“No,” he said. “We’re going there so you remember who you are.”
I wanted to believe him.
Still, when he arrived at my house on the night of the reunion, I nearly backed out.
He stepped from a black car looking like he belonged on a movie poster.
I opened my door and stared.
“This is a mistake,” I whispered.
He winked. “Isn’t this what you want? To teach them a lesson? Then I’m the best option.”
I should have been embarrassed.
Instead, for the first time in years, I laughed.
Walking Back Into the Past
The reunion was held in our old high school gym.
The moment I stepped inside, the smell hit me first — polished floors, old wood, cheap decorations, and memories I had tried very hard to bury.
Blue and silver balloons floated near the basketball hoops. A banner read: Welcome Back, Class of 2006!
People stood in little groups, pretending twenty years had not changed them.
Some were heavier. Some were thinner. Some were richer. Some were tired. Everyone was smiling too brightly.
Then they saw me.
Or rather, they saw Norton.
The room changed.
Conversations slowed.
Heads turned.
A woman I barely remembered nearly spilled her drink.
Norton placed my hand on his arm and leaned down. “Breathe.”
“I forgot how,” I whispered.
“You’re doing fine.”
Across the room, Miriam stood beside Mark.
She wore a red dress and diamonds at her throat. Mark wore the same uncomfortable smile he used to wear when he knew he had made a mistake but was not ready to admit it.
Miriam saw Norton first.
Then she saw me.
For one perfect second, her smile slipped.
It was small. Almost nothing.
But I saw it.
And something inside me stood a little taller.
