Eric is on the phone in the kitchen. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't call you back, Kristen. I forgot. Do you forgive me?" he pauses, most likely being hung up on, "Apparently not. Y'know the big difference between guys and girls? Girls want commitment. Guys want girls."
Cory, who was sitting next to his brother, asked, "What's the matter with commitment?"
"You are so 11. Huh."
Shawn smiled knowingly and looked at Cory. "I guess you learned the problem with commitment later on."
Cory scoffed. "You cheat one time!"
"Uh, you cheated on Topanga twice," Shawn corrected.
Riley stared at her father in horror. There was a lot she didn't know about her parent's relationship and, frankly, she didn't want to know. She looked up to her parents as an example on how her future marriage should be, but it's starting to seem like their marriage isn't as perfect and healthy as she once thought.
Alan walked into the room. "Hey, where's your mom?"
"Uh, she blew through here a minute ago looking for contracts or something, I don't know," Eric responded.
Cory noticed the rose in Alan's hand. "Hey, Dad, I'm pretty sure that Mr. Feeny numbers those things."
George stated, "I only started counting when you moved in."
"Well, this was hanging on our side of the fence, so its number is up."
Amy walked into the kitchen. "I know I put those papers around here somewhere."
Alan smiled at her. "Now you look very nice this morning."
"Oh, there they are! I need them for the closing on that brick split-level on oak street."
"In fact, you look downright huggable."
"Hi, hon. Morgan! Your oatmeal's ready!"
"Y'know, you're gonna be leaving soon, and that window of hugging opportunity will close"
Cory moved closer to Amy. "Hey, mom, I need a note for that field trip this Friday."
"That should cover it," Amy said as she handed Cory a note.
"Thanks, Mom."
"Morgan! It's getting cold!"
"Coffee?" Alan offered her, "Poured with love."
A timer dinged. "Cinnamon rolls." Amy took the breakfast out of the oven.
"I don't think she's paying much attention to you," Rachel noted with a hint of teasing in her voice.
The phone rang and Eric picked it up. "I got it. Hello?"
"Morgan! This is the last time l'm calling you!" A car's horn beeped. "Oh, great. It's Jimmy and he's early. I've got to get to this closing."
Eric hung up the phone. "Mom, that was Judy, queen of zits. She has a cold and she can't babysit."
"Good, between her nose running and her zits popping, I don't want her in the house." Cory looked at the toast in his hand. "I'm done."
"Ok, well, I'll call a backup babysitter later on. I don't want to punk out on my bowling league."
"Hey, relax, you've got a responsible teenage son with no current social life. I'll take the weasel," Eric told her.
"So, nothing's changed?" Josh teased his older brother.
Eric shook his head. "You would think being senator of New York would get you dates, but nope."
"Thank you." She hugged her eldest child.
Alan walked up to them. "Hey, hey, hey! Some of that, some of that."
"Oh, I think I know what day this memory is of," Alan commented in a joyful voice.
"Me too," Cory added. "Not my proudest moment."
Topanga laughed sharply. "Be honest. How many of these moments do you think you're going to be proud of?"
"At least three."
A car's horn once again beeped. "Got to go. Morgan, if you don't get down here now, I'm going to give the oatmeal to the dog."
"We don't have a dog," Eric noted.
Cory looked at his mother, who was six seats to the right of him. "We really should've had a dog! I think every family should have a pet."
Riley smiled sweetly. "Dad…"
"I'll buy you a goldfish."
"Oh, excuse me for improvising." Amy kissed her husband's cheek before leaving.
"Hey, Dad, can we order out for pizza tonight since Mom's got her bowling league, and you've got your managers' meeting?" Cory proposed.
"Sure."
"Cool, now the large with everything on it is gonna run us around 100 bucks."
"Here's a twenty."
"Twenty! Cool!'
"I want change, massive amounts of change."
Eric picked up the rose. "Hey, Dad, can I have this?"
"Sure. Somebody ought to get some use out of it." Alan walked away.
"Alright."
"I know, you're going to use that rose to make up with Kristen," Cory told his brother.
"Are you kidding? She hung up on me. I mean, that's what she wants—for me to go back to her on my hands and knees and give her stuff."
"So you're gonna give it to her?"
"Yes, I am."
"You are so 15!"
"She didn't take me back," Eric admitted.
"Shocker," Morgan mocked.
Morgan finally came down but didn't eat the oatmeal.
…
Mr. Feeny was teaching in his classroom. "Al washes a car in 6 minutes. Fred washes the same car in 8 minutes. How long will it take Al and Fred to wash the car together?"
"Hey!" Zay shouted, pointing his finger towards the screen. "That's the same question Mr. Matthews asked us on my first day."
"So, you're stealing my lessons, Cory?" Feeny questioned.
Cory threw his hands slightly in the air in a shrugging motion. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?"
Feeny shook his head. "I hope you did my lesson justice, at least."
"Piece of cake," Cory declared.
"Think about it, Mr. Matthews."
"I don't have to think about it, Mr. Feeny. It's simple."
"It is anything but simple, Mr. Matthews."
"But I've got the answer."
"I'm not interested in the answer."
"Why not?"
"Because l'm more interested in how you arrive at the answer, and you couldn't possibly have arrived at the correct answer so rapidly."
"But I did. l've arrived. I'm here. I'm ahead of you."
"Oh, well, then if you're ahead of me, what is the answer?" Mr. Feeny and Cory answer "seven" at the same time. "That's not the correct answer."
"But it has to be. Al speeds Fred up, Fred slows Al down. So the answer is halfway between six and eight: seven."
Maya corrected Cory, "The total time can't be less than Al's time. Even I know that."
"That's not...the correct answer." George and Cory spoke at the same time again.
"But it has to be."
Minkus interjected, "No, it doesn't."
"Why not?"
"Fred can't slow Al down, even if Al washes most of the car. And Fred just washes a hubcap, the total time still has to be faster than Al's time alone. You with me? So, if Fred is 25% slower than Al, then 25% of 6 minutes is...Anybody? It's a minute and a half, which leaves us with...4.5! 4 and 1/2 minutes is the correct answer. Hold your applause, please."
Farkle shook his head left to right, "I still think the correct answer is 3 minutes and 25 seconds."
"I agree," Smackle added.
Stuart put his hand on Farkle's shoulder. "Son, I love you, but you're wrong."
"Mr. Minkus, you're wrong."
"Is there a rewind button anywhere?" Shawn asked. "I need that for my ringtone."
"Wrong? As in not right?"
"Y'know the law of averages better than I do. It was bound to catch up with you. Where are you going?"
"Nurse." Minkus leaves Mr. Feeny's classroom.
Shawn looked at Cory, smiling, and repeated, "Minkus, you're wrong."
"I've been waiting to hear those words since preschool," Cory responded.
Mr. Feeny asked the class, "Does anyone else have any thoughts on this problem?"
"Om…" Topanga said as Mr. Feeny gave her a weird look. "I'm channeling the ancient Egyptian mathematician who first solved this problem." She grabbed her pencil and wrote the answer down.
"Check please," Shawn nervously called out.
Maya tilted her head. "Is that just something you say when you're uncomfortable? You also did that when Riley asked about why you really left New York."
"Huh. I never realized it...but maybe."
"Alright, Ms. Lawrence. Let's see what you've come up with." Mr. Feeny looked at Topanga's paper. "Well, oddly enough, you and your metaphysical lab partner have arrived at the correct answer."
Cory was shocked. "Let me see that." Topanga turned around and growled at him. "Nice demon." He patted her head and she turned back.
Mr. Feeny responded, "Interesting, isn't it Mr. Matthews? Mr. Minkus didn't get the correct answer, but Ms. Lawrence did. You would do well to consider that in your search for your answer."
"I feel better now knowing that you didn't know the answer either," Lucas commented to his teacher.
"I don't," Maya disagreed. "How can you give us a problem that not even the smartest kid in your class knew the answer to?"
"Ahem," Topanga fake-coughed.
"Sorry. Second-smartest."
Cory complained, "She's cheating, she copies off dead guys."
"I never had to copy off dead guys," Stuart bragged.
The scene faded. It was now later in the day. Cory and Shawn were sitting at the kitchen table with Morgan's pink toy car and her Barbies in the car.
Cory started speaking, "Ok, we've got everything right in front of us. We got a car, we got water, and we got brushes. We got Al and we got Malibu Fred."
"Minkus got it wrong," Shawn repeated the statement from earlier.
"It's not like it's just an assignment anymore. It's like a mystery."
"And he could just not hack being wrong. I mean, did you see him? He went to the nurse, and he never came back."
Stuart sighed in annoyance. "You really enjoy my suffering. Don't you, Shawn?"
"I always do."
"But Topanga got it right. That is a clue."
"Ok, so what's the difference between Minkus and Topanga?"
Topanga stared at Stuart—who was sitting to her far right—with smugness in her eyes. "I'm smarter, obviously."
"Alright, Minkus is really smart," Cory started.
Shawn added, "And really weird."
"Now, Topanga on the other hand is really weird."
"And really weird," Shawn once again added.
"And really smart," Topanga shot a look at her husband and their best friend.
"And really smart," Shawn and Cory fearfully repeated in unison.
There was a knock on the door, prompting Cory to get up (along with Shawn) and open the door. "Minkus?"
Stuart answered, "I was, I used to be. Who's got the right answer? 'Yes, Mr. Minkus.' 'That's right, Mr. Minkus.'"
Farkle let out a horrified gasp. "What happened to you? You look like you got run over."
"You saw. I got the wrong answer."
"Calm down, Minkus." Cory told him.
"'That's correct, Mr. Minkus.'"
Shawn stared at the boy. "Get a grip, Minky."
"'Another A for Mr. Minkus. No, make that an A-plus for Mr. Minkus.'"
"So what? So you're not a genius anymore," Cory said, not understanding Stuart's problem.
"Right. Now I'm just a brainless, pathetic moron without a clue."
Shawn honestly replied, "Trust me, it's not so bad."
Jack laughed along with the rest of the audience, but deep down it hurt to hear what his brother thought of himself, even if it was lighthearted.
"It's just a word problem, every problem has to have an answer. There has to be an answer." Stuart grabbed Cory's shirt. "What's the answer, Matthews? What's the answer?"
Cory looked at Stuart like he was crazy. "In my opinion, 7."
Stuart let go of Cory's shirt. "Look at me. What have I become?"
"A brainless pathetic moron, we just went over this material," Shawn answered.
"They say the short-term memory is the first thing to go."
"Who says that?" Cory asked.
"I forgot!" Stuart scrambled out the door.
"The new Minkus, I like him!" Shawn said while nodding his head.
"You know, maybe if Mink...Stuart hadn't gone to the other end of the school and he became more, uh, normal like Topanga did, then we could have been good friends," Shawn suggested.
"Probably not..." Stuart pondered for a second and cracked a smile. "Maybe."
Eric came down the stairs and pointed to Morgan's toy car. "Hey, I see you guys got the car ready. I'll order the pizza, and you and your little friends can pick it up, ok?"
Shawn sat back down. "Hey, thanks for inviting me, guys. I saw my mom looking at her Let's Have Fun with Liver cookbook."
Shawn watched with a sad grin. "You know what's funny? I always disliked her cooking until she left and wasn't there for dinner. Then I would have done anything to eat liver cooked by her again." Katy rubbed his shoulder to comfort him.
Riley started tearing up. "What's funny about that?" she choked.
"But she's got her bowling league tonight, Shawn."
"No, that ended 6 weeks ago."
"No, it didn't."
"Yes, it did."
"Shawn, my mom's in that league, and she's been going every Wednesday night."
"Well, I don't know where she's going, but it ain't bowling."
Amy walked into the kitchen with her bowling bag. "You guys all set? l'm about ready to leave."
"For bowling right?"
"Yeah, like every Wednesday night. I'm going upstairs to say goodnight to Morgan." She went upstairs.
Those that weren't present for this episode were very anxious as they watched the screen. Explanations and theories for where Amy was going swirled in their heads. The most uncomfortable theory was that Amy was having an affair. Nobody wanted to voice this possibility, however.
"See?"
"I'm telling you, the league ended 6 weeks ago."
"Yeah? If there's no bowling league, why is my mom going out with this big, heavy–" Cory picked up the bag, lightly swinging it. "Eric, something's wrong. This doesn't weigh anything."
"Maybe she forgot her ball," Eric suggested. The two brothers pulled out a pair of red heels.
Angela gasped before covering her mouth with her hand. Amy cringed, knowing where everybody's minds were going to.
Shawn walked up to them. "And if those are bowling shoes, there should be a number on the back just above the spike heel."
"Eric, what does this mean?"
Eric pulled out a short, sparkly black dress. "It means Mom's going to be flashing some leg when she picks up that 7-10 split."
Cory pulled out an object with the words "La Bugia" on it. He read the words incorrectly, "La Bug-ee-yuh?"
Eric took the object. "La Boo-jee-yuh? That's that fancy dinner place seniors always take their prom dates."
"Why would Mom be going there?"
"Maybe Mom's dating a senior. I mean, everybody else is."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Your mom is potentially having an affair, and you're still focused on your singleness?"
The boys heard Amy about to come down the stairs and frantically stuffed everything back into the bag. The woman took the bowling bag, stuck to her story about going bowling, and left.
Eric reasoned, "Okay, maybe it's not as bad as it looks."
"I sure hope so because this looks pretty bad," Shawn responded.
"Does it look as bad as liver?" Cory asked.
"No."
Eric hovered over the table, placing his hands on it. "Why is she going to La Bugia?"
"Why is she going to La Bugia with a bowling bag?" Cory added.
Shawn looked at the two brothers somberly. "Is there...trouble in paradise?"
Joshua was glad that he was told this story before by his older siblings. Otherwise, he would be freaking out right now.
Cory dismissed the accusation, "Between my mom and dad? No way! They're so happy, it's disgusting. They're always kissing and being romantic. And–"
Eric interrupted, "Are they? Or is Dad always kissing and being romantic?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Remember this morning he came in with a rose for her, she didn't even care."
"Oh, come on. I was running late," Amy defended.
Cory responded, "And I was just 11."
"Yeah, and he poured coffee for her, and she just walked away."
"And that kiss she gave him this morning before she left was nothing more than a pity kiss. Believe me, I know what they look like."
"The main thing is, she picked Wednesday nights. The one night that Dad has his managers' meeting."
"Yeah, and why was she in such a rush to leave this morning? I mean, is she trying to get away from Dad?"
"You don't think she loves him anymore?"
"It could mean worse. I mean, no one goes to La Bugia alone."
"You think she loves somebody else?"
Riley gasped. Maya waved her hand in dismissal. "Oh, I'm sure there's a logical explanation to this. It's just your dad and Eric being your dad and Eric."
Shawn advised them, "You guys better tell your dad."
Eric looked at Shawn. "Tell him what? We don't have any proof."
"Get proof."
"How?" Cory asked.
"Don't you guys watch NYPD Blue? Tail her...and talk dirty."
"Tail her on our bikes?" Eric pointed out.
"Get on a bus, y'know where she's going. Just get there, take a look around."
Eric got up from his seat. "Y'know, he's right, we should do this. I mean, chances are we'll get there, we'll find she's there alone...in a cocktail dress...bowling."
"We're gonna have to go undercover," Cory decided.
"As what?"
"Two kids."
Shawn spoke, "By day, two ordinary kids. By night, two ordinary kids on a bus...talking dirty."
"I wish you would stop saying that," Turner groaned.
Eric put his hand on Shawn's shoulder. "We'll be back as soon as we can."
"Here's the $20. Order the pizza, watch my house, and guard my sister. And if I'm killed on this mission, find out the answer to that car wash problem from Feeny and have Topanga channel it to me."
It was now later at night. Shawn and Morgan were playing cards on the couch.
"Ok, what do you have?" Shawn asked.
"3 daddies & 2 mommies."
"A full house?"
"Full house? I love those Olsen twins." Alan entered through the door. "Hi, Daddy."
"Well, hey, sweetie. What are you doing up? It's, uh, 10:15."
"Shawn was teaching me how to play 5-card–"
Shawn nervously interrupted the girl. "Go Fish."
"You were trying to teach her poker?" Alan questioned.
Shawn shrugged his shoulders. "It's a skill every child should learn."
"Let me guess," Jack started, "dear old Dad taught you?"
"Yep."
"Jacks or better to open."
"Where's Cory and Eric?"
"They went to the library."
"Would that be the public library, the one that closes at 9:00?"
"No. No, the other one."
"I'm going to put Morgan to bed, and then you and I are gonna talk a little more."
"Kind of a relationship-building thing?"
"No." He walked upstairs with Morgan.
"Great, first time in my life I'm in trouble with someone else's dad." The door opened and Cory and Eric walked in. "Guys! Your dad just got home."
Jonathan looked at Shawn. "I find that hard to believe."
"It wouldn't be the last time. Trust me."
"Where is he?" Cory asked while taking his jacket off.
"Upstairs, putting your sister to bed. What did you find out?"
Eric replied, "Nothing good."
"Mom was at the club."
"She was dancing with some guy."
"In those red shoes."
"What?" Riley almost shouted.
Maya glanced at her friend. "I still think this is a misunderstanding."
Shawn said in a low voice, "Wow."
Eric put his hands in his back pockets. "Yeah. She was snuggling up with him in a dark booth."
"Who was it?"
"I don't know, I couldn't tell."
"Neither could I. There were lace curtains and plastic grapes hanging all over the place."
"So what are you going to do?"
"I have no idea."
"I can't keep this a secret, Eric. You know me, I'll crack. Dad will say, 'Good night, son.' And I'll say, 'Mom was with another guy!'"
"Shh! Look, you're right we're gonna have to tell him."
"Cory, Eric. You know I'm always here for you, just not right now. Oh, by the way, I told him you were at the library."
"Great lie, Shawn," Cory sarcastically said.
Eric looked upset. "The library closes at 9:00."
Jack commented, "I'm surprised you even know that."
"Hey! I know some things," Eric responded.
"You used the library to make out with girls, didn't you?" Josh accused his brother.
"No comment."
"Yeah, he knew that too." Shawn shut the door behind him.
"This is not gonna be easy to tell Dad," Eric warned his little brother.
"Maybe we could just send him a letter. "Dear sir, your wife was dancing with another guy. Signed, A concerned citizen."
"I would've known it was you two," Alan chuckled.
Cory overheard Alan telling Morgan goodnight. "Oh no, he's gonna say goodnight to me next. I'm gonna blow! You gotta handle this, Eric."
"Look, you just stay quiet. Let me do all the talking."
"Why, hey, guys."
"Hi, Dad."
"Where's Shawn?"
"Oh. Shawn decided to walk home."
"I'd have driven him."
"Oh, relax dad. He lives 2 blocks away. Now, why don't you sit down, relax, and not think that anything terrible is going on in your life. Would you like some pizza?"
"Hey, where's my change?"
"Y'know speaking of change, change can be a very positive thing in one's life, especially unexpected change, which funnily enough, we'll be talking about right now."
"What's going on? Where were you two?"
"Uh, well, for 2 1/2 hours, we were on 4 different city buses going to and coming from this place."
"This place? Could you be a little more specific, please?"
"Uh, it was a rectangular place. We, uh, we were at La Bugia, Dad."
"La Bugia?"
Cory, who previously had his hands over his mouth, blurted out, "Mom was with another guy!" He covered his mouth again.
"She was dancing," Eric added.
"With another guy!"
"Cory looked in the window and recognized Mom's shoes and the shoes of–"
"Do I have to draw you a picture?"
"It's all we could see. It was dark. There's Mom's car."
"Quick, more pizza." Cory shoved a slice into his mouth.
"Well, I guess I'll have a little talk with your mother." Alan walked to the kitchen.
"Hey, I'm here for you, Dad."
"That's why I had you, son."
"Hey stranger," Amy greeted her husband.
"Hi. Well, I just had an interesting conversation with Cory and Eric."
"Is anything wrong?"
"Yeah, we're busted."
"Told you," Maya said pridefully while everyone that didn't already know the truth sat with their mouths and eyes wide open.
"I knew you were innocent the whole time, Grams," Riley lied.
"Oh, man. They found out? Guess we just weren't sneaky enough."
"Ooh, actually I was sneaky enough."
"What?"
"They only caught you, you, you brazen hussy."
Cory was now watching from his bedroom window. "They're still talking, that's a good sign."
"They're not yelling?"
"Not yet."
"Oh, no. Look, as long as they're yelling, we have a chance. But once they go quiet, that's when we're in real trouble."
Shawn commented, "In my experience, it's the opposite."
"What's it mean when he's smiling?"
"He's smiling?"
"Uh-huh."
"Oh, no. He's lost it. He's turned into Freddy Krueger. I mean, you know how Freddy always smiles before–tch-aah!" Eric put his hand on his face and trailed down his chest.
"She's gone!"
"What?"
"Mom's gone! She left! I don't see her! We'll never see her again, Eric! We don't have a mother anymore!"
Amy rolled her eyes. "Oh, you two."
Amy appeared at the door. "Hi, guys."
"I overreacted."
"Mom, are we still a family, or have we become like an after-school special?"
"Everything is fine."
"Are you sure? Because Dad was smiling."
"I understand you two did a little detective work tonight."
"Sorry we ratted on you, Mom."
"It was me, I folded under torture."
"Yeah. Dad said hello."
"Look, I didn't go bowling tonight."
"Aagh…" Cory waved his hand and covered his eyes with his arm.
"And I did stop at a gas station and change into that dress that you saw."
Cory did the same thing again.
"And I did go to La Bugia and danced the night away with the most exciting, wonderful guy I know."
"Mom, shouldn't this confession be a little harder for you?" Cory questioned.
"I was dancing with your father."
"What?!"
"Dad's not our father?"
"Seriously?" Alan exclaimed. "You two still didn't get it?"
Cory defended his previous stupidity, "You have to admit, the evidence is pretty convincing."
"It was Dad! How long have you guys known me?"
"Since we were born?"
"Before we were born."
"Right! You know me inside and out. You know my heart. I was dancing with your father."
"But I thought Dad had a managers' meeting."
"Bogus."
"Like your bowling league."
"Yeah."
"So you guys lied to us."
"Look, Cor, I have a wonderful life, and I love being a mother, but that's just not all of who l am. I mean, I also have a career, and I happen to be madly in love with my husband."
"Cool."
"Yecch."
"I'm sorry you feel that way, Cor. Because your father and I work very hard to keep our relationship fresh. Y'know, keep the electricity going. We want to stay hot for each other."
"I guess I shouldn't worry if I see one of you two sneaking around, huh?" Riley said to her parents.
Shawn responded, "Well, with Cory's track record–never mind." Shawn stopped when he saw the glare he was getting from his best friend.
"Aagh…"
"Cory."
"You guys snuck off and lied to us."
"Look, Cor. Did you ever cut school?"
"Me? No. Uh-uh."
"Off the record."
"Once in 5th grade."
"Did you have fun?"
"Yeah, I went to the mall. It was really cool."
"Yeah, but you've been to the mall a hundred times. Now, maybe it was fun because you weren't supposed to be there. Y'know, like it was a bit dangerous? Get it?"
"Yeah! No."
"C'mon, Cory. I mean, it's exciting. It's adult. Sneaking around's romantic. Very cool, Mom. I approve."
"Thank you, Eric."
"Well, I don't approve. It sounds like you guys were just trying to get away from us. And I think that's wrong."
"See, that's the fine line between being an adult and being a kid. When you're a kid, you see everything as right or wrong, black or white–"
"Blonde or brunette," Eric interjected.
"But when you're an adult, you realize that, that not everything is that simple as right or wrong. I mean, sometimes there are gray areas."
"Any of this make sense to you?"
"Of course, I'm an adult. You're very cool, Mom."
"I'll take cool. Now, if you guys will excuse me, there's a guy in the backyard who owes me a good night kiss."
Eric ran to look out the window. "Huh, it's ok. It's Dad."
"After all that you still checked?" Alan questioned.
"I just wanted to be sure."
It's now the next day at school. The chalkboard is full of Stuart's equations. Shawn comes in and claps two erasers over Stuart's head, causing chalk dust to cover his hair. "Good morning," Shawn greeted, gleefully.
Farkle spoke to his friend, "Maya, I'm glad you never treated me like that. Seeing our fathers' relationship makes me appreciate our own more."
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted sometimes, but I appreciate our friendship, too."
"Wait, what?"
The bell rang and students plus Mr. Feeny poured into the classroom. "Al washes a car in 6 minutes. Fred washes the same car in 8 minutes. How long will it take them to wash the car together? And the answer is still not 7, Mr. Matthews."
"I know that, sir."
"What else do you know?"
"I know why you gave us this word problem."
Shawn nodded. "To suck the fun out of our lives."
"Yeah, that. But the main reason is to get us to stop thinking like kids and start thinking like adults. I know that there's not always one right answer. There may not even be an answer at all."
"Startling. And how did you arrive at that conclusion?"
"I found out that sometimes we need to learn to think differently, that's how Topanga knew because she thinks differently. Really differently."
"Well, Mr. Matthews, in all the time we've known each other, I don't think I've ever been so impressed."
"Thanks, Mr. Feeny."
"In the course of your education, you have been taught to look for the right answer. But you also must know that in life, many times the right answer is that there isn't one. This is an especially valuable lesson for you, Mr. Minkus. So I'm afraid your calculations are all for naught."
"So, you just made up all that secret of life stuff?" Maya questioned her teacher.
Cory shook his head. "No, I merely embellished George's lesson."
"You think my lessons need embellishing?" Mr. Feeny responded with a raised brow.
Cory had a sheepish grin. "No, not at all."
"Not necessarily. I think I may have inadvertently discovered the secret of time travel."
Topanga asked Cory, "Did your spirit guide talk to you and give you the answer?"
"Yeah, my mom."
"Aw, thank you, Cory. That almost makes me forgive you for thinking I would cheat on your father."
"Haha."
The screen now showed Stuart alone in the classroom, writing on a chalkboard.
"Wait a minute. Maybe time isn't a continuum. Maybe it's a random repetition of moments. I think I've got it!" Stuart disappeared and reappeared. "A continuum. Maybe it's a random repetition of moments." He once again disappeared and reappeared. "A continuum. Maybe it's a random repetition of moments. Nah!"
Everyone, even Stuart, stared at the screen in shock. "Perhaps that was just a forgotten dream," Stuart guessed. "I think I would have remembered time-traveling repeatedly."
A/N: ATTENTION! This is a double update to make up for the extremely long wait! Make sure to read the next chapter, too, if you weren't already aware.
Next Chapter: She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not (1x13)