10-Year High School Reunion

Megan curiously opens a letter announcing Rock Hills’ 10-year high school reunion. Long-forgotten memories flood her mind. Voices of ridicule screamed in her ears. Recollection of the terror she felt walking down the halls. Menacing laughter echoed in her brain. She remembers Rachel, who made her life a living hell. Prom queen and cheerleader, Rachel was always the best at everything, gloating in pride.  She angrily crumbles the letter, tossing it in the trash. “No way am I going to go!” she says out loud to herself.

 She has finally built a better life for herself. She lives in a studio apartment and writes for a living. Her life might seem lonely to others, but Megan is content with it. She is no longer bullied, has a couple of friends, and spends her days immersed in fantasy stories of heroes and villains. Trying to put that letter out of her mind and block out the awful memories it brought, she sits at her computer desk to continue writing her story of a mysterious force that is threatening to put an end to civilization.

 The heroes in her story are always the last person you would expect to change the world. She poured out her long-held feelings of inferiority and worthlessness, turning them into stories of triumph.  Her thoughts begin to get cloudy, and Megan loses her train of thought. “Ugh! What is wrong with me?” she asks as she gets up to make another cup of coffee. She needed more caffeine to regain her focus and drive.

 Sitting back at her desk, she takes a sip of her coffee, tasting the sweet flavor of caramel. It is a taste that refreshes her mind. Although, this time, it wasn’t refocusing her mind at all.

“Get out of the way, freak!” she recalls Rachel saying, bumping into her and shoving her to the ground.

“I’m sorry,” Megan says, struggling to pick herself up off the ground.

“Of course you’re sorry! You’re a sad excuse for a person,” Rachel says, breaking out in laughter with her friends. Megan didn’t respond. She felt humiliated and ashamed to be alive. These memories haunted her mind, and a sudden anger erupted.

“No! I am not a sad excuse for a person!” she shouted as she got up and took the letter back out of the trash. Her anger suddenly turned to determination. She was going to go to that reunion and face her fear. Over the last ten years, she has gained strength and a sense of self-worth. She had become a well-known author and finally felt like someone worthwhile. Nobody was going to make her think less than ever again. She had become the hero of her life.

Getting out of the car, she stared at the same school building that she remembered from ten years ago. The school hadn’t changed a bit. More memories flooded her mind as she walked up to the school gymnasium. The reunion was at 6 PM, and the sun was beginning to fade.  “I can do this,” Megan reassured herself. Opening the door, she walked into the room much like you would expect at a school dance. The DJ’s music is booming, and people are talking over each other, trying to have conversations. She sat down at one of the tables. Nobody seemed to recognize her, but she knew nobody probably would.

Scanning the gymnasium, Megan saw a girl with curly blonde hair and blue eyes sitting alone. Right away, she recognized her. It was Rachel—her high-school terrorizer. Every muscle in Megan’s body was tense. Her blood rushed ferociously through her veins. However, something suddenly softened her as she looked at the expression and saw sadness in her eyes. Miss Popularity appeared lonely; a feeling Rachel made her feel every day of her life. “Should I go talk to her?” she asked herself. Being how rejected and alone she had been most of her life, Megan had compassion and tenderness towards others that only came from experiencing cruelty.  Her newfound strength in her life made her flourish and rise above the cruelty of the world.

Taking a deep breath, she got up from the table and walked towards Rachel’s table. Knots formed in her stomach, and the old, insecure Megan threatened to surface, making her want to turn around and walk away. Approaching her table, Rachel was staring down at the table with a Coke in her hand, running her finger along the edge of her cup. “Are you Rachel?” Megan asked. The knots were growing by the second. Rachel looked up.

 “Yes, who are you?” she asked initially, “Oh wait, are you Megan?” Rachel looked confused. She appeared shocked that Megan would even bother talking to her at all. Megan felt the same thing but believed that kindness killed hostility, or so she hoped.

“Yes, I am,” she said warmly.

“Oh, well, why are you talking to me?” she asked, looking down again and resuming to run her finger on the edge of her cup.

“Because you look sad,” Megan said.

“Why should you care? Don’t you remember that I hated you?” Rachel said with a glare in her eyes.

“Yes, I do, but I don’t hold that against you anymore,” Megan responded, unsure if she really believed that. Well, I will leave you alone. I just saw that you seemed sad and wondered if you needed someone to talk to,” she said, starting to walk away.

“Wait!” Rachel said, stopping Megan in her tracks, “I guess I could talk to you.” Megan pulled up a chair and sat down. “I don’t get it; why are you being nice to me?”  Rachel asked.

“I honestly don’t know, but experiencing your cruelty years ago made me a stronger person,” she said, “I see life differently now.”

“I honestly don’t know why I came here,” Rachel said, “I have no friends now, and my baby’s father bailed on me as soon as he found out I was pregnant, leaving me alone to care for him myself.”

“I’m really sorry,” Megan responded. Don’t you have parents to help you?”

“My parents think I am a screw-up. I didn’t go to college like they wanted; I started drinking and partying, and then I left home,” Megan said, “When I called them and told them I was pregnant, they wanted nothing to do with me.” Rachel’s eyes started to well up. “I guess I am not as special as I used to think,” she added.

“Sometimes we can’t avoid suffering, but we can learn from it. I did,” Megan said, extending a hand to her, “If you need a friend, I can be your friend.”

“Wow, you really are a nicer person than I ever was,” she wiped her tears while chuckling a bit, “sure, I would like that.”

Megan and Rachel talked well into the night about their lives and what had become of them. Rachel was impressed that she had become a well-known author, even though she didn’t read much. As people started to clear out for the night, Rachel knew she had to get home to relieve her babysitter. “It was nice talking to you, Megan,” Rachel said with a smile, “You became the bigger person tonight. I hope you can forgive me for the way I treated you in high school.”

“I can,” Megan said warmly, “Do you want my number, in case you want a friend?”

“I would like that,” Rachel responded, taking out her cell phone. Megan gave her the phone number.

“Well, see you again sometime,” Megan said. She turned and headed for the door, smiling and sighing a sigh of relief. She got in her car and headed home. Neither she nor Rachel had ever left the city after they graduated. When she got home, she collapsed on her bed, not bothering to get into her night clothes. Life went back as usual. She hadn’t heard from Rachel in weeks, and she refocused on her book.

The phone rang, and she picked it up. “Hello?” she asked. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard the voice at the other end.

 “Hello, Megan, it’s Rachel. Do you feel like going out for a Coke?” Megan’s eyes lit up.

“Sure, I would love to!” Megan answered. That was the beginning of a friendship that would last a lifetime. The moral of this story is that you cannot judge a book by the cover, and what might seem like an unlikely experience could become a reality.