⌜ chapter thirteen ⌟

"And how exactly did I let you talk me into this?" Letty questions as she and Eric walk through the hallway of the elementary school — the same one that they attended a few years ago.

"You wanted to get out of class." He reminds her.

"Oh, yeah." She nods, and they walk into a classroom​.

"Eric?" Cory sounds disgusted when he sees his older brother.

"Cory?" The older boy's equally as bothered.

"Scarlett?" Shawn questions.

"Hey, Shawnie." The brunette smiles at him.

"Mr. Matthews? Miss Black?" Mr. Feeny sounds confused.

"Mr. Feeny?" Eric questions.

"Now that we're all acquainted..." The teenage girl says sarcastically as she and her best friend walk to the front of the classroom.

"I thought the school said they were sending over good students." Mr. Feeny says as he looks at the two of them.

"Hey."

"Oh, I didn't mean you, Miss Black."

"Naw. You see, the problem with the smart kids is they all have goals to pursue. We're just looking to get out of Algebra." Eric tells him, and his best friend smacks his arm. Mr. Feeny looks at her, and she smiles at him.

"Lucky me." Feeny says before sitting behind his desk. "Proceed."

"Eric." Letty moves to lean against the wall behind him.

"Hi, kids, I'm Eric and this is my friend, Letty." He says, and she waves at the sixth graders. "I'm in the tenth grade at Adams High, the school you'll all be going to next year."

"At least those of us who pass." Minkus says.

"Hey, Minkus, pass this." Shawn says and then makes a noise with his armpit. Letty shakes her head at him.

"Please, class, give Mr. Matthews and Miss Black your attention." Mr. Feeny tells them.

"Matthews?" A girl with dirty-blonde hair in the front row questions.

"Oh, yeah, I'm Cory's older brother. I got the good hair." Eric says, and Letty nudges him with her foot. "Anyway, next year you guys will be seventh graders or as we upperclassmen will be calling you — phlegm balls."

"And, by upperclassmen, he means the immature students who have some insecurities that they're all still working on." Letty says, and Eric looks at her.

"Thanks for that, Letty." He says sarcastically, and she smiles.

"Anytime."

"Now," He turns back to the classroom full of students. "There's gonna be a few things you're gonna need to know for survival on the mean streets of high school."

"Will the exam process be more rigorous?" Minkus asks.

"Yeah, uh... Parties are gonna be a lot better too because you can stay out later." He tells them, and Letty sighs as she shakes her head.

"Alright!" Shawn says.

"Not you." She says, and he shoots her a dirty look.

"And, of course, cool clothes are a must." Eric adds as he spins in a circle so that they can all see what he's wearing.

"For that young detention sitter on the go." Mr. Feeny says, and Letty chuckles as she looks over at the older man.

"Yeah, uh, you're gonna want to know where the parking lot is too. Because that's where the most popular kids hang. And you're gonna wanna hang with them. Unless, of course, you want to look like a complete nerd." He says, and they all laugh. "No offense, Mink."

"Eric." Letty says, and he looks at her.

"What?"

"Is that all you're going to talk about?" She questions.

"I have a question." Cory says.

"Who cares?" Eric asks, and Letty walks over and hits him.

"What's up, Cor?" She asks the younger boy.

"Alright, now, next year when you're sixteen and driving to school, would you be willing to give a ride to a certain few select phlegm balls?" He asks, motioning between himself and Shawn.

"Do I have to?" Eric asks Mr. Feeny.

"I wouldn't." He shakes his head.

"Drop dead." Eric tells Cory, and the younger boy slumps over his desk, then falls onto the floor.

"What do I owe you?" Feeny asks.

"This explains so much." Letty says, shaking her head, and Shawn starts laughing as he looks at the girl who's always been like an older sister to him.

The two teenagers head back to their own school not long after that, which completely and totally sucks for Letty. The brunette hates it there because people are always talking about her, saying that she's just using Eric. They all seem to think that she wants to use him to get out of the trailer park that she lives in.

He never says anything about it, so she assumes that he doesn't know. And she's never mentioned it to him because she doesn't want him to know. The only ones at school who don't say anything bad about her are Harley Keiner and his two disciples. And Miller, of course.

The pair go back to Eric's house once school lets out for the day, and they see his mom, Cory, and Shawn in the kitchen. "Hey." The teenage boy greets.

"Eric, your can runneth over." Mrs. Matthews tells him.

"Garbage again?" He questions. "I just took it out last week." He says as he looks at the now full trash can.

"Mommy! Mommy, look!" Morgan yells excitedly as she runs down the stairs with one of the girls from Cory's class. "Topanga made my hair pretty."

"She sure did." Mrs. Matthews says as she looks at the braid in her daughter's hair.

"Yep. Brownies, braids, she does it all, but, uh, now she has to do it all at home." Cory says as he pushes her toward the back door. Letty moves closer to Eric to get out of their way as they pass the older two.

"But I was hoping I could stay." Topanga says as Cory pushes her out the back door.

"You can't. We're over the legal hair limit of this room." Cory tells her, and​ Letty looks up at Eric confused; his eyebrows are furrowed as he watches his younger brother. She turns back to Cory as he closes the door on Topanga. He then opens the door, takes the brownies from her, and then closes it on her all over again.

"Well​, that wasn't​ very polite." His mom tells him.

"I can't afford to be polite, Mom. I'm polite... Squish." He says.

"Huh, that sounds like something Shawn would say." Letty looks at the boy in question.

"Hey, I didn't tell him to push her out of the house." He says defensively, and she shakes her head. There's always something​ weird going on with these two. "But I hear a lot of men treat the women they love like that."

"You ever do it, and I swear I'll kick your butt to California​ and back." She tells him, but then she looks at Eric and his mom. They both smile, and she laughs.

"I'll kill you, Shawn." Cory says as he walks back over to his best friend.

"We got a little girlfriend action going on here?" Eric asks his younger brother.

"No." Cory says at the same time Shawn says, "Yep."

"Cory and Topanga sitting in a tree, a-b-c-d-e-f-g." Morgan sings, and Letty laughs as she looks at the little blonde.

"I've never seen Eric treat Scarlett like that." The younger Matthews boy tries to deflect the attention from himself.

"That's because friends don't push their friends out of their houses." Letty says as she walks past him, pushing lightly on his head as she goes.

Eric goes to take the trash out like his mom asked, and Letty heads into the living room. When he walks in a few minutes later, he doesn't look near as happy as he was before. He sits down next to Letty on the couch and looks at her.

"What's the matter?" She asks, confused.

"I just talked​ to Mr. Feeny outside, and he said that we were role models when we were in his classroom today." He tells her. "And that we weren't very good ones."

"What do you mean?"

"We didn't give the kids any real advice." He explains. "All I talked about were parties and clothes and being cool." He says, and she nods.

"Yeah, neither of us talked about anything really important." She agrees. "I didn't say much at all, actually."

"What should we do?"

"I don't know, but we should probably figure something out." The brunette says, and he nods in agreement.

—

"Let's go, I'm bored." Letty says as she walks into the boys' room at the Matthews' house.

"Hold on, Cory's jealous because his little girlfriend thinks she's in love with me." Eric tells her.

"She's not my girlfriend." Cory argues.

"Okay, I'll get rid of her. What do you want me to say?" Eric asks his younger brother.

"Alright, she's coming over in a little while — tell her that we both think she's scum, and that I'm politically​ incoherent." Cory tells him.

"Incorrect." Eric corrects.

"There you go."

"You two are not telling an eleven-year-old girl that anyone thinks she's scum." Letty says, and they both look at her.

"Alright, I'll let her down easy. But they're usually pretty crushed, so when you hear the doorbell, call someone to pick up the pieces. Okay?" Eric tells Cory.

"And then we can go to the arcade, right?" Letty asks, and he nods.

"Yup."

"M'kay." She turns, and the two teenagers go downstairs to hang out on the couch until the doorbell rings.

Eric then gets up to answer it. He opens the front door, and the girl from yesterday is standing there. "Topanga, right?" He asks, and she nods. "Have a seat." He tells her, and she immediately sits down in the doorway. Letty raises her eyebrows as she looks at the girl with the sandy blonde curls. "Uh, yeah, that's an interesting way to go, but I was thinking couch."

"Whatever you want." Topanga says as she stands up and walks over to sit down near Letty.

The older girl smiles. "Hi. How are you?"

"Are you Eric's girlfriend?" She asks, ignoring her question​.

"N—"

"Yes. Yes, she is." Eric says, and the brunette looks at him.

"I am?" Letty questions, and he nods quickly. She looks back at Topanga and smiles. "I am. So, what's that?" She points at what's in her hand to change the subject.

"Movie." She says, and Letty nods.

"Eric." She says, and he looks at it.

"Godzilla Goes to College!" He says excitedly​ as he takes it from her and sits down next to the brunette. "Cory's gonna love this! He loves monster flicks. Oh, he really loved those brownies you brought over too. I mean, uh, you must really like him a lot to do all those nice things for him."

"He's very nice." Topanga says. "In a young kind of way."

Eric grabs Letty's hand and intertwines their fingers. "Um, see. That's​ why you two get along so well. Because you're young too." He tells her.

"No, I've done my chart." She says. "I have a very old soul."

"Uh, yeah, here's a tip for you, Topanga, uh..." He starts. "Not a lot of guys are going to be after your soul." He says, and Letty starts squeezing his hand.

"Choose your words wisely." The brunette tells him.

"Stop crushing my fingers." He looks at her, and she loosens her grip.

"When you were talking to us in class, you know what I noticed?" Topanga asks, not paying any attention to their bickering.

"What?" Eric asks.

"Your aura was glowing." She tells him, and then looks at Letty. "Yours wasn't."

"You know, that really doesn't surprise me at all." Letty says, and the younger girl returns her attention to Eric.

"Be that as it may, my aura's too old for you to be looking at." He tells her.

"I don't understand." Topanga says.

"That's because you're not ready to understand."

"I am ready."

"You're not." He argues. "Cory told me about you, and he- he told me you're very smart." He tells her.

"I don't have to be smart." She shakes her head.

"No, look. You're gonna have to be smart because there are a lot of guys out there that won't take aura for an answer." He says.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you've known me for, like, five minutes. And you think you like me because you thought I was cute, and who could blame you?" He smiles, and Letty sighs as she rolls her dark eyes. "But a real relationship is based on so much more than looks. And if you're old enough to have these feelings, then you should know that."

Topanga pauses for a moment and then looks back at Letty. "Why do you like him?" The younger girl asks, and Eric looks at the brunette too.

"What?" Letty asks.

"You're his girlfriend, right? So, why do you like him?"

"Yeah, tell her why you like me." Eric says, and the brunette glares at him. "She's waiting."

Letty takes a deep breath and looks back at the eleven-year-old. "Well, Eric is... He's a really good guy. He's always there when anyone needs​ him. When I was beaten​ up by these guys while I was walking home, my first instinct was to come back here because I knew that he'd be there to help me. And he likes spending time with his brother and sister, which I think is really important and incredibly sweet. Once, he unknowingly did something that upset his dad and he went out of his way to make things better. He's good, and he's dependable, and he's kind and caring."

"You really think all of that stuff about me?" He asks, and Letty looks at him​; he has a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, I do." She nods, smiling back at him. She clears her throat and then looks back at Topanga quickly. "But...did you know any of that?" She asks her.

The younger girl shakes her head. "No, I didn't." She says, and the doorbell rings. "You are both so wise."

Letty lets go of Eric's hand and goes to answer the door. "Yes, we are. And that wisdom comes from knowing​ that if you have a relationship based on looks, it's stupid and superficial." Eric tells her as Letty opens the door.

"Is that why you two are together?"

"Um, yeah." He nods. "It is. Because we like more than just each other's looks."

"Hi, I'm Topanga's sister." The girl who rang the doorbell says. "Cory called and said Topanga wasn't feeling well and wanted to come home." She tells Letty.

Topanga walks over to her sister and the two Lawrence girls leave. Letty closes the door and then hesitates for a second before turning back to look at Eric.

"I had no idea that you thought any of that about me." The older boy says as he stands up, and she just looks at him from where she's standing.

"Is she gone?" Cory asks as he runs down the stairs. "Yes!" He cheers when he sees that they're alone.

Letty and Eric look over at Cory for a second before their eyes find each other's again. She takes a deep breath and then looks away from him, her eyes landing on the floor.

—

Eric and Letty walk into the doorway of Mr. Feeny's classroom, and the teenage boy knocks, gaining their teacher's attention​. "Mr. Feeny? Um, may we come in?" He asks.

"Of course." Feeny nods, and they walk to the front of the class.

"Uh, could we speak to your class?" Letty asks him.

"Be my guest."

"This better be good, Eric. He was about to toast this guy." Cory says.

"So, uh... A couple of days ago, I pretty much covered the big high school picture, but, um, I left out a little tiny detail." Eric says, talking to the classroom full of sixth graders. "You've all known each other since, like, kindergarten, but next year's gonna be maybe nine or ten other sixth grade classes from different schools making up your seventh grade class. And you're not gonna know all those kids. A lot of them are gonna think differently than you do." He tells them.

"What do you mean?" Minkus asks.

"Well, do you smoke cigarettes?" Eric asks him.

"No."

"A lot of the kids in your new school will smoke. And a lot of them are gonna try to pressure you into it." Letty tells him. "They're gonna tell you how cool it is to smoke. You want to be cool, don't you?"

"More than you could ever know." He says, and she holds back a smile.

"Maybe you'll smoke."

"I don't think so." He disagrees.

"Why not?" Eric asks​.

"Because according to the New England Journal of Medicine, smoking reduces lung capacity, leads to emphysema, and causes heart attacks and lung cancer."

"Well, what if...she thought it was cool?" He motions to Topanga. "Then would you smoke?"

"In a heartbeat." Minkus says quickly.

"And welcome to the world of peer pressure." Letty says. "So, he smokes. Do you think that's cool?" She asks Topanga.

"I think anyone who smokes is a disgusting pig." She tells Minkus.

"I'm trying to quit." He says, and Letty smirks as she glances up at her best friend.

"Well, it's not that easy, Minkus." Eric tells him. "There's all kinds of pressure. I mean, what about alcohol?"

"Could you use somebody else as an example, please?" The eleven-year-old boy asks them.

"Sure." The older boy nods.

"What about alcohol?" Letty asks Cory.

"What about it?" He questions.

"What about drugs?" She asks Shawn.

"Hey, calm down, Scarlett. We're not into that stuff." Shawn says as she walks behind him. "All we like is baseball and comic books."

"Yeah, that's what you like now." Eric argues. "But that's gonna change, just like you're changing schools. Just like you're gonna start feeling a lot of new stuff inside of you you're not really gonna understand."

"How do you know?" Cory asks.

"Because you're growing up. Some of you have already started." Letty tells him and then she looks at Shawn. "Promise me that you'll never drink or do drugs of any kind. Especially in high school."

"Why are you singling me out?" He questions.

"Just promise me, Shawn."

"Yeah, I promise." He nods. "Are you okay, Scarlett?"

"As long as you are." She tells her little brother.

"Come on, Letty, we should let them get back to learning so that they actually make it to high school." Eric says as he walks over to his best friend.

"Thank you, Mr. Matthews. Miss Black." Mr. Feeny says as he looks at the two teenagers.

They leave the classroom and head down the elementary school hallway in silence. Eric looks at his best friend and then grabs her hand once they're outside. Her eyebrows furrow as she looks up at him as they stand at the top of the steps.

"I like that you care so much about Shawn and Cory, even though they're not actually your brothers. And I think it's really cool that you come by the house sometimes just to paint with my sister." He tells her, and the brunette smiles as she looks up into his light brown eyes.