The Reunion I Didn't Want

A soft gale of wind was breezing by outside. The day was nothing but perfect. The day was bright and sunny. The birds are singing in harmony. Well, I’m not really sure if they're singing right now because I am sitting in my apartment. But, I’m pretty sure they are. My mom called to tell me that she was making her famous blueberry pie- my favorite.

And I knew instantly that something bad was going to happen.

Call it karma or whatever. But I was firm believer that good and bad things are a combined package.

I opened my laptop and was shuffling through my mail when I figured out what it was. It was an invite.

           REUNION

       It's been 10 years already!!!

      Come and reminisce with

          The Class of 2008

       Of Lindbrook's High School

I scrolled down a little further.

       On June 17, 2018

Wait, a minute. 

I opened my phone hoping that my suspicion wasn't true. 

It was in big bold letters as if to mock me.

 June 18,2018.

You would think that once you stepped out of high school, you were given a fresh start, a clean slate. You could be whoever you wanted to be without the past hovering over you like some clingy girlfriend.

Apparently not.

I decided not to go it. My experience in high school wasn't exactly….life changing and I wasn't going to put myself through torture by reliving it.

Besides, it's probably too late to accept the invitation.

I needed a drink.

I got up from the chair and went over to the fridge.

I sighed when I opened it.

“ Rhodes! Why is the fridge empty?!?” I yelled at my roommate who was probably watching porn in his room.

“ I don't know!” He yelled back.

I was baffled. That was not an appropriate answer.

“ It's your turn to restock it!” I tried again.

“ I'm taking a pass for today!” He answered.

“ A pass? What the..?!?”

I have an idiot for a roommate, I thought as I shook my head in disbelief.

I grumbled as I stomped towards his room and turned his door knob hoping that it was unlocked.

It was not.

I banged on the door with my fists loud enough for my neighbors to complain. When that didn't do the trick, I kicked it hard enough to bruise my toe and was now using my head to knock.

The door opened up so quick that I didn’t have enough time to react right. I gasped as I fell in head first to the floor.

“ Owww,” I groaned as I rubbed my forehead.

“ Do you need a hand?” Rhodes chuckled as he crossed his arms, towering before me like some sort of giant.

“ Do you need a hand?” I mimicked.

I raised my hand.

I shot him a death glare as he pulled me up.

“ I could've been killed you know,” I said as I brushed myself.

“ With a head as big of yours, I seriously doubt that,” He snorted.

“ And will you stop being overdramatic with the brushing, you fell on the floor not on a pile of mud,” He pointed out.

It was when my eyes readjusted from the fall that I truly observed his room.

“ Would it kill you to open some shades?” I walked over to the windowsill and gently pushed aside the curtains, letting the light in.

“ The light! The light!” I turned around to find him crouched with his hands in front as if he were‘shielding himself from the light.’

“ And I’m the one being melodramatic,” I muttered as I walked past him.

Then, I remembered why I came into his room so I walked backwards and poked his chest.

“ Your turn to the grocery,” I reminded him.

And then I walked past him and was about to put my foot out the door when,

“ I promise to do it for the next couple of weeks,” He proposed.

I stopped in my tracks.

“ And cleaning the dishes?” I asked without turning my head.

“ Done,” He said firmly.

I closed the door behind him and grabbed my jacket and keys.

I never liked doing chores.

--------×-----------

I was browsing through the cereal section deciding between whether to get Froot Loops or Cinnamon Toast Crunch when the next bad thing occurred.

“ Maya?” I slowly turned around as if I had all the time in the world and finally faced a woman. 

It took me awhile to recognize her under the heavy makeup but when it slowly dawned to me….

“ Sarah Oak?” I froze in my place not knowing what to do. My mouth moved but indecipherable words tumbled out.

After a couple of minutes of awkward silence, the gears in my brain starting functioning again.

“ How have you been?” I finally said, relieved that I was able to save the conversation from dying.

“ Good. Good.” My gaze drifted to the baby food in her hand.

She followed my gaze and then lifted the container.

“ My son's hungry and I left his favourite at home. He gets cranky when he's hungry,” She justified as if I were a police officer questioning her for buying baby food.

“ You have a kid. That's great,” I said half-heartedly.

The conversation reached an awkward phase again.

She must have looked at my outfit because then she said,

“ You’re not coming to the reunion tonight?” She asked, scrunching her eyes in confusion.

“ Oh, I'm busy with work. I really wish I could come but you know about work right?” I clasped my hands as I chuckled nervously.

I was not a good liar.

“ But it's been over ten years since we all met each other. It's just for tonight. Push your work for tomorrow,” She tried persuading.

I tilted my head toward her in a 22.5 angle( not the exact but you get the point). Was Sarah Oaks inviting me to a party? 

That was a first.

“ I'm so sorry. But I just can't,” I said apologetically.

Ok, I guess as fake apologetic I can get.

I nodded a quick goodbye and swiftly walked past her, hoping that I never had to endure that again.

I was wrong.

“ Billy Harlton is coming!” Sarah blurted out in a loud voice.

I stopped walking. I slowly turned to face her.

“ Billy Harlton?” What I actually meant was that disgusting little piece of shit Billy Harlton?

“ Yeah, he friended me on facebook couple of years ago. We keep in touch,” She explained.

“ Ok. Thanks,” I said as I walked to the exit door.

“ Wait? Does that mean you're coming?” She asked.

I waved a thumb in the air.

“ Count me in.”

---×-----

The pain of my existence before I knew what taxes actually meant in high school.

Billy Harlton.

He made my life in high school hell. He bullied me almost every day, picking on me about my weight, calling me ugly. Manipulated me into thinking that my crush actually liked me, somehow always ended being my science lab partner and annoyed the crap out of me and made all of my dances a lifetime memory burned in my brain.

No, I did not forget about him.

“ You want me to what?” Rhodes asked as he pulled a sandwich from the microwave.

It took me about two hours to find a cheap store, buy a nice dress, find whatever accessories I had to match with it, realized that I didn't and wasted another hour shopping.

I was finally ready when I checked the clock. The details said 7 pm and I was already running late.

“ My high school reunion is tonight. I need you to come with me,” I pleaded with a desperate look in my eyes.

“ Why?” He questioned as he took a large bite out the sandwich.

“ I don't want to look like a total loser by coming alone,” I admitted in a small voice.

“ Oh, you can accomplish being one without me. Thank you very much,” He said.

I reached for a magazine from the coffee table and swatted him with it.

“ Owww. Quit it!” 

“ Please. Please. Please?” I begged, hating the way I was looking right now.

“ I don't know,” He sighed. “ Ben came up with a new idea for the project and…”

“ I promise to show you all the places I was humiliated,” I couldn't believe it was coming to this.

“ Deal,” Rhodes replied without skipping a beat.

I swatted him again.

-------×-------

“ This is your high school?” He asked as we stood before the big white and blue building.

“ Yes. Can you not read?” I waved my hand to the name written on front with a huge banner that read ‘Reunion’ hung in front of it.

“ Let's just walk inside,” He gave me an irritated look.

As we walked inside, I was hit with a rush of memories everything as clear as black and white. Somehow, my brain remembered only the bad ones, the ones that kept me up at night, the ones that made me cry for days, days until I was back to my normal self, the days that made me question the whether there were actually good days.

“ Hey,” Rhodes said softly,” it's just a reunion. No need to get too emotional about it.”

If looks could kill, Rhodes would have been dead by now.

I can't do it. I can't.

“ Can we just go home?” I mumbled anticipating a painful headache along the way.

“ And miss all the fun?” He joked.

I shot daggers at him and he raised his hands in surrender.

“ Fine. Fine. Let's go,” He muttered as he lead the way to the car.

City lights flashed by past me but I wasn't paying attention to any of it.

I didn't even notice that we weren't heading in the direction of the apartment when the car suddenly stopped in front of a dingy café that looked so ancient that it could have been new when my great great grandfather was a kid.

“ This isn't home,” I complained.

“ I thought a change of place would have been nice. Besides, they make the best coffee,” He opened the door and stepped out.

When I refused to come out, he opened my door and dragged me to the café.

What a gentleman.

As we entered the place, I was met by a total surprise when it was filled with people.

Rhodes must have noticed my bewildered expression.

“ It might be old but the ambience is pretty comforting,” He explained.

We chose a spot at a corner and ordered coffee.

The silence that settled between us wasn't uncomfortable but it did hover over us waiting for one of us to break it.

“ You can talk about it if you want to,” Rhode suggested with a hopeful expression.

I stared at him debating whether I should tell him or not.

I sighed.

Oh, what the hell.

“ I hated who I was in high school you know? I was a scared little girl who knew nothing about anything. I let people get to me. I let myself get hurt. I was so naïve and stupid. It makes me wonder how I ever survived it in the first place,” I laughed nervously.

“ That's what you're so worried about? “He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“ I am regretting my decision telling you this.”

He let out a long breath as he ran a hand through his hair.

“ Trust me. If you knew me high school, you wouldn't have even batted an eyelash at me.”

Now, it was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

“ I was an asshole. I was a jerk. I did a lot of things that I shouldn't have,” He admitted as he scratched his neck.

“ But look at me now. I'm a total catch,” He puffed his chest and held his head high.

“ You remind me of that bird in that Rio movie with that huge red chest,” I laughed, a smile slowly forming on my lips.

“ That girl in high school is your past. She's just a faded memory now. Think of it like this. That version of you endured all that shit to help you learn and understand who you don't want to be when you get older. What you should be taking from the past is not the memory but the lesson. You're not that person anymore are you?”

I shook my head.

“ Well, I say lesson learned,” He said.

“ That was pretty wisdom-y of you. I'm impressed,” I nodded in approval.

We spent the evening celebrating our new take on life over drinks while somewhere in the distance, there was a reunion of adults who were celebrating their childhood through a dance and a pretty hilarious speech.

Both of the parties had a pretty good time.