It's My Life • Shawn Hunter

12| Once In Love with Amy

Zoey sat in Mr. Feeny's class, bored out of her mind. She rested her chin on the palms of her hand as Mr. Feeny wrote a problem on the black board.

"Al washes a car in six minutes. Fred washes the same car in eight minutes. How long will it take Al and Fred to was the car together?" Mr. Feeny asked the class.

"Piece of cake." Cory stated.

Mr. Feeny raised his hand. "Thank about it, Mr. Matthews."

"I don't have to think about, Mr. Feeny. It's simple." Cory said.

"It's anything but simple, Mr. Matthews." Mr. Feeny pointed out.

"But I've got the answers." Cory said, confidently.

"I'm not interested in the answer." Mr. Feeny responded.

"Why not?" Cory wondered.

"Because I'm more interested in how you arrive at the answer. And you couldn't possible have arrived at the correct answer so rapidly." Mr. Feeny said as he approached Cory's desk.

"But I did. I've arrived. I'm here. I'm ahead of you." Cory told him.

"Oh, well, then if you're ahead of me... what is the answer?" Mr. Feeny asked.

"Seven." Both Cory and Mr. Feeny said in unison.

"That's not the correct answer." Mr. Feeny stated.

"But it has to be." Cory responded. "Al speeds Fred up. Fred slows Al down. So the answer is halfway between six and eight - seven."

"That is not the correct answer." Cory and Mr. Feeny stated in unison, again.

Zoey closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. And knowing Cory, he doesn't give up anything without an argument.

"My head hurts." She muttered.

"But it has to be!" Cory exclaimed.

"No, it doesn't." Minkus spoke, as he got out of his seat and approached Cory's desk.

"Why not?" Cory questioned.

"Fred can't slow Al down. Even if Al washes most of the car... and Fred just washes a hubcap... the total time still has to be faster than Al's time alone. You with me?" Minkus explained, before he began using his calculator. "So if Fred is twenty-five percent slower than Al... then twenty-five percent of six minutes is...." He trailed off, looking at the class. "Anybody? It's a minute and a half which leaves us with 4.5! Four and a half minutes is the correct answer. Hold your applause, please."

Zoey groaned from her headache that was currently pounding inside her skull from Minkus' talking. Minkus walked back to his desk, with a proud smile.

"Mr. Minkus, you're wrong." Mr. Feeny announced.

Shawn and Zoey turned to each other, surprised and shocked. This was the first time Minkus had been wrong about anything, this was a rare moment for them.

Minkus' face fell, as if he just saw a ghost. "Wrong? As in not right?"

"You know the law of averages better than I do. It was bound to catch up with you." Mr. Feeny responded. Minkus paused for a moment, before he got out of his seat and immediately made his way out of the classroom. "Where are you going?"

"Nurse." Minksu said.

When Minkus left class, Zoey couldn't help but laugh softly. This was one of the best days in her life at the moment. Shawn looked between Cory and Zoey as a wide smile spread across his lips.

"'Minkus, you're wrong'." Shawn said, repeating Mr. Feeny's words with a chuckle.

"I've been waiting to hear those words since pre-school." Cory said.