Ryan tapped on his wrist-watch impatiently, counting down the seconds. The reunion was set to start in five minutes, but no one other than himself and Lizzie had shown up yet. He glanced between the watch and the door, waiting for the sounds of a ringing doorbell. Someone had to show up, at least just one. He couldn't accept the fact that no one was interested in the reunion, even if it may have been poorly timed on his and Lizzie's behalf. He knew that this meeting meant the world to his best friend, and he didn't want her to be disappointed by it.

Lizzie had been gushing on and on about the reunion for the past week. She'd finished her week's worth of homework ahead of the due dates to free her time for the planning process. She did extra chores so that her parents would pay her money to spend on the decoration. Heck, she even dragged him along to hang the streamers, trim the bushes that haven't been maintained for years, and clean up his own home. Ryan wasn't sure how Lizzie convinced him to have a party in his house, which somehow became the meeting place of the reunion. Sure, the time capsule was buried in his backyard (his classmates had peer pressured him way back when), but hosting the party itself was not something that Ryan ever expected to do. He supposed that Lizzie had her ways and that she wasn't the class president for nothing. In any case, he thought that her smile was worth trashing his place, so maybe things wouldn't be too bad.

If only people would start showing up.

Ryan's nerves were only increasing. Lizzie had been fussing the past hour, running around and checking that the streamers were in place, the balloons were where they were supposed to be, the drinks were in the cooler, so long and so forth. But now that she had finished everything, she was sitting at the table that they'd set together, nervously playing with the green and gold tablecloth that they had somehow managed to find in Ryan's closet. Sometimes, strange things ended up in there. He never questioned his father, but it was sure that the man stuffed the things he rather not see in that place. So long as Ryan didn't bring whatever he found in the closet up, everything would be fine.

He looked back at his watch. It was two minutes past the time of the reunion! "I guess the traffic is heavy today," he mused, trying to ease Lizzie's nerves. She agreed with a low, mhm and Ryan's hopes drooped. He knew that she'd been looking forward to this, and he truly wanted to see her smile. Even if only one person showed up, that would at least make the effort worthwhile. Preferably Felipe. Lizzie never stopped talking about that guy, much to Ryan's annoyance. Well, at least, she always found a way to weave his name into the reminiscing of their elementary school days. He let out a sigh of irritation. It was great to have a class reunion and all, but it kind of stung when she seemed happy talking about the past. Especially when he wasn't very prominent in it.

Ryan and Lizzie jumped to the sound of knocking on the front door. He wondered who would knock instead of using the doorbell. It certainly couldn't have been Felipe, Lao, or Eddie, they were too loud for that. But times change and people change as well, Ryan noted to himself, so there was some possibility that it could be them as well. "You wanna get it?" He asked Lizzie, who bounced off of her chair and grabbed his hand.

"Let's get it together!" She grinned, lighting up Ryan's heart like a match on a candle.

"Sure," he smiled back.

They opened a door to reveal a tall, muscular figure with dark bangs hiding his forehead and the top of his eyes. His right arm was propped up against a black skateboard, adorned with the shape of a golden Chinese dragon. His left arm bragged a similar mythical pattern, a tattoo that ran from his shoulder down to his elbow. "Yo," he greeted, breaking Ryan and Lizzie out of their surprise. "Didn't expect the delinquent to be the first guest, huh?"

"M-Markus?" Lizzie stuttered. She and Ryan stepped aside to let him in.

"No one else quite like it," he crossed the doorway and set his skateboard against the wall. "And you two are...?"

"Lizzie," the class president introduced herself, "And this is Ryan."

"Lizzie," Markus repeated and turned to Ryan, "Ryan." They nodded, confused at his behavior. The skater, or at least Ryan assumed he was a skater, whistled. "Wow, my lord you two really got a glow up!"

"What's that supposed to mean," Lizzie pouted.

"Damn. The gossip girl is now a party host...and sheesh! Ryan, bro, you went from a quiet and shy kid to a playboy."

Ryan balked at the idea, "I am not a playboy." Lizzie didn't help by laughing at him. It also didn't help that his frown refused to stay down after witnessing the twinkling of her eyes. "I just happen to be on the swim team and have blonde hair. But that doesn't make me a playboy automatically. Are you a bad boy?"

Markus just laughed at him, "You're not too far off from the truth, just keep searching." Ryan inwardly sighed. He hated types like this. Thankfully for him, the doorbell rang and the conversation shifted. "Yo, lemme get that." Markus opened the door and the three of them saw a short girl with silky dark hair, her fingers tapping on her shoulder bag nervously.

"Hi," she said, clearly intimidated by Markus who was towering over her, "Um, I'm here for the reunion."

Ryan pushed by Markus and gave her a reassuring smile, "You're in the right place!" He turned and hissed at Markus, "This is why we answer the door. You're going to scare away everyone that comes!"

The dark-haired boy laughed, "Quiet and shy to charming and loud. Can't say I disagree with the change, though."

The new arrival tilted her head at them, "Markus? Ryan?"

"Mary???" Lizzie squealed from the inside, "Let her in!" The boys sidestepped and let the short girl in. Lizzie pulled her into a hug. "Omg, I missed you so much."

"Ahh," the poor girl awkwardly patted Lizzie on the back, "Um...Lizzie...right? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not Mary."

Lizzie pulled back, "Oh, um..." She coughed to the side, "I'm sorry about that...you can't be Natashia so...are you Elena?"

"Present." A new voice came from the opened front door and entered the house. It was another girl with dark, black hair, but she was taller and walked with meaning. She wore a leather jacket over a rock band T-shirt and her hands were adorned with rings. Her combat boots made Ryan wince and pray for his welcome mat. "Long time no see, Lizzie. You too, Ryan. And Lao."

"Lao!?" Lizzie gaped at the girl she had just hugged in surprise, "You're Lao!? Like, the Lao that always ran around like crazy?"

Lao blushed, "I may have run around the playground, but your metaphorical expression must have changed your memory a bit. I was never that...loud and bubbly. I mean, maybe more so than now, but still."

"Wait," Elena jabbed an index finger at Lizzie, "Are you telling me you confused Lao for me?"

Lizzie clasped her hands together and bowed to both of them, "I'm so sorry, please forgive me."

"Woah, what did I just walk into?" Ryan watched as Lizzie perked up, both of them expecting to see Felipe. Instead, it was a man version of Adam. Unlike the others who had matured, his facial features were mostly the same and Ryan could actually recognize him. The only difference between Adam of the past and Adam of the present was that he was bigger than he was before, and his eyes seemed to carry maturity with them.

"Welcome to the reunion," Ryan greeted him. They shook hands.

"Oh, hey, Adam," Elena smiled at him, "You're looking good." The newcomer smiled back, but Ryan noted that the smile didn't reach his eyes. It made sense, he figured. Elena and Markus used to tease Adam a lot as a kid. Maybe Adam thought that she was making fun of him again with that comment. Whether he was right or not...only Elena had the answer to that.

"I'm sorry I was late though," Adam apologized. Ryan glanced at his watch and noticed that it had been fifteen minutes past the appointed meeting time.

"No big deal, you got here only a few minutes after Elena," Markus pointed out, which earned him the stink eye from the short-haired girl.

"No one was early or on time, not even you, Markus," Lizzie added, "So it doesn't really matter, as long as you're here." She looked down at her own watch and finally noticed all the time that had passed. "Oh, wow, you guys want to have dinner now?"

"Oooh, you organized a whole dinner?" Elena asked.

Lizzie beamed, "Yup! Ryan and I did, it's going to be awesome." She always gives credit where credit was due, Ryan smiled to himself.

"It's a bit early," Markus yawned, "Why don't we go stroll along in the garden and actually find where the time capsule is. Don't you think it'd be more interesting if we opened it before dinner? Yanno...to actually have things to talk about?"

"We could talk about our lives and how we've been doing," Ryan suggested. Instead of simply reminiscing in the past, he thought to himself. Unfortunately, the others did not think the same and his comment was disregarded.

"We're not here to brag about how amazing we've become," Markus rolled his eyes. Ryan suspected that the edgelord didn't have any amazing tales to tell. Which must be why he rather wallow in the past. "So let's go! Treasure hunting crew."

"Whoo, let's do it," Lizzie joined in, and Ryan had no choice but to oblige.

"I guess so," he sighed, "But someone has to watch the door."

"I'll watch it," Adam smiled at them, "You all can go on."

"Are you sure you're OK on your own?" Lao asked. Ryan had almost forgotten that she was there, which was ironic of him because he used to be the one in that position.

Adam gave her a thumbs up, "Yup! I'll join you all in half an hour or so. Just don't dig up the treasure 'till then. We have to give the party crashers some time to see what they put in the capsule as well."

"Sounds good," Lizzie agreed and showed everyone else the way out the backdoor. Ryan frowned, following her. He had seen that wistful glance towards the door, the occasional turn of her eye out to the window that opened up to the driveway. She was waiting for Felipe, she was still hoping that he would come. And despite his feelings, Ryan hoped that for her sake, Felipe would be one of the party crashers.