The group were seated sporadically throughout Mr. Feeny's classroom to keep their distance from each other as they refused to meet their friends eyes.
"And so, my precious little jackals, here's the bottom line. No one leaves his room until you have healed every relationship in this group, no matter how long it takes." Mr. Feeny addressed them.
Eric stood behind Mr. Feeny. "No matter how long!"
"Shut up." Mr. Feeny told him.
"Shut up." Eric agreed loudly.
"How can you possibly keep us here against a will." Topanga asked, standing up from her spot.
"A minus." Mr. Feeny said.
"Well played, old man." Topanga replied as she slowly sat back down.
Mr. Feeny glanced at everyone. "I know this group as well as anyone living and I will not have it falling apart. Not now!"
"So, what if we can't fix things?" Cory wondered.
"Well, then, you will go through life without each other." Mr. Feeny answered.
"Come on, guys. We can do this. We're all adults here." Eric encouraged them.
Cory pointed to Rachel. "She started it!"
Rachel pointed at Shawn. "He parked in my spot!"
"She overreacted!" Shawn exclaimed, defending himself.
"They took apart my car!" Rachel yelled.
"She glued my pants!" Cory shouted.
"This isn't about any of that." Blake told them.
"What is it about?" Mr. Feeny prompted him.
"It's about they're jerks." Angela replied.
"It's about that these friendships aren't what we thought they were." Blake explained.
"Okay, boohoo to the four of you." Cory snapped.
Topanga turned around to face her husband. "Cory..."
"No, this is crazy. I mean, we pull a couple of pranks and suddenly we're not friends anymore?" Cory asked in disbelief.
"What kind of friends were we?" Zoey wondered.
Rachel shook her head. "Not. Not friends."
"Okay, fine. We're not friends today. I'll see ya tomorrow." Cory responded. "Mr. Feeny, why are you keeping us locked up here?"
"Because I care about you." Mr. Feeny answered.
"He cares about us, okay? And I care about us, too." Eric told them. "We've been friends all our lives."
"No. No, we haven't. That's the point." Jack said.
"Some of us have been friends all their lives." Angela added.
"And some of us haven't." Rachel agreed. "It's an exclusive club and we're not in it."
"Rachel, what are you making this such a big deal for?" Cory questioned.
"Because it is a big deal!" Angela replied, standing up from her desk.
"Alright, you know what? Look. We're not talking about that, alright?" Blake told Cory as he stood up. "Rachel, Angela, Jack and I, we feel like we're outsides."
"Okay, first of all..." Zoey began as she rose from her chair. "You're my brother, so I'm forced to like you. Angela's your girlfriend and one of my friends, okay, I like her, Jack's your best friend and soon to be my half-brother-in-law, I'm also forced to like him."
"So what am I?" Rachel asked.
"What are you?" Zoey questioned.
"Yeah. I mean, you've made it really clear who everybody else is. Brothers, brothers, sisters, boyfriend and girlfriend, engaged, husband and wife. You all have these really strong bonds between you. I mean, what's the strong bond between us?" Rachel asked.
"You think husband and wife is a strong bond?" Topanga questioned. "I wasn't even a part of their stupid team."
"Topanga, will you pipe down with that, please?" Cory asked.
"Oh, tell it to your boyfriend." Topanga told him.
Shawn placed a hand on Cory's shoulder. "Remember what I told you. Stand up to her."
"Unbelievable." Zoey scoffed.
"Everybody is coming apart and they get closer?" Topanga added before she turned to her husband. "I'm your wife, you nimrod!"
"I wasn't talking about them, Topanga, and I wasn't talking about you, either. For once, in all the time that we've known each other, I was talking about me. I was talking about how I feel." Rachel said.
"How do you feel, Rachel?" Mr. Feeny asked.
Rachel stood up and walked to the front of the class. "I feel... like I don't fit in with these people, and I don't think I ever have."
Rachel was about to leave the classroom until Eric held an arm out in front of her to prevent her departure. "No, no, no, Rachel, no. Look, there's some bad feelings here, but we're gonna work them out right now."
"I agree, and what we're going to do is what they do is Miss Templeton's kindergarten class. We're going to take a piece of ruled paper and we're going to write down what we like about each other. That's what we're going to do, children." Mr. Feeny announced.
"'I'm your wife, nimrod!' Do you know what it's like to have that voice inside your head all day long?" Cory asked his wife. "It's not wonder I turned to him."
"Come on, guys. Rachel's leaving." Eric informed. "Just write down how we feel about each other."
"Oh, fine. Look at him side with Shawn, his lover!" Topanga shouted.
"Oh, very tasteful, honey." Cory said before turning to his best friend. "Did you hear that, Shawn?"
"Shawn, his lover!" Topanga repeated.
"Shut up, Yoko!" Shawn yelled.
"Guys, Rachel left!" Eric announced.
"You know, that's perfect. Even when it's supposed to be about all of us, it always comes back to them." Blake said, gesturing to Shawn, Cory, Topanga and Zoey.
"It's never gonna change." Angela agreed.
"Why didn't you write anything down, huh?" Eric demanded. "Well, shouldn't somebody go after her?"
Everyone remained silent.
••••
[Six years Later; Mr. Feeny's retirement]
Zoey stepped into the Student Union. It had been many years since she'd stepped foot inside the college and being here brought back memories, both good and bad.
Everyone inside were milling about as they talked to each other. Zoey recognized her ex-teacher, Mr. Feeny. The sight of him reminded her why she was there. She could recognize Jack easily from the time he'd been in the newspaper and Angela and Blake wasn't hard to spot, either.
"Zoey?" A familiar voice called out.
Zoey turned around to face her ex-best friend. "Shawnie?"
"I haven't seen you since... since the last time I saw you." Shawn said with a sheepish smile.
"Yeah..." Zoey agreed hesitantly. "Um, how are you? I, uh... like the beard."
"Thanks." He said, rubbing his beard slightly. "I've been good... what about you?"
"Pretty good. I'm a elementary school teacher." Zoey explained.
"So, did you, um, did you ever get married or anything?" Shawn wondered.
Zoey shook her head. "No, I never got married." Not since we broke up years ago."
The two stood in awkward silence. Zoey fought the urge to tell him that she'd read every article that he'd ever written.
"So, do you, um... Do you ever hear from Cory Matthews?" Shawn asked, breaking the silence. "Are he and Topanga doin' all right?"
Zoey looked over Shawn's shoulder to see her other ex-best friend approaching them.
"Why don't you ask him? He's right behind you." Zoey told him.
"Hey, Shawn." Cory greeted.
Shawn turned to face his once-best friend. "Cory."
Cory smiled. "Zoey."
"Cor." Zoey greeted with a small nod.
"How are you two doin'?" Cory asked, outstretching his hand.
"I'm okay." Shawn replied, shaking Cory's hand. "How are you?"
"I'm good." Cory responded.
"Good." Shawn stated.
"Good." Mr. Feeny spoke as he approached Shawn, Cory and Zoey.
"How are you doin', Mr. Feeny?" Cory wondered.
"I'm fine, Mr. Matthews. How's the baby?" Mr. Feeny questioned.
Zoey's eyes widen. "You had a baby?"
"Yeah, a couple of months ago. A little girl." Cory answered.
"You're the father?" Shawn asked, surprised.
"I am." Cory clarified. "We're, uh... we're very happy."
"Do you have any pictures?" Zoey wondered.
Topanga walked up to them. "I brought the pictures."
Zoey and Topanga smiled and began to talk about what they'd been up to. Shawn remained in the background, his gaze remained trained on Zoey as he'd done throughout the years they'd known each other.
"Feeny! Fe-he!" A loud shout interrupted everyone. The call was broken by off hoarse coughing. 'I can't do it anymore."
Everyone turned to see a man with a long beard and unkept robes.
Mr. Feeny's eyes widened. "Mr. Matthews?"
"Mr. Squirrels." Eric corrected him.
"Eric?" Cory asked in disbelief.
"Plays with." Eric corrected once more.
"Okay, the party's over. I'll see you at my funeral." Mr. Feeny said.
"No, no, no, no. Where's Angela?" Eric wondered.
"She was here. She just left." Topanga informed.
"Too painful to be in the same room with the man she should've married?" Eric asked, looking over at Blake, who had just entered the Student Union.
Blake approached the group. "What?"
"Don't tell him that we have a daughter." Cory whispered to his wife.
"I have a niche?" Eric wondered.
"Niece." Mr. Feeny corrected.
"Niece?" Eric questioned in confusion. He then motioned that Mr. Feeny had been drinking a lot. "Where is Rachel?"
"Yeah, where is Rachel?" Topanga wondered.
"Does anyone know whatever happened to her?" Zoey asked.
"I hear she moved to Texas." Rachel's voice informed. The group turned to see her approaching them, dressed in a cowgirl outfit. "I wanted to see if there was anything left between me and my old boyfriend."
"The one you broke up with when you moved here?" Jack questioned.
Rachel nodded. "Yep, that's the one?"
"Well, was there anything left?" Blake asked.
"A little." Rachel responded. "I married him."
"Congratulations." Cory praised. "Do you have any kids?"
"Two little ones. Little Cory and Little Topanga." Rachel answered.
Cory's eyes widen. "Really?"
"No. What are you, joking?" Rachel told him.
"Married life is great, isn't it?" Cory prompted her hastily.
"We're divorced." Rachel announced.
"What happened?" Shawn wondered.
"He parks in my spot." Rachel replied. "Yeah, well, I've been watching you all, and I just can't believe that none of you are friends anymore. I mean, I thought you guys would be together forever."
Jack sighed. "Yeah, but since that argument we had in the classroom...."
"What do you mean, over me?" Rachel asked in disbelief. "You guys aren't friends anymore because of me?"
"I guess it had something to do with that." Jack admitted.
"Wait a second. You didn't all make up after I left and live happily ever after?" Rachel questioned, looking at everyone in shock.
"Our marriage counselor says we're doing fine." Cory stated, only to earn a scolding hiss from his wife.
"Wow, I thought nothing could keep you guys apart." Rachel stated.
"Neither did we." Shawn agreed, his eyes falling onto Zoey. "But I guess something did."
"I guess we just weren't as strong as we thought we were." Cory said.
"I married a moose." Eric announced suddenly. He took out a small picture and showed it to Mr. Feeny. "We don't nee counseling."
"So, Mr. Squirrels, you've written something there, have you?" Mr. Feeny asked, gesturing to the very large book in Jack's hands.
"Yes. I've been by myself for the past seven years. I've put together a compendium of all my knowledge. Everything I know is in me manifesto." Eric explained. "Read it, Jack."
"Eric, that thing is like three thousand pages long." Cory pointed out.
"Nope." Jack said as he flickered through the pages. "Three thousand blank pages. Only the first one has writing on it."
"What does it say?" Zoey wondered.
Jack looked down at the page. "Lose one friend. Lose all friends. Lose yourself."
••••
[Present]
"You guys, Rachel just left. Why didn't anybody write anything down?" Eric demanded. Everyone remained silent. He walked out and returned with Rachel over his shoulder. He then placed her on the ground. "Look, if there's bad feelings here then we have to work them out because that's what friends should do! Now, look, I wrote something, Rachel. Please read it before you go anywhere."
Eric grabbed his piece of paper and held it in front of her face.
"'Lose one friend. Lose all friends. Lose yourself'." Rachel read.
"We're not gonna lose our friends." Cory said confidently as he looked around the room. "Are we?"
"We might." Eric answered. "What if Mr. Feeny's right? What if we don't fix this? What if this is the last time that we're all together? Is that a chance you're all willing to take?"
Angela stood up and walked over to Rachel. "Rachel, you're my roommate and I care about you."
As Angela laid down next to her friend on the floor, Blake was next. "Rachel, you've been there for and I don't know what to do if you weren't in my life."
Jack stood up as Blake added himself to the pile. "Rachel, just cause we're not in love anymore doesn't mean I want to lose you as my friend. I don't want to lose any of you guys."
Zoey rose from her chair and joined them. "Rach, you know you're one of my best friends. If something bad happened or you had to leave, I'll miss you terribly."
Zoey found a space on the floor next to Rachel, joining the group.
Topanga stood up and joined the group. "Oh, Rachel, I just wanted so bad to be a part of that team, but I guess I never will be. It's always gonna be Cory, Shawn and Zoey. I give up."
"Topanga, don't give up." Shawn said as he stood next to them. "You're his wife. Zoey and I are just his best friends. You should be with him all the time."
"All the time?" Topanga asked worriedly. "Like, so, if you weren't around, I would be with Cory all the time."
"Well, yeah. Till death do you part, right?" Shawn told her.
Topanga reached forward and grabbed his legs which caused him to fall on top of them. "You are very important in my life, Shawn."
Cory slowly approached the group on the floor. "You guys got room for me?"
"Yep." Topanga answered. "We have the perfect spot."
"Right between me and the wife." Shawn added.
The group laughed together in their pile. Zoey smiled happily, relieved that they were able to work past this and thankful that she had such amazing friends.
The group's attention turned to the remaining person in the room who hadn't joined their embrace and they quickly started encouraging him to join.
"Class dismissed!" Mr. Feeny called.
The group instantly stood up and trapped Mr. Feeny on his desk in their group hug.
___________________
PUBLISHED: March 30, 2019
WORDS: 2423