The Secret Life // A Shawn Hunter fanfic

Thirty-Three ➵ S. H

When we came back from school, Cory and I were in stuck in a big pickle. It all started with English class.
We were learning about the Cyrano situation. Boring, I thought to myself. I lost myself into deep thoughts, until Mr. Turner was explaining the passage.
"Cyrano de Bergerac stands in the shadows whispering poetry to the lovely Roxanne, but she thinks it's the good-looking guy speaking to her. So our poor, big-nosed lug wins the heart of the woman he loves, but he wins it for somebody else." Mr. Turner explained, prompting himself onto the desk in a leaning posture.
"That is so sweet and so noble that he would sacrifice his own happiness to help his friend." Topanga praised the book character, and I rolled my eyes in disgust. I hated reading. Oddly enough I loved writing poetry in secret; but I loathed reading to my taste.
"I agree Topanga. That is so sweet." Jasmine agreed, gazing at me.
"Other opinions?" Mr. Turner wondered.
"Loser!" Most of the guys stated rambunctiously.
"Define loser."
"Big Dip," Cory remarked, then giving his opinion,"it makes no sense. I mean, he likes a girl then he passes her on to another guy."
"Dip the biggest." I concluded, and Jasmine glanced at me, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
"That's shocking, Shawn." She says.
"What? He is a dip. There's no way I'd let you go." I responded, and she formed a smile.
"I wouldn't let you go either." We drove ourselves back into what the class was debating about, only to find that they still fought of it during the discussion.
"Why? What does he get out of it? He knocks himself out spewing poetry, his friend gets the girl All he can do is go home and blow his big nose." Cory pointed out. Topanga stood up from her desk and turned around to face the class.
"Rebuttal from the estrogen section.
Boys don't understand passion and romance, and will never understand women. And that's why all of you will spend half your lives confused and the other half paying alimony." Topanga asserted back, annoyed by Cory's input of the story.
"This is interesting." Mr. Turner says, intrigued by the fact that there was a huge debate.
"The women here find Cyrano compelling and romantic, and yet the men find him misguided and dip like." He added, crossing his arms.
"What does this tell us? - Women like dips?" Cory questioned.
"Sorry, Matthews, no luck."
"It tells us that men have a hard time understanding what women find romantic."
"Will that be on the test?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah, in ways you can not yet imagine."
:::
At lunch Cory was rambling on about how his father purchased a trash compactor for his mother's anniversary present.
"My mom wouldn't mind that." I admitted, taking a bite out of the mac and cheese. I didn't like it cause of the rubbery taste, but I was starving.
"At our house, she didn't even want it despite her begging for months that she had to have it for cleaning." Cory replied. Suddenly just walking past us was Harley and his gang. Walking right beside him, elbows locked was his new girlfriend Gloria Schiffer- the badass female head of the entire school.
Owning the place as if she was some god, Gloria glanced at me popping her jaw as she chewed her bubblegum.
"Wow... Harley and Gloria?"
"Yeah. I mean, I kind of expected it."
"I know but... why would they date?"
"Two words: badass couple." I observed, clearing that up.
We watched them as they shared a couple smoochy kisses, but I noticed Frankie in the distance. He looked up then his eyes glared back down at the floor.
Did I sense jealousy?
I kept that to myself.
After lunch Cory and I were talking about how greasy Harley's hair was, until we stopped because we bumped into him.
We yelped and pointed at him in disbelief.
"What? You think we were talking about your hair? No, no- everyone knows your hairs not greasy." Cory blubbered up some words but I knew we were really in the dog house. It was Harley. We backed up against the lockers as he towered over us, giving us a tension and frightening feeling.
"Here's a quarter, baboon. Call your parents. Say goodbye." Harley ordered, handing Cory a quarter.
Suddenly Jasmine got in front of us.
"Actually they don't Harley. Stay away from my boyfriend and best friend, or else I'll take that quarter and shove it up to where you don't like it." She said protectively, and Harley inched closer to her. He was taller than her; she had no chance.
"Don't hurt her." I ordered protectively, but he shoved me against the locker.
"Aw, Harley. Leave these freshman alone, would ya?" Gloria pleaded, distracting him as she grabbed a hold of his arm.
"Uh, Harley, you know, in many countries, what I said about your hair, it might be considered a compliment. For example, Greece." Cory joked, but Harley wasn't taking his jokes too seriously as he hoped. Usually with Harley, Cory joked his way out of it.
Gloria snickered at Cory's remark, shocking me a little. What's her deal?
"That's funny."
"Yeah, he's a funny guy." Harley stated, although I knew inside he wasn't playing our game.
"So you'll let us go, huh?" Cory was squeamish.
"Ha! There's that sense of humor. I'll miss that."
"Oh, come on, Harley, go easy on 'em. Do it for me?" She pleaded, pouting out her lips. Harley gazed at her, then glared at the three of us.
"Very well, Gloria. I will not lay a hand on them. Frankie, remember that piñata I promised you for your birthday? Feliz Navidad." Harley grabbed us both by the shoulders then handed us to Frankie.
Jasmine, on the other hand, stayed close to me. He lead the three of us to the cafeteria, leaving Cory and me hope that he would spare us our lives.
"Look, I've got an idea. How about you give us a five-minute head start and then you hunt us down? That way it's more fun for you." Cory suggested, but Jasmine got in front of us again.
"No need for that Cory. I'll handle Frankie. Frankie, how about you do us the kind favor of leaving my friends alone. Got that? Okay." Jasmine ordered, not afraid.
"What she said." I agreed with her.
"Okay, I've got two opinions. One- you can die-"
"We'll take two." Cory picked for us.
"Yeah, two is good." I added.
"Two- you do me a favor." He states.
"Done."
"You name it."
"We'll be happy to do it." Frankie was silent for a moment, hesitating wether or not if he should ask us.
"What is it, Frankie?" Jasmine asked him, concerned by his gesture, then he spoke at last.
"I, Frankie Stecchino, am in love." He murmured.
I looked over from Jasmine to Frankie,then got in front of her.
"No not with my girl-"
"No Shawn. Not your girl, I reassure you." Frankie assured me, but I was still suspicious.
"Where is this going?" Cory asked.
"She's a goddess from heaven. Her voice is like the tinkling of bells. Her eyes are like- the tinkling of bells." Frankie hinted, which reminded me of Jasmine, so I was tense.
"Well that's real sad and tender and what do you want from us?" Cory wondered.
"Help me woo her."
"What?" I asked, dumbfounded.
"Woo her." Frankie pronounced. Still didn't know.
"What?" I repeated.
"Go on Frankie." Jasmine ordered.
"I've watched you guys. You're a good little talker, and with you and Jasmine," Frankie referred to us,"I want you three to coach me."
"Frankie, I don't know if we are the type of guys to help you 'woo' her." Cory admitted, and Frankie raised an eyebrow.
"What?" I couldn't help but ask again.
"Have you talked to Harley about this? I'm sure he's more help to you than us." Cory pointed out.
"So you're not able to do me this favor?" Frankie asked softly, and nonchalantly.
"It's probably not such a good idea." Cory admitted.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Okay piñata boys, which one of you has the prize inside?" He bellowed, snapping out of his calming stage, then suddenly Jasmine got in front of us.
"We can help you. I'm a girl, Frankie. So I'll be willing to help you and these guys are surely able to help you without a doubt. How about we meet at Cory's house after school today?" Jasmine suggested, and Frankie backed away, then nodding.
"Thank you Jasmine. See you guys later." He headed out of the cafeteria with us three.
"Why did you do that for?" Cory demanded Jasmine.
"We are doing this wether you two like it or not." Jasmine decided our fate once and for all.
:::
We all met up with Frankie at his house after school. He shared an encounter with Eric, which Frankie reminded him of how he stole his lunch in all of ninth grade.
"Ok guys, teach me in ways of love." Frankie ordered.
"All right, Frankie. This girl you like, have you ever tried to talk to her?" Cory compromised, and Frankie glanced down, appearing nervously.
"Oh, I, uh- I, I,I-"  He fidgeted with his fingers, unsettling himself.
"Frankie, you have to talk to her. This is something we definitely need to rehearse." Jasmine concluded.
"Can you be her then?" Frankie asked.
"No moves, Frankie." I warned him, and he nodded.
"I know, I know."
They began to rehearse the upcoming attractions of the situation Frankie was in. And let's say, Frankie needed practice. We whispered things for him to say to Jasmine, but he chickened out a bunch of times.
"Come on Frankie, you have to do this. Take deep breaths." Jasmine insisted, and he did. He did the inhale and exhale, then I whispered some words to him.
"You look pretty today."
Frankie repeated that to Jasmine, who responded with a thank you.
"I wanted to tell you how pretty that dress is." I whispered again, and he spoke that as well.
"Oh, this old thing." Jasmine pretended to act flattered.
"There you go, Frankie! You've got this." Jasmine reassured him but he shook his head no.
"No, no, no. I can never do this by myself. You have to come with me."
"Frankie, I think she's gunna notice two guys and a girl hanging out with you," Cory pointed out, then exaggerating a hyperbole,"what are you gunna do? Hide us in your locker?"
And sure enough, he did. The three of us were squished together in this locker like some sort of smashed sandwich.
"Frankie, it isn't like there's a back way out of this." Cory says, then Frankie shushed him.
"Here she comes." Frankie whispered through the locker, interrupting him.
"Frankie, are you talking to yourself?" The girl's voice asked.
"Shawn, doesn't she sound familiar to you?" Cory asked.
"Quiet." Jasmine and I hissed.
I murmured the words again, which were:
"See, I, um. Ohh.." Frankie stammered, losing his train of thought.
"This is hard for me to say." I murmured softly through the locker.
"This is hard for me today."
Close, but not what I exactly said.
Because I've watched you for so long, and always dreamt of telling you how I feel about you."
Jasmine, who was in between me and Cory, gazed up at me. I thought of her when I said that. How we met. How we developed feelings for each other. Now it's an endless love.
"Because I've always watched you and dreamed of... something." Frankie says.
"I love you." I decided to finalize.
"I love you."
Yes, Frankie.
"You do?" The girl asked.
"I've always loved you. I want to treat you like the magic princess that you are."
"You know your bimbo friend doesn't talk to me like this." She admitted, taken aback by his flirtatious words.
"I was wondering if you wanted to go grab a burger with me?"
"I'd love to." Before I could escape the locker, Cory paused me.
"I think I found out who that girl was?"
"Who?" Jasmine asked, curious as well.
"Relax. We set Frankie with his crush. We are home free."
"Yeah, with Harley Keiner's girlfriend." Cory stared, puzzling the pieces together.
"That's not possible...." I didn't believe it. However, once we made it out, surely enough, she was strolling with him, holding onto his hand the entire time.
I pointed at them, in distraught.
Harley was going to kill us.
:::
Speaking of Harley, as Cory, Jasmine, and I were all flabbergasted by what we just did.
"I thought Frankie killed you loaves." Harley remarked.
"No. We are dead, we are just angles. Angles that float!" Cory stated.
"Anyway, where's my girl and Frankie?"
"Yeah. Come on, Jas. Float with us." I insisted, trying to change the subject, but Jasmine elbowed us both.
"Come on guys, we aren't angels. Okay Harley. We will take you to your girlfriend. Don't hurt these two though." Jasmine ordered him.
"I won't. Now show me."
:::
We led him to Chubbie's, where he stood there speechless, his mouth gaping in awe. For the first time in my life, I felt bad for Harley Keiner. Although he clambered us into lockers, shoved us constantly, called us names, and just was an ass in general, I felt bad for him. If I came to this situation and Jasmine had fallen in love with someone else, I would be the way he was too.
"I cannot believe my eyes. My best girl and my most trusted flunky. Together." I could sense his pain. It was the real, emotional kind of pain couples went though. Although Harley didn't demonstrate it well enough, but he loved Gloria with a passion. He didn't provide it for her as much as he should have. Cory and I tried to run out of this one with Jasmine heading home with me, but Harley didn't let us go.
Instead, he went to go fuel up an argument with Gloria by scolding her.
"Frankie. Hmm. Gloria Imagine my surprise." Harley said to them first thing, startling them.
"Harley, I can explain." Frankie protested.
"I look forward to hearing it."
"I went behind your back and stole your girl. I know this is a betrayal of a sacred trust, but I have no choice. I am but in a pawn of love." Frankie informed him, but Harley remained stubborn on forgiving him so easily. Gloria then stepped in.
"How could you do this to me?"
"All it took was someone making me feel special for a change." Gloria boasted.
"I make you feel special. I get you stuff." Harley pointed.
"You got me tires for my anniversary present. Tires." Gloria pointed out.
As they were fighting. I glanced over at Cory and Jasmine hoping one of them would save us from this heated argument.
"Guys!" Cory interrupted at the top of his longs.
"What?!" Gloria and Harley yelled back in unison.
"You know, every couple goes through this. I mean, you're going through it, - my parents are going through it. Every couple goes through this." Cory added, making Harley realize something.
"So you're saying your parents are going through it?" Harley asked.
"Well yeah, not quite as loud, but yeah," Cory answered, "See, my mom's mad at my dad because he got her a trash compactor for their anniversary."
"What a yutz! A trash compactor is way further than a tire." Harley responded, and Gloria flashed him a cold glare.
"So, you're parents. They gunna split up?"
"No. I mean, they work it out. They always do." Cory replied, and Harley furrowed his eyebrows, thinking for a moment until he asked another question.
"How?"
"I don't know."
"But they always do?"
"Yeah."
:::
The next day, Cory received an unexpected invite from a guest. It was Harley. He came to speak to Mrs. Matthews about how he was truly stuck in a Cyrano.
She advised him with tips, that encouraged him to make that ultimate sacrifice. If he truly loved Gloria, it was best to let her go.
Jasmine and I were talking about that, how it happened. How we experienced that.
"You know.. although I got off on the wrong foot with their gang, I think they can be pretty cool." Jasmine admitted, and I just formed a slight smile.
"Yeah. That's for sure. Still scary though." I agreed.
"Would you do that for me?" Jas asked me once again, and this time I had a different opinion.
"Depending on you. It'll be hard to let you go, but if you loved one another more, then I would let you love that person more. It would hurt, but I rather see you happy than sad. Thats what I learned from the Cyrano." I explained to her, and she smiled.
"I love you too much to let you go, though." Jasmine murmured. I pecked her on the lips, then repeating her statement.
"Me too." I agreed.
:::
❤︎
Author's Note:
Hey guys :)
I updated again! This time I kind of wanted to make it based off a Boy Meets World episode to keep track of the time :) plus season 2 is my favorite season tbh lol.
Anyways, enjoy my own part of The Cyrano episode.