𝑬𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝑴í𝒂 | ᴮᵒʸ ᴹᵉᵉᵗˢ ᵂᵒʳˡᵈ

48: The Angel and Devil on Cory's Shoulder

I approached Cory at his locker while Shawn limped behind.

"Hey, Cor." I said.

"Oh, hey, Adriana," He replied. "What happened to you?" Cory asked Shawn.

"It's the weirdest thing. Last night, Adriana-Camila and I were sitting at Chubbie's, right? I'm looking deep into her beautiful chestnut eyes," "I love when you talk about me like I'm not here." I said. "I know. Now, I lean forward, about to make my move, when some yahoo hits me in the butt with a dart."

"You— You didn't— you didn't see who it was?" Cory asked through nervous sounding laughter. "No." Shawn replied. "A lot of sick people out there, man."

"So, how was your night with the lovely Topanga?" I asked. "It was good. Good. Ninety percent good." Cory answered. "And the other twenty percent?" Shawn asked.

We moved away from the lockers. "Well, I— I may have kind of gotten caught up in the moment and said some things that maybe I shouldn't have said." "Cor, did you get emotional with Topanga?" Shawn asked.

"It was hard not to. I mean, she looked so beautiful." "You didn't tell her that, did you?" I smacked the back of Shawn's arm. "No, say she's beautiful? Pfft. Yeah, like I'd say that, Shawn." "Please tell me you did say that." I said. "No, I said "I love you." "Aww!" I said as Shawn gasped slightly.

"What?" Cory asked, starting to panic, seeing the difference in reactions. "Please, tell me she said it back." I said. "You idiot!" Shawn exclaimed.

"Once word gets around of what you told Topanga, then every girl's gonna wanna hear it." "What? I love you?" Shawn shushed him. "You're like a singing canary."

"Come on, Shawn. I don't believe telling Topanga I love her is gonna affect anybody but me and her." Cory said. "Hey, Eric," Shawn called out. Eric and his girlfriend approached. "Guess what? Cory told Topanga he loved her."

"Ooh," Eric's girlfriend said, turning to look at Cory. Eric's eyes widened.

"Grandma Topanga? What's not to love?" Eric responded. "You have such an adorable little brother." She said. "I sure do." Eric said with light laughter as he grabbed Cory harshly by the back of the neck.

"Uh, Christi, I'll catch up with you, okay?" She nodded and walked away. "What could you possibly be thinking?" He asked, letting go of Cory's neck. "Christi's gonna expect me to tell her that I love you. Oh, man. I gotta do something now."

He wandered around for a moment. "You gotta think! You gotta think, Eric!" He said to himself. "Ow!" He grabbed his head slightly. "Thinking cramp?" Shawn asked. "Yeah." "I get those too."

"Alright," He cleared his throat. "Christi, I love you. Christi, I love you. Christi, I— I don't even know her last name. Great, I gotta think. Ow!" He said before walking away.

"You see, Cor? Thanks to you, dating, as we know it at John Adams High is over." Shawn said. "But everything's alright with me and Topanga?" "Well, did she say it back? Please tell me she did." I said.

"No, she just froze." "Froze how? Like seeing Christian Slater shirtless in Untamed Heart frozen or like watching a horror movie frozen?"

Judging by Cory's face, he was pretty confused by my examples but answered anyway. "Horror movie frozen." "Well, that's not good." I said.

♥

Shawn and I were walking down the hall during passing periods, and we spotted Cory holding a bouquet of flowers, walking in Topanga's direction.

"No!" Shawn exclaimed, almost tackling Cory to the ground. "Shawn, are you insane? You bull-rushed me." Cory said, picking up the flowers he had dropped.