It was finally time for the reunion. The holidays whizzed by in a blur, and all I could think about was New Years. I was growing more excited for the reunion with each passing day.

The girls came to my place to get ready for the reunion. We got dressed, swiped on some eyeshadow, and hit the road.

"Aren't you guys excited?!" Mona squealed, "We'll get to see if any guys from GBH got hot! And since it's New Years..."

All the girls oohed and aahed in agreement.

Opal elbowed me softly, "Maybe you can get some action, huh? After all it's been quite a while."

I shrugged as I drove, "I'm fine with being single right now. Besides, I'm more excited about the food than anything. Hopefully they don't serve that nasty cafeteria food though, yuck."

The drive was pretty far from where I lived—about an hour and a half. Not far enough, though. I wanted to stay close to my family but far enough to not have to see them all the time. And my parents probably felt the same way.

During the remainder of the car ride, we gossiped about all what all the high school kids from our class may have been up to. Some of them we still kept tabs on through social media, but it didn't seem like any of them were doing anything drastic besides traveling and taking sexy pictures underneath every waterfall  and on top of every sports car around the world. I wondered if any of them had even finished college.

"Guys, I feel like we're the only ones who actually made it through college," Carly testified.

"Ohmigod, it's like you read my mind," I snorted, "All they do is post about their world affairs."

"Literally and figuratively!" Sophie chimed in. We all cracked up.

"And did you hear that Sasha is pregnant with her 3rd already?! That girl does not quit. She had her first, like, junior year!"

"I heard that her and her boyfriend are gonna have a shotgun wedding."

"I feel bad for the poor girl, honestly..."

I drifted away from the conversation to think for a bit. I felt kind of guilty gossiping about everyone, especially knowing that none of us had done anything with our lives yet either. It was almost as if GrayBelle High wanted to remind us that we were still nobodies.

I was snapped back into reality when I pulled into the long driveway of the school.

"This is it!"

I parked the car and out came everyone. The guys weren't too far behind and parked right next to us. We took a few pictures outside the school and headed inside.

"Why do I feel nervous?" I said to no one. I clutched my stomach for a second and took a deep breath.

"You feeling okay?" Mike asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just felt kind of weird for a sec. Maybe it's this dress," I joked.

Mike up-downed me and replied smoothly, "Oh trust me, it's not the dress."

I squinted my eyes and replied, "Not sure if that was a compliment or insult."

Mike shrugged as if to say I'll never know, and we strut inside.

***

The party was in full swing. The decor was spread all around the gym—gold, silver, and black beads strung everywhere, fancy lights swinging around the room, and many other expensive looking goodies surrounded the area. I was genuinely surprised at how pretty the school looked. Thank you, event club 2019. The best we could get in our year was a piñata and some streamers.

Students and teachers from our class crowded the gym. Some were dancing, some were gossiping, crying even...and some were stuffing their faces with food.

I was one of those people.

As I shoved a donut hole into my mouth, I looked around the room. I could recognize many people, but some of them were hard to depict. Maybe 5 years really was enough time to change.

"Lei! Hi! It's me, Gloria!"

I swiveled around to find a chipper and petite woman opening her arms and going in for a hug. Before I could fully recognize her, I was locked in her embrace.

"It's so good to see you," she said as she smothered and wiggled me around. For a short girl, she had some strength!

One she backed away, I finally recognized my Chem partner from sophomore year. I grinned and looked her fully. She was really beautiful. I could tell that she definitely morphed. Thinking back to sophomore year, Gloria wasn't exactly the prettiest girl in school. Looking at her now, she definitely glowed up.

"Wow, you look—amazing!"

"Oh! Thanks. I took up some print modeling. Y'Know, got in shape and whatnot."

Gloria tried to sound modest, but I knew she wanted to show off a little. I couldn't blame her. I couldn't stop staring at her smooth chocolate skin.

"Okay, you have to tell me what moisturizer you use."

As Gloria explained, I couldn't help but notice someone in the distance entering the gym doors. I felt that queasiness again.

"Fuck," I blurted.

"Sorry?"

"Gloria, I'm so sorry, but I—I have to go! I promise we'll catch up later."

"O—okay!"

I barely heard Gloria's reply as I dashed to the other side of the gym, hoping to avoid the one person I hoped I never thought I'd see again in my life.

I ran past the gang and hid behind the DJ booth. Carly noticed me whiz by and followed. "Lei? What happened?"

I pointed to the group of guys all greeting each other. It took Carly a second to notice who I was talking about, but once she did she winced. "Ohhh shit. Wow, I actually did not expect him to show up here."

I watched as Tony greeted him with a man-shake.

"Carly..."

"Yeah, I gotcha." Carly rushed over to the girls and let them in on the surprise guest—As if they already didn't know. They were already glaring daggers at him and gave fake smiles when he greeted them.

But anyone would've guessed that if the gang was here, I'd be here too.

I crept away from the DJ booth and back into the food and bar area, where luckily a bunch of people had made their way to. I tried to convince myself not to let this ruin my night, and that he'd be too into his own little world to look for me, but to no avail.

After a while of sitting and panicking, I ordered a lemonade.

"Maybe a refreshment will help," I reassured myself. I sipped on the drink, and forgot about him for a couple minutes.

That didn't last long at all, because as soon as I turned around to face the dance floor, I came face to back with him.

My eyes widened at how close he was. How could he have not notice me when he was this close?!

As I slipped off the stool, another person from school recognized me. It all happened in slow motion.

I knew that they were going to call my name, which would prompt him to turn around, and I tried to stop it by waving my arms around.

"Leighla Parks? Is that you?" Shane Crawford chuckled as he waved back.

I froze in shock to find the Devil himself turn around to face me.

***

Ummmm...so, yeah. This just took a turn for the worst.

We'll see what happens next in this awkward moment.

What has been your most awkward moment? Share it in the comments, if you dare!

~C