Zoey was currently sitting in her seat in Mr. Feeny's history class. She leaned back in her seat while Mr. Feeny was informing everyone about the presidential election.
"And as this will be the last Presidential election in which you do not cast a ballot, I want this classroom to be an open forum to discuss the issues which most concern our lives." Mr. Feeny told the class as he walked around the classroom before eventually stopping in front of Shawn's desk. "Mr. Hunter, what issue most concerns your life?"
"The issue that Zoey and I would break up." Shawn simply answered. "How am I doin'?"
"Boffo, Mr. Hunter." Mr. Feeny agreed. "Mr. Matthews?"
"Yeah. Actually, there is a pressing social matter which I feel equipped to discuss with confidence and alacrity." Cory said.
"Oh, well, then you have the floor, Mr. Matthews." Mr. Feeny insisted, very surprised.
Cory shook his head. "Nah, that used me up."
"Save us, Miss Francis." Mr. Feeny begged.
"I think the biggest crisis facing this country is the breakdown of the American family." Zoey announced.
Shawn huffed. "Oh, you always gotta go for Shawn."
Zoey took a deep breath before she chose to ignore Shawn and continue. "Well, I just think that lots of other issues, like crime and the decline in education.."
"Hey, hey, lay off me." Shawn cut her off pointedly.
"All have to do on how we're brought up in our homes." Zoey finished.
Mr. Feeny nodded at the interesting point. "Well, now, I agree with you, Miss Francis."
"That's it." Shawn snapped and stood up. He started stomping towards the door.
"Mr. Hunter!" Mr. Feeny called sternly. Shawn paused at the door, and simply pointed to the clock just as the bell rang. "Oh, that's it."
Everyone else began to pack their things and walk out of the classroom.
••••
Babysitting can be a lot of fun. It's not like going to a party or anything but you get to play games, go on field trips, bake, do arts and crafts, sports, and even watch a bit of TV. The thing is that you do have to clean up after these messes. There will be meltdowns and behavioural issues at times. Zoey knew how it all worked.
She had to babysitter her young cousin, Billy who was four his old. Aunt Tara was Lucy's younger sister by two years and was close to the family. Her and her family were moving out next year to go live in Australia.
"Now, Zoey, Billy's bedtime is...." Aunt Tara trailed off.
"9 o'clock sharp." Zoey replied.
Aunt Tara nodded. "And the emergency numbers are...."
"Posted next to the telephone." Zoey answered.
"And...." Aunt Tara trailed off once more.
"No boys." Zoey quickly responded.
Aunt Tara raised her eyebrows. "And...."
"No boys at all." Zoey assured her aunt.
Zoey then opened the front door to reveal Shawn on the other side. He was leaning against the doorframe with a smirk. He had decided that he would join Zoey babysitting her cousin.... it would just be him, his girlfriend, in a house alone, no interruptions, alone on a couch.
Shawn's eyes widened when he saw Zoey's aunt and quickly picked up the water jug on the doorstep. "Water guy."
"Don't worry, he's not staying. I know your rules - no boys." Zoey told her aunt before turning to Shawn and hissed. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, Zoey, when I said no boys, I didn't mean this kind of boy." Aunt Tara said as she wrapped an arm around Shawn's shoulders and pulled him inside. "I'll be out late. If you two get dozy, just take a little nap on the couch."
And with that Aunt Tara walked out of the building. Zoey closed the front door before turning to her boyfriend with a pointed look.
"Isn't that the mean Aunt?" Shawn wondered.
"No. She's the one that's moving out to Australia next year." Zoey explained. "Also, if you had gotten me into trouble, I'd kick your ass."
"But since I'm not in trouble...." Shawn trailed off with a small smirk.
"Then I'm glad you came over. " Zoey admitted, smiling brightly. "Why don't you sit on the couch, and I'll get us something to eat."
Shawn nodded. "Okay."
Zoey went into the kitchen and grabbed two bowls of spaghetti that was already heated on the stove. When she was finished, she walked back into the living room, holding the two bowls, to see Billy pulling Shawn by the hand out of the living room.
"Billy, what are you doing up?" Zoey questioned with raised eyebrows.
"He's got 64-bits, Zoey." Shawn told his girlfriend.
"Really? Well, he's got 9 o'clock bed." Zoey responded.
"Oh, Zo, let him have five minutes." Shawn pleaded before he leaned towards her. "I really wanna play."
Zoey sat down on the couch and turned to her cousin. "Listen, Billy, your parents have entrusted me with your care, and I am obliged to follow the rules as they have clearly laid out." Behind her back, Shawn was imitating her mockingly. He didn't count that Zoey having a sixth sense for that as she turned around and gave him a pointed look. "And what were you doing."
"I... love you?" Shawn stuttered out as his eyes widened in fear at getting caught.
Zoey rolled her eyes before she turned back to Billy. "Get to bed right now."
"Can't I watch TV?" Billy begged.
Shawn nodded immediately. "Sure."
"No!" Zoey snapped and hit Shawn's leg irritatingly. "Shawn!"
Shawn's attitude instantly changed. "No. Billy, what were you thinking?"
"But it's the Friday night line-up." Billy whined.
Shawn grinned. "Oh, the Friday night line-up."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Zoey questioned her boyfriend.
"The Friday night line-up, it's only the best show on TV. I mean, you walk into school Monday morning, and you didn't see the Friday night line-up, forget it. You got nothing to say." Shawn explained.
"Don't take that away from me." Billy begged desperately.
"I cannot believe you are undermining my authority. Shawn. I am this child's babysitter, and I take my responsibilities very seriously." Zoey told him. Billy took a page out of Shawn's book and was mocking Zoey behind her back and she figured him out too. She turned back to her cousin. "What were you doing?"
"I love you?" Billy tried, copying Shawn's failed attempt at escaping her wrath.
"Ha!" Shawn laughed and pointed to Billy proudly. "Nice."
Zoey spun around and stared at her boyfriend in shock. "What, you think this is funny?"
"No, Mistress Zoey." Shawn answered, shaking his head vehemently. "I think it's he opposite of funny. I think it's.... wood."
"At least let me watch my favourite show." Billy begged. "It's on right now."
"But it's 9:30." Zoey reminded him sharply. "I know you don't stay up past 9 o'clock."
"It used to be on at 8:30, but this year, they moved it to 9:30. Those idiots." Billy scoffed.
Shawn's jaw dropped. "Wait a minute. They moved that show to 9:30. Why?"
"No one knows!" Billy exclaimed exasperatedly.
"Well, was it doing badly at 8:30?" Shawn asked.
"No." Billy answered.
"Why didn't they leave it alone?" Shawn complained with a frown.
"They're trying to kill it." Billy cried. "They're trying to kill it."
Shawn shook his head. "Those are bad, bad people."
"Shawn, we have to have a little talk." Zoey said sternly as she stood up from the couch, her face painted in obvious anger.
"Right after the show, honey." He replied, brushing her off carelessly.
"There will be no show." Zoey told her boyfriend before turning back to Billy. "Get to bed."
Billy immediately frowned and walked straight to his bedroom.
Shawn chuckled and stood beside Zoey. "Well, that was nicely done. Now it's just you and me on a cozy couch."
"You're going home." Zoey decided, dragging him to the front door.
Shawn frowned. "Well, then it's just you. What fun could that be?"
"You have no idea what this is about, do you?" Zoey questioned in a firm tone.
"Yes, I do, and it happens to be a very important issue, not just to me and you7, but to all men and women in relationships, both here and abroad." Shawn said.
Zoey gave him an unimpressed look. "You have no idea what this is about, do you?"
"Do I ever?" He sighed deeply.
"Hey, Shawn!" Billy called out as he ran back into the living room excitedly. "You're missing a real funny one." He grabbed Shawn's arm and dragged him with him. "The long headed kid keeps on digging himself deeper and deeper."
"Oh, I love that kid." Shawn said with a wide grin. "He is such a doof."
••••
Zoey faced her locker, which was filled with textbooks, notebooks with their covers half-torn, loose papers, and countless novels from her AP Literature class. She reached around for her supplies before slamming the door closed.
"Zoey, the lunch bell sounded and I thought you and I could get a bite to eat at this charming little place I know called The Cafeteria." Shawn said brightly as he leaned against the locker beside hers.
"What would be the point, Shawn?" Zoey questioned.
Shawn, noticing the hostility in Zoey's eyes, stepped back. "Well, first, I'm gonna take a step back, and then I'm gonna tell you. There are three points; I'm hungry, you're my girlfriend, and it's Taco Bar Tuesday."
Zoey huffed. "You would feed tacos to our child, Shawn?"
"Our wha...." Shawn trailed off, resulting him nearly choking on his own spit. "You and I are gonna have have a chi.... Wait a minute. We've only kissed. I mean, I always knew I was a good kisser, but wow. Does he have my hair or what?"
"Our future child. The one we'd have if we got married." Zoey snapped heatedly.
"Oh, that kid. Would I feed him tacos? Yeah. Four for 99 cents. He's gonna be taco crazy." Shawn replied.
Zoey clicked her tongue irritatingly. "You're not getting that I'm really upset with you."
"Oh, no, my precious peach. I had that right away." Shawn said.
"Do you know why I'm upset with you?" Zoey asked with an arched eyebrow as she crossed her arms.
"Yes. Me, something I've done or haven't done or did do, but didn't properly. Now, with that said, taco." Shawn whined.
"You let Billy stay up last Friday night." Zoey finally burst out. "You'd rather by pals with our kids than a strong, responsible role model."
"If I may, Warden Zoey, we don't have any kids." Shawn reminded her exasperatedly.
Zoey narrowed her eyes at him. "And we're not gonna. You know why?"
"Cause we're just kissin'?" Shawn guessed.
"Because I believe a family falls apart if there are not strong, authoritative role models at home." Zoey explained to him.
"Zoey, it wasn't our home. It wasn't our kid. Now, I'm sure what you're saying probably makes a lot of sense, but right now, my blood sugar level's dropping, and all I want's a little taco." Shawn said, starting to get a little annoyed.
"Well, if that taco is more important to you than our child, then this family has dysfunction written all over it." Zoey snapped before turning on her heel and stormed off.
Before Shawn could even try to call after her, Cory strolled over to him with a handful of tacos.
"Hey, Shawnie, taco?" He offered his best friend a taco.
Shawn shook his head slowly. "I don't think I'm supposed to have one."
••••
When it was late, Zoey decided to go to the Matthews house so she could talk to Shawn since he was babysitting Morgan because Cory had to help out at his dad's store. As she walked through the backdoor, there was no one in sight. Then she heard voices coming from the living room.
Zoey opened the kitchen door to see Shawn on the couch with a picture book in his lap and Morgan sitting beside him.
"'So that night, the purple duck taught all his little friends 'to go to bed early, to eat our green vegetables,' and hat there's no reason to be afraid of the potty. The end." Shawn finished.
"The little purple duck is quite the overachiever, isn't he?" Morgan asked.
"Well, that's somethin' for you to think about while you go to sleep. Now, go brush your teeth." Shawn instructed.
"Billy Epperson said at his house, you let him stay up late and watch TV." Morgan complained.
"Morgan, have we learned nothing from the purple duck?" Shawn asked.
Morgan frowned. "You're just making me go to bed because I'm Cory's sister."
"No, I'm making you go to bed because I'm your fill-in brother and Cory isn't here to do the job, and I care about you." Shawn explained with a small smile. "So, go to bed." Morgan nodded before going straight upstairs. Shawn stood up from the couch when he noticed Zoey. "How long have you been here?"
"Just walked in." Zoey replied with a smile.
"Did you come over to yell at me some more?" Shawn wondered.
"No. I heard you were babysitting, so I brought you some tacos." Zoey said as she held up a bag of tacos.
Shawn gave her a look. "Is this a trap?"
"I just figured empty house, cozy couch, dangerous me and you." Zoey muttered as she stepped closer towards him.
"Okay, but before I go near you, what made you change your mind?" He wondered.
"I got to thinking about what you said about us being young and not having kids for a while, and my guess is that by the time we do, you'll be a pretty good dad." She explained with a soft smile.
"You know, my guess is I will be, too." Shawn agreed. "You know why? Because kids respect me. They do. They sort of think of me as...." Zoey giggled at he sight behind him. She grasped his chin lightly and turned his head so he saw Morgan letting in lots of kids from the neighborhood upstairs. "So, we won't have kids."
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PUBLISHED: May 18, 2018
WORDS: 2384
INTRODUCING: Daisy Ridley as Aunt Tara