This was the seniors of John Adam High's last week in school before their graduation. The seniors were buzzing excitedly as they walked the halls flipping through their freshly printed yearbooks.
Shawn and Zoey leaned against the lockers as they watched Cory try to get signatures for his yearbook.
"Hey, Debbie, you wanna sign my..." Cory trailed off as the girl ignored his offered yearbook. He then quickly turned to the next person. "Hey, Mike, let me sign your..." He didn't have much luck with the boy, either, and he turned back to his friends. "Isn't this great? I mean, I love this week?"
"Yeah, me, too. Is it over yet?" Shawn asked.
"Come on, Shawn. It's our last week of high school ever." Zoey reminded him.
"Exactly." Cory agreed with a smile. "I mean, look at Frankie and Joey. They're gonna be graduating this year and it only took them eight years."
"Cory, Shawn." Frankie called happily. "Because we have shared both times good and bad, we would be honored if you wanna sign these yearbooks we have pilfered."
Shawn raised an eyebrow in shock. "You took somebody else's yearbooks?"
"You get your own." Cory said.
"Where's the joy in that?" Joey wondered as he shoved his yearbook at Shawn.
"You know what, Shawn? Even Frankie and Joey have the spirit this week, right?" Cory said as he signed his name. "I mean, what would you like me to say?"
"Just put down your address." Frankie answered.
"Yeah, and what time you're not gonna be home, you know. You don't have a big dog or nothing, do you?" Joey questioned Shawn.
"You guys take care of yourselves and remember, always stay friends." Frankie said.
"That's nice, Frankie." Cory told him.
"Yeah, well, we like to think of ourselves as the Cory and Shawn of the underworld." Frankie responded.
"I wanna be Cory!" Joey exclaimed. "Can I be Cory?"
"That makes me Shawn." Frankie pointed out. "Come on, Joey."
Zoey rolled her eyes as Joey and Frankie walked down the halls to find some students to mess with for old times' sake.
"You see that Shawn, huh?" Cory began, pointing to the pair. "Do you see how important this week is? Saying goodbye to people we might never see again. Saying goodbye to people who's been around, but we've sort of lost touch with."
"Like who?" Shawn asked.
"Well, I don't know. I guess there's nobody really like that." Cory said before his attention was drawn to the familiar person leaning against the opposite wall. "Hi, Minkus."
"Oh, now, it's 'Hi Minkus'." He pointed out as he walked up to them. "For the last four years, it's like I haven't even been in the same school as you guys."
Zoey smiled faintly. "Well, you know, we just never saw you around."
"I was." Minkus said. "I was just in the other part of the school."
"What other part of the school?" Shawn asked.
"You know, over there." Minkus replied, pointing to the distant hallway.
The three of them looked in the direction.
Cory shook his head. "Well, we don't go over there."
"Yeah. You go over there, you may never come back." Shawn agreed.
"Ah, that's crazy." Minkus said before he raised a hand. "Hey, Mr. Turner, wait up!"
When Minkus walked down the hallway, the three of them strolled over to the couch in the hall.
"Well, Shawn... Zoey... I think the time has come to sign each other's yearbooks." Cory said excitedly as they sat down on the couch. "Shall we talk about it first?"
Shawn shook his head. "No, no. Let's just do it."
Zoey, Shawn and Cory all exchanged their yearbooks.
"Boy, oh, boy, where to begin, huh? What am I gonna say to you two? Man, this is gonna take me at least a weak." Cory said.
"I'm done." Shawn announced and passed the book back.
"You're done?" Cory asked in disbelief. He looked at his yearbook. "'Hey?' you write 'hey'?"
"And I mean it." Shawn said.
"Shawnie, you can be a little more sensitive than that." Zoey scolded him, handing his book back.
Shawn opened his yearbook and furrowed his eyebrows. "Zo, how is this any deeper?"
"It has your name in front." Zoey simply explained. "'Hey Shawnie' is much more personal than just 'hey'."
"Guys, you have to put in more effort than that!" Cory exclaimed frustratingly .
"Cory, it's your yearbook. Who else would it be to?" Shawn questioned.
"Because it's just the spirit of the week, guys." Cory replied as he stood up from the couch. "It's about this place. Now, why don't you care about this?"
"Look what we got." Topanga spoke as she walked over to the three of them.
"Oh! Our senior rings." Cory said happily.
"Yeah, they just got here." Topanga informed before looking over her boyfriend's shoulder. "You can pick up yours in the cafeteria, Shawn, Zoey."
"No, I can't because I didn't order one. They're stupid. They mean nothing.... to... me." Shawn trailed off as he watched Cory slid the ring onto Topanga's finger.
Zoey grabbed onto Shawn's hand. "Come on, let's go."
••••
In Mr. Feeny's class, the three teenagers sat in their normal spot. Zoey pulled the things she needed from her bag out and placed them on her desk.
"Welcome to your final week of Feeny, everyone." Mr. Feeny greeted as he walked into the classroom. "Here's your assignment." He paused when the class groaned. "Oh, be quiet. I'm tired too. Now this assignment is completely optional and is for no credit."
"Oh, well, I'll get started on it right away. Oh, look! I'm done!" Shawn informed.
"That's right, Mr. Hunter." Mr. Feeny said as he approached the boy's desk. "You don't have to do it. I want you to write about what's in your heart during these last weeks of school."
"Why are you looking at me?" Shawn wondered. "I don't have to do it, right?"
"Do it, Shawn. It's no pressure. It'll be fun." Zoey encouraged him.
"It would not be fun." Shawn disagreed.
"I'm doing it and I'm getting an A." Topanga announced.
"It's for no credit, Miss Lawrence." Mr. Feeny informed.
"I have six hundred and ninety-nine As." Topanga said as she stood up slowly. She approached their teacher and grabbed the lapels of his jacket. "I need one more! Give me the A, Feeny!"
"Okay, fine. You've got an A. You don't even have to do it. I'll give you an A because I'm scared of you." Mr. Feeny told her. "Now that makes an even seven hundred."
"Seven hundred. That's more than anybody, right?" Topanga asked before pointing at her best friend. "Even more than Zoey?"
"More than anybody." Mr. Feeny confirmed. Topanga returned to her seat with a smug look on her face. Mr. Feeny walked past Cory and leaned over. "Good luck in hell, Mr. Matthews."
••••
Next day at school, Zoey had her schoolbag slugged over her shoulder as her and Topanga were walking down the hall while Cory thought letting chickens loose in the hallway would be the official senior prank.
"I finished my valedictorian speech." Topanga informed Zoey. "I hope it's good enough."
"Of course it is." Zoey replied with a smile.
Cory then ran through the hallways excitedly as he yelled about the chickens in the school.
"Oh?" Minkus asked as he approached the girls. "And what makes you so sure you're the class valedictorian, little missy?"
"Because I'm Topanga." Topanga replied confidently.
"Well, I'm Minkus and I have six hundred ninety-nine As which, according to my records, is the same as you." Minkus responded.
"You counted As?" Cory asked incredulously . "What kind of sick psychopath counts As?"
Topanga smirked. "I'll tell you what to do, Stuart. You can go get Feeny's grade book and count them again."
"You did something." Minkus accused before turning to Zoey. "She did something didn't she?"
"Sorry, Minkus. You never had a chance." Zoey told him.
"Oh, she's evil, Zoey. She's an evil little girl." Minkus said.
Zoey shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, but she's still one of my best friends."
••••
Later that night, Zoey was sitting in the library thinking about a decision she was presented with. It was the most important decision that she would ever made.
When Zoey was about go home, she noticed a light in Mr. Feeny's office. So she decided to go there. She knocked on the door and opened it, poking her head inside to see Mr. Feeny packing his stuff away into boxes.
"Mr. Feeny, hey." Zoey greeted with a smile as she walked into his office. "I was in the library, and I saw your light on. What're you still doing here?"
"I'm just packing up a few things." Mr. Feeny explained. "What on earth are you doing in the library?"
"I was just thinking about a few things." Zoey replied as she sat down on one of the chairs. "I mean, we're graduating soon. I love school life and mostly the beautiful events which one experiences in a school-"
"Miss Francis, why did you actually come here?" Mr. Feeny wondered.
"I don't know what to do, Mr. Feeny." Zoey admitted quietly. She reached into her jean pocket to reveal a letter from Harvard. "I received this a few days ago. I haven't opened it yet. No one knows yet."
"What is it?" Mr. Feeny asked.
"It's a letter from Harvard. I was on their waiting list before.... but this is to see if I got accepted or not." Zoey explained. She handed him the letter. "I don't want to open it."
Mr. Feeny opened envelope and began reading the letter. "'Dear, Miss Francis, It is our pleasure to inform you that due to our latest enrollment figures, you have been moved off the wait list and are officially accepted into Harvard University'."
"I got in?" Zoey asked, trying to process what had just happened.
Mr. Feeny smiled warmly. "Job well done!"
"Now the question; should I go to Harvard?" Zoey wondered.
"If you're asking me if Harvard is one of the finest academic institutions in the country, I would have to say 'duh'" Mr. Feeny told her.
Zoey smiled. "That's not why I'm asking."
"Well if you're asking me whether or not you would be successful there, Harvard wouldn't have accepted you if they didn't think you could live up to their challenge." Mr. Feeny responded.
"That's not why I'm asking." Zoey repeated.
"I'll tell you what. I'll retire right now." Mr. Feeny joked before turning serious. "What do you want?"
Zoey shrugged her shoulders, clearly at a loss. "If I knew what I wanted, I wouldn't have come to you."
Mr. Feeny nodded. "Well, then listen very carefully. Unless you have a very good reason for not going to Harvard, you should go."
It took her Zoey a moment to process his words. "Thanks, Mr. Feeny."
Mr. Feeny smiled warmly. "You're welcome. If you need anymore counseling, my door is always open to my students."
Just as he said that a grappling hook latched onto the sill of his open window. Not long after, Eric pulled himself up and into the office.
"Okay, Mr. Feeny, you are not retiring. You're not going anywhere." Eric said sternly, without any explanation for his entrance.
Mr. Feeny rubbed his temple and turned to Zoey. "However, I must learn to close my window."
"You are gonna live in that house next to my parents until you die or until I die, whichever one comes first. Although, y'know it'll probably be you, because you're like, what? Eighty?" Eric guessed.
Mr. Feeny pointed to the window. "Get out!"
"Okay." Eric said, nodding without any argument before he turned to Zoey brightly. "Hey, Zo."
••••
Today was the the seniors' last day at school.
"Well, the bell is about to ring. In a few minutes, you'll be flying out of here like your pants are on fire. But since this is our last class together, I just wanna say...." Mr. Feeny trailed off when the bell rang and everyone ran out of the room. "Usually, I time it better than that." He looked up to see the four students who hadn't moved from their seats. "Okay. The bell rang."
Cory shook his head. "We wanna hear what you have to say."
"We've got time." Topanga said.
Zoey nodded with a grin. "You can't give us detention on our last day."
Mr. Feeny chuckled. "Oh, well I was just gonna say good luck and... the truth is, I'm not very good at saying goodbye. We're not gonna get all sappy, are we?"
"We wanted to know if your decision to retire had anything to do with us." Topanga said.
"Mr. Feeny, we know we haven't made life that easy for you these past couple years." Cory said, smiling sheepishly.
"I mean, when you think about all the stupid stuff we pulled..." Shawn trailed off.
"All the stupid things we've said." Zoey added.
"You have to be leaving because of us." Cory finished decidedly.
"Well, I am." Mr. Feeny answered before he smiled warmly at the group of friends. "But not because of what you've done to me. Because of what you've done for me."
Shawn furrowed his eyebrows. "We haven't done anything for you."
"You four have given me more gratification in the past four years than I ever dreamed possible. You must know that." Mr. Feeny said softly, his voice earnest.
"But you always complained about how difficult we are." Cory pointed out.
"Well, you are. But sometimes, the things you complain most about, are the things that you care most about. Unfortunately, we don't always know that until it's too late." Mr. Feeny replied. He picked up his briefcase and headed for the door, only to stop in front of Shawn's desk. "By the way, how's the paper coming?"
••••
Topanga, Shawn, Cory and Zoey sat next to each other on the front row seat that was placed on the stage. The faculty, staff and students were wearing black robes as the commencement ceremony began.
Mr. Feeny stood at the podium. "I would like to welcome you all to the graduation ceremonies of the class of '98. Congratulations. We did it! And now it's time to introduce our valedictorian, a student who exemplifies academic excellence, as well as extracurricular achievement and social conscience."
Minkus stood up. "She got one more lousy A than I did!"
He was then pulled back down into his seat by the student's on either side of him.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Topanga Lawrence." Mr. Feeny announced.
Everyone cheered and applauded for Topanga as she made her way to the podium.
"Thank you, Mr. Feeny. Ladies and gentleman, my fellow class members of the class of '98, I am very honored to be your valedictorian, and I worked very hard on this speech, however, I'm not going to give it. Cause I know somebody who could give a much better speech than I ever could. Ladies and gentlemen, my good friend, Shawn Hunter." Topanga announced.
"Hey, you only go to high school once." Shawn told them as he stood up.
Zoey stared at her boyfriend in confusion. "Shawnie?"
Shawn made his way onto the podium. "Thank you, Topanga. You know, I read her speech. It kicked butt. I attended John Adams High School sporadically during the last four years, I barely have a C average, that's why I'm here. Mr. Feeny asked us to write about what we were feeling this week, and of course, I was feeling like I always do, I couldn't wait to get out of here.... but now, high school is over. And just when I'm finally free, I find myself sneaking back into this place and sitting in the hall, thinking about my friends and all the time we spent here. And you, Mr. Feeny. I started thinking about you. And how you've always told us what to do without ever telling us what to do. You taught us about life. I was thinking about how much this place has been my home. And how many times I screwed up when I was here. How I could've done better. I could've done better. That's um... That's what I wrote. That's how I feel. I'm sorry. I could've done better. Congratulations to those of you who did."
Everyone applauded for Shawn.
"Shawn... that was a fine paper. No one couldn't done it better." Mr. Feeny walked up to Shawn and shook his hand.
Shawn walked back and sat down beside Zoey. She threw her arms around her boyfriend and pulled him into a hug.
"I'm so proud of you." Zoey whispered, pressing a kiss on his cheek.
Mr. Feeny stood up on the podium. "Now I would like to say something-"
"No!" Eric shouted, jumping up from between the graduates and pushing his way through to the podium. "You're not going anywhere. Hi, everybody Hi, everybody. As most of you already know, at the end of this school year, Mr. Feeny will be retiring, and as a former student at John Adams High, it made me real mad. Hello. I'm Eric Matthews. Mr. Feeny, I could tell you what I think about you, but it would just come out a bunch of words, and I know that nobody could say it better than a little girl named Lulu."
Eric then began singing 'To Sir, With Love' to try to convince Mr. Feeny to stay which made Zoey, Cory, Topanga and Shawn watched in shock.
After Eric's long performance, he ended up standing at the podium with Mr. Feeny while the graduates were called up to receive their diplomas. The front row of students stood up and walked to the stage, ready to get their diploma
"Zoey Francis..." Mr. Feeny announced.
Zoey smiled as she walked across the stage to her diploma, her heels not even audible as she heard cheers from Cory, Topanga and mostly Shawn.
Once Zoey finished walking across the stage, she re-joined her friends, being pulled into a tight hug by the group.
"Shawn Hunter..... Eric Jackson.... Topanga Lawrence.... Cynthia Little... Cory Matthews.... Jackie Miller... Stuart Minkus.... Angela Moore...." Mr. Feeny called out.
As Minkus walked back to his seat, he stopped in front of Cory, Zoey and held his arms out. The three shared a look before pulling him into a tight hug.
With all the graduates were back in their seats, Mr. Feeny held his hand up to silence the applause of all the proud friends and families. "Ladies and gentlemen, the John Adams High School Class of 1998!"
••••
Once the class was officially graduated, everyone rushed out of the hot auditorium and outside to greet family members and take pictures with their family and friends.
Zoey wove through the crowd of students as she looked for her brother, all of whom had gotten lost in the shuffle to exit the auditorium. Her diploma was clutched in her hand and the black robes billows around her feet as she walked.
"Zoey!" A familiar voice called out.
Zoey turned and her mouth gaped in shock when she saw a person who had not seen in months standing in front of her.
"Mum?" Zoey asked in confusion.
Lucy pulled her daughter into a hug and kissed on the forehead, before holding her closely against her.
"I'm so proud of you, Zo. I knew you could do it." Lucy praised.
Zoey just let out a laugh as she pulls away from the hug. "What are you doing here?"
"I had to see my daughter graduate." Lucy replied as if it was most obvious thing in the world. She then hesitated for a moment. "Zo, I want you to meet my husband, David."
Zoey looked and saw a dirty-blonde, middled-aged approaching them. He stood beside Lucy and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"This has to be a joke, right?" Zoey wondered.
"Honey, it's no joke. See?" Lucy said, showing the engagement ring. "We're married. Are you surprised?"
"Mum..." Zoey trailed off, looking at the man again. "I have no words."
"Well, that's not all. Zo, I'm pregnant. You're going to be an older sister." Lucy announced.
Hands wrapped around Zoey's waist and suddenly her feet were no longer on the floor. She squealed as Blake lifted her higher, chuckling as she laughed.
"I can't believe you've done it, sis!" Blake exclaimed happily, putting her back down on the floor.
"Is Aunt Maggie around?" Zoey wondered.
"Sorry, Zo. She's at work." Blake replied. His face fell when he noticed his mother standing in front of him. "Mum?"
"Blake?" Lucy asked, staring at her oldest son in disbelief. "Is that really you?"
Blake nodded. "Yeah, it's me."
Lucy stepped forward and cupped his cheeks with her hands. "My god, you've grown."
"I think you would like to know that Blake and I have moved in together." Zoey announced.
Lucy smiled. "Really?"
While Lucy and Blake began talking to each other, Zoey looked in the crowd and meets Shawn's eyes before she walks over towards him and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug.
Shawn presses a kiss to her cheek, before pressing his lips to hers.
"We did it, huh?" Zoey said when they pulled apart.
Shawn chuckled. "Who would've thought?"
"I did." Zoey replied firmly. "I never doubted you would."
"And you're the whole reason why I'm here today." Shawn said, grabbing onto her hands and squeezed them gently. "I'm serious, Zo... without your constant nagging I never would've crossed that stage."
"I'm so proud of you, Shawnie." Zoey praised with a wide smile.
Shawn smiled and pressed a lovingly kiss against her lips.
______________________
PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 31, 2018
WORDS: 3639
INTRODUCING: Wilson Bethel as David