Melanie Strong could think of ten things she would rather be doing than sitting in this class:
Messing up Shawn's hair and watching it bounce back
Eating her lunch
Hanging out with Cory
Hanging out with Shawn
Hanging out with Cory and Shawn
Have Topanga braid her hair
Sleeping
Playing with Morgan
Drinking some Hot Chocolate
Be anywhere but here
And nowhere on that list was written learn about Romeo and Juliet. Melanie groaned and slammed her head on her desk, ignoring the looks she got from the people that surrounded her.
"Miss. Strong," Mr. Feeny called and she looked up, "I would appreciate it if you would not damage my desk."
Trying to keep the bright blush from entering her face, she shot,
"I'm sorry, Mr. Feeny. The scene was just so touching that I couldn't bear to watch it anymore with the fear of tears falling down my cheeks."
Mr. Feeny grunted before turning back to the two students,
"She's dead, Mr. Bornihay. Pick up the knife and kill yourself."
Deciding that she had enough of this play, she picked up her brand new, green eraser and threw it at Cory's head. She loved the current seating. Cory sat in the middle of her and Shawn, giving them a great opportunity to mess with him during class. Not like any of them minded; they all cared little for school.
"Mel...Ow!" Cory whined, catching Shawn's attention.
She ignored him,
"What's the score, Cor?"
"Bottom of the third, two out. Dykstra's on second, Kurk's on first, 3 and 2 to Dalton."
From the corner of her eye, Melanie noticed the approaching grey suit and shifted in her seat to make it look as though she had been paying attention the whole time.
"What's this, Mr. Matthews?" Mr. Feeny asked as he held up Cory's headphone.
Cupping his ear, Cory yelled,
"Huh? What'd you say, Mr. Feeny? You took my hearing aid."
Melanie watched as Mr. Feeny put the headphone in his ear and started to play the radio,
"Smoltz delievers, Dalton swings. Oh, he got a piece of that one. It's a long drive, deep to center. Otis Nixon back, back to the warning track, climbs the wall, and..." But she never got to hear the rest for Mr. Feeny had turned the radio off and wrapped up the headphones.
"Ohh!" Cory groaned.
Melanie slapped her forehead and muttered under her breath,
"Mr. Matthews, Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare's ultimate testament of love between a man and a woman."
A sharp cry of 'Help' caused Melanie to turn her head to the front of the room just in time to see Vanessa pinning Nicholas to the table as she tried to stab him with the plastic knife. Melanie gave a light giggle as Mr. Feeny rushed to the front of the room.
"Ms. Kincaid, thank you! Thank you," He led Vanessa off the desk and back to her seat, "For that, uh, vigorous interpretation."
Placing the radio back onto the table, Mr. Feeny turned back to look at Cory.
"Mr. Matthews, you do not listen to the ballgame in the middle of my class."
"Mr. Feeny, who cares about some guy who killed himself over some dumb girl?" Cory asked as he stood up.
"Wow, Cory," Melanie muttered under her breath, "Nice to know you think of me as a dumb girl."
"Not like I was talking about my best friend, Melanie, in anyway." Cory saved and Melanie laughed.
"The tragedy here, Mr. Matthews, is not about a dumb girl or the boy who kills himself because of her. It's about the all-consuming power of love and the inevitability of its influence on each of our lives." Mr Feeny tried to explain to the eleven-year-old.
"Mr. Feeny," Shawn called as he stood, "I have held affections for Melanie ever since we were Kindergarteners and in no way have I wanted to kill myself because she has not yet returned my affections."
"I don't know, Hunter," Melanie teased as she gave her ponytail a flip, "Maybe I'm just out of your league."
Ignoring them, Cory turned to Mr. Feeny,
"Are you aware that we are all eleven- year- olds?"
"Are you aware that you have detention Friday afternoon?"
"No, actually I did not know that."
~8~
Cory, Shawn, and Melanie sat in the cafeteria, prodding the food that was in front of them. Looking up, Melanie noticed Nicholas sitting in front of them with a brown paper bag. Sniffling, Melanie looked back down at her 'food'.
"What even...?" Melanie asked.
"Well, mine's got fuzz." Shawn stated, disgusted.
"Mine's got lips." Cory poked his again with his fork.
"Maybe you should give it a kiss, Cory." Melanie teased from in between him and Shawn.
"Maybe you should give me a kiss instead, Melanie." Shawn said.
Melanie blinked,
"That was smooth."
"I try, I try."
The three of them looked up when they heard the crinkling of a lunch bag.
"Hey, bag man. Rough life being an only child, huh?" Shawn questioned as Nicholas took out a slice of cake from his lunch bag.
"Yeah. Rougher life being an orphan, which is what I am as of last night." Cory said.
"What happened?" Melanie asked, as she looked up from her 'food'.
"I dumped my family and my family dumped me. It was mutual. They're keeping the house."
"Wow, that's tough. You were together for such a long time. Eleven years, right?" Melanie asked and Cory nodded.
"Well, we're here for you, Cory." Shawn said, patting his arm.
"Thanks. You're my new brothers and sister," Cory announced and Melanie smiled.
"Hey, how about we go to the game Friday night?"
"I thought the game was sold out?" Nicholas asked.
"It is, so we go down early. There's guys with extra tickets."
"Don't you have detention Friday?" Shawn reminded him.
"Don't worry about detention. I can handle Feeny. Feeny loves me." Cory stated and Melanie laughed.
"Feeny hates you." She pointed out.
"Well, it's one of the two. We'll see who's right." Cory said as he got up and walked over to Mr. Feeny.
"Mr. Feeny, may I sit down?"
"I rather you didn't"
"Hates me."
~8~
The next Monday, Melanie, Shawn, Cory, and Nicholas sat in the cafeteria watching Mr. Feeny and the female teacher talk to one another.
"Is she sick?" Melanie asked.
"Two days in a row." Nicholas tilted his head.
"She just doesn't learn." Shawn frowned and looked over at Melanie who was watching them with a confused look.
"Maybe... she's his sister?" Melanie tried to make sense of what was going on.
Melanie, Shawn, and Nicholas watched as Mr. Feeny made his way out of the lunch room with the female teacher; only to stop at their table.
"Confused, Mr. Matthews.?"
"Yes I am, sir."
"As it should be."