A Small Reunion

      It had been twenty-four years since she had last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. It was the middle of the day, the sun glaring down on her brown hair and pale skin from overhead, the hot summer sun reminding her of the reason she came back. Clarissa had worked hard to avoid any and everyone she went to high school with, but now, here she was, standing right outside the high school gym. Now, she was a different person, though back then she was not. It had taken some time, and a lot of growing, to become who she was now.

           The building itself still had that same red brick, though slightly faded, and the archway leading into the building was still painted a soft eggshell white. Sighing softly, Clarissa looked down at her business suit outfit and adjusted her bag on her shoulder. After the abrupt end to her high school year her senior year, she had not looked back once. It had been twenty-four years, she reminded herself, looking back up at the building. This was the auditorium built on to the school for the drama club back when she went to school here. Since a party was being held here today, the entire building was lit up.

“Guess it’s now or never.” She mumbled, stepping forward her heels clicking on the concrete.

           Pulling open the door, she looked around the entrance hall. It was, of course, decorated in the school’s colors of deep red and black, a reminder of her days as a student here. Feeling just as nervous, if not more so, than she did back then, she walked over to where a few people were gathered near a table with name tags on it. When their conversation stopped, their eyes meeting hers, they seemed shocked. Of course, they would be. The last anyone heard of her, she was in the Bahamas, doing work for her company. Sighing, she forced a smile to her lips.

“Clarissa?! Is that you?” The voice and tone were extremely familiar, and Clarissa turned to see Destiny standing there. “I thought you were in the Bahamas for work!”

“I was. I came through here on my way back up to New York.” She replied, doing her best to maintain her smile. “How have you been?”

           Destiny was one of Clarissa’s first friends at this school, and though they had kept in contact over the years, some things had clearly changed. Since most of them now were in their forties, it was clear who had aged well and who had not. Clarissa thought she was in with the latter, especially since work had never been kind to her. She smiled wryly as she looked at her old friend, who despite having four kids, still looked every bit a teenager. As they conversed, she felt several more eyes on hers causing her to look around to see several people she used to cause trouble with.

“Clarissa May Smith. Or is it Adams now?” The deep tone of another old friend sounded behind her causing her to turn around. “How are you?”

           Jason Callister, someone she once considered a brother and best friend back then. He was still taller than her, even in heels, and his eyes still held that same warm glow they had back then. Jason was still just as handsome, just as friendly as he had always been, and this fact had emotions clogging her throat. When she left, she left many friends like him behind without even saying goodbye. It had been unfair for her to do that, but she caught herself before she reached up to tousle his blonde hair, the way she had when they were teens.

As the memories began to form in her mind, she found her body wrapped up by his arms in a hug. At once, the feeling of nostalgia curled through her, before she smiled slightly. No, she had not married back then. In fact, she had never married, never had children. Shaking her head of the thoughts that had begun to plague her as of late, she looked back up into his deep brown eyes and smiled slightly. Of course, they had been close friends back then, but she was a different woman now. And, she assumed, he was a different man.

“It’s still Smith.” She replied, watching as one of her former classmates filled out her nametag neatly. “I never married.”

“Oh…” It was as though all the air rushed out of him at once before his eyes averted. “I thought you had.”

“No. The day I was supposed to, I caught him and Kourtney making out in his dressing room.” Clarissa countered, laughing nervously. “After that, I focused on my career, and well…the right time never seemed to come.”

           Turning, she walked toward the big auditorium room where other students from her year were hanging around chatting. Clarissa did not have to look behind her to know that Destiny and Jason had followed her, especially since they seemed to have questioning looks on their faces. Everyone knew Kourtney Smith…now Kourtney Adams. She was Clarissa’s older sister, complete pain to deal with, and extremely avoidable since Clarissa had moved states and never spoke to her family again. It had been rough to get through but she had powered through it and came out stronger on the other side.

“Is that why you left?” Destiny asked, coming to stand next to her. “Why we haven’t heard much from you besides your social media posts in the past twenty-four years?”

“It’s part of the reason.” She replied, turning to look at her old friend. “The other was that I wanted to travel, to see the world. And so, I did.”

           For those twenty-four years, she had been almost all over the world, getting her passport stamped in all of the major countries and quite a few minor ones. Clarissa took the time to learn several languages as well, doing her best to enjoy the cultures while she traveled for work and sometimes for fun. It was not until recently that she had learned just how lonely her life truly was. She had no husband or children waiting at home for her, no family in New York, and barely any social life to speak of. After her first attempt at happy-ever-after, she simply gave up on that.

“Are you satisfied with that?” Jason asked, his eyes narrowed as she turned to look at him. “Is that what you’ve always dreamed of?”

           Even now, Jason could draw the truth out of her. It was like he could read her mind even though it had been so long since they last met. Her gaze fell to the floor between them and she bit her lip. This was her problem, her choices in life that led her to this point. As much as she wanted to complain and vent about everything she went through back then, she would not do that. When she lifted her head again, her smile was firmly back in place. This was where she was. Jason averted his eyes again after they passed over her face.

“It was rough starting out, but I had a lot of people help me that I am grateful for.” That was the truth. “I’m getting along great.”

           And there was the lie. As if her oldest friends sensed it the moment it parted her lips, they glanced at each other before back to her. Before they could say anything, however, the valedictorian from their class took the podium and began to speak. For the most part, Clarissa ignored it, until she felt the eyes of someone in the crowd on her. Sighing, she looked around and immediately, her eyes locked on those of one Zachary Adams. If she had known he was going to be here, she would have taken an alternate route back to New York and avoided the entire state.

           When he started to make his way through the crowd towards her, Clarissa’s eyes searched the area quickly, looking for any method she could to escape. A chill crawled down her spine at the thought of having to talk with him again. Before she could move, however, a firm hand grabbed her waist and hauled her into a broad, sturdy chest. Looking up, she noticed the fine line of Jason’s jaw right in front of her, set firm, as though he were tense. In fact, where their bodies were touching, his entire being felt coiled tight like a snake.

           Had he realized that Zachary was on his way over here? Is that why he was doing this? As these thoughts and more curled through her mind, Zachary came to a stop directly in front of her, eyes narrowed on Jason. The tension was like a physical thing in the air around the two men, ready to snap at a moment's notice, should that be required. Where her hands were planted on Jason’s chest, she could feel his heart beating a steady rhythm, calming her wayward thoughts almost immediately. The fact that he was calm, meant she should be as well.

“Clarissa, I see you managed to drag yourself back home,” Zachary stated, his voice causing bile to rise in her throat. “Surely, you’ll come to visit your sister and me before you disappear again.”

“No, I just so happened to be passing through right when this was scheduled,” Clarissa replied hotly, eyes dropping to the floor. “In fact, I was just leaving. I have to get back to work the day after tomorrow and it’s a long drive.”

“That’s too bad. And I thought you and Jason were ‘just friends’ but you’re here with him?” His jaw jerked toward the man whose grip tightened on my waist. “Kourtney always said you were easy, but wow.”

“That’s none of your business, Zachary.” Jason countered, jaw clenching. “But cheating at the altar, wow. What a man you are…”

           The more she was put into this tense situation the more she wanted to flee. When she finally broke out of Jason’s grasp, she quickly walked away, out to the parking lot where her car was waiting. There were a lot of things she had to deal with, on a daily basis, but this was not something she was planning on putting up with. It was one thing to face down Zachary, but if her sister was there? That would make things even more difficult. Discarding her family had been tough, but when she left the state, Zachary and Kourtney had informed her family that she left him at the altar.

           Taking off her suit jacket, she put it into the passenger seat before locking the door and turning back towards the building. Clarissa should have known that it would be a bad idea to come back here. Though she had hoped to at least explain things to her old friends she left behind back then. The chance did not seem to want to present itself, at least not for her. The old building still looked pristine despite its age, which only served to make her feel older than she was. Another sigh and she walked around to the drivers’ seat. This time, she would not be looking back.

“Don’t disappear on me again,” Jason said, his footsteps coming to a stop and he leaned against the roof of her car, arms crossed. “Unless you want to take me with you.”

“Haha, don’t you have a family, Jason?” Clarissa shot him a glare before opening the door. “Ya know. Kids, a wife?”

“Nope. I never married or settled down either.” His eyes shot off to the side again, his aversion was foreign to her. “There was only one girl I was in love with, though she ran away a long time ago.”

“Wha…?”

“But she came back, grown, more mature, and just as beautiful as she was back then.” He continued, his eyes locking me into place, expression earnest. “And I’m hoping that maybe, just maybe, she won’t see me as a brother after twenty-four years of being apart?”

“We’ve only just met each other again…” Clarissa replied, her eyes wide in shock. “How would that work? I’m different now. You’re different. I’m not that girl anymore.”

“That’s what I’m counting on, Clarissa,” Jason smirked, walking around to the same side as her. “I knew back then that I didn’t see you as a sister. I wanted more than that. I loved you, I never stopped, and that was all that mattered.”