Autumn in Philadelphia Trilogy

Cory and Shawn's Miracle Soap Part II

Saturday-

"Whoa! Does this stuff stink!" Shawn exclaimed waving his hand in front of his face. He wrinkled his nose in repulsion at the acrid-smelling concoction he and Cory had created. The bathroom was a mess- tubes and cap-less bottles lay all over the counter and floor.

"Yeah," Cory agreed with an expression that mirrored his best friend's. "It smells like the chemistry lab after that Hopkins guy blew up a burner last year."

He leaned over the plastic container that held a foul-looking green sludge. "Yech!" he remarked as he stuck his finger into the goop.

"What's it feel like?" Shawn questioned, brushing his long bangs out of his face.

Cory pulled his finger out and held it in front of him.

"I dunno," he said tipping his head to the side as he studied the slime oozing down his index finger. "It feels like...like..."

Suddenly, his eyes popped open and his mouth lengthened in a silent cry of pain.

Shawn jumped up from his seat on the bathroom floor. "What is it! What's wrong!"

"F-f-f-fire! Fire!"

"What! Where?" Shawn spun around looking for flames.

"Feels like fire!" Cory shrieked, jumping up and down, shaking his finger crazily. "It feels like fire! Get it off, Shawn! Get it off!"

The boys scrambled wildly around the small bathroom, bumping into each other and everything else.

"WaterwaterwaterWATER!" Cory frantically shook his head in the direction of the sink.

"Right!" Shawn turned the faucet on full blast, flooding Cory's green fingertip in a torrent of water.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" Cory continued to writhe in pain.

Shawn blinked at him.

"The water, Shawn! You turned on the hot water!"

"Wha-? Oh, sorry. Sorry." Shawn quickly made amends by turning the faucet head to the right.

Relief washed over Cory's face as the burning sensation died away. Eventually, he took his finger out of the stream of water. He and Shawn inspected the abused finger which was an angry shade of red.

"Ow..." Shawn moaned.

Cory stared at him. "Whadya mean 'ow'? It's my finger that was burned."

Shawn squinted at him and shrugged. "I feel your pain-"

The bathroom door flew open just then and slammed the wall with a forceful crash, making the boys involuntarily jump. Eric stood in the doorway breathing heavily.

"Out," he huffed. "Now."

Cory forgot about his injured appendage. "Hey, it's my bathroom, too. You can't just barge in and tell us to leave. We were here first."

"Oh, yeah?" Eric smiled tightly at them.

"Yeah," Shawn and Cory replied in unison.

"I see." He stepped a ways into the bathroom. "Okay, let me put it this way: I have a date in two hours..." He put an arm around Cory and the other around Shawn. "And I have a huge zit on my forehead. NOW GET OUT!"

Cory and Shawn found themselves standing in the bedroom with a locked bathroom door behind them. Cory's shoulders drooped and he sighed. Shawn looked confused.

"Great," Cory flopped down on his bed. "Now what?"

Shawn looked at him. "Lie on the bed and stare at the ceiling?"