𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 ━ shawn hunter¹

11│THE FATHER/SON GAME

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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛʜᴇ ғᴀᴛʜᴇʀ/sᴏɴ ɢᴀᴍᴇ ꒱


❝ I GOTTA TAKE CARE
OF MY WIFE, Y'KNOW? ❞

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"And to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all." The class finished their daily pledge and sat down, ready for the day.

"Miss Lawrence, I couldn't help noticing that you didn't recite the Pledge of Allegiance this morning," Mr. Feeny said as he walked to his desk.

"Yes sir. I elected not to," Topanga admitted.

"Why was that?"

"I didn't feel like it."

"This is gonna be good!" Cory said eagerly.

Juliet rolled her eyes at his insistence of making fun of Topanga. It was one of the few things she didn't join him and Shawn in— that, and baseball or sports in general.

"What was that, Mr. Matthews?" Mr. Feeny asked.

"Uh, I said 'this is gonna be cool,' Mr. Feeny."

"Why?"

"'Cause you're finally gonna nail Topanga for being weird."

"Do you think it's weird to engage in social protest?" their teacher questioned him.

"I think it's weird to pick on me when she's the one who didn't say the pledge," Cory answered.

"Well Mr. Matthews, it seems that you and Miss Lawrence are on opposing sides of this debate."

"Uh-oh," the boy complained.

"I don't know how you didn't see this coming," Juliet said easily, smirking slightly. Cory turned to glare at her briefly.

"You've been set up, bud," Minkus agreed.

"Mr. Feeny told you not to say the pledge?" Cory demanded. Topanga merely smiled at him before she turned to face the front again.

On the chalkboard, Mr. Feeny wrote: "today's Social Studies discussion: American traditions. The Pledge of Allegiance versus Social Protest."

"Mr. Matthews, defend Old Glory. Miss Lawrence, defend the right to dissent."

They both stood and Topanga spoke first: "just because it's tradition doesn't mean you have to do it."

"But it's the pledge!" Cory said. "It takes, like, ten seconds to say. Why can't you just say it and make everyone happy?"

"Because if I'm forced to do it just because it's some tradition that I don't understand, then it doesn't make me happy," Topanga answered.

"Can you spell peculiar?" Cory asked.

"Oh, and you're normal? You talk to a flag every day and you don't understand what you're saying."

"But I do it. I do it because I'm supposed to do it and that's what makes me a great American."

Shawn put his hands around his mouth and mimicked a trumpet, causing Juliet to smile. After a second's hesitation, she copied him to repeat the tune in round.

"That's what makes this country great," Cory said over his friends' encore. "That flag. Because that flag gives us the right to have this discussion and this discussion is the most important discussion we will ever have and—"