The Reunion Strut
The high school reunion everyone's been waiting for
Backpack Kitties
Han is up front, I can’t tell who the other kitty is. While generally the cat carrier backpack is cause for alarm, we realized if we left it out, the cats eventually snuggled up in it. This might make transporting them easier! I guess we’ll find out the next time someone needs to go to the vet.
…Time for this week’s story…
The Reunion Strut
After twenty years, Robert’s high school reunion had come. He had worked hard to make something of himself and was ready to rub it in the faces of everyone who bullied him in high school. Wearing slacks and a gray dress shirt, Robert jumped into his Lambo and drive to his old high school.
Well dressed adults walked around the campus after school hours visiting their old haunts and sharing memories with their spouses. When he ran into people who recognized him, they called him Rob. He used to go by Rob to distinguish himself from his dad, so as long as he was at the reunion, he was Rob. At the table where everyone picked up their name tags, Rob ran into his old friend Sam and greeted him in the traditional way.
“I'm glad that you're here with me, at the end of all things, Sam.” The greeting was gradually truncated over the years from the full quote. They had lost touch over the years after Sam moved to Colorado.
“I moved back out here a few years ago. I live like an hour south,” Sam shared. “I'm looking forward to seeing some of the old douchebags. I wonder how their lives went.”
“Dude, same. I hope this guy shows up.” Rob held up the name tag of one Bradley Buckley. “Douchebag.”
“You didn't go to the ten year reunion?” Sam asked.
“No, I wasn't really where I wanted to be and with the connections some of these jerks had, I wanted to make sure I was a little further along, you know?”
“That's funny, I didn't come for the same reason. I figured, why put myself through that again? I needed to level the playing field.”
They headed inside and ran into their friend Jose. He had become an accountant and made ridiculous amounts of money. Despite that, he was too nervous to approach his longtime crush Cassie.
As they caught up with Jose, Terry walked by. Terry was the only black guy in their grade. The demographics of the area had mixed greatly since they went to school, but Terry had walked around with a lot of style back then and was a school celebrity. For some reason, Terry liked Rob and his friends. Then again, Terry was cool with everyone. Once Terry was hanging out, all kinds of people stopped by, and the circle grew.
Everyone’s heart stopped when Tracy stopped by on her way to greet some friends. Tracy was the popular, beautiful blond cheerleader and the wholesome girl next door. She had aged like fine wine. She jumped for joy and gave everyone a hug, genuinely happy to see them all. To the dismay of all the single men, she was happily married. She told everyone who didn't come to the ten year reunion they were missed, and promised to come back to hear everyone's stories before departing.
“How come none of the assholes from high school are here? Some of them were really popular, I figured if they peaked in high school they’d come to the reunion,” Rob said.
“That’s a good reason not to come, if you ask me,” said Terry.
“I heard Brad was working with a big band or something,” Sam said.
“I heard Ricky found Jesus, so maybe he’s not so bad anymore. I was hoping to find out when we got here,” Jose added.
“You know what? I bet Tracy would know. Let's just ask her when she gets back,” Terry suggested. The group agreed and carried on talking about other things. When Tracy returned, Rob inquired about their former bullies.
“Oh my God, it's so sad.” Tracy put a hand over her chest. “Brad was really getting his life together and overdosed like four years after high school. Ricky found Jesus for a while, but it turned out it was just a scam to steal from the church. He died a couple years after Brad. The stealing thing is not okay, but it's still sad that he died.”
Many in the group gasped at the news. Nobody had cared to ask about them before.
“Oh jeez, who else is dead?” Rob asked.
“Nick died of a heart attack just a few years ago. His life got really rough. Brandon got brutally murdered by a gang for stealing from them. That girl Megan, too. I ran into her sister one day and she told me she died, but it is kind of embarrassing so I'm not going to share how. Oh yeah, and Tanya was doing a protest to protect a bridge and fell off.”
“That was Tanya from our school? I saw that on the news!” Terry jumped.
“Yeah, it’s really sad. Really makes me appreciate still being here,” Tracy said. Everyone nodded in agreement, then Jose’s chest puffed up.
“I’m going to go talk to Cassie.” Jose said.
“Go for it, she's divorced,” Tracy said, lighting up Jose’s eyes before he matched off with a grin. The group livened up and Rob proposed a toast.
“I feel like I've been a little too fixated on the past, and not on what I have now. So, cheers to the fallen, and to appreciating the moment. You never know which one is your last.”
“Cheers!”
Their glasses dinged together and everyone enjoyed the rest of their night without carrying any of the baggage that brought them there.