Butterflies || Shawn Hunter

Chapter 3: My Definition of a Perfect Evening

"So, I'm guessing your night went well," Topanga discreetly smiled when she found me at my locker the following day.

"What makes you say that?" I blushed as I tucked a strand of my long, dark brown hair behind my ear.

"Just how you keep smiling to yourself, and also that." She nodded over to Shawn who was speaking with Cory, continuously glancing in my direction.

"I don't think he's into me though. I mean, it wasn't like it was a real date."

"Maybe not, but just getting Shawn's attention is impressive if you're not coming on to him."

I barely nodded as the bell rang, everyone still out in the hall, since it was just the warning one. I ended up heading for Mr. Turner's classroom though, getting out my textbook as I kept glancing over at Shawn's desk. Per usual he came in with Cory the last second, nearly getting a tardy. He flipped his hair out of his eye as he lounged in his chair, just gazing at the front of the class with a bored expression on his face. Eventually we had to take a quiz, me getting out my pencil before I heard someone whispering to me.

"Hey! Kimberly? Do you have a pencil?" It was Shawn, and I cursed how red my face was getting as I searched for one.

"Here you go," I whispered back, holding out the wooden writing utensil.

"Thanks." He bit his lower lip before puffing his cheeks out as he tapped his pencil against the desk, seeming to be struggling on the answers. I was having trouble focusing as he ran his fingers through his hair repeatedly, forgetting about my own sheet of paper. I jumped when the bell rang, my face paling when I realized I hadn't filled out a single question, which I had never done before. The only thing I did was write my name, freaking out as Mr. Turner told us to put our papers on his desk. Before I could leave he already picked up my quiz, furrowing his eyebrows together as he studied it.

"I think next time you shouldn't try cheating on Shawn's paper," he told me.

"W-what," I stuttered.

"Your papers are exactly the same. You even have the same names at the top." I could tell he was trying to keep from laughing, scrunching his mouth to the side.

"Oh. I guess I was kind of distracted." My line of sight fell to the floor as he spoke up again.

"Tell you what. Why don't you come in here after school and retake the quiz? Maybe you can convince Shawn to do that for once too."

"Okay," I agreed, thankful to enter the halls, gasping when Shawn was right there.

"Sorry," he quietly laughed. "So, are you in trouble or something?"

"Why would I be in trouble," I managed to ask.

"You just looked really scared when you handed your paper in."

"Oh. I have to take the quiz again after school. I kind of got distracted and didn't answer anything."

"Huh, me too, except I literally didn't know anything."

"You could take it again too."

"Are you kidding," he lightly scoffed. "Mr. Turner knows I never study. I always get bad grades."

"Just think about it, okay?"

"Okay," he softly said, his blue eyes just gazing at me until I walked towards Mr. Feeny's class, dreading the big test in there.

"I'm no genius, but I don't think that the Roman's called their empire, the Shawn Empire," Mr. Feeny told me after everyone left and we passed up our tests.

"I'm sorry. Did I mess up the whole test?"

"No, the rest of it looks alright, but I'm beginning to worry about you. Your grades have been slipping, and I think it's safe to assume that Shawn has something to do with it."

"We went to a movie last night. It was 3 hours. I didn't get a lot of sleep." I faked a smile as my words sunk in.

"Ah yes. Titanic is the big love story right now. Just make sure your own love story doesn't interfere with your schoolwork."

"I won't," I assured him, feeling like hitting my head against my locker from how obvious my crush was.

After school I went ahead and finished my quiz, Shawn being a no show. I kicked up a small twig as I walked home, shouldering my backpack.

"Hey, how did your quiz go," Shawn wondered, popping up seemingly out of nowhere.

"Good, I guess. Where did you come from?" I looked around me as he all of a sudden started fidgeting, placing his hands behind his bottom as he inhaled deeply.

"Oh, uh, I was around. So, you free again tonight?"

"Yeah, but I don't feel like going out. I mean, I'm kind of tired from that long movie."

"Yeah... forget it. I can just go bug Cory or something," he waved off, starting to leave.

"Wait!" When he turned his head I lost all of my confidence. "I, uh, wouldn't mind staying in and doing something. I mean, we could hang out at my house, or... yours," I hesitantly finished.

"You don't want to go to my place. Trust me."

"Why not? I just thought since I've never, um, brought a boy home before, I mean not like you're a boy that I would be bringing home, but I thought we might get bothered less at your place." I wasn't even sure if I knew English anymore with how jumbled my sentences were.

Shawn just gave me a blank expression before faintly laughing as he talked. "I have no idea what you just said, but I guess we can go back to my place. I mean, my dad's not going to be home tonight, since he's working."

"Okay," I got out, still feeling stupid as we went to a part of town I had never been in before.

"This is where I live," he announced, not sounding too happy as he heaved open the door to the trailer.

"Shawn...," I trailed off, taking in the interior.

"What?" He stared at me as I turned to him, smiling warmly.

"This is a really nice place."

"You're kidding."

"No, I love the setup of it and the furniture. It seems cozy." And I genuinely meant it, but I think Shawn was having a hard time believing me.

"Yeah, whatever," he sarcastically said.

"I mean it, Shawn. I wouldn't lie to you." My voice faded on the end since I had met my brown eyes with his, feeling the heat rising to my cheeks.

"Thanks," he softly replied, just gazing back at me.

"You want to study," I blurted, him snorting a tiny bit but with a smile spreading across his lips.

"You obviously don't know me."

"You want to do it anyway?" He just eyed me warily before nodding a little.

"Okay, let's... study, but I want to get something to eat first."

"Okay." I watched as he walked over to the fridge, leaning his palm on his knee as he looked through the shelves.

"You like Cheez Whiz and crackers," he checked, straining his neck to look over at me still in the living room area.

"Yeah." As he prepared our snack, I couldn't help but feel that I was in heaven. A trailer park and Cheez Whiz was now my definition of a perfect evening.

A/N: Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please remember to comment, vote, and follow. Thank you so much! <3