“You’re acting all fidgety, and your face just turned a couple different shades of red.”
“I’ll tell you in a minute. I can’t look back right now.”
“So you’re staring at the wall?”
“Don’t turn around.”
Of course, she does. “That guy? Was he flirting with you?” She has no idea who it is, so it’s not her fault. “He finally walked out the door. You can resume normalcy,” Melanie says sarcastically.
“That was Chase. See that guy at the bar over there with those women? That’s his best friend, Parker. I went to school with them.”
“Chase is extremely hot. I can see why you have the hots for him.”
“Had… I had the hots for him a long time ago… A very long time ago.” I’m lying to myself again.
“Looks like you still do.”
“I do not. I don’t think he recognized me, so I’m safe. Now I know I can’t go to that reunion.”
“Too late. You already RSVP’d,” she reminds me.
“Damn you, Mel. Damn you.”
She laughs out loud.
“You’ll thank me one day.”
“I doubt it,” I say, chugging down my martini.
CHAPTER 7
Chase
“COME ON,WE’RE TAKING my car. Leave yours in the driveway,” I say to Parker as we walk out the door. Tonight is the high school reunion that I am so not looking forward to going to. I have some good memories and some bad ones. I’m hoping this night goes by very quickly. “P, remember that woman I told you I saw when I left the bar that night?”
“Yeah.”
“I can’t get her out of my head. Her eyes, they looked so familiar but so mysterious. I felt this attraction to her, but I have no idea why. I’ll never know who she was.”
“Can you just drop the love shit? They only fuck with you in the end. Look at what happened with Megan.”
He had to go and bring her up. I haven’t spoken to her since I kicked her out that night. It’s safe to say we are officially done.
I am nervous to run into Carrie at this reunion. We broke up on bad terms. We stayed together after graduation and into college. I went to NYU and she went to a local community college. She had dreams of being a Knicks dancer or something like that and didn’t want to go away to college or commit to something in case she got her opportunity. Pharmacy school was very hard and took up a lot of my time. One Saturday, she came up to my dorm, and of course, we had sex. We’d been together for four years at that point. We were lying in the bed afterwards, and she said she had something to tell me. Coming from Carrie, I could only imagine what it was she had to tell me. My life could have changed in an instant.
“I’m pregnant,” she said.
I just sat there in silence. I had no idea what this meant for me. Would I have to leave school? Would we get married? I didn’t even think I wanted to marry Carrie. I was speechless. I actually didn’t know what to say. I was only twenty years old. I always used protection with her, so I wasn’t sure what was going on. I mean, I did know there’s always that possibility.
“There’s more,” she said, looking away.
“What’s going on, Car?”
“It’s not your baby. I got drunk at a party, and I cheated on you. I was pretty wasted and didn’t use protection.”
“How could you let this happen?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you keeping it?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
“No,” she said, crying. “I have a lot of things I need to do in my life.”
“Get the fuck out of my room. I can’t look at you. You made your bed. You make me sick. You’re an evil person. I put up with you for many years. I loved you. I hoped you would have changed, but I was wrong,” I yelled at her. I felt horrible after, but that was it for me.
We never spoke again after that. I felt too betrayed. I have no idea what she did with her life, and I really didn’t want to know. I have never seen her dancing at a Knicks game, so I guess her dreams didn’t come true…
“Chase, are you trying to kill me? You’re speeding, dude.”
“Sorry, I was lost in thought.” I pull into the parking lot of the school. “Couldn’t they have had this at a bar or something? Why did they have to have it at the school gym?”
“Can you just get happy for a second? We’re gonna see some of our boys who we don’t get to hang out with,” Parker says, excited for the circus.
I get out of the car and walk through the double doors. Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You Been Gone” blares through the gymnasium.
“P, why don’t you go show them your moves,” I joke.
“I hope they have beer at this party.”
“I’ll go with maybe spiked punch.”
We check in at the front table where we are given stickers with our names on them… first and last. Great, now there is no hiding.
There are a bunch of guys in a circle by the bleachers talking. Parker and I walk up to them. I recognize most of them. We start talking sports with them and bullshitting. A couple of them are already married and have kids. They have a glow about them when they talk about their families. I can’t even get someone to remain faithful to me for two years.
“Can you guys excuse me for a minute? I’m gonna get a beer and go to the bathroom.” I turn to head out to the hallway when I spot the woman from the bar. She is beautiful. She walks through the doors and stands there, just looking around.
I am shocked to see her. I must look like an idiot, the way I’m staring at her.
I go to the makeshift bar and order a beer, not taking my eyes off of my dream girl.
CHAPTER 8
Hailey
I REACH THE GYMNASIUM. I picked out the perfect red strapless dress for the reunion. It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, so red is appropriate. I accented my dress with a pair of silver Marc Jacob heels and dangling silver earrings. My hair is free-flowing down my back with large bouncy curls at the ends. I feel confident in my appearance. No one is going to bring me down tonight. It has been ten years, and I have matured into a sophisticated woman who can handle anything life throws at her.
The smell of the hallway brings some bile to my throat. My heart pounds out of my chest as I turn the door handles. I am about a half hour late for the party. I was debating with myself whether I should go or not up to the last minute.
I can hear the music coming from the room. Jesse McCartney’s “Beautiful Soul” is playing. The gym is set up like a school dance. This is mortifying, because I never actually ever went to these things in high school. The gym is dim with a glow from the mirror ball. I especially hated this room in the school. This was where the torture took place. The pain that I endured all comes flooding back…
***
It was 2005… Senior year.
I hated gym class. I had it third period. Our gym classes were co-ed, but the lockers weren’t. I dreaded having to go to the locker and change in front of the girls in my class. I had to keep telling myself that this was my last year of high school. I only had seven more months of this.
I could feel my body start to sweat. First it was my hands, then it was my armpits. I walked through the gym toward the back. Some of the boys were out on the court playing basketball while they waited for class to start. I was stalling, which was why I was running late. I was hoping everyone would already be out of the lockers by the time I got there. No chance of that happening.
Carrie, Paulina and Laney were all hovering in the corner, doing their hair and putting on lip gloss. They were gossiping about everyone in the school. I mean can you get any bitchier?
They spotted me. Carrie stood up.