Boy Meets Girl (Shawn Hunter from BMW Love Story)

chapter seventeen

       During lunch, I sat with Cory, Shawn, and Topanga in our usual spot in the corner of the cafeteria. Shawn sat next to me, using a plastic fork and knife to eat his cheeseburger. I gently placed my hand on the back of his left shoulder. Turning to face him, I furrowed my eyebrows and stared at him. "Shawn, what are you doing?"

     He looked like he was struggling to cut his cheeseburger in half with his plastic utensils. "I'm trying to eat this cheeseburger with a fork and knife, but it's not working. I'm trying to work on my dining etiquette, so the next time I take you out for dinner, I don't look like an idiot," he said.

    My heart melted. He was just trying to impress me. Little did he know, that he could take me anywhere and I would be happy with that.  "Aww, you're so sweet, but you don't have to do that. It's okay to eat with your hands, in different cultures that is common. I eat with my hands too, see?" I took Shawn's cheeseburger and took a big bite out of it. The cheeseburger tasted okay, I expected nothing more from school lunch. The three of them laughed at me trying to swallow the cheeseburger.

     "Mary Jane, you have something on your lips," Shawn pointed out. I reached out to grab one one of the napkins on the table, but he stopped me. "No, I got it," he said. Shawn leaned in towards me and smirked.

     "Here we go again," Cory groaned.

     Shawn kissed me gently on the lips, caressing my hands. Shawn's touch always had a way of making me feel so good. I kissed him back, speeding up the pace just a little bit. I could hear Cory and Topanga complaining in the background. I tuned them out entirely. All I was focused on was Shawn and the way his soft lips felt on mine. Soon, I felt him pull away.

     "God, I could do that all day," he whispered. My lips curled into a small smirk.

     "Trust me, we know," Topanga added.

     "Anyway guys, we need to find a way to get into Reggie's party. Does anyone have any ideas?" Cory asked. My mind went back to the tutoring assignment Mr. Feeny had given me.  In the distance, I saw a short boy approaching our table, wearing large prescription glasses and an oversized t-shirt.  He stopped behind Cory and Topanga.

     "Hey Shawn, the name's Melvin. Mr. Feeny assigned me to be your tutor for AP World History and Algebra II," the kid spoke. Shawn scratched his head.

     "There must be a mistake, I'm pretty sure I requested Mary Jane as my tutor," Shawn said.

     "Mr. Feeny thought the two of you wouldn't spend much time studying if you were paired together," Melvin laughed. Shawn turned to me and stared into my eyes. He intertwined our hands. 

      "Damn, I hate it when Feeny is right," Shawn sighed. Playfully slapping his hand, I gave him a crazy look. Melvin wrote down his phone number on a napkin and gave it to Shawn to schedule their first tutoring session. Their interaction reminded me that I needed to do the same with Reggie. I knew Reggie sat with the popular athletes in the center of the cafeteria. I had to somehow muster up the courage to walk up to him at his table and schedule our first tutoring session together.

     "Give me a second, I'll be right back," I told everyone before getting up and making my way over to the center of the cafeteria. Reggie and his friends sat at a massive table. All the seats at his table were occupied. It was intimidating to say the least. He and his friends wore their basketball hoodies with their names and numbers on them. I could see from his hoodie that Reggie's number was 7.

     Once I approached the table, I saw the eyes of his friends fasten on me. Their eyes widened, and some of them started to laugh amongst themselves. "Look, if you're here to hang out with Reggie, you're going to have to wait in line. There's like 3 girls ahead of you," one of his friend snickered. Three other boys laughed along with him. Reggie shook his head and turned to look at me.