After one of their classes, Shawn, Cory and Zoey were walking through the corridors. They were finding Eric, who was supposed to be dropping them off at home. The three stopped to a halt when they heard a moan coming from the newspaper office.

"Ah, Eric, yes. That feels so good! Don't stop!" A girl moaned.

"Okay, we found my brother." Cory said with a smirk.

The three slightly opened the newspaper office ajar and popped their heads inside. Zoey looked inside the room to see Eric massaging Molly - the newspaper editor- shoulders as she was typing on the computer.

"This personality profile of our new principal is superlative." Molly said.

"Well, the man lives next door. Glad I could give some help." Eric said with a smile.

"Yes. Well, you give a wonderful neck massage." Molly commented.

"You know, Molly, I'm more than just a pair of strong, masculine hands." Eric said as he continued rubbing her shoulders.

"Well, of course you are, my little cabana boy." Molly said, before finishing up the newspaper. "Well, fini!"

Eric chuckled softly. "No, no. It's 'Feeny'."

Molly gave him a pointed look. "Fini is French for finished."

Eric huffed. "The French... our neighbors to the north."

"Hello!" Cory called, a smile plastered on his face.

Eric and Molly turned around to see the three of them, peaking their heads inside the newspaper office, before they walked inside.

"Not now, I'm working." Eric told his younger brother.

"You said you'd drive us home." Cory said, placing the rat cage he held onto the table. Molly let out a piercing scream and jumped back.

"Hey, babe, you're wiggin' out the rats!" Shawn told her, grabbing the rat cage.

"Rats?" Molly questioned, looking terrified.

Zoey nodded. "Yeah. We're studying natural selection. We're gonna see if rats know the difference between natural cheddar and 'I can't believe it's not cheese!'"

"Yep, our D-plus rets on furry little Shawn, Cory and Zoey." Shawn said, holding up the cage.

"You named them after yourselves?" Eric wondered as he looked into the rat cage.

"Yeah." Cory said, before showing his brother the rats. "Shawn and Zoey's are the ones chewing the lock. I'm the one with the skin disease."

"Keep your little vermin away from tomorrow's edition of the school paper." Molly said as she slowly made her way over to the computer.

"Yeah. Come on, let's go, all six of you rats." Eric insisted.

Eric, Shawn and Cory began walked out of the newspaper office, whilst Zoey had grabbed onto the cage. Her mouth slightly parted when she realized that something was missing inside.

"Um...." Zoey trailed off, giving the others an worried look. "All five of us rats."

"Little Shawn broke out?" Cory asked with a smile. He stepped forward and noticed the rat on the ground. He picked the animal up and began approached Molly, taunting her. "He wants to kiss you!" Molly let out another piercing scream as she imemdalty ran out of the room, slamming the door shut. "Come on, you kissed my brother!"

"Hey, thank you. Thank you very much. I finally get a brainy girl interested in me, and you guys screw it up!" Eric said, frustrated as Cory placed the rat back into the cage. Eric turned around to the door and tried to push it opened. After a moment, he turned back to the three with a smile. "Oh.. pull."

Zoey couldn't help but smirk as she watched Eric pulled the door open and immediately sprinted after Molly.

"Hey, that floor's real slick out there. Just -" Janitor Bud called out, before he was interrupted by Eric yelling as he crashed. "Good."

"Well, I gotta get home." Shawn said as he placed the rat cage onto the table. "I promised Mum I'd cracked her back before American Gladiators."

Zoey scrunched her face in disgust. "That's so gross."

The brunette made her way over to Cory, who was sitting in front of the computer which had the newspaper on it. Zoey looked at the screen to see that Mr. Feeny was on the cover.

"What are you doing, guys?" Shawn asked, making his way over to them.

"Check it out." Cory said, motioning Shawn to come over.

Shawn stood beside Zoey and laughed when he saw the front page. "A screen full of Feeny!"

"He's gonna be on the front page of the school paper?" Zoey muttered, crossing her arms over her stomach.

"Won't it scare children?" Shawn wondered.

Cory smirked. "It won't scare 'em if he's...." He quickly changed the F in Feeny into a T. "... Teeny."

Shawn chuckled. "This has definite possibilities... Let me in there." Cory got out of the chair as Shawn sat down at the computer. "Okay, new principal is..." Shawn than started changing Feeny's first letter into a different letter. "Been, Deeny, Leeny..."

Zoey couldn't help but snickered when Shawn had finally changed the F into a W, making it Weeny. The three of them turned together, amused.

"Ha!" The three shouted.

"'New principle is Weeny'." Cory said, reading off the computer. "Can you imagine two-thousand students reading this?"

"Power... ultimate power." Shawn muttered as he rubbed his hands together in excitement.

"Yeah, but we would never... would we?" Zoey asked, glancing between the boys.

"Power!" Shawn exclaimed. He turned to Cory and Zoey with a wide smile. "We'd be notorious! We would be legends!"

Cory narrowed his eyes in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, what are we now?" Shawn asked.

"We are lowly seventh-grade sewer scum who name rats after ourselves to feel important." Cory responded.

Zoey nodded in agreement. "He's got a point."

"And... how do you feel about it?" Shawn wondered.

"Better than the guys with not rats!" Zoey pointed out, and Cory nodded in agreement with a wide smile.

"Hey, guys, wouldn't you rather be something special... or would you rather be us?" Shawn asked in a serious tone.

Zoey sighed. "Shawn, power like that in the wrong hands... it's dangerous."

"Yeah." Cory agreed. He leant over the keyboard and changed Feeny's name back to normal. "Come on, let's go."

Cory and Zoey made their way out of the newspaper office, whilst Shawn continued to sat down at the computer, rubbing his hands slowly.

"Yeah, wrong hands, wrong hands." Shawn muttered.

••••

Next day at School, Zoey walked into the hallways and noticed that everyone was holding a newspaper.

Zoey snatched one of the papers out of someone's hand and looked at the front page. She sighed, frustrated as she made her way to Shawn, who was beside her locker.

"Why did you do it?" Zoey asked, holding the newspaper.

Shawn smirked. "I just wanted to do it. Just once."

Zoey sighed as she leaned against the lockers. She watched as a group of kids walked passed, holding the newspaper, which was snatched by Harley Keiner.

Harley looked down at the paper. "Hey, look at his. His name's Feeny. They wrote 'Weeny'. I'm laughin." He turned to Frankie and his friend - who Zoey learnt his name was Joey. "You laughin?"

"Oh, yeah. I was just thinkin of laughin." Joey responded, nervously. "I wouldn't been laughin already but I was too busy listening to you, Harley. But I think I'm ready now."

Zoey rolled her eyes as she watched Frankie and Joey begin to laugh.

"The guy who could cook up somethin like that... now, that's a guy I'd like to have hangin' with me." Harley said.

"He'd be a great addition to our organization." Frankie added.

"Yeah." Joe agreed as he pointed at the spot next to Frankie. "He could stand right here."

"I'm thinking he could stand right where's you're standin." Harley said to Joey.

"Well, then, where would Joey stand?" Frankie wondered, and Harley didn't respond. "Oh..."

"Am I going for a rid?" Joey asked, sounding nervous.

Shawn than began to make his way over to Harley and the others. Zoey's eyes slightly widen as she immediately latched onto his arms, trying to pull him back.

"Shawn!" Zoey hissed.

Shawn didn't respond and eventually ripped his arm out of her grip. Zoey sighed in frustration as she leaned back against the lockers.

"Excuse me, Harley." Shawn greeted, approaching him. "Sir, about that guy you wanted to meet..."

"Did I say you could eavesdrop on a senior conversation?" Harley questioned, giving Shawn a death glare. "Did your little seventh-grade ears hear something they shouldn't have heard? For your sake, I truly hope not."

Zoey breathed heavily before she noticed Cory walking into the hallway, reading the newspaper. She made her way over to him.

"Yeah, cause Harley's got a whole locker full of ears from guys who've done the same thing." Joe informed. "Their glasses hang crooked now cause they got no ears!"

"How much to keep the ears?" Shawn asked as he reached into his pocket.

"A buck." Harley responded.

"Thank you." Shawn said, passing him the money. He then turned around and made his way over to his best friends.

Cory looked at Shawn like he was an idiot. "Shawn, are you farther gone than I ever would've imagined?"

"No, no. I'm not gone. I've arrived!" Shawn exclaimed with a proud smile. "I am known! I rule this school! y fame here will live forever."

"Except nobody knows you did this." Zoey pointed out, crossing her arms over her stomach.

Shawn paused for a moment. "What, you think that bothers me? I know I did it, and that's good enough for me."

"I wonder who did this?"

Zoey turned around to see two girls walking through the halls as they read the front page of the newspaper.

"If it was my boyfriend, I would do anything for him." The blonde girl said.

When the two girls left, Zoey turned back to Shawn with raised eyebrows to see him with his mouth wide open.

"Oh, it's killing me!" Shawn exclaimed.

••••

In English, Zoey sat down at normal spot in the back of the room as she listened to Mr. Turner talk about the book they were going to be assigned - The Scarlet Letter.

"Okay, The Scarlet Letter... Hester Prynne has a red letter A on her dress." Mr. Turner said as he wrote 'A' on the black board. He turned back to the class. "Now, everybody knows what the 'A' stands for, right?"

"Boring?" Cory guessed. A few kids in the room giggled.

"Hey, everybody, don't laugh at Matthews, okay? He's never seen an A before." Mr. Turner said. Zoey snickered slightly. "Okay, the buzz is all over the Massachusetts Colony that Hester has taken the pure out of Puritan. It's scandal. It's gossip. It could've come right out of today's headlines."

Mr. Turner held up today's newspaper and everyone laughed while Shawn and Cory fist-bumped. It all went silent when Mr. Feeny walked into the classroom and cleared his throat.

"Oh, no." Zoey muttered under her breath.

"Mr. Feeny, good morning." Mr. Turner greeted.

"Actually, Mr. Turner, I've had better." Mr. Feeny said, making his way to the front of the class. "You see, I have been forced on this particular morning to go from room to room, asking anyone with information about this little journalistic prank... to come forward. Hmm?" He held the newspaper up at the class. Everyone went silent. "I will go a lot easier on the perpetrator if he or she or they voluntarily confess." Zoey, Cory and Shawn avoided eye contact with Mr. Feeny. "No? Very well. I will not return you to your lecture on..." He turned to the blackboard. ".. on the letter 'A'. Keep up the good work."

Zoey looked up at Mr. Feeny with a small frown as he walked out of the classroom. She sighed heavily as she began to write down her homework.

••••

During the next day at School, Shawn, Cory and Zoey were standing beside the lockers. Zoey sighed when Shawn had grabbed her and Cory's arm and pulled them with him.

"Okay, a rumor was going around school that the 'Weeny' headline was just a type... that nobody did it, like I don't exist. Check it out. Now I exist. I am somebody!" Shawn exclaimed.

Shawn continued to drag the two of them to the front door of the principles office. Cory gasped in shock, while Zoey covered her mouth with her hand, shocked as well. The title of the door now said 'Principle's office, Mr. George Weeny.'

"Oh, no." Zoey muttered as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"What a beauty, huh?" Shawn wondered. Cory gasped again. Zoey rolled her eyes and slapped him up the head, Cory groaned in pain. "I snuck in early this morning and changed it. Looks like the real thing, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, except for this drip." Cory said as he touched the wet black ink drip off the door. "Shawn, Shawn, Shawn, you're out of control!"

Shawn nodded. "Yeah, I am. Tell your friends."

And with that, Shawn turned around and walked away, leaving Cory and Zoey behind. Zoey sighed before Janitor Bud and Mr. Feeny began making their way over to them.

"There's your people Mr. Weeny." Janitor Bud accused, pointing to Zoey and Cory.

Zoey was extremely confused as Mr. Feeny approached the two of them.

"Mr. Feeny, we did not paint this W." Cory quickly said.

"And the headlines of the school newspaper?" Mr. Feeny wondered.

"It wasn't us." Cory responded.

"Mr. Matthews, our own esteemed Janitor Bud placed you and Miss Francis at the scene of the crime." Mr. Feeny informed.

Zoey's eyes widened. "What?"

"I seen them with my good eye." Janitor Bud said.

"Well, that'll be all, Janitor Bud." Mr. Feeny said.

"Aye, aye, sir." Janitor Bud said before he turned around and began to walk out of the hallway. "Our of the way, you little puke machines!"

"Scene of the crime?" Cory and Zoey wondered, confused.

"Janitor Bud said he saw you two and another boy toying with the computer after school." Mr. Feeny explained. "Unfortunately, he didn't get a good look at your accomplice."

"Mr. Feeny, we're totally innocent." Zoey said, telling him the truth. "Our hands are clean."

Mr. Feeny grabbed Cory's hand. Zoey sighed when she saw the blank ink on his finger. Cory gasped dramatically.

"I didn't do it. I swear." Cory quickly said, honestly.

"All right, then give me the name of the person who did." Mr. Feeny said. Cory and Zoey looked at each other, knowing that they couldn't give up Shawn. "I see. Mr. Matthews and Miss Francis, you two have until the end of school tomorrow to give me the perpetrator's name. Otherwise, you will be suspended."

Zoey rubbed her face and sighed. "Great."

••••

During the next day at School, Zoey was hesitant. Her and Cory were standing beside the lockers, discussing if they should admit that Shawn was the one who did the prank, and not them, or get suspended. Zoey hated this, she hated when she's force to pick a side - the right side or her best friend side.

"Mr. Matthews, Miss Francis, I trust you're not forgetting our 3:30 meeting." Mr. Feeny said as he walked down the small flight of stairs.

Zoey sighed. "Come on, Mr. Feeny. It was just a little prank. Don't you think you're maybe taking it too seriously?"

"Ah. You two think I'm acting like a Weenie, Mr. Matthews and Miss Francis." Mr. Feeny told them. "Am I acting like a Weenie?"

"You know we didn't do anything." Cory said, honestly.

"But I know you two know who did, and until you tell me who it is, the only person I can talk to is you two." Mr. Feeny responded. "3:30, Mr. Matthews and Miss Francis."

Cory nodded with a frown. "3:30, Mr. Feeny."

The two of them sighed as they watched Mr. Feeny walk out of the halls. Zoey rubbed her face with her hands, not knowing what to do in this situation. Her and Cory began to walk until someone pulled them back. It was Shawn.

"Did you tell him?" Shawn asked, his voice sounding betrayed.

Zoey raised her eyebrows. "What do you think?"

Shawn paused for a moment, before nodding. "Thanks, guys."

"You're welcome." Cory said, clasping his hands together. "Cause it was just a little prank, right? And nothing else is ever gonna happen again, right?"

"Right." Shawn agreed. "It's never gonna happen again. So, have you seen this?"

Shawn pointed at a section in the newspaper that came out today, and he passed it to Cory, who opened it up and began to read it.

"'Corrections: A typographical error in our last edition incorrectly named the new principal as Mr. George Weeny'." Cory sighed in relief. "Good, it's over."

"Read on, little buddy." Shawn told him.

Cory narrowed his eyes in confusion, before turning back to the paper. "'His true name is... Weeny Weeny. Weeny, Weeny, Weeny, Weeny, Weeny, Weeny, Weeny, Weeny. Continued on page three, column one'." Cory flickered to the page and his eyes widened. "'Weeny'."

"Are you completely derange?" Zoey questioned Shawn, annoyed.

"Yes, I am." Shawn responded. "But I didn't do this?"

"You didn't?" Cory and Zoey asked in unison, surprised.

"No!" Shawn exclaimed. "Somebody ripped my idea. I'll never be a legend now."

"That's too bad." Zoey muttered under her breath.

The three of them sat down on a bench that was just outside Mr. Turner's classroom. They were talking to each other whilst Zoey noticed Eric and Jason having a discussion before making their separate ways. The brunette got up and grabbed her bag.

"So, you two gonna be shooting some hoops today after school?" Shawn asked.

"We can't. We got this little meeting with Mr. Feeny where he's gonna ask us some questions about something we didn't do." Zoey responded with a slight frown. "And if we don't tell him who did, Cory and I get suspended."

"And I totally appreciated you two doing this for me." Shawn said as he stood up, facing the two. "I mean, after I blew up that mailbox last year, Dad said one more screwup and he'd ship me off to military school."

"You know, we can only cover for you for so long." Cory said.

"How long?" Shawn wondered.

Before either Cory or Zoey could respond, Mr. Feeny walked out of the principle offices, reading the newspaper. When he finished, he turned to Cory and Zoey, giving them a serious look.

"Don't be late, Mr. Matthews and Miss Francis." He told them.

••••

During English, Zoey slumped back into her chair and lightly tapped her book with her pencil, while Mr. Turner sat on his desk, talking about the Scarlet Letter book. She turned to her right and saw Shawn was sleeping, his head on his desk.

"So in the end, Hester Prynne is faced with a pretty tough decision, huh? Does she rat on the person who's responsible for her predicament, or does she keep his secret and face the scorn of society?" Mr. Turner asked the class. "Pretty relevant stud, Eh, Matthews? Eh, Francis? Eh, Hunter?"

Shawn woke up suddenly. "Sir! It stood for adultery, sir!" He shouted. Zoey turned to him, confusion. "I was practicing for military school."

The bell rung. Everyone gathered their stuff and rushed out of the classroom.

"Matthews, Francis, hang for a minute, will you?" Mr. Turner asked.

"We can't, sir. We've got a date with destiny." Cory responded, and Zoey nodded.

"You two could be late. What's Feeny gonna do, suspend you?" Mr. Turner wondered. Zoey sighed as her and Cory walked up to him.

"He's going so psycho over this, don't you think?" Zoey asked.

"I think when you're new at a school like you two and me, first impressions really stick. They decide your reputation." Mr. Turner said. "What if tomorrow you two raised your hands and I said, 'What do you want, booger'?"

Zoey furrowed her eyebrows. "Would you do that?"

"It'd probably follow you all through high school." Mr. Turner responded. "Maybe all your life people would call you 'booger'."

"Would you do that?" Cory asked.

"I'm the teacher. I can do whatever I want. I wield the power to inform and to influence. So do people who make funny newspaper headlines about the principal who's new in school, like you two and me." Mr. Turner explained.

Cory paused for a moment, thinking. "So you're saying we should squeal on our friend?"

"No, I'm not." Mr. Turner said.

Zoey frowned. "So we should cover for him?"

"I'm not saying that, either." Mr. Turner told them.

Cory narrowed his eyes. "So, what are you saying?"

"I was hoping you two would know." Mr. Turner responded.

And with that, Cory and Zoey turned around and made their way out of the classroom. Cory stopped in his tracks and turned to Mr. Turner with a smirk.

"You're not really gonna call me booger, are you?" Cory asked.

Mr. Turner shrugged his shoulders. "I'll see how I feel."

••••

Zoey rubbed her hands nervously, as her and Cory walked into the principals offices. Mr. Feeny sat his desk, looking through papers as they two of them sat down on the chairs in front of the principals desk.

"Listen, about the headline and all... well, we're sorry for what happened." Cory apologized, and Zoey nodded slowly. "Must've hurt being called... you know."

"Wasn't as if I never heard it before. It was practically my nickname growing up." Mr. Feeny informed, before looking up at them. "That's not to leave this room."

"I guess it's more than big deal than we though." Zoey said.

"As principal of this high school I'm expected to keep order. Unchecked, these pranks undermine my authority and breed disrespect." Mr. Feeny explained.

"So I guess we get punished for something we didn't do." Cory said.

"Name the person who did, and you two walk out of here scot-free." Mr. Feeny said simply.

Cory and Zoey paused for a moment before they turned to each other, knowing what they had to do. The two gave each other a firm nod.

Zoey sighed. "We're sorry, we can't do that."

Mr. Feeny looked up at them. "You two thought about this, and that's your final decision?"

"Yeah." Cory and Zoey said.

"You two decided that protecting a friendship is more important than the grisly punishment I shall now dispense?" Mr. Feeny asked.

"Mr. Feeny, he didn't mean to hurt anyone." Cory told him, honestly.

Zoey nodded. "Yeah, he just wanted to do something that would make him somebody special."

"Ah. To be somebody special is a quality from within, Mr. Matthews and Miss Francis. To give you an example, I think it's a very rare quality for you two to put a friend's welfare before your own." Mr. Feeny said.

Cory furrowed his eyebrows. "But just a second ago, you wanted us to rat of him."

"As the new principal, yes. But as your teacher, as someone who lived next door and watched you grow up.... I never expected it for a moment." Mr. Feeny responded. A small smile spread across Zoey's lips.

After the meeting, Cory, Zoey and Mr. Feeny walked out of the principal's office and into the hallway.

"So how long are we suspended for?" Zoey wondered.

"You're not." Mr. Feeny told them. "Detention for five days. One day for each letter in 'Weeny'. Which, in this instance, should properly be spelled..." He than closed the door to reveal Shawn with a maker in his hand. "W-E-E-N-I-E. Shouldn't it, Mr. Hunter?"

Shawn's eyes widened as he turned to his friends. "You two told him?"

"What do you think?" Zoey asked, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"I think you two wouldn't." Shawn said, before scrunching his face up. "I'm an idiot."

"They refused to rat you out, Mr. Hunter, and they now face a week of detention in your honor. But the punishment for not being caught, Mr. Hunter, is far, far worse." Mr. Feeny explained to Shawn.

Shawn paused for a few seconds. "I did, Mr. Feeny. I confess!"

"I will be watching you ever moment of your high school career. Which, in your case, could be decades." Mr. Feeny told him.

"But I confessed." Shawn argued.

"To late, Mr. Hunter. You are my new special friend." Mr. Feeny said.

Shawn quickly turned to face Cory and Zoey. "Why didn't you two turn me in?"

____________________
PUBLISHED: February 25, 2018
WORDS: 4086