There are a few things that Phoebe didn't like about college. One of them was that she had to do her homework on her own. She was used to getting help from her parents, but now she has to do her homework, study for tests, and write papers all by herself. So why did she think she was ready for college? She's definitely not ready to write a paper with no help.

"Julie, please tell me you have your paper done so you can tell me how to write mine." Phoebe pleaded, walking into the living room where her roommate/best friend was sitting on the couch.

"Lucky for you, I got it done within the first two days of knowing what the assignment is." Julie smiled.

Phoebe sighed with relief and sat down beside Julie, leaning back against the couch. "Oh, thank goodness. I have no clue what to write mine about." She crosses her arms, glancing at Julie with raised eyebrows. "What did you write yours about?"

"I wrote mine about when our families went backpacking in Europe." Julie answered.

Phoebe's face lit up when she thought of an idea. She sits up straighter, smiling widely at Julie. "Julie, you're a genius!"

"Oh, I know." Julie sassily flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder with a grin.

Rolling her eyes, Phoebe chuckles and stands up. "Alright, I'm gonna go work on my paper. I'll see you tomorrow." Phoebe joked, leaving the living room to head to her room. Julie laughed, smiling at Phoebe with amusement. 

****

Thankfully Phoebe managed to finish her paper before the due date. She doesn't know how she managed to do that; it was indeed a miracle. While Julie wrote her paper about the summer vacation they went on with their families, Phoebe decided to write her paper about the time she got her painting put up in an art gallery for everyone to see. She had won a contest in her art class, and the prize was for the winner's painting to be put up in an art gallery. That was one of the best moments in her life because it made her realize that she really did have real talent to become a professional artist.

The bad thing is the neighbors and her and Julie's best friends haven't even started on their paper, and it's due tomorrow. And that's why she and Julie were hanging out at their place to try and help them out. Key word is try.

"Okay, have either of you started writing at all?" Julie asked from her place on the couch next to Eric.

"I got three words!" Eric beams, showing his notebook paper to Julie. Juie glances at it, narrowing her eyes when she read 'i want my mommy'. "I think that's a good start." Eric considered.

"That's a horrible start because you just said you wanted your mom. That's not a good start to a paper." Julie tells him, causing Eric to frown at her. Julie points at his paper. "And that's four words, not three, you dingus."

Eric looks back at his paper, leaning closer to look at it with narrowed eyes. "Oh hey, you're right!" He leans back against the couch with a grin. "It's better that it's four words 'cause now I'm closer to ten thousand words." Julie rolled her eyes, shaking her head even though she had a small smile.

"Come on, Eric." Jack speaks with annoyance. He had looked up from his textbook on the counter he was standing at in the kitchen. "You had three weeks to write this paper."

Eric glares at Jack, pointing at him. "You don't make fun of my learning disability!"

Everyone else looks at Eric with confusion. "You have a learning disability?" Jack questioned.

"I would think so." Eric sassily replied, setting his notebook and pencil down on the coffee table.

Julie nods in understanding. "Well, that would make a lot of sense."

Eric points at her, looking at her with offense. "Okay, rude." Julie just shrugged in response and chuckled lightly.

"Hey, wait," Eric shakes his head, glancing at Jack with furrowed eyebrows. "What did you write yours about?"

"Well, alright." Jack walks over to the couch, looking at Julie with a small smile. "May I?" He asked if he could take her place on the couch.

"Yeah, whatever." Julie replied, standing up to go to the kitchen where Phoebe was leaning against the counter.

"Ooh, a laptop." Eric notices Jack holding a laptop as Jack sits beside him. "For your lap."

Phoebe and Julie exchange an amused glance. Shaking her head, Julie sighs. "I'll never understand how he made it into college."

"Here it is." Jack smiles. "Ten thousand words. A perfectly crafted essay on my summer in China working with Paleontologists."

Phoebe and Julie look at him with surprise. "Wait, you actually finished your paper?" Phoebe inquired. She thought he didn't even start on his like Eric.

Julie glances at her with a look that read 'are you serious'. "That's the part you're focusing on?"

Eric scoffs, moving to pick up his notebook and pencil. Jack furrows his eyebrows, glancing at everyone with confusion. "What?"

"Your first college paper, you're writing about what you did on your summer vacation." Eric pointed out.

"What's wrong with that, Matthews?" Julie narrows her eyes at him. "That's what I wrote mine about."

"Okay, what did you write yours about? Is it more believable than what Jack supposedly did?" Eric asked her.

"Hey!" Jack said with offense, and Phoebe sent him a sympathetic expression.

"I wrote about the time Phoebe and I went backpacking in Europe." Julie responded, smiling and crossed her arms.

"Pictures or it didn't happen." Eric told her.

Julie scoffs, pointing at him. "Alright, I'll be back." She then left the apartment.

"Eric, I uncovered dinosaur fossils." Jack said, trying to convince Eric that his paper was good.

Eric turns to face Jack with raised eyebrows. "You got pictures?"

"No." Jack answered.

"Then you got nothing." Eric voiced.

"He's not wrong." Phoebe agreed.

Jack shrugs. "I think it's pretty good."

"Alright, I'm back with pictures." Julie spoke as she walked inside. She walked over to the side of the couch Eric sat on. She then handed polaroid pictures to him of her and Phoebe and their families together backpacking in Europe.

While he begins to look through the pictures, Eric's eyes widen. "Wow, you weren't kidding." Eric hands the pictures back to Julie, who smiles and then leaves the apartment to put the pictures back in hers and Phoebe's apartment. He then turns to Jack as he shakes his head. "Jack, you don't get it. We're in college now. We're being judged on a whole new level. Uh, theories and footnotes, shades of meaning, nuance, spelling." He raises his voice the more he speaks with a panicked look. "Where does it end? Where does it end?"

Phoebe rolls her eyes and claps loudly to get Eric's attention. "Snap out of it, Eric!"

"Alright! I didn't even go!" Jack cries out with a sad look on his face. Phoebe stares at him with surprise, not expecting for this kind of reaction from him. "My sister went." He confesses. "She's ten. I got no pictures. And I didn't go to China."

Julie arrives back at the apartment, tilting her head to the side with confusion written on her face upon seeing Eric and Jack crying. She glances at Phoebe with furrowed eyebrows. "Pheebs, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Phoebe throws her arms out of frustration. A look of realization forms on her face as she nods. "Although maybe that's the problem."

"Ya think?" Julie replied in a sassy tone.

Phoebe walks over to the boys with a reassuring expression on her face. "Guys, it's okay. You still have time to start and finish your paper if you work on it now."

"Yeah, Pheebs and I will even help you out," Julie adds. "I mean, that is why we're over here in the first place."

Eric looks at her with confusion and pouts. "I thought you guys were here just to hang out with us."

Julie nods, smiling at him. "Yeah, that too."

"How are we going to do this? Pull an all-nighter?" Jack inquires after he and Eric have stopped crying. "Work together until it's great?"

"Um, no." Phoebe points at him, shaking her head. She grimaces. "I heard all-nighters are awful and you become super tired the next day because of it so we're not doing that."

"I got better." Eric smiled.

"Uh oh." Julie muttered.

"We make friends with the dean." Eric said to Jack.

Phoebe sighs sadly. "Bye bye, college." She commented, having a feeling that Eric's idea won't turn out good.

****

"This is a bad idea." Phoebe voiced.

Phoebe, Julie, Jack, and Eric stood outside the dean's office, waiting to speak with him. "I agree with Phoebe." Jack nods. "Let's just go home and write our papers, man." He said to Eric, hoping to convince him to go write their papers without having to talk to the dean.

"No, no, no, no, no." Eric stops Jack from leaving. "We're not gonna have to. You see, the beauty of befriending the dean is he's going to give us an extension on our paper. We're never going to have to do it or any paper thereafter. We're actually never going to have to do any real work until we graduate, get jobs, befriend our bosses, get married, befriend our wives."

Julie puts her hands on her hips, furrowing her eyebrows. "Seriously, how did you make it to college? Eric, none of that would happen." Phoebe nodded, pointing at her in a sign of agreement.

"Well, when it does happen, I'm gonna say 'I told you so'." Eric said to Julie, who rolled her eyes and mocked him which caused Eric to stick his tongue out at her childishly.

Phoebe chuckles lightly, shaking her head. She and Jack exchange an amused glance. "It's like we're friends with five-year olds." She remarked.

"Please, man, I-I just want to go to college." Jack pleads with Eric, looking nervous about Eric's plan, and the girls didn't blame him. "I just want to do the work-"

Eric puts his hands on Jack's shoulders, interrupting Jack. "Hey, I like you too much to let you do that."

"Oh, thanks, man." Jack sarcastically replies. "I like you too."

Phoebe and Julie share a look before they both glance at Eric. "What, you don't like us enough to stop us from doing the work?" Julie inquired, looking like she was slightly offended.

"In my defense, you guy already did the work. I'm trying to save Jack before he does any work." Eric explained.

"Oh, dean." Eric spoke when he noticed the dean walking over to him and his friends.

"Not now." The dean demanded, walking into his office.

"Okay." Jack immediately responded and turned to walk away.

"Yeah, I'm with Jackie," Phoebe comments, turning to walk away as well. "Let's get out of here before Eric does something that gets you guys kicked out of college."

"Hey, hey, hey." Eric stops them both from leaving. "First of all," He looks at Phoebe with slight offense, pointing at her. "Rude." Phoebe sheepishly smiles and shrugs. "Second of all," He looks at his three friends with a smile just as the dean closed the door to his office. "He's gonna love us."

Eric opens the door and Julie follows him inside. "Jackie, you okay?" Phoebe asked Jack with concern after noticing the nervous and worried expression on his face.

"Yeah, sure." Jack replied with a nervous smile. Phoebe nodded, not fully believing him but she didn't say anything else. Jack took a deep breath before he walked in the office, and Phoebe walked in after him.

"Oh, dean." Eric smiled.

The dean looks up from putting papers into his duffle bag and looks at Eric with narrowed eyes. "You don't listen, do you?"

"No, he does not, sir." Julie sighed, wincing slightly when Eric hit her arm and she shrugged in response when he looked at her with offense.

"Well, sir, he listens sometimes, but he could listen more." Phoebe spoke with a sheepish smile. She was trying to put it nicer than the way Julie did. Julie was the one who was brutally blunt at times, and Phoebe would usually be the one to soften the blow.

"Guys, bow." Eric said to his friends, causing his friends to look at him incredulously.

"What?" Jack asked with confusion.

"Bow your head." Eric answered.

"You don't have to bow in front of the dean." Phoebe tells him, sighing heavily when the two boys bowed. "But you can if you want to look weird.

"Um, sir, we'd actually just like to discuss with you, uh, uh, a paper that we're writing and perhaps even establish the type of relationship I had with my former mentor, Mr. Feeny." Eric explained.

"You know the kind of people that have mentors?" The dean questioned as he walked around his desk to stand in front of the four young adults. When he stood in front of them the boy finally stood up. "People who can't think for themselves. Weak people. You're in collage now, buddy boy." Phoebe assumed the dean meant this action to be in a friendly gesture, but the way the dean hit Eric on the arm roughly, she had a feeling it wasn't meant to be a friendly gesture. When the dean hit his arm, Eric grimaced and held his arm in pain.

"The big leagues. The show. I've got over twenty-five thousand students in this university, and each one of them lined up to kiss my dean butt. Looking for an easy way. But I'm going to tell you something. The only easy way is the hard way." The dean glances at Jack with raised eyebrows. "You don't say much, pretty boy."

"I'm very scared, sir." Jack admitted with a scared expression on his face.

"Good." The dean nods. "That's how I became the dean." He hit Jack on the arm the same way he did to Jack, but he shoved Jack to the side while he walked out of his office.

Jack winced, holding onto his arm as he stumbled to the side because of how rough the shove was, and he wasn't expecting it. Phoebe's eyes widened, and she put her hands on his shoulders to help keep him steady, looking at him with concern. He glanced back at her with a thankful expression, and after seeing she was concerned for him he nodded, smiling slightly to reassure her he was fine. Well, other than just getting a bruise he was fine.

Eric grins, putting emphasis on the word 'so' when he speaks. "We're so in."

Julie facepalms. "Why am I friends with you?"

****

"This is stupid," Julie comments with an annoyed expression on her face, following her friends to the dean's front porch of his house. She crosses her arms. "We shouldn't even be here."

"Especially at night," Phoebe adds. "It's weird and a lil creepy." She shivers, wrapping her arms around herself as she wishes she had brought a jacket with her. "And cold." She whined.

"Here, wear my jacket." Jack offered, shoving the box he held to Julie, who looked at him with a bit of offense with how he suddenly shoved the box to her without warning. She was just glad she managed to get a good hold of the box so she wouldn't drop it. Jack then took his jacket off to put it around Phoebe, smiling softly at her.

Phoebe ignores the way her heart flutters at his kind gesture and puts on his jacket. She smiles softly at him. "Thanks, Jackie."

Jack smiles and nods. "You're welcome, Bee." Phoebe's smile widened, and she looked down shyly upon feeling her face heat up because of hearing the nickname Jack only used.

"Dean Borack?" Eric calls out. He calls out to the dean again when he is met with silence, but this time he yells loudly. "Dean Borack!"

"Look, I was a very good student in high school," Jack informs Eric, trying to convince him that they both didn't need the dean's help. With a determined expression on his face, he nods. "I can write this paper."

"And you guys don't need the dean's help." Phoebe chimes, putting her hands into the pockets of Jack's jacket. "Jules and I came over to your apartment for a reason." Julie nodded in agreement.

"I'm going home." Jack announced, turning to walk away.

"Fine, go." Eric shrugs. "High school boy."

Jack turns around with furrowed eyebrows. "What was that about?"

Eric glances at him with raised eyebrows. "What?" He shakes his head. "Nothing. Didn't mean a thing. Just meant that high school was a very important time in your life. Probably the best years you're ever going to have." Jack nods in agreement, and Eric continues. "You won a few spelling bees, you took out the prom queen, you peaked early. Good for you." He turned around with a smirk on his lips.

Jack sighs heavily before he looks at the house with a pleading expression and yells, "Dean Borack?"

Phoebe looked at Eric with surprise. She didn't expect him to be able to get Jack to cave in and actually agree with him that they both needed the dean's help. But she should've expected that to happen.

The door opens, revealing a confused Dean Borack. "Huh?"

"Oh, uh, hello, dean." Eric smiles politely. "Uh, Eric Matthews." He points at Jack. "My chum Jack," He then points at Phoebe and Julie. "And our good friends Phoebe and Julie. I was wondering if you could put on a pot of coffee, invite us in, and perhaps we could discuss the extension on our papers."

"Their papers." Julie cut in, pointing at Jack and Eric. Then, she points at herself and Phoebe with a proud smile on her lips. "Phoebe and I already got our papers done." She wanted to make it clear that she and Phoebe weren't here for help just in case if the boys got in trouble for this. She didn't want herself and Phoebe to get in trouble for nothing. "Oh!" Julie's eyes widen when she remembers something, and she smiles at the dean, gesturing with a nod of her head to the box she held. "We also brought a babka for you."

Dean Borack nods slowly and then looks at her and Phoebe with furrowed eyebrows. "Why are you two here with them?"

"To try to make sure they don't do anything stupid." Phoebe replied, and Julie pointed at her in a sign of agreement.

"That's smart." Dean Borack voiced, and the two girls smiled.

Dean Borack stares at Eric and Jack with annoyance. "You bums really think you're going to buy me off with a stinking babka?" He glances inside and calls out for someone. "Hildy."

Erc smiles at his friends. "We're going to meet his daughter."

"I highly doubt that." Phoebe mumbled, nervously biting her lower lip. She assumed Hildy was a big (and probably mean) dog the dean had.

"She's right." Dean Borack points at Phoebe. He glares at Jack and Eric. "You're going to meet my Doberman." Phoebe nodded to herself since she assumed correctly and began backing away with a nervous expression.

"And this is when we run." Julie suggested, dragging out the word 'and' as she spoke with a nervous expression on her face, beginning to back away along with Phoebe when Hildy the dog started growling and barking fiercely.

Dean Borack points at Eric and Jack with a stern and intimidating expression. "Make no mistake about it, boys. I am a nasty, nasty man." The four young adults then turn around to run. "Leave the babka." He ordered, causing Julie to go back and set the box on the front porch, sheepishly smiling at him as she did so before she turned around and continued running back to the car with her friends.

****

Now the friend group was at Eric's old mentor's house. It was late, and the girls regretted going along with the boys because they were getting tired. Phoebe still wore Jack's jacket because it was cold out, smelt good, and was comfy. The two girls had their arms wrapped around each other with Phoebe's head rested on Julie's shoulder and Julie's head resting on top of Phoebe's head. Their eyes were closed as they listened to Eric call out for his old mentor.

"Mr. Feeny? Mr. Feeny?" The back door opens, causing the girls to open their eyes and lift their heads off each other. A man Phoebe assumed was Mr. Feeny walks out and over to the friend group. "M-" He covered Eric's mouth before Eric could continue yelling for him.

"I was expecting you." Mr. Feeny speaks. "Today, tomorrow, yesterday." He takes his hand off Eric's mouth and puts his hands into his robe pockets. "It was only a matter of time."

Eric sighs. "Uh, look, Mr. Feeny. This is my roommate, Jack." He points at Jack behind him. "And Phoebe and Julie here are our next-door neighbors." He then pointed at Phoebe and Julie, who both smiled and waved at Mr. Feeny. Mr. Feeny smiled politely and waved at the girls before he looked at ack with furrowed eyebrows.

"Why doesn't he look at me?" Mr. Feeny questioned.

"I'm afraid, sir." Jack confessed, and Phoebe gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze, sympathetically smiling at him.

"Mr. Feeny, we're both scared, okay? Uh, uh, tomorrow we've got to hand in our first college paper. W-What if they find out we're nothing more than fakes?" Eric stuttered, and he had a worried expression on his face. Phoebe and Julie looked at him with surprise because this was the first time they actually saw him worried about this paper.

"Ladies and gentlemen, getting accepted into college is not a random act." Mr. Feeny speaks to the friend group. "You four were accepted on your merits. And by virtue of that alone, you belong."

Phoebe smiles softly. She could tell just by the way Mr. Feeny spoke that he was a great mentor and teacher. He seemed like a wise man, and she wished that she had him as a teacher or a mentor. She knew he was a teacher because Eric told her, Julie, and Jack on the way to Mr. Feeny's house more about him since this would be their first time meeting him, and they didn't know anything about him other than the fact that Mr. Feeny had been Eric's mentor.

"Now, what's the topic of your paper?" Mr. Feeny inquired.

"It's an open assignment. You can write on anything you want. No rules, no guidelines, no parameters. It doesn't even have to be in English." Eric answered.

Mr. Feeny stares at him in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?"

"Uh, no, hmm." Eric shook his head.

"Okay, well, the best advice I can give you is to write about something personal. Perhaps about, uh, the anxiety you're feeling." Mr. Feeny suggested.

A look of realization forms on Eric's face. "Yes. That's it." He points at Mr. Feeny and smiles widely. "The anxiety. Mr. Feeny." He gestures between them. "Feeny and Eric, back together again. Just like the old days." He laughs and grins. "I make you look so good."

Phoebe and Julie chuckled, watching as he ran off to the car. "Wait, Eric," Julie's eyes widen, and she quickly runs after Eric. "You better not leave without us!"

"What about you two?" Mr. Feeny asked Phoebe and Jack who were now left with him.

"Oh, um, I wrote my paper about the time one of my paintings was put into an art gallery." Phoebe smiled.

"Good idea." Mr. Feeny praises and smiles at her. "And well done with getting your painting in an art gallery. That must mean you're quite talented."

"Yeah, I guess." Phoebe's smile turned shy as she waved a dismissive hand.

Jack looks at her with disbelief and shakes his head. "Bee," He smiles at her. "You're incredibly talented. Don't think otherwise."

Phoebe glances at him with slight surprise, she didn't expect him to say that or think she was incredibly talented. A bright smile on her lips, she ignored how butterflies swarmed in her stomach and how her heartbeat was beating faster. "Thank you, Jack. That means a lot coming from you." Jack's smile widened and the two best friends continued to smile at each other.

Mr. Feeny smiled softly as he watched the two young adults interact. Even though he just met them, he thought they were perfect for each other. "Okay, so she wrote her paper about when her painting was put into an art gallery." He looks at Jack curiously. "What about you?"

Jack smiles. "I was thinking of handing in a paper I wrote about uncovering dinosaur fossils in China."

"You got pictures?" Mr. Feeny wondered.

With a nervous smile on his face, Jack shakes his head in response. Mr. Feeny nods. "Then you got nothing." As he walked back inside, Jack dropped his head in defeat.

Phoebe chuckles lightly and steps beside him to wrap her arm around his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. She then guides him back to the car. "Come on, let's get back to the car."

****

The next day Phoebe had given Jack his jacket back (even though part of her didn't want to because it was warm and it smelt like him), but then Phoebe and Julie found themselves in the dean's office, and with who you might ask? Why, of course, with Jack and Eric. Who else would manage to convince them to sneak into the dean's office after school hours?

Phoebe leaned against the front of the desk next to Jack, Eric sat in the dean's chair, and Julie stood beside him, leaning against the wall. When the dean walked in, he looked at the four young adults with confusion as they smiled at him.

"Hi, dean." Eric greeted.

"It's about time..." Jack said sassily but then looks nervous and quietly adds, "Sir."

"How did you get in here?" Dean Borack questions. "It's after hours. This building is locked." He pauses for a few moment before he continues. "You're trespassing, you know that? You're isolating my personal property. I can have you all shock therapied."

Julie smiles sweetly at him. "But you won't."

"'Cause you like us" Phoebe adds with a smile on her face. "You just don't want to admit it." Julie and the boys pointed at her in a sign of agreement.

"Look, dean, we really need that extension." Eric spoke.

"In my entire twenty-seven-year dean career which spans five colleges on three continents, including China." Dean Borack said. He then said something in China which made Phoebe wished she knew Chinese so she could understand what Dean Borack said. Unbeknownst to her, Julie and Eric, Dean Borack said in Chinese, "I have never given any students an extension."

Jack looks defeated, but then he stands up and grins before he spoke in Chinese, causing his friends to look at him with surprise. Phoebe was both surprised and impressed. She didn't know he could speak in Chinese, and hearing that he could speak in Chinese made her wonder if he actually did go to China with his sister and learn the language that way or if he just learned to speak the language because of a class or because he wanted to.

Eric, Phoebe, and Julie didn't know it since they don't speak in Chinese, but Jack said to Dean Borack, "Can you make an expectation for us? Maybe for a month?"

Suddenly Dean Borack started laughing, and he smiled, high-fiving Jack before he walked out. Phoebe exchanged a confused glance with Eric and Julie and they all looked at Jack, waiting for him to tell them what they were talking about.

Jack claps his hands together, turning to face his friends with a grin. "Okay, just bought us a month."

Eric shakes his head, looking just as confused as Julie and Phoebe are about this. "You speak Chinse?"

"I do." Jack nodded.

"Since when do you speak Chinese?" Phoebe asked.

Julie stares at Jack suspiciously. "And why didn't you tell us you spoke Chinese?"

Jack shrugs. "It was never brought up in conversation."

"Lame excuse." Julie rolled her eyes.

"Who cares?" Eric stands up, gently hitting her arm as he smiles. "Let's celebrate." He walked around the desk, followed by Julie.

"Dean's house?" Jack questioned.

Eric smiles and raises his eyebrows at him. "And insult him by going anywhere else?" Jack smiled and walked out with Eric. Julie stood by Phoebe, the two girls shaking their heads as they sighed.

Julie looks at Phoebe, tilting her head to the side. "We're going with them, aren't we?"

"Of course we are." Phoebe smiled. Julie returned the smile and linked their arms together while they walked out of the dean's office.

A/N i love eric's & julie's childish & playful friendship so much, they're so cute!! & ofc i love phoebe & jack so much !! but phoebe's & julie's friendship >>> they're friendship is so great, i love them