A few weeks later, Cory drove the four of us to the set of the High School Quiz Show. Topanga and I were both contestants.
There, I saw Mr. Feeny talking with the host.
"What do you mean, forfeit? My team doesn't know the meaning of the word forfeit."
"Look, High School Quiz Show has been on the air for thirty-six years. We are an institution. We've always had four players per team. We're not about to change that now."
"But the bus broke down. It's not their fault that the bus broke down," Mr. Feeny explained
"Well, then did those two get here?"
"Well, they were driven over by-"
"Hey, Mr. Feeny," Cory said
"Look, we're smart," Shaun said
Mr. Feeny then turned back to the women.
"Ok, we forfeit."
The lady then walked up to us.
"Boys, where do you go to high school?"
"Forfeit! I said we forfeit!"
"We go to, um...John Adam's high school," Shaun said
"All right, let's get 'em into make up."
When the boys came back from make up, we began.
"And now back to High School Quiz Show with your host Arthur Kandib."
Then, the host at the podium started.
"All right, teams, for one point-The region known as the fertile crescent lies between which 2 rivers?"
Topanga hit the buzzer first.
"Yes, Ms. Lawrence for John Adams."
"The answer is the Tigers and the Euphrates. "
"That is correct."
When we took the commercial break, all the kids cheered for us. It was great.
"And we're back with my new favorite part of the program, the fast-paced, electrically charged, lightning round where the questions are worth-2 points! And the category-Whazzup. What does the X in X-Men stand for?"
I immediately hit my buzzer.
"Yes, Ms. Rogers for John Adams."
"The X for the mysterious gene factor which manifests itself as a mutant ability. The X also stands for Charles Xavier, the Headmaster at the school they all go to."
"Yes, that's correct."
I high-fived the three of them.
Cory and Shawn ended up getting onto the team, and we were back on the show after a few days. This time, Oahu Beach was sponsoring, so everything was Hawaiian.
"The first category- Harry Potter."
I was so excited for this.
"Name the first and last names of each of the founders at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
I quickly hit the buzzer.
"Yes, Ms. Rogers for John Adams."
"Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin."
"That's correct. Okay, question two in the Harry Potter catagoy. This is a long one. Name the 3 Peverall brothers, the three Deathly Hallows, and the story and book it's from."
I again hit the buzzer.
"Ignotus, Cadmus, and Antioch. The Resurrection stone, the clock of invisibility, and the elder wand. It's from the Tale of the Three Brothers from the Tales of Beetle the Bard."
"That's all correct."
"The next category is The Lifeguards on Baywatch."
Shaun immediately hit the buzzer.
"I haven't-"
"Pamela Anderson plays sexy lifeguard, C. J. Parker."
"That's correct for 1 million points. And with the score John Adams 1 million...and their future employers zero...let's pause for a few words from our sponsors."
We ended up winning the next round, although I was starting to feel weird. These questions weren't hard or academic. I glanced at Topanga, and I could tell that she was thinking the same thing.
Just then, the host lady walked up to us.
"Cory...Cory, just to add a little drama, before you answer, do you think you could mop your brow and scrunch up your face like your not sure of the answer?"
Cory then made an 'I don't know' face with a shrug.
"Perfect. Ok. Shawn, how about you flashing some of those thoughtful, ouit, sexy lips?"
"Thoughtful, pouty, sexy lips?" Topanga and I both said
"No, I understand exactly."
Shawn then did some weird thing with his lips. Although, I just feel like this lady is trying to sell him as a sex icon.
"Ok, and you two ladies, let's see you tousle your hair and just flirt with the camera a little."
"May I just say that I'm not really comfortable with all of this. I mean, before we had questions that required real knowledge, and, sure, they were tough, but they made us think," Topanga said
"Yeah, now your just trying to see us as sex icons, and I've had enough of that for a lifetime."
"Yeah, well you know what they say, sex sells," she whispered so I was the only one who heard
Luckily, the next day, we didn't have a show, and we were able to go back to class. Although, in Mr. Feeny's room, all the girls were asking for autographs form Cory and Shawn.
"So, Gutenberg invented the Printing Press...making the written word available to the masses. For the first time in history, the common man had access to the same information that used to be available only to the privileged few."
"And who would you like me to make this out to, my darling?" Cory asked the girl who waned an autograph
Topanga and I were rolling our eyes at this nonsense.
"Gentlemen," Mr. Feeny said "Might I interrupt your press junket? There's some learning going on here."
"Maybe you feel it's important to learn that Gutenberg invented the Printing Press, but, uh, pop culture and these pouty lips have made me a star," Shaun said
"I'm gonna try and put this as kindly as possible...the show has turned into a circus, and you four are driving the tiny car."
"Look, Mr. Feeny," Cory started "I'm proud that I knew that Crusty The Clown was the son of a rabbi," Cory said
"Joe and I answered two real questions, Mr. Feeny. Mine was about the Tigers and the Euphrates, and Joe's was about Romeo and Juliet."
"Miss Lawrence, I would never deny you or Miss Rogers' moments in the sun, but knowledge fever no longer has much to do with the kind of knowledge I would want you to absorb."
"Mr. Feeny, look, the show's proving that we're absorbing the right type of knowledge, right? I mean, that's why we're the champions," Cory said
"Champions of what, Mr. Matthews? Of a generation whose verbal and mathematical skills have sunk so low, when you have the highest level of technology at your finger tips? Gutenberg's generation thirsted for a new book every six months. Your generation gets a new web page every six seconds. And how do you use this technology? To beat King Koopa and save the princess. Shame on you. You deserve what you get."
Then, the bell rang.
"Sit down. Stay where you are. For the first time, I choose to walk out on you," he then left the classroom
The next day, we had the next show to go to.
"Here are the questions for round 1...Johnny Adams, the Earth has one natural satellite. It's called the moon. A single lunar phase takes twenty-eight days to complete and involved phases such as The Wanning Gibbous and the Waxing Gibbous. For 800 million points, the moon...where is it?"
We all just pointed to the sky.
"Yeah! That's right!"
When we had a commercial break, the host lady came over with our sponsor.
"You know, because of your commitment to education, this show now reaches four times as many kids as it used to."
"That's right, which means that we're gonna need more of a commitment from you."
"Well, that's great. What do we have to do?" Topanga asked
"Uh, just miss a few days of school."
"How many days?" I asked
"6 weeks. We're gonna go on location to Oahu."
"I don't think I can go," Topanga said
"Me neither," I said
"Oh, excuse me?" the lady said in a rude tone
"Six weeks form school? We have finals coming up. My grades have been suffering as it is," Topanga said
"Yeah, I mean we're having fun and everything. But do you think we could think it? If that's ok?" Cory asked
"Oh, yeah, you should definitely think about it, but I also want you to think about how you have become scholastic role models for millions of kids out there."
"So, let's get in the bathing suits, and let's get ready for round two, huh?"
The next day, we asked the host lady to put some educational questions in, and she said no. She said that people didn't watch the show when there were educational questions. Although, I refused to wear the bathing suit.
"And now some contestants from Southern California."
They brought out three stereotypical surfer people. They ended up winning because Shaun blew the last question on purpose.
The summer soon came to an end, and we were in our Senior year. The Senior Hall was pretty cool. Well, at least to me.
After school one day, Shaun and I went to join Cory and Topanga at Chubby's. There, I saw Cory talking to this guy with dirty blond hair.
"What are you doing here?" Shaun asked the boy
"No, don't ruin this for me," Cory said "Shaun, listen, whoever this guy is, whatever minor person infraction happened between the two of you, let it go, because the world knows that this one is gonna be Eric's roommate, and the world is my friend."
"How do you two know each other?" Topanga asked
"He's my brother."
"Of course he is...he is not your brother," Cory said
"Same dad different moms. His mom bailed on my dad years ago, found a guy with a few bucks, and I guess they've kept Jack pretty busy, 'cause we haven't heard form him."
"That's not exactly the way it happened."
"Whatever, Jack."
"Look, Shaun, look, I think we need to talk, ok?"
"You turned your back on your father...and on me! There. We talked."
Shaun and I then walked out. I gave Jack a glare before leaving.
About a week later, Jack and Shaun ended up making amends, and now Shaun's moved into Jack and Eric's apartment.
Recently, Topanga, Angela (who's a new edition to the group), and I all got jobs at this Mexican restaurant as waitresses. Last night, we went dancing with some of our co-workers. It was fine. The only person I ever danced even remotely close with was either Topanga or Angela. I honestly don't like people I don't know, Invading my personal space.
"Hey guys," Topanga said as the three of us walked up to Shaun and Cory
"What happened last night?" Cory immediately asked
"Nothing happened. We danced," Topanga said
"I am a little tired," Angela said, teasing the boys
"Yeah, and I had to fend off so many boys who wanted to dance with me," I said, playing along with Angela's teasing
"Ha ha. You got a problem," Cory said to Shaun
"Boy, the Nunzio sure knows how to move, huh?" Topanga said, adding in on the joke
"Oh, I got a problem, too," Cory said
"Sergio's no slouch on the dance floor either," Angela said
"Oh yeah," I said
Shaun just looked so sad.
"Why, Topanga, Angela, I thin they're jealous," I said
"I am not jealous, ok?" Shaun said "Did he touch you?"
At that, I decided to stop the teasing. I knew he was genuinely worried about me.
"Shaun, I didn't dance with any boys."
"You didn't?"
"No, I only danced with Angela or Topanga. Also, if a guy got into my personal space, it would be bad for him. I' also have a tranquilizer gun in purse in case of emergencies. I started carrying it after the accident..."
Angela knew, I just didn't like to say it aloud. Especially in the busy school hallways.
"Ok," Shaun said
We planned another night to go dancing, and the guys hadn't show up yet.
"I just called the apartment, there not there," Angela said
"Oh, Topanga, this is great," Amy said, walking by us
"Mr. Matthews is okay with this?" Topanga asked
"Oh, he is so stuck in front of that satellite tv, he doesn't even know I'm here."
Just then, Eric walked up on stage.
"Ladies? Hello. Since the beginning of time, men...have been idiots. This will make up for it."
Then, Cory, Shaun, Mr. Matthews, Jack, and Mr. Feeny all came out on stage just as the song Hot Stuff started to play.
They did a whole choreographed dance number, and it was really funny and cute.
In the blink of an eye, it was prom night. Us three girls were getting ready together. Angela was going with one of our classmates she likes.
"So...Angela, Joe, have you talked about after prom? The big night."
"Well, we haven't really talked about it," Angela said
"How about you, Joe?"
"Uh...we haven't talked about it. I just...don't think I'm ready. But, I have thought about it, and I do have some stuff if I need it.
"I have been thinking about it, too...Cory and I have been through so much. Now that we know how much we love each other, we've decided that when the time is exactly, perfectly right..."
"So, in other words, when you say so," Angela said
"Yeah."
Just then the doorbell rang, and I got really nervous.