me, we stick together. Side by side. Two pillars of strength." Cory said.
Libby walked over to Shawn and began to whisper many good things into his ear.
"Oh, wow. A-a-a- ahh.... Libby, I gotta go." Shawn said as he turned and walked up the stairs.
"But you just got here." Libby said sweetly, following him up the stairs.
"Well, I have a girlfriend." Shawn said as he stood upstairs.
"I don't see her." Libby said, walking closer to Shawn which caused him to back away.
"Yeah, well she's great, I think you'd like her." Shawn responded, gulping nervously as his back hit the wall, leaving him trapped.
"Shawn, I'm trying to seduce you, shut up." Libby said before pressing her lips to his.
Shawn automatically kissed back although everything within him was telling him not to. He's been trying to fight 'the scent' for a while and it finally got to him.
Libby pulled apart with a wide smile. "Well?"
"I think..." Shawn trailed off. "I'm crazy about a girl."
"And?" Libby asked, wanting him to continue.
"And...." Shawn trailed off. He finally got in his right stage of mind. This wasn't the old Shawn anymore. "Her name is Zoey Francis." Libby's smile immediately dropped. "I'm sorry, you're cool and all, but I'm in love with Zoey and only Zoey. She's sweet, smart and beautiful. She's my girlfriend."
"I don't know, Shawn. Once she finds out about how we kissed, don't think she's going to be your girlfriend for much longer." Libby said with a smirk.
Shawn scoffed. "That's it, I'm leaving."
He then made his way down the stairs back into the basement to get his best friend. Then the sound of a car horn came from outside and Libby's face went pale.
"Good idea, Missy's dad is here. She's not allowed to have boys." Libby said.
"Oh man." Shawn muttered. He walked down to the basement to see Cory with Missy. He tapped Cory on the shoulder.
"Don't shoot, please." Cory begged before he turned around to see Shawn. "Oh, good, it's you. I want my best friend here when I die."
"Relax. There isn't a basement in this town I haven't escaped from." Shawn said, calmly.
"Well, then do it, quick. Back stairs, through the garage, over the face, you'll land in some shrubs and it's a thirty yard dash to the highway. Go!" Missy exclaimed.
"I've got a hunch you've done this before." Cory stated.
Shawn sighed. He grabbed Cory's arm and dragged him away.
••••
Ten minutes later, Cory and Shawn both rushed down the staircase into Chubbies.
Shawn huffed with a smile. "Wow. We made it here in ten minutes."
"Good thing we took the highway. Listen, I gotta get the ice cream and get to Topanga's. Do you have any cash? The tollbooth guy wiped me out." Cory asked and Shawn passed him the money before he went up the counter. "You, counterman, give me a quart of your finest Chunky Monkey Double Fudge." When Cory handed over the money, he turned back to Shawn. "Why did I do it, Shawn? Why did I miss Missy Robinson?"
"Better question, why are you telling everyone in Chubbie's?" Shawn asked, noticing all the people watching them.
Cory laughed nervously. "What a wild imagination I have, huh?" He then lowered his voice. "But you kissed Libby Harper?"
"I couldn't help myself, I'm the victim." Shawn replied honestly. "Cory, the way I see it, they attacked us. We're the victims here."
Cory nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I'm the victim. She was a circling great white shark and I was a little anchovy."
"You mean anch-oh-vy." Shawn corrected.
"Yeah. Anchovy." Cory said.
"Cory, settle down. You're home free. You kissed another girl and you're actually gonna get away with it." Shawn told him, despite how guilty he felt about the kiss with Libby. His eyes widened when he saw Topanga appear behind Cory. "Hello, Topanga."
"Oh, that is so not even funny, because is she..." Cory said as he turned around to see Topanga behind him.
Shawn then jumped slightly when Zoey grabbed onto his arm.
"Oh... hey, Zo." Shawn greeted, nervously.
"Oh, Susannah, well, don't you cry for me." Cory began to sing. "Everybody!" Shawn then decided to join in. "Cause I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee."
"Topanga, we're just singing. What are you doing here." Cory asked her.
"I had to get out of the house." Topanga answered.
Zoey nodded. "Same."
"Besides, it was getting late. I thought you would've forgotten about me." Topanga added.
"Forgot? Does this look like I forgot?" Cory said, passing Topanga over the ice cream.
"Yeah, trusty old Cory." Shawn muttered.
"Oh, yeah, we'll you're no better, Hunter." Cory said.
Zoey narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What does that mean?"
"Zo, we need to talk." Shawn began, as he grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the middle of the room.
Zoey was extremely confused about the situation. The two stood across each other. Zoey then noticed that Shawn had a guilty expression on his face.
"What's the matter, Shawn?" Zoey asked.
Shawn sighed. "Look, I can't lie to you."
"About what?" Zoey wondered, reaching across and took his hands into hers. "Hey, what is it? Whatever it is, we can work through it."
"About tonight. I, uh..." Shawn started, thinking over Libby's words from earlier. "I accidently kissed Libby Harper."
Zoey sat there, shocked. Not moving at all. She immediately released Shawn's hand. She could barely get a word out as tears brimmed her eyes. Shawn's heart began to clench at the sight.
"How do you accidently kiss someone?" Zoey questioned. "What did I do wrong??"
Shawn quickly shook his head. "No, no, no. I was the one that did something stupid because I wasn't thinking, Zo. I feel terrible. Look, Zo, all I know is that I've never felt worse than I do right now. But being with her, how I felt with her, was nothing compared to how I felt with you."
"Did Libby kiss you this way?" Zoey asked.
Her lips pressed against Shawn's. They moved together like two dancers sashaying through a melody. Her lips are delicate and warm. Shawn's were chapped but he didn't seem to care because right now, in this moment, he felt as if he was floating in space and everything around him has turned to dust.
Shawn smiled widely when they pulled apart.. "No, she didn't kiss me like that. She's nothing compared to you."
"Good." Zoey said with a smirk. Her smirked dropped when she saw Libby Harper sitting down in a booth. "Wait here, Shawn." She marched over to the booth with a fake smile. "Hi, Libby. I don't know if you know me, I'm Zoey Francis."
Libby nodded. "Oh, you're Zoey....."
"Yep." Zoey quickly said. "Now, here's the deal. If you ever come near him or me again, or better yet kiss him or someone else's boyfriend, I guarantee you that you'll be eating food through a straw for the rest of your life."
Libby was terrified of the brunette. "Are you threatening me?"
Zoey looked around to see no one watching them. "This? No. This is just... fun girl talk. But we understand each other, right?"
Libby nodded instantly to Zoey, who smiled sweetly before she stood with her boyfriend, proudly.
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PUBLISHED: April 15, 2018
WORDS: 2684