❝What I remember most about high school are the memories I created with my friends❞

J. J. Watt

▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼

Elena walked into Cory's kitchen through the back door with a big smile, she hadn't seen her best friends the last two weeks of summer because she'd gotten grounded.

"How was I supposed to know the security guard wouldn't appreciate a water balloon to the face, it was hot and I thought I would be helping." Elena excused trying to stifle her laugh when her parents came to pick her up from the security office.

"I'm surprised, you two are still alive," Elena joked as she entered the kitchen,

"Lena!" Cory and Shawn yelled in surprise before they both ran towards her and hugged her tightly.

"I actually missed you guys too." Elena joked as she threw her arms around them.

Cory pulled away and Elena smiled as she patted Shawn on the shoulder, "Shawnie, I'm not going anywhere. You can let go now."

Shawn huffed as he held her tighter, "No, I missed you and I'm not letting go of you so you can't get into trouble so that way I won't have to miss you!"

Elena laughed, "That kind of makes sense and it's really sweet,"

Shawn smiled proudly but soon his smile fell when Elena tugged herself out o his grasp.

"But you still need to let go because the caterpillars on your face are tickling me!" Elena giggled.

"Hey, don't talk to my sideburns like that," Shawn frowned as he stroked them comfortingly.

Elena smiled sweetly as she patted his sideburns, "You're right that was mean."

Shawn smiled at her but soon winced in pain as she ripped them off his face.

"By the way you have a glue spot on your cheek." She pointed out as she wiped it off with her thumb.

"Thanks," Shawn croaked out as he rubbed his cheeks in pain.

"Alright, look, we've got all the answers to high school right here," Cory told the two as he pulled out his notebook, "Having a brother finally paid off!"

"Cor, sign this," Eric handed him a paper as soon as he came downstairs before he smiled happily at Elena.

"Ladybug!" he yelled happily as he ran to give her a tight hug, lifting her off the ground.

"Hey Eric, I missed you too!" Elena laughed as she returned the hug.

"With regard to my brother, Eric Matthews, hereafter referred to as 'Oh, Great One', I, Cory Matthews, hereafter referred to as 'insignificant speck,' pledge never to contact the 'Great One', verbally or nonverbally, during any and all school hours, from this day forward, forever and ever.
Amen." Cory read aloud.

"Nice to see you're looking out for your brother on his first day," Alan remarked sarcastically.

Eric smiled proudly, "Oh don't worry, I didn't forget about Lena. Sign this."

Elena looked down at the paper in her hands weirdly, "With regards to Eric Matthews, hereafter referred to as 'Eric, my hero' I, Elena Martinez, hereafter referred to as 'Ladybug,' pledge never to look, speak, or interact with any one of the opposite gender except for Eric Matthews, Insignificant Speck 1, and Insignificant Speck 2. Amen."

"That's you two." Eric clarified with a proud smile.

"At least he remembered you guys," Elena shrugged as she looked over at the two who looked offended.

"While I don't agree with names, I very much agree with this contract!" Shawn smiled happily as he held out a pen to Elena eagerly.

Elena gave him a sarcastic smile and took the pen before drawing a large 'X' onto the contract and handing it back to Eric.

▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼

"This is it, high school!" Cory exclaimed happily as he threw the door open, "What happens to us now will determine our futures."

The three began walking down the steps and into their new school building, looking around as they did so.

"Oh look, there's Topanga!" Elena pointed towards her with a smile as she made her way over to her.

Shawn's eyes widened in fear as he went to grab her but she was out of his reach, "Elena! You can't go around walking like that, this is high school."

Elena turned to him, "Sure I can Shawn, I'm doing it right now. See."

Elena threw her arms around Topanga as soon as she was close enough and the two linked arms as they walked towards Cory and Shawn.

Elena's eyebrows furrowed when she saw Shawn throw himself inside a locker and pulled Topanga faster towards Cory who was pressing himself up against the lockers in fear.

"It's the first day and their already getting into trouble," Topanga laughed as she saw Cory smile uneasily as he tried to get the two older boys to leave him alone.

Elena tapped the shoulder of the bigger of the two boys, Frankie Stecchino, and smiled sweetly when they turned to face her, "Will you please leave my friend alone?"

His friend, Joey Epstein, gave her a confused look, "Why would we do that?"

Elena gave him a sickly sweet smiled and glared at him, "Because I asked very nicely, the second time won't be as nice."

Joey laughed, "You hear that Frankie! The little girl thinks we're scared of her."

Elena gave him a bored look before raising her foot and bringing it down on his own.

She and Topanga giggled as they watched him hop around on one foot and clutch his other in his hands.

"You going to leave him alone now?" Elena asked and smiled happily when the two nodded frantically as they made their way down the hall.

Elena turned to face Cory but was shocked when she was engulfed in a tight hug, "Thanks Lena!"

"De nada," Elena said with a laugh as she hugged Cory.

Soon she felt another pair of arms encircle her, "Yeah, thanks Lena."

Shawn smiled happily as he hugged her.

"Oh, so now you come out of the locker!" Cory asked sarcastically.

The bell suddenly rang and a rush of students started to crowd the hallway.

"That's homeroom," Topanga told them, "I checked the list, we're all together. Room one twenty-eight. We have Mr. Turner."

"Turner, Turner," Cory mumbled as he flipped through his notepad, "He's not on here. What if he was so bad, Eric didn't want to tell me anything? What if he was just like Feeny, only Feenier?"

"Teachers, the one thing here I'm not afraid of. I haven't met one yet that I couldn't takedown," Shawn smirked.

"And I have yet to met one that couldn't fail you." Elena joked as they made their way to their homeroom class.

"Hey," All four of them turned to see a young man in a leather jacket had greeted them as he made his way down the steps.

"Hey." They responded in unison as they watched him walk away.

"That's Harley. I know it. That's Harley Keiner." Cory pointed in the direction of the man with wide eyes.

"That guy's gotta be thirty years old." Shawn pointed out.

"He's a lifer." Cory explained, "I think I made a very good first impression."

"Por supuesto que lo hiciste." Elena commented sarcastically as Cory ran over to 'Harley'.

"Excuse me, excuse me. Sir? My name's Cory Matthews and I want to be your friend." Cory introduced.

"Cool."

"Yeah. I'll hold your coat for you, I'll stand in the lunch line for you, I'll even do detention for you," Cory listed as he followed 'Harley'.

"Yeah, nice offer. Why don't you just do the homework?" He requested as he looked Cory before turning to look over at Elena, Shawn, and Topanga.

"I'm not sure you want me doing your homework." Cory smiled as they walked towards his friends.

"I want all my students doing the homework,"

"You're so mean they gave you students?" Cory questioned and his mouth dropped.

"That's one way to understand that sentence," Elena commented as she shook her head sadly at Cory.

"They give all teachers students. I'm Jonathan Turner. You can call me Mr." He smiled before walking into the classroom across from them.

"You're late." Mr. Turner sang as the bell rang.

The group of friends looked over at each other before rushing towards the class.

▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼

"Okay," Mr. Turner began, "I'm here for homeroom, I'm here for English, and I'm here anytime you just want to talk."

Elena was sat in between Cory and Shawn just as she had last year but this time Topanga sat to her right.

Mr. Turner was sat on the edge of his desk with his feet perched on the desk in front of him as he looked over at his new class.

"Cool." Cory smiled and Mr. Turner looked at him.

"Did I say you could talk?"

"I thought so," Cory questioned and Mr. Turner walked up to him.

"You trouble, Matthews? You the guy who's gonna bring down the new teacher?"

"No, sir, that would be Shawn. But Elena does a really good job of reigning him in, although I'm not too sure that's still the deal. She's kinda been-" Cory babbled before Elena kicked his chair harshly.

"I-I mean that-"

"No, Matthews. Good man, good man." Mr. Turner reassured before walking towards Shawn and Elena.

"Shawn," He called as walked around the class, "Wait, don't tell me. Now, if Shawn is real trouble, Shawn is gonna try to avoid making eye contact." Mr. Turner predicted and smiled when he saw Shawn looking away from him, "Hi, Shawn."

"How ya doing?" Shawn asked as he slowly turned to face Mr. Turner and Mr. Turner sat on the desk next to him.

"I'm good. So, Shawn, buddy, you know anything about The Odyssey?" Mr. Turner asked.

Shawn nodded proudly, "Yes, I do."

"Yeah, besides that it's a book."

"No, I don't."

Elena laughed, "I like him."

Mr. Turner faced her. "What about you? You trouble?"

Elena shrugged. "When I wanna be."

He smiled at her. "I like you too. Now, who knows what 'odyssey' means?"

Topanga raised her hand and Mr. Turner leaned close to Elena, "What's her name?" He whispered.

"Topanga."

"Topanga." He announced to the class.

"It means a difficult journey." She answered.

"Yes, it does. An epic journey about a guy who is trying to get home alive. In fantasy worlds, with characters who have their ancient notions about loyalty and heroism."

"Yeah, who wants to read that?" Cory laughed.

"Yeah, apparently you do." Mr. Turner said as he walked up to Cory and held up the comic book he had on his desk, "What is that, X-Men?"

Cory's eyes widened, "No, it's-"

"What, you think I don't know X-Men when I see." Mr. Turner interrupted him, "It's a great issue, wasn't it?"

"You read X-Men?" Cory asked excitedly.

"Do I read X-Men?" Mr. Turner scoffed as he flipped through the comic book, "Fantasy worlds, epic heroism. Yeah, I read X-Men. In fact, let's all read X-Men. Your assignment is to read The Odyssey and this issue of X-Men."

"Finally!" Cory cheered, "A cool teacher."

"My friend, Mr. Matthews, will lead the discussion on the similarities and the differences."

"Feeny with an earring," Cory concluded as he leaned back into Elena's desk.

Elena patted his head comfortingly.

▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼

"Shawn, Elena, he's onto us." Cory told the two as soon as they walked out of Mr. Turner's room, "He singled us out on the first day."

"A poco?" Elena rolled her eyes, "Cory, he singled you out."

"And you singled me out," Shawn complained.

"And then singled me out," Elena huffed.

"Sorry," Cory apologized before he pulled out his schedule, "So, where's the next stop on this misery bus?"

"Uh," Shawn checked his schedule, "Earth Science, let's go."

"Wait, I don't have Earth Science. I've got History." Cory looked at Shawn in confusion.

"I don't have either of those." Elena frowned as she looked at her schedule.

"You mean-" Shawn's eyes widened.

"We're gonna be separated?" Cory paled.

And with that, the bell rang, and soon the hallway flooded with students rushing to their classes. Shawn, Cory, and Elena were pushed away from each other.

"No! Shawn!" Cory struggled to grab onto his two best friends.

"No! Lena!" Shawn called as he tried to reach for her.

"No! Cory!" Elena exclaimed as she tried to push past the students, "You're going to class, not the Olympics tone it down with the rush!"

▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼

Cory, Elena, and Shawn made their way to the cafeteria as Cory told his friends about his run-in with Harley Keiner.

"Well, you got off to a rocky start, but at least you made it to lunch." Shawn pointed out optimistically.

"Yep, my last meal."

"Chicken." Shawn looked down at Cory's tray as they walked over to an empty table, "How appropriate."

"You know, I wish it'd been macaroni and cheese." Cory admitted, "Because when Harley punches me and I puke on him, it makes a bigger mess."

"Me das asco," Elena huffed, "Just ask Eric for help, Cory."

"I can't. I signed a contract." Cory frowned.

"Well, we didn't" Elena smirked as she pulled Shawn up with her and the two made their way to Eric who was sat with one of his friends and two girls.

"Pst," Shawn whispered, "Oh Great One."

"What are you doing, Shawn?" Eric hissed before smiling at the girls, "Not that I know his name is Shawn, I'm just calling him that."

"Too bad." The girl purred and Shawn laughed goofily, blushing.

Elena elbowed him and laughed when he winced in pain.

"Elena has a question," Shawn told him.

"Do you know her?" Eric's friend asked as he looked over at Elena with a charming smile.

Elena looked him over but before she could say anything Eric stood up.

"You, keep your eyes down there," Eric pointed to the boy's lunch before he turned to Shawn and Elena, "You two follow me."

Eric pushed Elena in front of him as the three walked to the side to talk.

"I don't like him," Shawn grumbled as he glared at the boy.

"Not important," Elena reminded before she turned to Eric, "It's about your brother."

"In school hours, I have no brother," Eric looked around to make sure no one could hear the three.

"Yeah, and at three, you'll really have no brother," Shawn whispered.

Elena sighed when she saw Eric wasn't entirely convinced, "And I might decide to go on a date. With a boy. A boy you don't know."

Eric's eyes widened, along with Shawn's before he sighed, "Have him stand by the water fountain."

Elena smiled happily, leaning up to kiss Eric's cheek, "Thanks Eric."

"Yeah, yeah. No problem Ladybug, but no date and especially no boy!"

"Mhm," Elena hummed carelessly as she tugged Shawn back to their table.

"Go stand by the water fountain Cor," She ordered as soon as she sat down.

"Hey Lena, that date you were talking about." Shawn started as he looked at her, "I know it couldn't have been me you were talking about because I haven't asked you out today."

Elena laughed, cutting Shawn off, "Well, you're not the only boy asking me out anymore."

Shawn's eyes widened, "But I made sure none of the boys would ask you out, Cory even helped me."

"That was the old school Shawnie, there are a lot of new people here," Elena told him before pausing.

"Wait, you two did what?!" She glared at him.

Shawn gave her a nervous smile before bolting out of his seat, he ran towards Cory.

"Run Cory!"

"Shawn! Cory!"

▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼

"We got here as quick as we could." Shawn huffed, out of breath. He and Elena ran all the way to get to Cory.

"Listen, we just want you to know that whatever happens, we're right here with you," Elena promised.

"Thank, guys," Cory smiled, "But I'm pretty sure this is something I gotta face alone."

"No, you don't. You won't." Elena decided.

Cory laughed as he threw an arm over her shoulder and side hugged her, "You have to let me do this Lena."

Elena sighed, "I know but I don't want to."

"But Cor," Shawn frowned, "We can't leave you here to die alone."

"Elena!" A boy called with a smile as he made his way towards the three.

"River, hey." Elena smiled at the blonde as he stood in front of her.

Elena had met River as she was being shoved around in the hallway and the two stuck together after they found that they had the same class.

Cory looked between the two before smiling apologetically at Shawn, "Sorry Shawn!"

"River is it?" Cory asked the boy with a big smile, "You Elena's friend aren't ya? Why don't you help her find the library, she loves that place!"

"Oh, alright!" River smiled, not noticing Elena wildly shaking her head behind him.

"Oh that's okay River, you don't have-" Elena began to protest but River smiled sweetly at her.

"It's okay Lena, I insist." River grabbed her hand and gently tugged her down the hall.

All the while Elena had her head craned behind her, looking over at Cory with worry, "Cory!"

"Have fun you two!" Cory cut her off as he waved at them before gulping in fear when he saw the glare Shawn was giving him.

"I don't think you need to worry about Harley, Cor," Shawn grumbled as he neared his best friend.

"Cory's eyes widened as he tried to think of an excuse, "Now Shawn, you could kill me right now or you could go after Elena. She is alone. With a boy." Cory emphasized.

Shawn's eyes widened before he took off running in the direction Elena and River went.

Cory sighed in relief, "Now they won't have to die with me."

▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼

"Hey River, you think we could stop somewhere before going to the library," Elena bit her lip nervously as she looked around the empty halls.

River frowned at her before grabbing her hand, "Yeah, sure. Are you okay Lena?"

Elena looked down at their hands for a moment before she smiled at him, "Yeah, I just forgot something in my English class."

Elena tightened her grasp on his hand before she took off running down the hall, tugging River behind her as he laughed.

"Y'know for a small girl you sure are strong and fast." River commented as he almost tripped over his feet.

"Well, it's an emergency," Elena vaguely explained.

River almost ran into her back when she came to a sudden stop and looked around. She grinned when she saw what, or rather who, she was looking for.

"Mr. Turner!" She yelled out and waved her arm frantically at the man who was just about to walk out the school doors.

She grabbed River's hand and dragged him towards their English teacher, turns out they also shared the same English class.

"Mr. Turner, Cory needs help." She breathed out the minute she stood close enough for him to hear.

"With what, his homework?" Mr. Turner asked with a smile.

"Sabía que me gustabas por una razón," Elena smiled before shaking her head, "Not the point. Look, Cory's waiting by his locker to get beat up by Harley Keiner and he may be annoying but he's my best friend and I'm not going to let you let him get hurt."

Mr. Turner looked at the girl with an impressed smile, "Lead the way Martinez."

The three ran to Cory's locker as fast as they could, Elena wouldn't let Mr. Turner or River move any slower than a fast jog.

When they got there they saw Eric standing by his brother as Harley smirked at them.

"Awe, how sweet," He cooed, "A chance to wipe out the whole Baboon family."

"Hey! They may not be the smartest but they are not baboons! I think you have them confused with you!" Elena yelled angrily as she stalked over to Harley, River following after her.

Cory and Eric watched in fear as they tried to subtly pull Elena towards them.

"What did you just call me, girly." Harley glared over at her, River quickly pushed her behind him.

"Hey man," River warned, "Make this easy on all of us and just walk away."

Harley laughed and opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Mr. Turner.

"It's three o'clock, guys." He called and Harley whipped around to face him, "We gotta hose the place down."

"Who the heck are you?" Harley glared.

"Oh, I'm your worst nightmare," Mr. Turner smirked as he walked up to Harley, "I'm a teacher."

"Oh, a teacher. No wonder I don't recognize you." Harley snickered, "What do you teach?"

"English Lit. and kickboxing. What seems to be the problem?" Mr. Turner said casually.

"Nothing, we were working it out." Harley shrugged.

"Actually, it looks like you're about to pound this kid into the ground. See that's a problem for me." Mr. Turner clapped Harley on the back, "Cause if one of my students gets killed the first day, I look bad. People start to talk, I get a reputation; I'm careless with students, you know? So do me a favor, don't kill my student."

"Could I have taken you?" Harley asked once Mr. Turner let him go.

"Nah."

"I could have told you that." Elena scoffed.

"But I could've taken the kid though."

"Good for you."

Once Harley walked down the hall Elena turned and hugged Cory tightly before she was picked up by Eric.

"So, Odysseus looks like you may get home safely." Mr. Turner smiled, "You should be grateful Elena came and got me just in time. She's smart and surprisingly demanding."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." She assured him with a smile.

Cory smiled, "Thanks, Mr. Turner. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Read the book." He called as he was leaving.

"I lived it." Cory scoffed before turning to Eric, "Hey, Eric, I want to tell you something."

"What do you want to say to me?" Eric asked and he crossed his arms.

"Thanks for being my brother."

"Do I know you?" Eric asked and Cory smiled as he began to walk away from them.

"Shawn, Shawn." Cory whispered as he walked over to a locker and pulled it open, "The fight's over. Our high school reputations are set."

"I'm still working on mine," Shawn smiled before he was quickly pulled back in by the blonde girl.

"What the doing in there?" River asked in confusion

"Well, he went looking for you and Elena but instead he found that blonde," Cory explained.

"Big lockers in high school, huh." River joked as he looked over at Elena.

"Wanna see just how big they are?" Elena laughed as she walked over to River.

"And I'm done!" Shawn threw open the locker as he jumped out and made his way over to Elena.

Eric ran back over to the three, and wordlessly picked Elena up before turning to River, "No."

Shawn picked up Elena's bag along with his own and followed Eric down the hall.

"It was nice meeting you." Cory smiled before running after his friends and brother.

"That's it! Cory's my favorite now!" Elena yelled as she hit Eric's chest with her fists.

"Nice try, Ladybug but you're not coming down anytime soon." Eric laughed.

"Bye River, see you tomorrow!" She called out, "I'm really sorry for all of this by the way!"

"No!" Shawn and Eric yelled out in unison.

River laughed, "Don't worry about it, Hermosa!"

▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼

River Phoenix︱River Jones

( 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐁𝐎𝐘 )

❝I'm going to answer and then I'm going to walk away. Deal?❞