Metanoia

* * *

“What?!” 

Shock and disbelief filled the entire room. I couldn't believe what I just heard.

High school, it was one of the most meaningful and drama-filled years of my life. From the first time I stepped my feet into the building as a freshman to the day I accepted my diploma as a senior. It was a whirlwind full of emotions and surprises. High School taught me a lot about life and the people you are going to meet along the way. Friends, enemies and lovers.

After the big graduation, everyone decided to shape their own path. Fulfilling their dreams and wishes. It was bound to happen, us losing contact. We barely talked in years, until - I received a message.

I accepted the glass of champagne that Dami offered me and others.

“Okay, guys! Our High School pal reunion has officially begun!” Noah announced.

“Woo!” Excitement and applause filled the entire room.

“I know there aren't a lot of people who made it today but I'm glad that at least some of you were able to find some time. Let's drink to a successful reunion and a continuous relationship between everyone, cheers!” He added.

I smiled and clinked my glasses with Aisha and Dami before taking a sip from the bubbly drink. 

I'm not the biggest fan of reunions but when it comes to seeing old and loveable faces again, why not? There weren't a lot of people there but I found it great because those were the people that I got along with the best.

Our small group moved over to the little fake-campfire that was build up in the main cabin.

“This is so cute! Who's idea was this?” Aisha asked.

James and Logan almost answered at the same time, 

“Mine.”

I looked at them and then back at Aisha who looked clearly confused. James was Aisha's ex-boyfriend in Highschool and Logan, well Logan apparently is just a close friend of hers. We are all friends but Logan and Aisha definitely got something going on. I started to laugh hysterically. Aisha took a seat next to me and kicked my foot trying to symbolise, 

Stop! This is super embarrassing.

“Oh my Gosh, ” Dami laughed.

“So guys, before you arrived I told you all to anonymously send me secrets that you have and what to get off your chest the easiest way possible. We will read them out now and we'll have to guess who it is. I myself don't know the person or the confessions, I will reveal them at the end.” She added with a smirk.

“It's about to go down.” Noah smirked.

I started to feel a lot more nervous now. I took another sip from my champagne, trying to hide my fear. I gave away some very top secret information and so did everyone guessing by their facial expressions.

“On the first night? Guys, think about it. This might ruin the mood.” Aisha exclaimed. I nodded slightly in agreement.

Dami seemed to be annoyed by Aisha's exclamation. “Aisha! Don't tell me you are going to chicken out, it's not that bad, I hope. I mean I don't know which secrets you send me but- We are a small group and you can trust us, right guys?” She reassured.

Suddenly we heard a knock on the door of the cabin.

I raised my eyebrow and so did everyone else. “We are expecting more people?” I asked curiously. Dami seemed as confused as I was but Noah appeared very suspicious. “Yeah, two extra guests.” He finally revealed. We heard a second knock. “Wait- And you didn't tell us? Who are they?” Aisha asked?

“It's no big deal guys. Two plus makes eight.” 

Without a second word Noah got up and walked over to the door. He opened it and I couldn't believe my eyes who I saw.

I felt every eye on me, even Noah's. 

Dami gently poked me on the shoulder. “I'm sorry, I will talk to Noah-” She comforted. “No need, it's fine. Thanks.” I said, covering my face with my champagne glass. “What a perfect timing...” Aisha said through her teeth.

“So, we don't get a welcome or anything? Be happy that we at least made it because seemingly nobody else did. We might as well leave...” Victoria LaMonte said. We haven't really been on good terms since High School. To be honest, she is the enemy I was talking about earlier. Queen Bee and the most annoying and backstabbing girl ever.

“Calm down, babe.” Cole breathed. Cole Walker, my high school sweetheart, ex-boyfriend and Victoria's babe.

She rolled her eyes and looked around the cabin until she spotted me. 

“Cole, look. Your pathetic ex.” She hollered. I rolled my eyes and looked away. “Watch your mouth Vic. I hope you left your attitude at home where it belongs to. Your parents might love your attitude, we don't.” Dami said.

“Calm down -” Noah tried to say but Dami already stood up. 

“We need to talk.” Dami said looking down at me. 

“I said there is no need. Please, it's fine.” I repeated, taking her hand.

She closed her eyes and took her seat again.

After a few minutes, everyone was gathered around the little fire pit.

“Okay! Everyone got drinks? Great, now. We are starting off with the first confession slash secret.” She smiled and opened the sealed envelope. I was praying that it wasn't me in the first round. I held my board close to myself which I would use to write down the person I suspect.

“I always found Renée very attractive but I never had the ability to make a move especially because Cole was her boyfriend but he was treating her like shit, such an asshole.” Dami readout, her eyes widened and widened as she went on to read the whole confession. I looked around the group and saw Cole's fuming face. 

“Ooh! Damn, okay guys. Write down your suspect.” Dami announced.

I had no idea, who it could be but I wrote down Logan, just a guess.

“Reveal guys. I see a lot of people wrote down Noah and Logan.” She said a little weird.

“Okay! The person is...Noah.” She said a little surprised.

I looked at Noah but he was avoiding everyone's gaze, especially Cole's. He's his best friend after all.

“Alright...moving on,” Dami said in a sadder tone. 

Something was up and I wasn't aware of it.

“Next one is, I kissed his girlfriend.“ 

Aisha bit her lower lip out of nervousness. A guy kissed her while she was dating James, that was for sure.

James didn't seem to notice. 

I wrote down Logan kissed Aisha but everyone else wrote down Noah kissed Reneé. “What? Why Logan?” Victoria asked. 

“Let's see... Woah, Logan kissed Aisha. Congrats Ren, two points.” Dami revealed.

James was clearly fuming without wasting another second he lost it,

“You kissed my girlfriend?!” 

“She was your girlfriend, yes I did. Why do you think she broke up with you, huh?” Logan provoked.

James started moving towards Logan.

“Guys! Calm down.” Cole said, holding James in place while Noah tries to stop Logan from saying anything else.

“We are two rounds in! Can you at least try to act civil and talk it out at the end? The girl is literally here!” Dami yelled pointing towards Aisha who looked devastated.

“There's nothing to talk about, right champ?” Logan mocked.

James sat down and looked straight ahead without saying anything else.

“Gosh! Okay, confession 3. I've had a crush on Noah since elementary school.”

I looked around the group but nobody gave anything away. I eventually wrote down Aisha. 

“The person is...Dami.” She revealed completely annoyed.

“Wait for real?” Noah asked a little amazed. 

“Yes! Add that on top of your ego.” Dami rolled her eyes.

He shrugged and smirked slightly.

“Confession 4, someone kept stalking me in High School. I found out who it was...”

“Okay guys, try to guess the person and the stalker. It says the stalker isn't among us.” Dami added.

I wrote down nothing because I knew.

“Okay... let's see. Reneé... and Mr Mitchell?!” She said completely perplexed.

“Wait who is the stalker?” Logan asked.

“Are you dumb? Mr Mitchell, our biology teacher stalked Reneé, dumb*s.” James answered.

“Who are you calling dumb? Didn't even notice me and your girlfriend-” 

Logan went on.

“Logan shut it. You shouldn't be proud of kissing someone's girlfriend.” Dami finally said what everyone wanted to say.

“Who said I'm proud of it!?” Logan made known.

“Then stop bringing it up every single time.” She ended it.

“Next confession, I cheated on my boyfriend. Oop- write it down, guys.”

I wrote down Dami and so did the other half. The other half chose Aisha. “Ooh wow, guys! Thank you. It wasn't me, so you aren't getting a point, sucks. Let's see, Victoria cheated on Cole...”

I was shocked, Cole was shocked, the whole room was shocked. 

“You guys with your cheating asses. I could never...” Dami chuckled but I don't think that was the best thing to say at that moment.

“It was a joke guys...” She added.

Everyone looked at Victoria but she was unfazed. “Boy, I don't know how I should have explained it to you, I want to move on. So, I thought I should make it clear by writing it as a secret. I didn't cheat on you but I think I like someone else. Nobody in here obviously, ew.” She eventually explained. Cole looked really devastated and I felt bad for him but I remembered what he did to me and all the pain he caused.

“Can we just move on!?” Victoria yelled.

“We should. Next, we have, I'm pregnant...” Dami was so surprised that she turned the letter around to see if there was a sike.

“What?!” 

Shock and disbelief filled the entire room. I couldn't believe what I just heard.

That was by far the worst confession of it all. Everyone looked at us girls. 

It wasn't me and neither did I expect it to be any one of us.

I wrote down Victoria, I couldn't imagine it being Dami or Aisha. We are way too close for that. But on the other hand, we haven't seen each other in a while.

“Turn the bords around.” She ordered.

“Okay! Two Victoria, Two Dami, Three Reneé!? Oh damn girl and one Aisha by Logan.” Dami counted.

She sighed and grabbed the envelope with the result.

“Soon to be a mother is-” She stopped after reading who it was.

“No way! Aisha!”

That was probably the reason why Aisha didn't want to play this on the very first day. It was a surprise.

Everyone was shocked and happy at the same time, I believe but I asked myself, who is the father?! That's just going to create more drama.

“Congrats girl!” Dami said hugging her. “Yeah...thanks.” She replied.

“Who's the father though?” Victoria asked. Everyone darted her a look. “What? Don't act like you don't wanna know.” She defended.

Dami placed a trusting hand on her shoulder, “You don't have to answer.” 

“Actually, I wrote that confession on purpose to surprise you guys on our reunion. And the father-

I believe it's Logan's...but I haven't read the paternity test yet.” She revealed.

“Guys, I think this went too far.” I muttered. “I know but she added it-” 

“Because I needed to. I haven't talked to anyone about this and I thought this was the perfect opportunity. I never knew both of them were coming... I believe it's Logan's because he's my boyfriend.” She revealed.

As if there wasn't already enough tension and surprise in the air.

“But well... I'm 3 months pregnant and Logan asked me to be his girlfriend 2 months ago and before that, I was still on and off with James. I know we broke up in High School but we felt like trying again without everyone knowing...” 

I covered my mouth and looked at Dami who was surprised and confused at the same time.

“The paternity results arrived today.” She added 

“Wait! I didn't take the test.” James said. “Logan did. If he ain't the father it's...you. I'm so sorry for everything, the whole drama. I don't know how I got into such a situation.” She said while tears were starting to pour down her cheeks. It was more than emotional.

I handed her a tissue as she revealed the envelope. She took out the letter and thoroughly read through it.

“And?” Dami asked carefully.

“Yeah, we wanna know. This is actually way better than I anticipated.” Victoria said smiling. “Shut up.” Cole said.

“Excuse me?” 

“Shut up! Both of you.” Noah said once and for all.

“It's James...” She said breaking down in tears. He immediately got up and hugged her. Logan sat there just looking down on his feet. 

She freed herself from James's hug and walked over to Logan, kneeling down beside him.

“I still love you. I know it's his child and that so damn messed up but if you are still willing to love me, I will too.”

“What a mess. I absolutely love it!” Victoria said triumphantly.

“This is not what I planned or expected...” Dami said a little perplexed.

I nodded in agreement still in shock over what just happened in the last five minutes.

We spend the rest of the weekend at the cabin. It was enough time to catch up and sort out things. Sadly there's is still quite a lot of tension but some things are just hard to fix.

The last day has arrived. I was packing all my stuff together while reflecting on the last few days when I heard a knock on my door.

“Yes.” I said inviting the person in.

The door opened and revealed Cole with something behind his back.

“Hey!” I smiled. We talked a lot and kind off became friends.

“Hey. Do you need help?” He asked leaning against the door closing it.

“No...but that's not the only reason you came, right?” I said, trying to peek behind his back.

“You are smart.” He chuckled and revealed a flower.

“Are you serious? How cheesy.” I laughed.

“Oh, you think this is cheesy? What about the drama that happened on Day 1.” He chuckled.

I shook my head and laughed. 

“It wasn't cheesy. It was emotional...” I said accepting the flower.

“So, what is next for you?” He asked.

I shrugged, grabbing some stuff off the shelves.

“Life as a medical intern, I guess. And...I'm moving to New York with Dami.” I said a little sad.

He frowned,

“That's- eh very far.” He muttered while rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yes, we both want to fulfil our dreams in New York...” I added trying to grab something from the upper shelf. “Let me help you.” He offered.

Before I could say anything else he grabbed it for me. “Here.” He said. We stood only inches apart.

He leaned in but I gently pushed him away. “I can't. I'm sorry, you and I were over a long time ago. You know what you did.” I said walking back to my suitcase.

“But I apologized so many times!” He groaned.

“ Yes and I accepted. That's why we are friends but nothing more than that. Please respect that, and as I said. I'm moving to New York, it could never work. ” I made it clear.

He paused for a few seconds and looked at me.

We both walked out of the cabin with our luggage. Dami and the others were already waiting except Victoria who left a week ago after an explosive breakup. 

“I will miss you guys so much. We should make this an annual thing!” Aisha said. “Definitely.” I agreed.

After saying our goodbyes everyone was left to continue their lives. 

Some with another person by their side, some completely alone.

Time has passed.

James and Aisha just welcomed their little prince into the world after Aisha and Logan got engaged. I have no idea how they will manage to fix their difficulties especially now that Logan is engaged to her and James being the father to her child but I believe in them. Surprisingly, Victoria and I grew closer as friends. We all saw it coming, Dami and Noah are now officially a couple. 

And in the city of New York, I finally found love. But, the person that I will forever carry with me is Cole -- Cole died in a plane crash a few months ago.

The adventure of life is to learn. The purpose of life is to grow. The nature of life is to change. The challenge of life is to overcome. The essence of life is to care. The opportunity of like is to serve. The secret of life is to dare. The spice of life is to befriend. The beauty of life is to give.

- William Arthur Ward

End