I’m still here in this small city somewhere near the Great Smoky Mountains. I decided to take the day off work so that I could slowly make my way back home (via a couple of airports) and not have to rush. It’s been a wonderful time…from the rush of old high school memories; the girlfriends who were the source of so much young joy, jealousy, heartbreak and love; the excitement of the actual possibility of a high school-type hookup; the scenery that makes me breathless; to the old house where my boyfriend used to bring a ladder and climb up onto the roof and sneak in my bedroom window…what memories!
These were my formative years, and I haven’t been back for twenty years! I really didn’t have reason to come back between my 10 year reunion and now - Facebook keeps us in touch yet at arm’s length, I don’t have any family here, and quite frankly, my high school years were not the most warm and fuzzy. I was a little bit of an outcast because I wan’t really from here, and so I never really fit in. Yes, I did have a boyfriend for a while and I did have good girlfriends and I had a normal childhood with all of the regular (basic) stuff/issues. But this is a small city with nothing really exciting going on, and I just didn’t have reason to come back until now. Plus, it’s hard to get here! It’s a long drive from anywhere, nestled in the mountains, and the airport only accommodates regional airplanes (AKA puddle jumpers with propellers, aack!).
But I think a 30 year high school reunion is something of a milestone, and I really did want to see a lot of my old classmates face-to-face.
I’d say so far it’s been well worth it. I got to see my high school buds (a group of silly girls), the popular kids who really didn’t want much to do with me (until Saturday night), and the amazing scenery. The town leaves a little to be desired, but it’s had some really nice transformation since I was here last - there’s a section of downtown that’s really cool…parks, breweries, cafes, coffee shop/music venues (where I am sitting right now), funky little hangouts, pretty nice people…
I have a little bit of time to go drive past my old high school before I need to head to the airport. So much awkward personal growth happened there. I want to take a picture!
Anyway, the reunion itself was a little bit of a disappointment in that it was supposed to be held in a [the only] nice hotel in town, so I’d booked a room well in advance. But due to lack of participation, it was moved to a sports bar in an “eh” part of town. The bar is kind of a hole-in-the-wall cheesy spot, but it didn’t stop us from having a fantastic time catching up (and in many cases, wondering who the fuck some of these people were).
I gotta say, I kinda knew that people would be at least a little bit surprised about me, because I’ve turned out quite different than the way I was perceived in high school. I’ve really come out of my shell and I dress a lot…better, I guess you could say - more fashionably. And I think I’ve kept myself together pretty well. Or at least better than a lot of people have.
And of course, most of us are friends on Facebook, so nothing was really a surprise - except for the people who are not friends on FB. Like this one guy, Tim. He was mean to me in HS, so when he friend requested me several years ago, I was like, fuck no!! But I did speak to him at the reunion, and he did request me again, and I decided to bury the hatchet and accept his request. Why hold a grudge. If he turns out to be a dick on FB, I can always block his ass.
Anyway, we drank and I got super flirty with our waiter (who was adorable and kept bringing me aaaaaalllll kinds of drinks) because I just figured that nobody from the old days would be interested in having sexy talk with me, heh.
There was a DJ playing all of the great old songs from back in the 80s and a few of the girls got out on the dance floor and we cut up. NONE of the guys did. Lame.
But the guys were all watching, and after we took group photos and danced and had a good old time, a few of the guys pulled me aside and were like, “you are the one who’s changed the most…you’re like….hot now,” which I found really funny, because, YES! I was a DORK in high school and I desperately hated that fact. So, the fact that it took THIRTY years for my mojo to catch up with me, was mind-blowingly amazing! I drank it in. Yeah, it may be the insecure thing to do/be/act or whatever, but I ate it up like my just desserts. Ha. Take that, bitches!!
And even the girls, some of them really surprised me with how nice they were being to me. Not that they were mean, it’s just that they really didn’t want to have much to do with me back then. And oh, how I wanted to belong! I wanted so desperately to be a part of their clubs (they had these little faux sororities and I was excluded from them all…I guess because I belonged in the band and the choir and the Home Ec clubs and such)
Still, it was funny that I only really felt comfortable with my sweet little group of semi-outcasts: the Comedian, the Tart, and the Chubby-but-Pretty. My Super BFF didn’t show, but that’s okay because she and I had a strange falling out our senior year and we’ve never quite recovered from that. My little group stuck together like glue that evening, even though we all went off to mingle at separate times, we kept meeting back up together at our table.
And the waiter kept bringing me all kinds of different drinks and every so often a shot – we drank and we danced and we laughed and re-told all of our funny stories. It was really quite great. The waiter got even hotter as the night wore on…there was just something about him that made me want to make out with that beefy, tattooed, bearded young thing. He indulged my flirtations the whole time, especially when my friends egged me on.
Then I got the idea that we should all go to brunch the next day and started talking to people about it, and they were all like, YES! Post the details on the Facebook Reunion page so that we all know where it’s going to be. We will be there!
And then, the party started slowing down and some of the cool kids wanted to keep partying…including ME! Yes, I was one of the cool kids now. I was going to hang at the after-hours bar with the SQUAD! We were going to go downtown to some kind of underground place, and the Football Captain pulled me aside and wrapped his arm around me and said he’d meet me there because he wanted to see me there. I got a ride with one of the popular girls and her husband.
GOD, this sounds so childish, but inside I was just giddy with the fact that I was hanging with these people – the ones who I longed to have acceptance from as a kid. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t a freak or anything…nor was I really socially challenged, it’s just that I was not well received or understood by these kids.
And MY little group of girlfriends was tired anyway and their ever so patient husbands were ready to go home. So we got the waiter to bring us our tabs, and then my tarty friend pulled the waiter to the side and told him he should get my phone number. He actually did me one better – he only charged me for about half of what I ordered, I think even less than half!
So I doubled my tab with a fat tip and I didn’t give him my digits because I was just ready to split that scene anyway, and how weird would it be to go off with the waiter from my HS reunion anyway?!
I bid my posse goodbye and left with my new-old friends to go downtown. One of the girls drove. There are NO Ubers or Lyfts in this town, and there are hardly any taxis, but it was only a 5 minute drive (again, small town!) and we were soon down in the city center.
We hopped a few places for some reason (someone wanted to get a pre-afterparty drink in a different venue), but quickly changed our plans and went to the original place when we heard that Football Captain had already made it to the underground bar. Seems everybody still jumps when Football Captain snaps his fingers.
So hop we did and there he was in all his drunken glory, the handsome Captain of the Football Team, Homecoming King, now aged to PERFECTION, very successful restaurateur (in a large city), buying drinks for the group and holding court. He asked me if I wanted a shot, and I was all, SURE!! Let’s do shots, but I need a chaser…
The night starts to go blurry and I believe last call may have been announced, or it was coming up, and everyone in the group was leaving, but Football Captain wanted to talk to me and told me that he’d make sure I made it home safely.
We talked for what seemed like a very long time, though it was probably just a good 20 minutes. Him, telling me about how he wished that our class would have been closer. Me, telling him how much I wanted that too. He told me about his kid. I told him about my dog. He got the hiccups! And then he opened his tab back up for ONE MORE DRINK and then asked the bartender to call us a cab.
We walked outside into the cool night air, the lights swirled, the drunk people swayed down the sidewalk, and he and I both were just moved by the night, I guess…because right before the taxi picked us up, there we were, standing in the street, k.i.s.s.i.n.g.
Kissing, kissing, super sexy KISSING!
And this soundtrack was playing in my head. Some kind of crazy, warped mash up between the 80s and today. I can’t even tell you what it was, but it was like a movie. Like Sixteen Candles Goes to their High School Reunion. I don’t know what, but it was magic x 100 and I couldn’t believe what was happening.
And we kissed passionately in the car on the way to my hotel and I knew that it was going to be a problem, because I know the guy is married and I could also tell by the way we were kissing that there was going to need to be more. I knew he wanted more and I wanted much, MUCH more. But I had to figure out how to make it stop for both of our sakes.
So we got to the hotel and I told the cabbie to wait, and Football Captian said, NO. Don’t wait. But as he was getting out of the taxi to walk around and open my door, I asked the driver to * please wait * so that I wouldn’t be stuck with a predicament on/in my hands!! Remember, taxis are very hard to come by in this small town.
And I got out of the taxi and we kissed in the hotel driveway for what seemed like 15 minutes. He wanted to come to my room so we could kiss more, and I told him that I had to respect his marriage and that he really needed to do the same. His argument was that his wife never kisses him anymore, but seriously??! That’s what you’re going to go with? That your wife won’t kiss you?
I don’t know, folks. And I didn’t let him explain any further. Then he threw in the fact that he didn’t have cash to pay for the taxi, so I pulled out a $20 and gave it to him (you can get pretty much anywhere in this town for between $5 and $10). I had to get him away from me before we accidently meshed body parts.
I invited him (again) to brunch. It was only a couple of hours away at that point. He told me he’d try to make it, but I didn’t think that he would – mainly because we were both stupid drunk at that point.
I kissed him one more time, turned him around and gave him a little push towards the waiting taxi (thank you, taxi driver!), and he was off.
And I floated up to my room…just lingering to those kisses. And yes, I know that they were drunk and horny and kind of CHEATY kisses, but I. DON’T. CARE! These were the kisses I deserved in high school and never received. Don’t get me wrong, I did get a few kisses in high school, but they weren’t the sweeping you off your feet by the Captain of the Football Team kind of kisses. I finally got those, and I know he got a little thrill out of making out with the former geek cum “hot girl” (hahah!).
So up to my room, out with the contacts, on with the nightie and my head hit the pillow and before I knew it, it was time to get ready for brunch.
Later
I’m home now and need to get myself ready for bed. The brunch stuff and the rest of the trip (including sitting next to a HOT pilot on my prop plane flight out of the hills) will have to come later.
MUCH more to write!
XO
GS
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