It had been a few weeks since Shawn went to the police about Lucy's boyfriend. Lucy was absolutely furious when she found what he was doing to her daughter and instantly dumped him before he taken into custody. Zoey's bruises had healed up nicely and now you wouldn't be able to tell what she had been through.
Zoey's chin was settled on Shawn's legs as he stretched out across their desks to sleep. Her arms were folded on top of her desk behind the barrier of his body as she listened to her best friend.
"... And in the night, he searches. And in the day, he searches. And on the morrow he will search. Close, reaching, yet it will not be found and he knows that." Cory read from the book he was holding as he stood at the front of the class.
"Nice passion, Matthews. Very nice." Mr. Turner said before he approached the pair, nudging Shawn. "Hey, Hunter. Hey, how were you affected by that reading?"
"I don't wanna go to school, daddy." Shawn mumbled in his sleep. "Cory's ready poetry."
Mr. Turner sighed. "You get your butt out of that bed and get to class!"
"Okay. Okay." Shawn mumbled as he immediately sat up, half asleep and stumbled out of class.
"Gee, I wonder what's gonna happen." Mr. Turner said. Frankie raised his hand. "Frankie, do it, buddy."
"What the poet is saying in this beautiful piece which was movingly read, might I add." Frankie began.
Cory saluted him. "Hey."
"Is that sometimes we love and though it seems the object of our love is within reach, it does not reciprocate and we must keep reaching." Frankie explained.
Cory furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "It's not about a doggy?"
Topanga turned to Cory and placed her finger against his lips. "Shh, honey, don't speak."
"Outstanding, Stecchino, outstanding. Anything else?" Mr. Turner asked.
"Yes. Thank you." Frankie replied.
The bell rung.
Zoey scooped up her books, chucking them in her backpack before zipping it up, throwing it over her shoulders and walked out of the classroom.
••••
Zoey was standing at her locker and opened it, placing the books and folder in her arms into the metal storage. In a few days it will be her sixteenth birthday, and she was going to have a party. Cory then walked over to her with a smile on his face.
"Cor, can you do me a huge favour?" Zoey asked desperately.
"Sure! Anything." Cory replied.
"Read this and tell me what you think." Zoey said as she closed her locker and handed an invitation to him.
"'Someone is turning sweet sixteen and if you could be there, it would be keen'." Cory read out.
"My mum wrote that. It's silly. It's dumb. I can't believe it. A sweet sixteen parting. It's embarrassing. I'm sorry you even have to read this." Zoey said frantically and let out a frustrated sigh.
"Zoey..." Cory trailed off.
"Yeah?" Zoey wondered.
"Slow down, girl. Separate your words." Cory advised her.
Zoey huffed. "Please come to my sweet sixteenth. It doesn't mean a lot to me, but it means a lot to my mum. So what do I tell my mother?"
"Am I your best friend?" Cory asked.
Zoey nodded. "Yeah, you are."
"Then I'll be there." Cory told her with a smile.
"You're the best, Cor." Zoey said appreciatively.
She quickly stepped forward and pulled him into an embrace before they two went to their separate ways to class.
••••
It was Friday, one day before Zoey's party and everything was going perfectly.
Well, almost everything.
Cory and Shawn had accidently overbooked themselves for Saturday. They'd been helping Frankie bond with his father via shared knowledge on wrestling and Francis Stecchino Sr or 'Vader' was known in the wrestling world.
It just so happened that Vader had a match Saturday night and was ecstatic to finally have Frankie there to cheer him on and advise him. Which meant Frankie needed Cory and Shawn to be there with him to tell him what to tell Vader.
At school, Shawn and Cory tried getting out of it but seeing the pure despair Frankie instantly fell into upon their refusal they'd backtracked.
"We'll be there." Cory sighed.
Frankie smiled warmingly. "I know. You wanna know why?"
"Because I want everybody to like me?" Cory grumbled, annoyed with himself.
"I've noticed that, but I was gonna say it's because you have a good heart." Frankie replied.
And with that, Frankie walked away from the two with a spring in his step down the hallway.
"Zoey is gonna kill us." Shawn whined fearfully.
Cory shook his head. "Shawn, you underestimate her."
"She's gonna want us at that party. Women aren't forgiving about that kind of thing." Shawn responded.
"Okay, Zoey will forgive." Cory said quickly, brushing him off. "I mean, Zoey's not just any woman here."
"I bet you a buck she flips out." Shawn said with a knowing smirk.
"It's your money, Leroy." Cory challenged.
Shawn chuckled softly before he walked over to Zoey by the lockers. "Hey, Zo, babe, listen. There might be a chance we won't be able to come--"
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you both!" Zoey shouted with a glare which caused the boys to jump back. "This means everything. I only turn sixteen once. Shawn, Cor, you have to be there."
"Zoey, am I your boyfriend?" Shawn asked softly. "And is Cory not your best friend?"
"Yes, you are." She muttered.
Cory smiled tightly. "Then we'll be there."
Zoey smiled widely. "I know you will. And you wanna know why I know?"
"Because I've got a good heart?" Cory huffed.
"I was going to say because you want everyone to like you but yeah because you have a good heart." Zoey responded.
Zoey then pulled Shawn into a kiss. Shawn wrapped an arm around her and returned the gesture. Cory rolled his eyes and grabbed $5 from his pocket and held it out to Shawn.
••••
After school, Cory and Shawn decided to head over to the Matthews house to discuss their problem that they had created.
"Why do these things always happen to me?" Cory complained as he and Shawn entered his home.
"Cause you're a good guy, Cory. These things happen to good guys." Shawn answered, closing the door.
"That's nice of you to say, Shawn, but we'd better be real good to be two places at once." Cory said dryly.
"It must and will be done." Shawn said as he pulled out VHS tape out of his bag.
"Oh, you have the technology?" Cory asked.
"Right here, right now." Shawn responded, putting the tape into the tv. "Cory, the need to be in two place at once is a dilemma that dates back thousands of years. Lucky for us, I am a student in such matters.
"So, what's this? An instructional Deepak Chopra, Venus and Mars, buy real estate no money down, ab reducer, juice tiger kind of thing?" Cory asked.
"It's the Flintstones." Shawn told him.
"I was gonna say that." Cory said.
"This is a classic episode where Fred has to be at Pebbles' birthday party and the big bash at the Water Buffalo lodge on the same night." Shawn explained as the two of them sat down on the couch.
"Oh, I remember being very nervous during this one." Cory admitted sheepishly.
"Yes, quite a dilemma for our prehistoric friend. Let's watch." Shawn insisted. He pulled out a pointer and slapped onto the TV. "Fred Flintstone. Nice guy, big feet, just like you."
"And he's got a good best friend." Cory pointed out.
"That's right, Barney. That's me. Now watch Fred's technique. Let's go frame by frame." Shawn said before pausing the video. "Here he is, backing out of the Water Buffalo Lodge. Now, he's taking off his Water Buffalo helmet. That's key."
A smile crept on Cory's face. "Huh, a simple costume change and he fools everybody."
"Now, here he arrives at Pebbles' birthday p[arty correctly attired, and no one's the wiser. I've calculated our distance. The Flintstone scenario is doable in our case." Shawn said confidently.
"I assume you had a fallback plan." Cory said.
"Johnny Quest, but then you would need Haji and a hovercraft." Shawn said instantly. "Okay, Zoey's sweet sixteenth is a mere three-tenths of a mile away from Vader's wresting match."
Cory nodded, beginning to like the plan. "All right. What's our time constraints?"
"I'm on that, too." Shawn reassured his best friend. "Fred never spent more than 75 seconds at either location."
"Yeah, but you see, Shawn, that was a cartoon. Time was compressed. We're real. We're in real time." Cory said.
"Trust me, it's the same thing." Shawn replied.
"No, it's not. You see, a television show can cover many days in only one half-an-hour program." Cory told him.
"Trust me, it's the same thing." Shawn repeated simply. "Now, here comes tragedy. Fred arrives at Pebbles' party, and he's wearing his Buffalo helmet. Wilma gets what's going on. Here she comes around with a frying pan, and..."
Both Shawn and Cory winced as they watched Wilma hit Fred with the frying pan.
"Well, we can't let that happen, Barney." Cory said.
"I'm here for you, Fred." Shawn said with a smirk.
••••
Zoey was officially sixteen.
Her hair was sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. Her dress was long as it pooled around her feet, it was a light pink material with silver sequins that started from the top and went down to the bottom of the dress.
Zoey frowned as she looked around the packed ballroom. Since the beginning of the party, she hadn't seen Cory or Shawn anywhere.
Shawn walked over to stand behind her and wrapped his arms around her body. "Did I mention how beautiful you look tonight?"
"Thank you." Zoey said. She turned around and pressed a kiss to his lips.
"Zoey, there you are!" Cory called, grinning as he approached her. "I have been looking all over for you. I mean, I've been here for twenty minutes, and I couldn't find you because of the size of this turnout. I mean, a person could get lose in here. But there I go, running off at the mouth, keeping you from mingling with your interesting guests. Well, off you go. Mingle. Mingle mingle!"
"Guys, I know I told you this didn't mean a lot to me before but now that it's here, I... this means so much to me." Zoey told her best friends. She turned and wrapped her arms around Shawn's waist. "I can't wait for our special dance."
Shawn cupped her cheeks gently. "Zo, you know anything that means anything to you means everything to me and I..."
"Wrap it up!" Cory whispered.
Shawn's face scrunched up. "Uh, the end."
Zoey's frown in confusion before grabbing his arm when he turned to walk away. "Where are you going?"
"Um, Zoey..." Cory said as he rushed to them and grabbed her hand. "Your Aunt Maggie, she's over there, and for how long no one knows. In fact, no one knows how long any of us will be here"
With that, Cory led Zoey over to Aunt Maggie before he bolted for the door.
••••
Cory and Shawn rushed back to the ballroom and spotted Zoey at the drinking table. The two of them rushed over to her and tried to steady their breathing.
"Where have you been?" Cory asked, throwing his hands up in exasperation.
"Me?" Zoey wondered.
"Yes, you. We have been back and forth across this room, must've been twenty times lookin' for a." Cory told her. "A guy gets worried is what happened."
"Your both out of breath." Zoey pointed out.
"Look for you!" Shawn burst out, wrapping an arm around her hip, pulling her into him. "But I found ya. And you're here and now I can breathe easy."
Zoey nodded slowly, not really buying it but choosing to ignore it. "I'm sorry I guess."
"Accepted." Cory said with a wide smile. "See ya later."
"What? Where are you going?" Zoey asked, staring at the two in shock.
Shawn checked his watch and his heart dropped when he realized it was almost time for his dance with Zoey.
"Uh.... nowhere! Because there's still the matter of that special dance that's so important to you.... me... us!" Shawn stuttered.
"I'm glad it means something to you too, Shawn." Zoey said and kissed his cheek. "I'll go talk to the DJ."
Zoey smiled brightly as the music changed to the slow song she had chosen for the couples dance. Everyone moved away to let her get to the middle of the dancefloor before they surrounded. Zoey's eyebrows furrowed and a frown appeared on her face when she didn't see Shawn.
She looked around desperately for Shawn. She stiffened when she noticed everyone was staring at her as she stood all alone for what was supposed to be the couples dance. She played with her fingers and hugged herself.
••••
Shawn and Cory rushed into the ballroom only to find it mostly empty. They were too late.
"How's the fight going?" Zoey asked dryly.
Shawn furrowed his eyebrows. "How'd you know?"
Zoey simply pointed to the TV that was playing a rerun of the wrestling match.
Cory laughed nervously. "What, you believe that?"
"How could you do this to me, Shawn? You knew how important this was." Zoey said, glaring at him.
Shawn grabbed her hands into his and brought them up to his lips. "I'm so, so sorry, Zo. I ruined your party and I'm a jerk."
"I guess this is where we get hit on the head with a frying pan." Cory said as began to brace himself.
"Okay, what's he talking about?" Zoey wondered.
"The Flintstones." Shawn explained. "He had to be at two places at once."
Zoey nodded in realization and smiled. "The Water Buffalo, Pebbles episode."
Shawn smiled and turned to Cory. "And you wonder why I love this girl."
Zoey sighed. "Shawn, I've been sitting here since everybody left thinking about why you would leave. And I know two, I know that you have a good reason even if you had a dumb plan. So tell me your good reason."
"We were helping Frankie get closer with his dad." Shawn answered.
Topanga glanced at the TV and smiled. "Looks like you did."
"Look, I want you to know, I would never hurt you." Shawn promised. "And I'm sorry we couldn't dance together in front of everyone."
"In front of everyone doesn't matter. It was just a special dance, and I wanted it to be with you." Zoey told her boyfriend.
Shawn held his hand out to her. "Can I have this dance?"
Zoey chuckled softly before she grabbed it with a smile.
__________________
PUBLISHED: May 19, 2018
WORDS: 2489