High School Reunion

[intriguess]

They had attended a typically high school, with the typical groups. Jocks, nerds, bandgeeks, stoners, loners, drifters, sluts, the list could undoubtedly go on forever.

Maggie was an outsider on the inside, she had friends among all groups, and everyone had thought they knew who she was. It was odd to think it had been ten years, where had the time gone?

She looked about the same, maybe a few more white hairs, about twenty pounds lighter and had gone up a cup size, but overall she felt about the same as that lonely girl. She still had periodic migraines, and depressive episodes. She'd studied psychology and was now a somewhat successful writer, but she stilled lived at home, having spent the last year taking care of her grandmother who had finally been placed in an appropriate care facility.

So she didn't have far to drive to the hotel where the evenings festivities were being held. She was wearing a simple ecru silk tank top, and a fancy pair of golden pants that she'd revamped herself. She was nervous as she ran her fingers through her dark hair again, she took the time to put on some lip gloss and headed out the door.

She loved her car, and was lucky enough to have paid for it in cash and had no debt. Maggie owned a gorgeous midnight blue 97 Intrigue, and it only took a few minutes to drive to the hotel.

 

[catlover]

Frank

I sailed through high school academically, but was a total loss socially. Other than play on the golf team I wasnt a jock and because I was big, guys thought I was either lazy or a chicken, both of which were a bit true, but the reason I didnt play football or basketball was I had grown tall very fast and my parents were concerned about my physical immaturity, and that I could get permanently hurt.

They werent entirely wrong, but it didnt help my acceptance among my peers, nor did the ease with which I got all A's

After getting a college degree I went in the navy, where the social life didnt advance much, but the maturity did. I had been over much of the world, and happenned to be home on leave in between billets when the reunion was scheduled.

I showed up wearing my dress blue uniform with two gold stripes and a few service ribbons, wondering who would be there and would anyone remember me.

 

[slippedhalo]

Tara (Hanson) Rivers

Tara (Hanson) Rivers

Yeah, blonde, blue eyed, and still fairly attractive although certainly not the perfect figure of a cheerleader anymore. Tara had married straight out of high school. Ted Rivers, the football, wrestling, baseball and basketball all star of the school. They had been dating since sophomore year and both had been very popular. She had more brains than Ted, and once his back was injured in a college game and he had lost his scholarship and gone on disability from his job, Tara had to both go to school and work full time to pay their household bills. Life was difficult, they were living in a trailer and soon Tara was pregnant, baby one came, baby two came and by the time baby three was born, things got worse as Ted began drinking a lot and was abusive to Tara when he was drunk.

The ten year reunion was just six months after Tara had left her husband of almost ten years. She was trying to start her life over again and the ink was still fresh on her divorce papers. She wasn't certain she wanted to go to the reunion but her therapist suggested it might be good for her. She wore her favorite, figure flattering red dress, her hair was now just a little past her shoulders and much more sleek than when she was a kid. Her body had filled out a bit more, she was a little too skinny in high school and now she looked quite shapely but when she frowned her age and hard life experiences were beginning to show. Tara had no intentions of frowning if she could help it tonight.

Tara walked into the lobby and all she could think was that she hoped Ted would not show up and ruin things.

 

[College_geek]

Hannah

OOC: I hope it's alright to just join in...if not, I'll delete my post.


IC:

I was a band geek all through highschool. I played flute and was often also grouped into the slut category for that reason. I made out with a lot of guys during high school, but I never let guys get any farther than that. I think maybe that's why they started rumors of me being slutty. I liked to wear skirts a lot, but that was just because I liked the way my legs looked in them, not because I wanted to get banged in the bathroom during third period.

I did fairly good in school, usually getting As and Bs. I went to college for sociology and then I went on to pursue my law degree. I recently graduated and got a job at a law firm in NYC.

I show up to the reunion in a very modest beige dress suit and my hair pulled back into a tight bun. I laughed to myself while walking in the door, thinking that everyone would be a bit surprised at how my style has changed. Then I stopped laughing, wondering what people would say when they found out that I was still a virgin since I put so much time into college.

 

[plainjane]

Jane

ooc Jane 5'6" mousy brown hair and brown eyes, degree in home ec and working for a local food company.


As I walked up to the table where we were to check in, I was greeted by a girl I remembered, but hadnt seen since school and she wasnt really a friend then. She warmly shook my hand and led me over to register and pay the fee, but then turned to greet other classmates so she was busy.

Entering I walked over to the no host bar and ordered a gin and tonic, and turned and looked around. I thought "Who are all these old people?", as I spotted a girl sitting by herself over by the wall. Her face was familiar and she was too far away to read her nametag She might have been a spouse, bored while her husband circulated among the classmates, but I wandered over and then I remembered Tara, who had been the head cheerleader and everyone knew her. All the guys wanted her, but she was off limits because she ws the girlfriend of the football star.

I said "Hi Tara nice to see you again", and she looked at the nametag on my dress, and then remembered me.

Asking if she was alone, I asked if I could sit down, and when she said OK we started to chat about old times. I made the mistake of asking about Ted, and she started to tear up and spilled out her tale of woe.

I couldnt very well relate being single and having a good job but I asked her if she would join me at dinner and at least she was someone I wanted to talk with. The room was filling and it was time to find a seat at a table, so we joined a table for ten and she knew everyone but I only remembered a few and none of them were close friends

Later the music startred and a guy in a navy uniform came over and asked me to dance, so I excused myself and danced with him whom I only vaguely remembered, and he sure didnt look like this then. He was tall and handsome in his uniform, which made him stand out among the group, and I enjoyed being with him.

 

[slippedhalo]

Tara was glad to have Jane to talk to. The former 'popular' kids she had been friends with back in high school were now mostly all still snobs and not one came over to say hello, all whispered about her divorce with Ted and she thought she heard the word 'trailer' mentioned more than once. It hurt to be shunned by the crowd she once led but at least she wasn't sitting alone.

Jane was dancing with someone who looked familiar, althoug Tara hadn't caught his name. Meanwhile Tara had dug some pictures of her kids out of her handbag to show another woman at the table, a girl she was once lab partners with in biology Stephanie O'Conner. "This is Keegan, he's eight. That's Lily, she'll be six next month and that's my little one, Bridget, she just turned three last week."

She looked up when Jane returned to the table and Stephanie was cooing over the pictures, showing her a photo of her six month old. "He's so adorable!" said Tara, offering to show the pictures to Jane as well. "We've been showing off our kids to each-other. Want to see?" she asked, handing the pics, reexplaining which were hers and their names and ages, and the little baby boy as Stephanie's little Benjamin.

 

[catlover]

Frank

Dancing with Jane was nice. We werent buddies in school, but knew each other. I was so shy I never dated any of the girls

When the song was over, I took her hand and led her back to the table and asked Tara if she would dance with me, knowing that if I had asked ten years ago she would have slapped my face probably, being the Queen Bee of the popular girls, but tonight those that were here were sure ignoring her.

Jane had tipped me off that she had divorced Ted, so not to ask about him. Tara just melted into my arms as a slow romantic song was played by the DJ, and after a few turns she looked up at me, squeezed my hand, and just said "I missed a lot of boats, Marty" I was surprised she even remembered me, being an outsider, much less remembering that then I used my middle name to avoid confusion with my Dad also named Frank.

She asked me how I liked dancing with Jane, and I confessed that she and I had made a date for after the banquet, but then I asked her if she would go to dinner with me next week, hopefully Tuesday because I was leaving on Friday to go to my new duty station, as an instructor at the Naval Academy.

Tara said she would if she could get a baby sitter, and when she looked up at me to tell me that, she smiled and I leaned down andf kissed her nose.

She started to cry and I felt badly until she started to tell me how getting married and having babies so young had really destroyed her life. I wanted to make it better, if only for the one evening.

I was surprised no one even cut in on us. She must have become an outcast from her old group of friends, a lot of whom just watched us dance close and my little kiss, but never made a move on this gorgeous slinky girl who looked just prescious.

I hated it when the music stopped, but I had promised jane another dance after she insisted I ask Tara for a dance. She didnt know about the dinner date yet.

 

[College_geek]

Hannah

I walked inside and tried not to make a scene. I quickly walked over to the table with appetizers and glasses of wine. I grabbed a glass of wine and slowly sipped it, scanning the crowd. My eyes landed on Tara Hanson...or was it Tara Rivers? I think I had heard something about her getting married to that football player... I choked a bit on my drink once I realized who that football player had been. I had always had a secret crush on Ted, but as a member of the marching band, I was usually looked over. I had made out with him once by accident at a party I snuck into sophomore year. He was pretty tipsy by that point and I was dead sober, but he just came up and started to kiss me. After a few minutes, he realized that I wasn't Tara and left. The damage had been done, though. I was hooked on that guy. I wonder what he's been up to lately?

I walked over to the table that Tara and some other women were sitting at and I pulled up a chair. "Do you all mind if I sit here?"

 

[slippedhalo]

OOC: hEY, CATLOVER,did you leave any room for my own responses? You wrote more for my character than perhaps I would. Godmoder. Let me speak for myself.

 

[slippedhalo]

Tara smiled at the woman, 'Hannah? Nice to see you, please come join us." she said, feeling a lot better since she had been asked out already within not even a half hour of arriving and had her own little table filling up, despite having been shunned by her old friends.

 

[College_geek]

"Thanks," I said with a smile. "I heard that you had gotten married to Ted Rivers years ago. I had a crush on him back in high school, so I was always jealous of you." I laughed a bit to try to ease my nervousness. Why was I so nervous? This was all stuff that happened more than 10 years ago. I suppose I just wanted closure. "I was just curious as to what ever happened to him? Did he play football in college? What's he up to now?"

 

[slippedhalo]

Tara's smile faded, her face went white a moment and the tears presented themself but did not fall. She held them back and answered carefully. "We're divorced. Six months now. I don't know what he's doing recently but he did play football in college and got injured. That injury ruined his college career, put him on disability,forced me to work two jobs with three small children in the home, drove him to alcoholism and...things got pretty bad after that point. You were jealous of me? There was no reason to be. Life with Ted has been no bed of roses. If you still want him he's still out there somewhere, probably drunk as we speak." She took a breath to compose herself and then pasted her smile back on, "So, Hannah, tell me what you've been up to since high school."

 

[College_geek]

A bolt of reality ran through me as Tara spoke. I probably should've expected Ted to end up going down that path...he was no stranger to alcohol in high school, but I had never thought that he would become an alcoholic.

"Wow...I'm so sorry to hear that. Yeah, I was jealous, but it was silly high school jealous and it's all in the past now." I squeeze Tara's hand, knowing that she's had quite the hardship ever since graduation. "Well...what have I been doing since high school...I went to NYU to get a degree in sociology. I worked my ass off. So much that I didn't really get to have a social life during college. I played in the band the first two years, but by my junior year, I just had too large of a workload. I got to go to Yale for my law degree, and I recently got a job at a law firm in New York. I've been pretty lucky career-wise, but I haven't had any time to really make any friends or have a relationship. And I'm not getting any younger." I chuckle a bit to myself, then I sigh and smile.

 

[schmoe_128]

John

OOC:
John
H:6'0"
W:200lb
Dark Brown crew cut hair, green eyes

John had been a jock in high school but also got descent grades. His athletic skills were enough to earn him a scholarship to a small college. He played his sports, but mostly concentrated on studying. He graduated with honors with a degree in business. He then started his own business and has been very successful. He is currently in negotiations to sell the company and if it all goes right, possibly go into semi-retirement.

IC:
John sat in a corner of the room watching the other people while sipping on his drink. That's when he saw Tara enter the room. He had always had a HUGE crush on Tara. But, it was to no avail, she was always Ted's girl. Tara looked good for having had three kids, living with a deadbeat husband, and having to work her tail off trying to make nds meet since Ted supposedly couldn't work. John had even offered him a job a few years ago.

John and Ted had been good friends in high school. They almost had to be since they were both always together playing one sport or another. They had been in contact off and on since graduation especially during college until Ted hurt his back. John had heard that Tara and Ted were divorced. To bad for them that Ted had turned into such a loser. "It'll be really hard on the kids too" he thought.

He watched her as she sat down at a table by herself. Another woman walked over to join her. John wasn't sure who she was, but obiously Tara remembered her. He watched a s Navy guy walked up and asked the other woman to dance. "Ok, here's my chance to go talk to her" he thought.

On his way over to the table, someother women joined Tara and they were talking kids and obviously husbands. He could see Tara's eyes start to well up with tears. "Time to attempt a rescue".

He walked up behind Tara and lightly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Tara, could I have this dance?" he asked.

 

[chumpster]

Sean

OOC : first time here, I hope this works out...

Sean - Scottish native, moved to this area in early teens.
6' 190lbs. red hair, and that smooth brogue that charms the ladies.

IC: High school was some of the most fun times Sean had ever had. Some of his best friends were made back in those days, and he expects that they'll be that way forever. Sean was a social butterfly, gaining acceptance among most all of the groups in school, but kept a very close group of friends. After HS, Sean left for college, far off on the other coast. During this time, he lost contact with a bunch of the people he knew well, but weren't ever in his close group of friends. He had always had a girl friend during school, but there were other girls that Sean wished that he had persued further. The RSVP list showed a bunch of names for people that he was looking forward to catch up with, but there was one name that was very special to him. Maggie. Maggie was the one that got away.

She had been one of the girls he had lost touch with, and the girl that had sat in the back of his mind all this time.

Sean walked into the venue, alone, but very much looking forward to catching up with everyone. He was greated by the old class president, and shown where to sign in. "I hate name tags. 'My really going to have to wear this stuuupid thing?" With protest, his chest now proudly proclaimed "Hi my name is.... Sean", now where's the bar.
With a Scotch in hand, Sean's eyes surveyed the room.

 

[slippedhalo]

Tara was startled by the hand on her shoulder. She turned to see the friendly, familiar face of, "John! I was hoping you'd be here! How are you?" she said, standing and hugging him in honest surprise. "Of course I'll dance with you." she answered, letting him lead her to the dance floor. It had been at least two years since she'd last seen John. He and Ted had gotten out of contact and she missed him. She'd had a crush on him at the worst parts of her marriage and suspected there was chemistry going both ways but nothing came of it. John was too good of a guy to hit on a woman who was 'taken'. But, now, she was free...she wondered if John knew.

 

[PorcelainWaif]

Intro of Lauren, Meets Sean (CHUMPSTER)

In high school, Lauren had been the kind of girl that made instant bonds. She was in theatre, and had been the lead in many a production. She had mostly guy friends and one of those elusive girls who has a knockout body, but the laid back attitude of one of the guys. But her oft un-nurtured feminine side had inevitably come out in the worst way... She would get lonely, or dissatisfied with her current relationship, turn to one of her guy friends for a "No-strings-attached" make-out session, and end up in tears the next day when he acted like nothing happened. She had been a ballerina in her day, too, so the fitness she had accquired through her training and the health habits she picked up as a dancer had kept her toned. She didn't have much of a bust, but the generous flare of her hips and ass always got her a twice-over. She had travelled alot and gotten a job as a translator, and love of adventure, her busy schedule, (and perhaps some of the clinginess she retained from her teen years,) had kept her from forming a family. She was stunning tonight. She had worn tight, creamy feeling charcoal dress pants, and a slimming, thin black sweater. Her honey brown hair had been kept long, and swept free across the middle of her back. Her eyes were as bright as had been the girl's she was 10 years ago, though now they were behind smart black frames. She snuck up behind a familiar back and whispered "boo!" A surprised Sean had jumped, and turned around to face her. "Lauren" he said, and they embraced, but as they pulled apart, she could see that Sean's eyes were still scanning the crowd as though looking for someone else. The sensation in her stomach of unspoken rejection crept up on her, but she didn't let it show on her face. "How have you been?" she asked him.

 

[chumpster]

The place was still pretty sparsely populated. Not lots of people were there yet. It's not very common for Sean to show up quite so early. On the otherside of the room though, someone coming in the door caught is eye. While scanning the door, Sean was startled by the voice of a long-time passed. "Boo!"

"Lauren!", he said followed by an embrace. Sean struggled still to see who was signing in at the front desk still, but his attention was turned back to Lauren's chat.

"I'm very well thanks, Lauren. How've things been with you?" Sean quickly scanned Lauren, trying not to be to obvious. "You look to be very well." Her fragrance was pronounced, and it stirred up fond memories. "...yeah I went to school out on the coast and studied Music." ".. yeah it doesn't pertain much to my current job, but I can play the piano like a bat outta hell!" Sean laughed in that small talk kind of way... Lauren and Sean had known each other through the theater, where he played in the musicals. there were lots of after-show parties were the kids could get out of hand. Sean and Lauren had shared a few moments at one of those parties....

 

[College_geek]

I smiled as Tara and John went off to dance. I sighed and mumbled, "I should've known that I'd end up hanging around alone tonight." I walked back over to the bar and leaned against it, asking for a shot of 180 proof vodka.

 

[PorcelainWaif]

She bit her lip and employed all of those flirty and precisely planned female strategies that denotated like timebombs in men's minds. He saw the glisten on her lip and when she looked back up at him the light caught her eyes like diamonds under lush eyelashes. She smiled nicely. She and Sean had been good friends. He was such a good guy. So why aren't you arm and arm with some pretty thing by now, Sean? I thought for sure you of all people would have a riotous love-life."

 

[chumpster]

"I'm not taken, that's for sure." A twinge of bitterness gleams from his eye. "I've been focusing on my business, and I guess that's the problem. I'm in sales for this big German company you've probably never heard of.." twirling his fingers in sarcasm, "... and they have me traveling all over. I'm not home long enough to meet anyone in L.A.. And when I travel, I'm never anywhere long enough to find anything more than a riot." Sean winks suggestivly. "What about you? I always imagined you would head out to California to pursue your acting, or New York for dancing, and have the men crawling all over you. "

Can I buy you a drink?

 

[PorcelainWaif]

She smiled. "I travel, too. You know how it is... there's time enough where ever you go for the crawling to begin, but never long enough for a commitment. Anyways, you know me, I've never been that good with long term... stuff." At that, the air got a little tense, and Lauren tipped her head back with an easy laugh, realizing she was falling into her same old routine, and she steered back on course. "I'd love a drink, you charmer."

 

[chumpster]

Motioning to the bartender," Can I get a drink for the lady? Vodka tonic if I recall." There had been plenty of alcohol induced flirting at the after-parties when they were younger. And more than once Sean had gotten some "Lubricant" for Lauren.

Cheers!

They talked for a while, over their drink, and Sean caught all the flirts from Lauren, making sure to reciprocate.

 

[PorcelainWaif]

She was impressed by his memory... When the bartender slid the drink her way she weighed the first gulp on her tongue until it burned and then swallowed quickly. She was hesitiant to drink, as it had been a long time, but her choice of poison stayed the same. It had been a well hidden but prized secret to a handful of high school boys a decade ago that with three or four precious refills of voka and tonic Lauren was putty in their hands. She was wary of downing the dangerous stuff for just anyone, but "What the hell?" she said, "It's Sean... do I really care if things get out of hand with him? It certainly wouldn't be the first time." she took another drink, watching Sean nurse his beverage. If she remembered correctly, he was a much stouter drinker than she. Her flirty suspicion showed in her eyes as she wondered exactly what his intentions were.

 

[satyr669]

Jason Jackson
6'2'' 190 athletic build baby blue eyes.
I had been one of the jocks in highschool. I played basketball and ran track. I knew that i was good enough for scholarships but not to do anything past the collegiate level so I decided to dedicate my time to studies as well. I ended up going to college and eventually graduating from Harvard law. I am now working at a law firm in boston.

I arrived at the reunion wearing a casual suit coat, jeans, and a tshirt. I looked around for a bit and decided to head toward the bar to get a drink first. There I saw a woman that looked a lot like Hannah. We had been friends but hadn't talked since the summer after our Freshman years of college. "Get tired of the skirts?" I said with a smile as I sat down beside her.