(THEME SONG PLAYING)
Now, this next poem is quite special.
The manner in which the poet expresses emotions is truly eloquent.
The piece is entitled, "An Unpublished Manuscript for J.D. Salinger."
(WHISPERS) Nappy time.
"It is possible to assassinate my heroes
"With the scope of my individualism
"However, by their own persistence to themselves
"I believe that they have chosen me to pursue a self
"What is literature, but the illumination of that which I would write?
"Salinger speaks through me, to me
"Whispers, 'Where to, little boy?'
"My answer is the dogged pen to page
"Which lights consistently the pathway home
"It is on that road that I alone
"Can trip my way back to myself"
Aw, come on!
Would you care to analyze this poem, Mr. Matthews?
Yeah, I'll take a stab.
Stab away.
Ya call that poetry? Feh!
And all right already with this J.D. Salinger thing.
I mean, hello! Name-dropping?
And haven't we had just about enough of Catcher in the Rye?
I mean, what's he written lately?
Am I right?
Well, on that note, we will have to pick this up at our next session.
Cory, you're nuts.
That poem was so incredible.
It was beautiful.
I can't believe someone our own age wrote that.
Someone like Mr. Hunter?
What?
Yeah, I wrote that poem.
I knew it.
I liked it.
Do you have any more poems?
I wouldn't really call them poems.
I just write stuff down. I've been doing it since I can remember.
I can't believe you never told me.
I never told anyone, okay? I just do it for myself, get my feelings out.
Shawn, I host poetry readings
at the student union Friday evenings.
If you would feel comfortable sharing some of your...
I don't know, Mr. Feeny. It's...
That sounds awesome. (LAUGHS)
Perhaps I could read some of my poems, too.
You have poems?
Well, I wouldn't call them poems. I just...
I just sort of write stuff down.
I can't wait.
All right! See you Friday night.
My poems are money because they're so funny.
Well, have fun. All right.
Hey, Shawn.
Shawn. Shawn. Listen, come on. Don't just blow this off.
Cor, enough with the pressure.
No. I know you. If I don't pressure you, you're gonna flake.
Hey, Cory, if Shawn doesn't wanna read his poems,
then I think we should respect that.
No. Because Shawn never wants to do what's best for him.
Come on, Cory, leave him alone.
Shawn, just come with us, okay?
If you wanna read poems, you will, and if you don't, you won't.
Will it shut you up?
Will ya come? Fine.
He's gonna write a poem in his dorm and not his hoem.
Hey. (LAUGHS) All right!
This is so easy.
(CRUNCHING LOUDLY)
(CLICKING)
Enough with the hair!
What?
You heard me.
She couldn't hear anything over that pen.
Click, click. Click, click, click, click, click, click.
I don't need you to defend me, apple boy.
Crunch. Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.
(BOTH IMITATING EACH OTHER)
Shut up! Shut up.
Crunch.
Look, I know these finals are worth 90% of our grades,
but it doesn't mean that we have to behave as wild animals do.
Talk. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.
Would you shut up and let me study?
ALL: Fine.
Great! That's great. That's terrific. Shut up.
Great.
Oh, that's it!
I'm going to the library. You people are so uptight, I can't even think.
You know how hard that is for me in the first place.
Yes, we do.
Finally. Now maybe we can get some studying done.
Finally.
I don't know where the library is.
Ah, this is better.
(ALL SHUSHING)
Sorry.
You don't sound sorry. You sound loud.
(ALL SHUSHING)
Thanks. Now they hate me, too.
Shut up.
You shut up. And you shut up.
Everybody, shut up!
Ooh, I hate college!
Pressure. Pressure. It's killing me.
(SCREAMS)
What's the matter with him? (LAUGHS)
How would you like to have a book shoved down your throat?
Hey, wait a second. He's a friend of mine.
You want a piece of me?
(SCREAMS)
Come back here, you little twerp.
I don't like your face.
I don't like your pants.
Shut up!
What's wrong with my pants?
They're just too tight.
(ALL CLAMORING)
Hey, hey, hey, hey!
What is happening here?
I'm about to beat the crap out of the troll.
Look what we're doing to ourselves.
I mean, these finals are turning us into monsters.
STUDENT: So what do we do?
That's a good question.
I'd like everybody to take off their left shoe
and make a pile right here in the middle of the room right now.
What're you thinking about right now?
My foot's cold. Exactly.
You're not thinking about the you-know-what.
What? ERIC: Can't say it.
Look, we all know how important
these you-know-whats are to our futures,
not only here at Pennbrook, but for the rest of our lives.
But the only way we're gonna do well is if we relax.
You know, we calm down a little bit.
We stop biting each other's heads off, and who knows?
Maybe we can even have a little bit of fun, huh?
That's what I call the Eric Matthews foolproof study system.
Hello, I'm Eric Matthews.
First things first. Rachel, I want you to shake hands with the troll.
Then I want everybody to come down here and grab a shoe.
You will find who owns that shoe
and take 'em to the movies.
Come on, go.
(GRUNTS)
Eww. There's gum all over this one.
Do you like popcorn? Do I.
Crunch during the movie, I'll push your nose into your brain.
(BONGOS PLAYING)
All day long, I think of you
How do you do the things you do?
I love you, girl, with all my heart
Because you're pretty
And you're smart
Topanga!
It's a tough room.
The final poet for this evening will be Mr. Shawn Hunter.
I can't believe you. When are you ever gonna learn to stay out of my business?
Mr. Hunter?
Come on. We're all here for you.
(CLEARS THROAT)
You don't know it, but sometimes...
You don't know it, but sometimes, I...
I'm sorry. I can't.
It's okay, everybody. It's okay.
Huh? Cory's here. Just a touch of stage fright.
You know, his poems are even better than mine, huh?
All right, I'll just, uh, read the one that he was gonna read.
This one's called "Top of the World."
"You don't know it, but sometimes I go to a hill
"That overlooks the landscape's mask of city lights
"For a sip of momentary grace
"On this brink of everything I know
"I can gain an eyeful of the lost Atlantis in the human soul
"And a breath that fills my lungs with the air between two stars
"If you were now to capture the image of this elation
"In the framework of your mind
"Or find transcendence through these words
"Then, at most, you would know nothing
"Of the beauty your existence throws to me
"For mine is a love no experience
"No measure, no words
"Could ever degrade into reality by virtue of degree"
I don't understand.
(WHISPERS) Come with me.
Shawn.
Okay...
How do I put this?
Who do you think you are?
Oh, that's a silly question, Shawn, I'm your best...
No, no, no, no, no. No jokes. No backpedaling.
Look into my eyes, Cory. I am dead serious.
We have a problem here. All right. Shawn, I'm sorry.
No, no, no. That's not what I want to hear. Not this time.
I want to hear that you were wrong,
that I asked you to back off, and you wouldn't take "no" for an answer,
that you totally disregarded my feelings.
You went way too far this time, Cory. All right, all right.
I did that. Okay, but I...
Oh, oh, there better... There better not be a "But."
I did this for your own good.
(SCOFFS)
You have no idea what my poetry is about, do you?
That poem that Feeny read in class,
do you even know what that was about?
Nothing.
Cory,
I can't say certain things,
so I write them down.
That's how I get them out.
Now, I do that for me, not for anyone else.
I heard the poem, Shawn.
You heard it, but you didn't listen to it.
That poem you just read... Do you even know who that was about?
Me.
It's about Angela.
I wrote that for her.
Well...
Angela, wait.
Thank you.
I don't know what to say.
Well, that's a first.
Listen, I'm sorry I read Shawn's poem.
And... No.
I'm not sorry I read Shawn's poem. I mean... (STAMMERS)
Don't you see that he would love to tell you how he feels?
Then he should tell me.
Angela, he's writing poems for you.
I mean, he obviously is still in love with you,
and I know you still love him.
Remember? You told me. We were in the bathroom, and you were in a towel...
...and we hugged. I remember.
Maybe I do still have feelings for Shawn.
Okay, but that doesn't mean we should be together.
I'm finally okay. I've started to move on.
(SCOFFS) Then what was the slap about?
How can he still have feelings for me and not want to be with me?
I don't know.
You know, he broke up with me.
He's the one that wanted to meet new people.
If he can't tell me how he feels about me, then what are we?
Well, it's not my nature to interfere,
but...
(STAMMERS) I mean, I don't know. Maybe
his poetry is the only true way that he can tell you how he feels.
You know? So meet him halfway.
Tell him how you feel.
Shawn... Angela...
Go ahead.
You sure? You're not gonna hit me again, are you?
I'm sorry I did that.
No, it's cool. I probably deserved it.
You're probably right.
(CLEARS THROAT)
Look, I've been going over these words in my head over and over again
'cause I want to say this right.
Oh, just... Just take your time.
We used to talk. I mean, really talk. I miss that.
I miss it, too.
Things just got weird. I mean, I got weird.
But I don't want us to ever stop talking.
I couldn't stand that.
Oh, neither could I.
And when I heard that poem...
Yeah, the poem. That's what I wanted to talk to you about.
I wrote that a long time ago.
(LAUGHS) You did?
Yeah, like way before we broke up.
So you don't have to feel weird.
(STAMMERS) And, you know... Everything's okay.
Oh, well, great.
Because, um, it would've really been awkward
knowing that you still had feelings for me.
You know, when I've clearly moved on.
Right.
So I guess we've both moved on.
Yeah.
We can just go forward as friends.
Good friends.
Hey, are we ever gonna see you two apart?
BOTH: Not if we can help it.
Hey, everybody!
When's the next test, huh? Hey, who cares?
(CHEERING)
Listen, man, I thought I'd be the last person to say this,
but, uh, hey, thanks for letting us all know
we just had to mellow out. Hmm.
By the way, what's the success rate of this system of yours?
System? What system?
The Eric Matthews foolproof study system.
Oh, dude! Totally made that up.
(ALL PROTEST) You totally did what?
Oh, no, no, I know, I know. Stop grumbling.
Now, I know you guys are all interested to see if this is gonna work,
and you know what? So am I.
So are you? You don't understand...
(ALL CLAMORING)
Okay, what has he done now?
He talked us into this idiotic study system of his.
Oh, interesting. Hmm.
Ladies and gentlemen, your grades.
(ALL CHEERING)
I can't see!
Audrey, you got an "A!" So did I!
(BOTH YELLING EXCITEDLY)
ALL: (CHANTING) Eric! Eric! Eric!
Feeny! Feeny!
Hang with me, hmm?
Well, I did nothing wrong.
Is it a crime to take off your left shoe and take your friend to the cinema?
Take off your left shoe?
Oh, not now, Feeny, come on.
No... Just, you know, everybody was so uptight about the finals,
I just, you know, tried to relax them a bit.
Oh, I see. Congratulations. I'm impressed with your insight.
A recent university study showed
that nonstop focusing on one's studies
hindered performance.
So it's a good idea to put down the books and clear one's mind.
Yeah.
After one has studied thoroughly and absorbed the material.
Yeah.
You forgot that part, didn't you?
Yeah. Yeah.
I didn't do so good, did I?
Yeah.
(LAUGHS)
D'oh! I told you.
Hey. They're not here yet.
You're kidding me! We're gonna miss the movie.
I know.
So, uh, is everything okay with you and Angela?
Yeah, we talked it out.
I told her that I wrote the poem before we broke up, and everything's okay.
Good.
Hey, wait. Shawn, is that the book you wrote the poem in?
Mmm-hmm.
Isn't that the book that I gave you for your birthday?
What's your point?
Well, my point is that you and Angela broke up before your birthday.
You couldn't have written that poem two months ago.
Shawn.
Okay. Okay. You got me.
I wrote it after we broke up.
How long after? Not long after.
How long after? I wrote it two weeks ago.
Oh, Shawn, you still do love Angela!
Okay, let's keep it down. Let's keep it down.
I can't get her out of my mind, you know?
I miss her.
I miss how she made me feel.
I miss the fact that I could tell her things
that no one else understands, not even Cory.
Well, then tell her that, Shawn. I can't tell her that.
Why not? Because I told her that I needed my space.
I told her that I wanted to meet new people. I did this.
Well, if you two love each other, you should be together.
Maybe if Angela knew how you felt... No, it's too late.
Angela's not in love with me anymore.
She told me she's over me and she just wants to be friends.
CORY: Hey!
Listen, are you okay with us all going out?
I mean, I hope I didn't mess everything up for you.
I'm okay.
You mean well. You always mean well.
You know I didn't tell Shawn about how you feel, right?
I know.
I want you to promise me, promise me you're not gonna tell anyone, even Cory.
Okay. I mean that.
Pinky swear.
I swear.
Hey, what do you swear?
I swear that I'm going to kill you if we miss this movie.
What took you guys so long?
Just tying up some loose ends. Right, Cor?
Yeah. (STAMMERS) Hey, we better get going
if we don't wanna miss this movie.
Are we okay?
You're my date, aren't you?
My next poem is called "Frustration."
(BONGOS PLAYING)
Come on, Topanga!
I call this next poem "Feeny."
Mr. Feeny is very smart
On many subjects, including art
And yet he can't help me with my frustration
Come on, Topanga!