It's My Life • Shawn Hunter

71| Fishing For Virna

At school, Zoey stood in the lunch line with Cory and Topanga as Brenda, the lunch lady, served them from the behind the counter.

Brenda beamed at Cory. "Hi, Cory. My little tiger likes his gravy, doesn't he?"

"Oh, Cory likes the way Brenda does it." Cory agreed happily. "Ooh, she builds a nice potato mountain and then she turns it into a horrible volcano of doom. Oh, look at the lava running down the volcano. Run, peas. Hide behind the roll." He turned to see the glares he got from the girls. "What, you don't see that?"

Zoey looked at Cory's plate and nodded. "I can see it now."

"Brenda, do you have anymore cherry pie?" Topanga asked the lunch lady.

"Or an apple?" Zoey added with a hopeful smile.

"No, sweetie. I'm sorry, we're all out. Sorry." Brenda informed before she paused. "Oops, forgot. I accidently hid two pieces under the counter. Looks about your sizes too."

Zoey smiled as she took a piece of pie and placed it on her tray.

"Awe, you never let us down, Brenda." Topanga said with a smile.

After the three got their food, they left the line to find a table. Before they could sit down, Shawn ran into the cafeteria and towards Cory and Zoey.

"Guys, I got a major problem." Shawn breathed out, clearly out of breath. "How long has it been since I've seen my mother?"

Zoey frowned as she stared at her boyfriend with worried eyes. She placed her tray on the table and grabbed Shawn's hand, rubbing her thumb against the back of his head comfortingly He squeezed her hand gratefully.

"You mean since she took her little vacation?" Cory asked.

Cory had always found himself nervous whenever the topic of Shawn's mother came up. He never knew how to act, always scared of saying the wrong thing to his best friend. That was why he usually left the talking to Zoey, she seemed to always know what to say.

"She ran away." Shawn snapped. "She ran away for a year, Cory. Deal with it. I have."

Cory smiled warmly at his best friend. "And you're doin' so much better."

"Thanks." Shawn said stiffly. "Now, how long has it been since I've seen my mother?"

"Shawnie, why are you asking?" Zoey wondered.

"A minute." Shawn announced, seeming that he didn't believe what he was saying. "I saw my mum, guys. She was right across the street at the Trailer View Motel. She was looking through her window at our trailer. Guys, my mum's back."

••••

After school the three of them quickly raced to the Pink Flamingo Trailer Park to tell Chet all about Shawn's recent discovery. Zoey was worried about how Shawn was taking the news since his grip of her hand hadn't loosened all day.

They stood inside the trailer and recounted Shawn's story to his father.

"You're telling me for the last year I've traipsed across these United States searching for my long lost Virna and you find her right across the highway?" Chet asked in disbelief.

Shawn nodded. "It's her, dad. She's been watching us."

"How long she been there? How's she look? When she's comin' home?" Chet questioned.

"I don't know. I haven't gone over there yet." Shawn replied.

Chet frowned. "Why not?"

Shawn paused, his grip on Zoey's hand tightening before he finally pulled his hand away. Zoey's gaze snapped towards him in shock as her worry only deepened.