Through The Eyes Of A Changed Man (Part 2)

(This story is a part 2 to the story I wrote called “Through The Eyes Of A Changed Man.” I recommend you read that story first in order to understand what is being talked about in this story.)

He was not going to go.

         Jon looked at the email regarding his upcoming high school reunion and thought those words. It was a wonder he even got invited. He was different now and had even apologized, but that did not change the fact that he had been a very bad person.

         The email invited all the past students to come and be reacquainted with friends and to make new ones. To share their school experiences and talk about their current life plans.

         The event was supposed to be a pleasant one, but Jon’s memories of the school were not pleasant. Mostly because he had never been pleasant during his school years. But he was different now. He had to keep reminding himself of that fact, otherwise the guilt would overtake him.

         His wife came up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. “You should go.”

         He turned to look at her incredulously. “You know that I cannot go to the reunion. In fact, they probably did not mean to invite me. They probably don’t even want me there.” He did not even want to go back there. It had been hard enough to go back those years ago when he apologized.

“Come on, honey. It would be good for you to go. For one, you get a chance to show all of the people there what a wonderful and mature person you have become.”

His wife, Hannah, had not gone to the same school and they had not met until Jon had went to college. Still, she knew what kind of person he had been those years in school because he had told her. He hadn’t wanted to keep secrets and after he had told her, he had given her time to decide if she still wanted to be acquainted with him. She had, saying that she could see the good in him despite knowing what type of person he had been. They had dated, and then two years later, they had married. Now, they had been married for five years and had a son, Jacob.

Jon grabbed her hand and pulled her on to the couch beside him. “Do you really think I should go?” He waited for her answer, hoping for a no, but somehow needing her to say yes.

She smiled at him lovingly. “I think you should. It will be good for you. And if it’s not, at least you can say that you went and put the past behind you.”

“Alright then, it looks like I am going to a reunion.”

*****

         Jon stood at the edge of the room while other mingled about with friends. He was already uneasy and wished that he had never come. Hannah was not with him since Jacob needed help with a school project, so he was utterly alone. He felt uncomfortable, due both to the tightness of his collar and being back at the school.

         He looked around the room. Everything looked as it had when he had been going here. They had used the same banner they used for every homecoming or prom to decorate the front of the room. The left wall still held a piece of gum that had been there for as long has he had remembered. And the people.

         His chest tightened. Faces that he had hoped to never see again met his eyes. Though they were different now. Some were a bit more careworn while others shone with joy and laughter. It appeared that for everyone here, a lot had changed. He too had changed, but none of the people here knew that.

         A lady he recognized as the once leader of the cheer team walked up to him. “Jon Tonner? Is that you?”

         He stiffened. He had hoped that no one would remember him. He tried to smile, but it probably looked like a grimace. “Yes, it is. Kimberly Riggins, right?”

         She nodded and smiled. She gestured to someone behind her. “It’s actually Kimberly Truskin now. This is my husband, Peter Truskin. Peter, this is Jon Tonner. We were in the same math class.”

         Peter shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Jon.”

         “Nice to meet you too, Peter.” Jon waited for Kimberly to say something about the horrible bully he had been in school, but she never did.

         Instead, she asked, “are you married now, Jon?”

         He nodded and he lost some of his stiffness. Maybe, this reunion would not be so bad. “Yes, I am actually. My wife, Hannah had to stay home to help my son Jacob with a school project.”

         They chatted for a bit more time, getting to know what they were all currently up to. After, they moved on to talk with someone else, Jon headed for the snack table. As he was gathering a plate for himself. He heard a voice behind him that made him freeze. It was Colby Tylor, the boy he had beaten all those years ago. Jon’s hands shook and he almost dropped his paper plate of food. It could not be. Of all the people he could have encountered, it had to be Colby. Jon had apologized to him and his family, but his guilt still lingered. Even more so now that he was near the boy, no man, himself.

         Jon looked around for an escape, but he could not leave without catching Colby’s notice. He called himself ten kinds of fool for going to this stupid reunion. He should have stayed home. He could have been helping his son or working on something. Anything other than being here. But there he could do, but prepare himself to face the man whose face brought back the guilt and nightmares.

         Jon turned.

         Colby smiled, but it faltered when he saw Jon’s face. He stepped back a pace. “Jon Tonner.” He said the words simply, with only a hint of wariness.

         “Colby Tylor.” He racked his brain for something to say. Should he apologize again, explain himself, or try to make polite conversation? None of the options sounded right so he said nothing.

         Colby saved him from the awkwardness. “I did not expect to see you here.” Again, the words were said as a mere statement.

         Jon put down his plate. “I did not mean to come, but my wife convinced me that I should go.”

         Colby looked at him curiously. “You have a wife?”

         Jon nodded and shifted. “I do. A lot has changed since…” he paused, not knowing how to finish that sentence.

         Colby nodded. “Indeed, it has.”

         Jon knew that he needed to say something. “Look Colby, I truly am sorry for all I did to you and everyone else while I was here. I was a bad person. I allowed my grief to make me into a bully. I should have been better. There are no excuses for my actions, but I thought I should explain.”

         Colby looked him in the eye. “I do not know what all led you to do what you did, but I do know that you are not the same person you were back then.” He gestured around the room. “None of us are. We all have our ‘skeletons,’ so to speak, so we are no different. I will say one thing to you, Jon.”

         Jon waited. Whatever he had to say, no matter how bad, Jon would take it. It would be less than he deserved for his past cruelty.

         “I have forgiven you, as have others. Now you just have to forgive yourself. Do yourself the favor.” Colby started to walk away, but he stopped. “Oh, and try some of the apple pie. You won’t regret it.”

         Jon watched him walk away and then studied the rest of the people in the room. Some nodded as they passed him and some even smiled. Sure, there were still those who would probably always remember him as he had been, but he could no longer see himself that way.

         He was different now. He had a lovely wife and a great son. He had a job that he loved and excelled at. And a home that felt like, well, home. But more than that, he was no longer the bully at school. Or even the guy he had been when he had last visited the school. And no longer would he allow the guilt of his past trail him around.

         He smiled and cut a slice of the mostly finished apple pie. The rest of the night, he spent time reacquainting himself with his old fellow students. He learned a lot. But the biggest thing he learned that night was, the past need not ruin your future, but rather be a chance to become a better and stronger person.