Disclaimer: I do not own Boy Meets World.
Chapter 6
Cory finally relaxed back in the booth when he saw Dani making her way back through the tables and other kids. See? She was okay. He had been worried over nothing. She slid into the booth next to Topanga again.
"Was that Brody you just left with?" Angela asked.
Dani got this dreamy look on her face. "Yeah," she said.
Cory raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"
"We just talked." Her smile grew even wider. "He's really great, you know."
"I thought you wanted nothing to do with him."
Dani shrugged. "It was just a misunderstanding. He's great."
If Cory's eyebrows rose any higher, they would be lost in his hairline.
"Good," Topanga said. "I'm glad you two worked things out. You're so cute together."
"Not to mention, he's so cute," Angela said.
"Hey!" Shawn said.
Angela turned to him. "You are too."
Shawn gave a little nod and grin. "That's better."
Angela playfully shoved him.
"You could have invited him to come join us," Topanga said.
"He had to leave. He had something else he needed to do, but he wanted to come see me—said two whole days was too long to go without seeing me again," Dani said.
"Oh please, like that isn't the cheesiest, fakest line ever in the history of fake, cheesy lines," Cory said.
Topanga turned to him. "I think it's sweet. You could learn a thing or two from him."
Cory put a hand to his heart. "That hurts, honey. I'm sweet and sappy with you all the time."
"You used to be."
"Yeah, well, we're married now. I don't need to be."
"First off, we thought we were going to die, and there wasn't even a minister around, so that hardly counts. Secondly, yes you do—even when we do actually get married for real."
"Okay, so how about you and me, a romantic dinner at Borelli's tomorrow night."
Topanga made a face. "I hate Borelli's."
"What? But that's our place."
"That's not our place. We're fifty years too young for that to be our place."
"Should we get them a marriage counselor?" Angela asked.
"Nah," Shawn said. "They'll work it out. If they're still going at it tomorrow, though, we could go to Feeny to speed things up a bit."
"Then what is our place?" Cory asked.
"We don't need a place," Topanga said. "Just you and me. Wherever we are is perfect."
"So, Philly's game, then?"
"Oh, shut up, you." Topanga leaned in and kissed him.
"Told you," Shawn said to Angela.
Cory broke away from the kiss a little dazed. "You know, with that kind of motivation, I can be a lot more romantic a lot more of the time."
"You mean this kind of motivation?" Topanga leaned in and kissed him.
"Oh, get a room," Shawn said.
Cory broke away from the kiss and looked at his friends across the table. Neither Shawn nor Angela looked annoyed. Both had amused grins plastered on their faces. Dani appeared to be off in her own little la-la-land. That brought him back down to earth again.
"So, things are really good between you and Brody, huh?" he asked Dani.
"Yeah, great." Dani's smile was so bright it could have blinded a blind man.
"So, all that stuff before about, you know, not wanting anything more to do with him was just . . . what?"
"That was nothing." Her smile stayed firmly in place.
He would have been more inclined to believe her if it weren't for two things. One: it wasn't like she was just apathetic about Brody before; she was very heated and stubborn about not wanting to be with him anymore. It wasn't normal for anyone to make that drastic of a change in opinion in one short conversation. It was even less normal for Dani, from what he did know about her. Two: the smile didn't look real. Yeah . . . at first glance it did, but there was something about the look in her eyes—he couldn't quite place it, but it just seemed off, somehow. It wasn't like she was faking it or anything—it was just weird and not . . . well, not normal—at least not for her, anyways.
The rest of the night was just plain weird. They didn't stay at Chubbie's long after that, but Dani was just . . . weird. He'd seen other girls act like Dani was, but they were all a few fries short of a happy meal and completely boy-crazy. Dani was neither of those things. Okay—well, maybe she was a little boy-crazy where Brody was concerned, right now, but usually, she wasn't. It was like someone took his foster-sister and replaced her with a lookalike who was really bad at acting the part. It was like something straight out of the Twilight Zone.
He couldn't stop thinking about it after they got home either. Heck, even in his sleep, he dreamed about some alien abduction Dani-clone invading their house and lives. Sadly, the perky, cheery valley girl version of Dani in his dreams was way more terrifying than any of those criminals they dealt with on the island. Thank God the real replacement-Dani wasn't as bad as his dream version of her.
He gave up trying to sleep much earlier than normal. It was just one weird dream after another that night. He really wasn't too enthused about risking another one. He just pulled on his slippers and threw his ratty old robe overtop his Phillies t-shirt and grey sweatpants and headed down to the kitchen.
He was on his second cup of coffee when his parents came down the stairs.
"You're up early," his mom said.
"I had a lot on my mind." He took another sip of his coffee. His parents were looking at him still, probably waiting for him to go on. Should he tell them? Maybe he was just reading too much into what was going on. Why worry them if it really was nothing? Then again, if it was something and he didn't say or do anything about it and something bad happened to Dani . . . . "I'm worried about Dani."
His parents exchanged looks before looking back at him even more intently than before.
"Why? Did something happen?" his dad asked.
"I don't know," Cory answered. "It's weird. It's like one minute she wants nothing to do with Brody, and the next, he's the next best thing since the Phillies no-hitter game."
His mom smiled. She actually smiled. Did she not hear what he said?
"Yeah, I guess you're not used to having a sister date, huh?" She had one of those really annoying mom-knows-all looks on her face.
"No. I mean—yeah, I'm not used to it, but that's not what this is about. Did you even talk to Dani at all last night? She's just . . . not Dani. She was all spacey and smiley and—"
"And acting like a teenage girl?"
"Yeah," Cory said, dragging out the one-syllable. "Which wouldn't be so weird if she were actually a normal teenage girl, but she's not. And I'm not just talking about her abilities—I mean, how many teenage girls do you know who can glare down and all out insult someone pointing a gun at them?" One of the many unbelievable things he remembered her do back on the island.
His mom sighed. "Just Dani. That's all the more reason why I'm glad about this change in her. She's been through so much—even just what we know about, and I'm betting we don't even know the half of it. It's good she finally has a chance to just be a kid."
"Come on, dad, back me up here."
"Sorry, Cor. I'd like to agree with you. Believe me, I would. I was looking forward to many, many more years before having to deal with a daughter dating—preferably never—but I have to agree with your mother here. It's nice to see Dani actually act her age for once," his dad said.
Cory shook his head. Unbelievable. He could understand where they were coming from in a sense. It would be nice to see Dani act like a normal teenager, but the change was too drastic, too fast to seem real.
"Just be happy for her and think of it as good practice for when Morgan starts dating," his mom said.
Cory gave an involuntary shudder at the thought of Morgan dating. From the slightly wide-eyed look his dad had going at the moment, it seemed he was right there with him on that one. Dani dating was one thing. Yeah, technically she was his sister now, but he hadn't grown up with her like he did Morgan. It was different somehow. She was like a cross between a friend and a sister—kind of like how Shawn was like a brother. The thought of Morgan dating was just . . . . There was that shudder again.
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School that day was . . . weird. Okay, maybe school itself wasn't weird. He slept through most of his morning classes. Managed to stay awake and make up more than half the answers on his English test on that Great Something or Other book. Zoned out during most of Feeny's history class. All pretty normal there. The weird part was Dani. He found himself watching her more closely than normal. He was trying to see what his parents saw—that she was just acting like a teenage girl instead of . . . whatever else he worried might be going on. She was smiling a lot more than normal. That was a good thing. He saw that in her right after she met Brody, before she even started dating him.
He couldn't get her reaction towards Brody after the dance out of his head, though. Why would she change her mind about Brody again so drastically so quickly? Did she realize she was wrong or did something else change her mind?
"Earth to Cory. Yoohoo."
Cory finally snapped out of his thinking-induced daze when he noticed Shawn's hand waving in front of his face. "Sorry," he said. "What did I miss?"
"Well, you've been in a coma for the last three years, so . . . a lot."
"I may have been a space-case today, but even I won't fall for that one."
"Seriously, Cor, what's going on?" Shawn leaned casually against his closed locker and waved. Cory glanced over to see the girls nod and walk away.
Should he tell him? Shawn and Dani still weren't on the best of terms—especially on Shawn's end. Shawn may not even care—or he may not have even noticed. Then again, he did notice Dani acting weird at the ice skating rink. And before their falling out, Shawn had been closer with Dani than anyone in their little island family. Maybe there was still a part of his best friend who did still care about her and wanted to be close to her still—it was just hidden behind a whole lot of mistrust he had yet to get over, not that he blamed him. Dani's secretive nature did make it kind of hard to trust her, but still . . . .
That was a lot of maybes.
He could try to analyze his best friend on this matter all he wanted, but he would never know if telling him what he was worried about would help or not if he didn't try.
"It's Dani."
"Wait, let me guess." Shawn put his fingers up to the side of his head and closed his eyes as if he were trying to do a psychic reading or something. "She's still acting all jumpy and still denying everything."
Okay . . . so if there was a part of Shawn that still cared, it was buried deep down.
"No, actually," Cory said. "She stopped acting all jumpy and started acting all girly."
"Well, she is a girl, so . . . ."
"I know, but . . . well, she's Dani. In the time we've known her, when has she ever been girly. She is by definition not a girly girl."
Shawn nodded. "Yeah, but we haven't even known her for a full year. Maybe this is a side of her that just hadn't come out yet. Besides," he said, "her acting all girly is a good thing. It's better than that whole top-secret agent 'I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you' thing she usually has going on."
"True," Cory said slowly, "but that's just not Dani."
"Or maybe it is and she just finally let her guard down." Shawn started backing away from the lockers. "Come on, Cor. Just let it go and be happy for her. Brody seems like a nice guy."
Cory frowned. "I didn't say anything about him."
"You didn't have to."
Cory stood watching his friend walk away for a few seconds before hurrying to catch up.
##
"What about the way Dani was acting at the ice skating rink?"
Shawn paused when he heard Cory's harsh, hushed voice coming from right behind him.
"I know you noticed it too," Cory said. "What if Brody was the cause of that? Nothing good ever came from her being all jumpy back on the island."
Shawn rolled his eyes before turning back around to face his best friend. "Yes, but she's not jumpy anymore. Either it was a false alarm or it's already over. Brody's still around, so it can't involve Brody. Seriously, Cor, just let it go."
Shawn turned and walked away again. Cory was just obsessing and worrying over nothing, as usual. Dani had so many secrets, her secrets had secrets. Sure, there probably was cause to worry about whatever may or may not be happening with her at any time, but the likelihood anyone would ever find out what that was was slim to none. The likelihood that Brody was bad and Dani was still hanging around with him was just as unlikely—possibly even more so.
Yeah, she'd been acting like her 'spidey senses were tingling' at the ice rink, but that could have been anything. She hadn't told either of them what it was, unless she said something to Cory after he had stormed off.
Shawn tried to stop that train of thought, because he knew where it led. It didn't work, though. The image of that man he thought was his father swam in his mind's eye. His dad was gone. He left him again. Why should Shawn care? Why did it matter? Why did he still want his dad around when his dad obviously didn't want him?
Shawn didn't even waste a moment after sitting down in his usual back row seat in Trigonometry before pulling his poetry book/journal out of his backpack.
It had been a while since he needed to write this strongly. Lately, he'd just been jotting things down because he wanted to. The urgency to write now was much stronger than it was when he wrote for fun. He never used to be like this. Even when he felt like he had to write when something was bothering him before, it was still not . . . well, not like this. It wasn't until after the island that he developed more of a need to write. It's like this book had become his lifeline—his way of coping and trying to find a way back to normal and okay.
He was just glad this wasn't John's class and this teacher wasn't friends with John, so it wouldn't get back to him. This wasn't something he wanted to talk about with his legal guardian. The man had been great to him—really great. The last thing he wanted to do was make the man feel like it wasn't enough, because that wasn't true—far from it.
It was his dad that hadn't done enough.
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"So, Shawn, how was your day?" John asked.
It took a moment for the words to register. Shawn finished what he was writing and dazedly looked up from his worn poetry book/journal. John stood by the door still, hanging his leather jacket up on the coat hook.
"The usual. Yours?" Shawn quickly tried to hide the book before John could see it. Really, he probably didn't need to. His guardian hadn't seen him writing in it earlier today, and it's not like it was uncommon for him to just be writing in it for the heck of it lately, but still . . . . He didn't want to chance tipping the man off.
"Same old." John carried his briefcase over to the kitchen island and set it on one of the chairs.
Would it be too obvious something was up if Shawn went to his room? Probably. He really wanted to keep writing, though. Maybe he could still write here without tipping John off that something was up, if he just paused every now and then—make it appear like he was stopping to think about what he wanted to write, like he did when he wrote for fun. More importantly, he couldn't let it completely consume his attention. If John tried to talk to him, he had to be able to hear and acknowledge the man.
Shawn glanced over at him. John was setting up shop with papers or tests or lesson plans or something. Shawn slid his book back out from behind him and opened it back up to the page he had been on. He stared at the last things he wrote again, itching to start right back in. He counted down from ten before allowing himself to touch pen to paper. It took more restraint than he would have guessed to get himself to write at a normal pace, instead of feverishly. That didn't stop him from getting lost in thought about what it was he was writing about, though, and once that happened, any amount of restraint was gone. All there was for him right then were his thoughts, the pen, and the paper. He wasn't even sure how long he had been writing before he noticed the couch cushion dip down next to him. He paused in his writing to look over, knowing what he would find. Sure enough, there was John looking at him in concern. Damn, that man was perceptive. Either that or Shawn was just that glaringly obvious. Maybe a little of both.
"We haven't talked about what happened back on the island for a while. How are you doing with that?" John asked.
The island? What—oh yeah . . . that's usually what caused his writing frenzy in the past.
Shawn set the book and his pen down on the couch beside him, on the side away from John. "Good, actually."
John raised an eyebrow.
"Really," Shawn said. He ran a hand through his hair. "I haven't even been thinking about that much lately—other than a couple flashbacks, but those weren't a big deal."
"Flashbacks?" John prompted.
Shawn shrugged. "There was a picture of a snake at that superstition dance that looked like those snakes back in the 'Temple of Doom,' and the ice skating rink brought back the memory of those water-ice thingies, but Angela was with me both times. She helped bring me back to reality, and I was fine after that. Really, it wasn't a big deal. That's not what I'm writing about."
"Then what are you writing about? What's wrong?"
Shawn mentally swore. He really didn't want to go into this with John. It was such an old issue, he felt like a broken record with it. He should have let the man keep assuming it was his issues with the island and run with it. Too late now. What else could he say?
Shawn frowned. There was always the truth.
The man really had been great helping him through everything since they got off the island. They'd had many talks where Shawn did just lay everything out there—his feelings and everything completely exposed. John never judged him for it or gave him any trouble for it—just tried to do what he could to help Shawn get over it and find ways to cope better. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad sharing this.
"I thought I saw my dad," Shawn said. "At the ice skating rink, that is. It wasn't him—just someone who looked like him from behind. It's just . . . I mean—he left me again. He's been gone for almost a year. I haven't heard from him much at all. He didn't even come visit after we got back from the island. He obviously doesn't want me around, so why do I keep wishing he was here? I thought I was over this . . . over him—but . . . ."
"Hunter, he's your dad. He was a big part of your life for most of your life. In many ways, he always will be, even if it's just in here." John patted a hand over his heart. "There is nothing wrong with wishing things were different—that he stuck around or that he might come back. And . . . if you want to find him, I'll do everything I can to help you."
Shawn looked away from his guardian. Did he want to find his dad? He really wasn't sure. If his dad came back and he went back to living with him, he'd always wonder how long it would last until his dad took off again. At least with John, he didn't have to worry about him leaving as soon as he got restless.
But what if that's what John wanted?
Before Shawn came to live with him—both times—the man had been a bachelor living by himself with no one to take care of but himself. Then Shawn had to come along and screw that up for him both times. What if John wanted Shawn out of his apartment but was just too nice to say it?
"Shawn?" John asked after several seconds of silence.
Shawn swallowed back the traitorous lump that had formed in his throat. He still didn't look at his guardian, almost afraid he'd find proof that his worries were justified.
"Shawn, look at me, buddy," John said.
Shawn swallowed again before complying.
"I love having you live here with me," John said. "You're like a son to me. I just want you to be happy, and if finding your dad is what you feel you need to do, well, then I guess that's what we'll do. The decision's yours."
Shawn couldn't stop thinking about that the rest of the night. What should he do? He obviously still had dad issues and a part of him obviously wanted his dad around, but did he really want to do this? Did he really want to risk setting himself up for all that disappointment when things inevitably didn't turn out the way he hoped? Should he really mess with the good things he had going right now for something that was a major crap shoot?
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Shawn wandered around the ice skating rink building aimlessly. Up ahead, there was a heavy-set, solid-built man who looked really familiar. Shawn walked closer. The man had short grey hair and a squared-off face. "Dad?" Shawn asked softly to himself. He quickened his pace and approached the man. The man almost ran into him when he suddenly switched directions. "Dad?"
"Shawnie!" his dad cried, recognition immediately lighting up his features. "How's my little Slim Jim doin'?"
"I'm great, dad," Shawn said. His face split in a big smile. "I'm glad you're back. How have you been?"
"As dandy as a mouse in a cheese factory."
"I can't wait to hear everything about where you've been and all. Are you staying? I could move back in the trailer. We could be a family again."
The grin slid from his dad's face. "Listen . . . Shawn . . . uh, I'm not stayin'. Ya gotta understand, boy, I'm like a tumbleweed rollin' in the wind. I just can't stay in one place. You're better here with Teach and that Corky-Dorky fella yer always hangin' out with."
"But dad, what—"
"I'm sorry, Shawnie. That's just the way things are."
Suddenly it seemed like there was more and more space between him and his dad. Shawn tried walking closer, but he kept getting farther and farther away. He kept calling for his dad to wait—to come back. It didn't even matter when Shawn started running. The chasm between them was too big—and getting bigger by the second.
Shawn slowly woke as the dream faded away. The memory of the dream stayed with him, though. His mind flashed back to what John said to him. That he could try to find his dad. Was the reason he wasn't sure because he was afraid of his dad confirming what Shawn believed—that he just didn't want to stay with Shawn? That Shawn wasn't enough to keep him around? He obviously still wanted his dad around. He heard what John said about his dad always being a big part of his life in one way or another, since he was his dad and all, but he still didn't get it. A person could only take so much abandonment and rejection. Was he really that much of a glutton for punishment that he wanted to set himself up for even more?
He really didn't know what he wanted to do. He couldn't talk to John about it, because as much as the man tried to understand and help, he didn't—and couldn't, really.
He missed Dani. Yeah, technically she hadn't gone anywhere. He saw her at school every week—sometimes hung out with her when the group went out—but it wasn't the same since their falling out. Even in the same room, it was like they were far apart. He knew all he had to do is get over his issues with her and give their friendship another chance, but he was afraid to. He did almost kind of miss that link they had, though. And he had a feeling she would understand what he was going through—at least on some level, anyways. Definitely more than John did.
He wasn't ready to break down the wall between them, though—especially not for this reason. If they did truly become friends again, he didn't want it to be because he wanted her help with something. He didn't want to be one of those people.
He did have someone else in his life, though, who might understand. Someone who he was close with now—who had helped him through other problems he'd had lately . . . .
With the resolve to talk about this with Angela the next day, he rolled over and tried to get more sleep.
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"Angela, can we talk?" Shawn leaned in to ask after gathering his books and getting ready to leave the class.
"Our two weeks aren't up yet," Angela said, her lips quirking up in an amused smile. "Are we ending this early?"
"What? No. No, not that kind of talk. It's . . . well, it's personal, and of everyone I know, I think you're one of the people most likely to understand. I . . . . Can we go somewhere else, first?"
"Sure." She grabbed her books and walked beside him out the door and over to the bench area by the payphone.
Shawn sat down on the edge of the seat, not sure how to go about this. "Do you . . . do you ever wish your dad would move back and stay here?"
"All the time."
She hadn't even hesitated one bit. Her answer was immediate.
Shawn swallowed. He'd asked himself that same question so many times since he thought he saw his dad at the Ice Palace the other day, and he still didn't know the answer.
"Why do you ask?" Angela asked.
Shawn looked away from her. "I thought I was past wanting my dad in my life—or at least being upset about the fact that he's not—but then I thought I saw him the other day, and now . . . ." Shawn shrugged. "John said he'll help me find him if that's what I want to do."
"Do you want to?"
Shawn looked back over at her. "I should say yes. I should jump at the offer—at the chance to get to see my dad again—to spend time with him—to be the family I know we're supposed to be, but I . . . ."
"You can't base what you do off of what I would do. The only one who can tell you what you want to do about this is you."
That was the problem.
"If it helps," Angela started, "I think sometimes if you're really unsure about something, that can be just as telling as an instant reaction to it, because if you really wanted to—"
"I'd already know." He realized the full truth of that the moment the words left his mouth. "Thanks, Angela."
"Don't mention it," she said. "I wish I could have helped more."
"You did help." Shawn gave her a small smile. "Gave me something more to think about anyways."
"Good. I'm glad." Angela stood up.
Shawn hesitated only a second before standing as well.
Angela was right. Their situations were different. He couldn't compare his to hers. Not only were they two different people, their dads were two different people in two different situations. Angela's dad had a job that pulled him away from her. True, if he really wanted to, he could leave that job and find something closer to his daughter, but that's probably easier said than done. He needed to earn a living. He'd have to completely change careers in order to be closer to her.
Shawn's dad—well . . . the last time his dad had an actual job, not just something he came up with in that fantasy land he seemed to constantly be living in, was when Shawn was in sixth grade. Well, okay . . . his dad had been the school janitor since then, but that lasted a whole whopping three months before he decided to quit. There was no career. There was nothing pulling him away. There was no reason he couldn't stay. He simply didn't want to. Shawn wasn't enough reason for him to stay. He was never enough for either of his parents to stick around. They didn't want him, apparently—or if they did, they had one lousy way of showing it.
They didn't need him. And the truth was . . . he didn't need them either. He had a family right here in Philadelphia—one who was always there . . . who did want him. He needed to stop wishing for something he could never have when what he really needed was already right there.
He just wished it didn't make him feel like such a lousy son.
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"Dani, do you have a minute?" Cory asked as he moved in to stand beside her locker.
"Yeah, sure."
Cory could swear her voice had gone up a few octaves in the last not-even-twenty-four hours. She turned towards him with a smile. If she started twirling or flipping her hair or giggling, he would run screaming the other direction. Really, that mental image was even scarier than the thought of Morgan dating . . . maybe. It was a close call between the two.
"You really like Brody, huh?" Cory asked.
"Yeah," Dani said, though it came out so breathy it sounded more like a sigh than a word. Her smile grew wider and her eyes took on a glazed look. "He's just . . . so amazing and kind and sweet and—"
"I get the point." How no one else thought this was weird was beyond him. "Don't you think it's—I don't know—a little weird—and kinda creepy—that you went from not wanting anything to do with him to, uh, this in just one conversation with the guy?"
"Why?" Her smile dimmed only slightly. She cocked her head to the side like she really was just curious. "People act like that all the time."
"Some." Like about half the high school dating population. "But just on the completely gaga side of it, not the complete 180 you pulled. I just wanted to make sure that you're really okay . . . that this is actually real . . . ." He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. ". . . and not some weird thing like those things you said you sometimes have to deal with."
"I'm okay. Really, I'm better than okay. He's just so great, and when I'm with him or I think about him I just feel like I'm floating or dancing on clouds or something." She did sound happy. She looked happy. Her smile was still fixed on her face like it was permanently painted there. The look in her eyes, though, was . . . well, the smile showed there too, but it was . . . well her eyes were still a little glazed over. It was like she wasn't all there. The lights were on, but no one was home—or there was someone home, but she was asleep or something. True, he'd seen other girls like this, but other girls weren't Dani. Yeah, dating and hormones and stuff could make anyone act different—he still remembered saluting Topanga when he was trying to get up the nerve to ask her out—but this was too different.
She leaned back against the lockers like she was about to melt back into them or something. "We're going out again tomorrow! I can't wait! I don't even know what to wear. Do you think Topanga and Angela would want to go out shopping again?"
Cory shrugged. "You'd have to ask them."
"Great! I think I will! See you later!" She flashed him one more smile as she walked away. There was almost a little skip in her step.
"Okay, who is she and what did she do with Dani?" Cory muttered.
"Just be happy for her."
Cory looked over to find Topanga walking over to him.
"I think it's great. He really seems like a good guy, and she's obviously happy," Topanga said.
"Yeah," Cory said. "A little too happy, if you ask me."
"I'm not sure if this protective brother side of you is cute or annoying."
"Come on. You can't tell me you don't think this is a little weird." He gestured his hand over the direction Dani walked off.
Topanga gave a big sigh. "Different, yes. But good different, not bad different."
"Good different? She went from adamantly not wanting anything to do with the guy to completely lovey-dovey in—what? Ten minutes? How is that normal? I mean, I know she's not normal, but still. It's like she's under some kind of—" Cory realized how loud he was being. He leaned in closer and whispered the rest. "Some kind of mind-control or something."
Topanga rolled her eyes at him. She actually rolled her eyes at him, and she was smirking. "It's not mind-control," she whispered back. "It's love. She's falling in love or maybe already is. I know it's fast, but it happens sometimes. Maybe that scared her before. So, yeah, the quick change may seem a little weird, but it's not supernatural; it just means she stopped fighting it."
"Falling in love? Well, that's just prepos—" Cory could almost feel the mental light bulb light up. Love. Maybe it wasn't as preposterous as he thought. It wasn't mind control. It was a love spell or enchantment or something. Did those things exist? If they did, it would explain everything with Dani. "Topanga, you're a genius." He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss before rushing off, ignoring the highly confused look his girlfriend gave him before he did.
He had some research to do, and he knew just the place to do it.
That was one thing he never in a million-trillion years would've guessed he'd ever think.