It's My Life • Shawn Hunter

134| The Psychotic Episode

In the morning, Topanga and Zoey were sitting on the couch in the Student Union, talking about class until Shawn walked into the Student Union with his hair very different from his normal look. He hair was separate down the middle and has been moussed.

"That little curly-headed boyfriend of yours is driving me insane." Shawn told Topanga.

"Is he still having nightmares?" Zoey wondered.

Recently Cory had been having nightmares and was acting strangely towards Shawn.

"No, no, no. Not anymore. He hasn't slept in three days. I turn off the lights and I hear him moving around in the dark like a rat. I wake up the next morning, the closets are reorganized, my shorts are ironed, and my hair's been moussed." Shawn explained.

Topanga frowned. "Oh, my poor Cory."

"Hot coffee coming through." Cory said as he strolled towards the group with a tray filled with coffee.

"Hey, thanks, Cor." Zoey said as she leaned over to grab a coffee.

"These are mine. Get your own." Cory snapped.

"Cory, drinking coffee to avoid your nightmares is not the solution." Topanga told her fiancée.

"Who said I was having nightmares?" Cory demanded as he stood up.

"I did, you loony!" Shawn exclaimed.

"Why would you say I was having night...." Cory stopped himself before his expression softened. "Oh, I'm not mad at you. Not you. Not Shawnie Shawn. Hey, how's the mousse holding up, huh? It looks good."

"Something is definitely wrong with him." Zoey said.

••••

In Mr. Feeny's class, Zoey sat in the back of the room, writing down notes as he was discussing of William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

The class was interrupted when Cory was slamming his book on the table with his eyes closed.

"Die, Shawn, Die!" Cory shouted. He then opened his eyes to see everyone staring at him in confusion.

"Awkward." Zoey muttered.

The bell rang. Everyone got out of their seats and filed out of the room. Cory instantly went over to his best friend, who was completely shocked at what he had done earlier in class.

"You have to let me explain." Cory insisted.

Shawn scoffed. "Explain what? My best friend screams he wants to kill me in front of the whole class. What's to explain?"

Shawn walked out of the classroom, Cory and Zoey trailing behind.

"Well, I lied about the puppet dream." Cory said.

"No kidding." Shawn sarcastically responded.

"These are not good dreams I'm having, Shaw. I kill you in every one of them. I kill you good." Cory informed.

"Like how?" Shawn wondered.

"Well, I fed you thumbtack soup. I poured hot lava down your pants. I pulled your heart out with salad tongs. I set fire to your tie." Cory listed as the three of them walked out of the hallway and made their way into the Student Union. "I shredded you over pasta with a cheese grater. I dressed you up like a rooster and entered him in a cockfight."

"How'd I do?" Shawn asked.

"Well, you won. But the crowd cried fix and it got ugly." Cory explained. "I'm sorry."

Shawn rolled his eyes and sat on the couch. "They're dreams. Get some sleep."

"He's right, Cor... they're just dreams." Zoey agreed, sitting beside Shawn. "Perhaps there is something about your relationship with Shawn that has been bothering you for a while, but you don't want to face it. Maybe that's why you're dreaming of killing Shawn."

"I think there may be a solution. In my last dream, Feeny was there. He told me all I had to do to stop these dreams was to forgive you." Cory explained as he sat next to Zoey on the couch.

"Forgive me for what?" Shawn wondered.

"Well, I don't think that's important. What's important is I forgive you, Shawn, okay? You're forgiven, 100% forgiven, forgiven, forgiven." Cory said before he let out a sigh of relief. "And now I'm all better."

"So, you're going to sleep tonight?" Shawn asked.

Cory smiled. "Oh, yeah. Thanks to Mr. Feeny, I'm finally gonna get a good night's sleep and go back to my normal dream?"

"The one where you win the Miss Costa Rica pageant?" Zoey guessed with a smirk.

"I wish peace for all the little ninos." Cory said as he leaned back into the couch with a dreamy smile plastered across his face.

••••

Next morning, Topanga, Shawn and Zoey stood in the boys' dorm room where Cory hadn't woken up yet. Topanga sat on her fiancée's bed as she tried waking him up.

"Cory?" Topanga called, shaking Cory gently. "Cory, wake up. You've been sleeping all night."

Cory fluttered his eyes open and noticed everyone standing around his bed.

"Morning, sunshine." Zoey greeted.

"Hey." Cory greeted back tiredly .

"Did you dream?" Shawn wondered.

"Yeah." Cory replied with a small smile.

"What did you dream about?" Topanga questioned.

Cory stared lovingly at his fiancée. "I dream about you."

Topanga smiled. "Oh, good. So, you're okay now?"

"I'm fine." Cory said.

Topanga pressed a sweet kiss against his lips before walking out of the dorm room, leaving only Zoey, Shawn and Cory.

"You're not okay, are you?" Zoey asked.

Cory sat up and sighed. "Do you two think I'm rushing into marriage?"

Shawn scoffed. "You've been rushing into marriage since you were two years old."

"I mean, nothing's gonna change between the three of us, is it?" Cory wondered nervously.

"Is that what you've been dreaming about?" Shawn questioned.

Cory shook his head. "No, I'm just... I guess I'm afraid that after I get married everything's gonna change."

"Well, yeah, it will. It has to." Shawn agreed.

"I don't want it to." Cory admitted sadly.

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PUBLISHED: January 9, 2019
WORDS: 952