It was an ordinary day at PennBrooke where Heather was on her way to class. With each step that she took, her mind was preoccupied with what occurred the past week. She was confused emotionally as to why she felt indifferently about Declan. He had a harmless crush, she thought to herself. But at the end of the day, Shawn was her boyfriend and she loved him. And if he felt uncomfortable with Declan being around, she respected that by distancing herself from him.
Mr. Feeny begun to recite a student's poem at the end of class. A beautifully written, detailed and descriptive poem that captivated Heather.
"I can't believe someone our age wrote that," Heather commented in awe.
"Someone like Mr. Hunter? It's a beautiful piece," Mr. Feeny revealed as he handed the poem back to Shawn.
"Hey, how come you never told me that you write?" Heather inquired. She was surprised that she had no idea that her own boyfriend was an incredible writer. Heather and Shawn told each other everything, or so she thought.
"I don't know. I just write things down," Shawn explained as he got up from his seat.
"I host poetry readings in the student union on Friday evenings. If you would feel comfortable to share that would be-"
"No thank you, Mr. Feeny," Shawn politely declined.
"Oh, he will," Cory chimed in. "Maybe I can read some of my own poems, huh," Cory joked.
"Count me in as well," Declan said as he rose from his seat.
"You guys all are welcomed," Mr. Feeny concluded as he left the classroom.
Shawn was the one first to leave as Cory chased after him, while Heather, Topanga and Declan slowly followed after.
"Shawn, hey, don't just blow this off," Cory said.
"Cor, enough with the pressure," Shawn said bluntly.
"No, I know you. If I don't pressure you, you're gonna flake," Cory argued, letting his stubbornness take over the conversation.
"Shawn, everyone loved your poem in class. I'm sure everyone would love any poem in that beige journal of yours," Heather eased Shawn, as she referred to the notebook he held tight within his grip.
"You're Feeny approved, not many poets can say that," Heather added as she rubbed his arm.
Declan's eyes were glued to Heather's arm on Shawn's in envy. He couldn't bare being in the same space as them, as heartache washed over him. He needed to get Heather back, and just because his plan failed initially, he was determined to win her over.
"If it makes you feel any better, I'm nervous to perform too," Declan stated vulnerably.
Shawn's eyes darted at Declan's warm blue ones, unconvincing of his soft facade. Shawn witnessed the dark and twisted side of Declan that no one else had seen, and was tired of Declan's shenanigans.
"Actually it doesn't." Shawn replied.
"Shawn, Declan's just trying to comfort you just like we are." Topanga came to Declan's defence.
Shawn rolled his eyes at his friends who were all agreed to what Topanga said, taking Declan's side.
Instead of lashing out, he knew the only way to end the conversation was to take Cory's advice.
"Fine, I'm going. But that doesn't mean I'm going to perform," Shawn settled on that, as they all smiled.
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
"How could he not tell me," Heather aggressively wondered as she laid upside down on Topanga's bed.
"Well Shawn's always been to himself and not the type to talk about feelings," Topanga answered as she joined laying upside down with Heather.
She does have a point, Heather thought as he sighed heavily and hugged her throw pillow close to her stomach. Heather presumed Shawn's heart was with photography, and she had even envisioned their future together as him being the head photographer of her future clothing line. A power couple working together, doing what they both loved.
"Speaking of feelings, how are you and Declan?" Topanga pondered as she faced Heather eye to eye.
"I haven't spoken to him since that day," Heather replied as she let out another sigh. "I hope we can just be friends and move on."
Meanwhile, Declan was behind Shawn and Cory's dorm where he knocked before entering. To his luck, Shawn was alone and Declan quickly spotted Shawn's beige journal on his desk. Shawn turned around and was shocked to see Declan visiting.
"What do you want?" Shawn questioned as he got up from his bed, and stood in front of a very out of breath Declan.
Declan begun pacing back and fourth while he blurted every thought racing in his mind.
"I hate presenting... What if everyone laughs at me..." Declan said. Shawn never seen this nervous side of Declan before and noticed he was having an anxiety attack, and quickly came to aid him, and help him calm down.
Declan then rested his hands on the desk, hunched over as he slowly inhaled and exhaled. Shawn patted his back and reassured him that the nerves will go away, and that he would perform well.
As Declan attempted to calm down, he looked past Shawn and noticed an odd poster on the wall.
"Is that the Backstreet Boys?" Declan asked, snapping him out of his nervous thoughts. Shawn turned around to see what Declan saw, as Declan quickly grabbed Shawn's beige journal, and tucked it behind his pants, and covered it with his sweater.
"Yeah, uh, the less you know the better," Shawn excused not wanting to explain a strange poster on a college guy's dorm wall.
"I'm pretty nervous about tonight too. It's actually does makes me feel better knowing someone like you gets nervous too," Shawn said. Maybe I'm being too hard on him, Shawn thought to himself, and decided to not vilify Declan each time he gets. They did get off at the wrong foot, but Shawn was willing to put the drama behind him, and start being cordial, friendly even.
"I'm sorry you had to witness that. But I'll see you tonight," Declan stated as he let out a breath and gave Shawn a short smile. Shawn smiled back, as he watched Declan exit.
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
At poetry reading night at the student union, Shawn and Heather sat together with Topanga as they watched Cory's performance.
"All day long, I think of you.
How do you do, the things you do?
I love you girl, with all my heart.
Because you're pretty! And you're smart
...
Topanga!"
The crowd was crickets, while everyone remained stiff at Cory's horrible poem.
"Tough crowd," Cory sneered as he got off the stage. He joined his friends on the couch as Mr. Feeny got on stage to announce the next person to perform.
"Next we have Mr. Shawn Hunter," Mr. Feeny stated. Shawn huffed in frustration and was upset at Cory for not knowing when to stop meddling into his life.
"I can't believe you, when are you going to learn to stay out of my business?" Shawn rhetorically asked. Mr. Feeny once again repeated Shawn's name, when he finally caved in and brought his backpack with him on stage, as his friends cheered him on.
As the crowd waited for Shawn to start, he was busy rummaging through his backpack to find his beige journal. Shawn begun to panic at the thought of losing such a personal and intimate item. He was so sure it was inside his backpack. The longer he took, he felt the dozens of eyes on him, making his fear of performing much more intense.
"I'm sorry, I, uh, can't find my journal," Shawn spoke into the microphone with his shaking and nearly breaking. He grabbed his backpack, and ran out of the student union from the embarrassment.
Everyone's eyes followed Shawn exited, but were quickly drawn back to the stage once they heard someone speak into the mic.
"I guess that makes me the last performer for the night," Declan said as he cleared his throat while he held pages that were torn from a book. Heather got up from the couch to chase after Shawn, but she stopped in her tracks suddenly.
"This poem is dedicated to a girl I fell in love with from Philly," Declan added. Heather turned around as was shocked that Declan dedicated a poem to her, let alone even had her in mind when writing one. "It's called Top of the World."
"You don't know it, but
Sometimes, I go to a hill that overlooks
the landscape's mask of city lights
For a sip of momentary grace.
On this brink of everything I know, I can gain
An eyeful of the lost Atlantis in the human soul,
And a breath that fills my lungs with the air between two stars
If you were now to capture the image of this elation
In the framework of your mind,
Or find transcendence through these words,
Then at most you would know nothing
Of the beauty your existence throws to me.
For mine is a love no experience,
No measure, no words
Could ever degrade into reality by virtue of degree."
Heather was frozen, still, at those beautiful words escaping Declan's lips. With each line she felt her eyes being locked with his, and a whirlwind of expired emotions were released. Every moment she and Declan shared from the past resurfaced. His words were like a time machine that brought back every intimate memory.
The crowd clapped at Declan's astonishing poem, but were shocked to see Shawn drag Declan off the stage and lead him outside the student union.
Declan stood in front of an angry Shawn with a smug look on his face.
"You stole my book!" Shawn shouted angrily, trying to control his temper.
"You have no proof of that," Declan commented.
"That's my poem that you just read. I mean that anxiety attack you had, that was all fake?!" Shawn explained, trying to make sense of how Declan was able to steal his journal.
"I never considered an acting career, but now I just might," Declan gloated, confirming Shawn's suspicions on his random dorm visit.
"Why did you do this? To get Heather back," Shawn scoffed. "She's with me and you're going to have to get over that before we have some serious problems."
"The only problem is that she's with you. Do you really think that you're good enough for her? You're the reason why she's at this dump of a school to begin with," Declan replied in a raised tone, venting his feelings.
Shawn was confused at Declan's statement. Sure PennBrooke isn't an ivy league school of any means, and it was Heather's only option after being rejected from Parsons.
"What do you mean?" Shawn asked lowly.
"You see, I called my family friends who are on the school board at Parsons, and asked them how could they reject Heather Sinclair. They told me that they didn't, she rejected them. I wonder why," Declan revealed, as he gave Shawn a look of disgust. As if he viewed Shawn below him, little to nothing.
Shawn's mind started to race to the day of graduation where Heather received her letter from Parsons. He vividly remembered her being upset for not getting in, but as he traced back harder he remembered he never gotten a look of the letter. Once the reality of Heather rejecting Parsons for him sunk in, he felt miserable. Miserable at the fact his girlfriend gave up her dreams for him, and especially that Declan was right.
"What do you have to offer? She's rich, you're dirt poor straight from the trailer park," Declan sneered as he made his way closer to Shawn to let word cut him deeper.
"Shut up," Shawn spoke under his breath, with his fist formed and jaw clenched to contain his anger.
"I mean, I just have one question," Declan stated as he let out a chuckle, enjoying every moment of tearing Shawn down. "For your summer vacation, did you even pay once?"
Shawn suddenly blacked out, and threw a sucker punch at Declan so hard, that Declan lost his balance and stumbled through the student union doors. Everyone's attention drew to Declan who was in pain, then towards Shawn who was flailing his sore hand from hitting Declan so hard.
Heather was shocked to see a violent physical altercation between Shawn and Declan and wondered what lead to that point.
"Congratulations, you just got yourself expelled," Declan spat out, as held onto the side of his red face.
♡ ♡ ♡
uh. oh.
i decided to combine the poetic license episode and "everybody loves stuart" together. let me know what you think :)