Peaked in High School

Reunion P. I

Everett sits in his car after parallel parking into a spot a block away from the Coleman's apartment. He's slouched in the drivers seat with his head tilted back as he stares silently ahead of him. His moment of quiet contemplation is suddenly interrupted by his phone buzzing, alerting him of a phone call.

Before answering, he sees that it's 1:00 PM on the dot—the time that he told Beau he'd be meeting him in Columbus.

"Hey, just checking to see if you're close by," Beau's voice sounds over the speakers of his phone.

Having been here for the last ten minutes, Everett decides to finally let his ex know that he has arrived. "Yeah, I just got here."

"Cool!" He can practically hear Beau's smile as he responds. "I'll walk out to you. Where are you parked?"

Everett tells him that he remembers how to get to the apartment, but Beau insists on meeting with him because the area is 'dangerous'. After giving him the description of where he is parked, Everett gets out of the car and stubbornly begins walking towards the apartment building.

They meet halfway and Beau drags him into his arms for a friendly hug. The embrace lasts a bit longer than what would normally be acceptable for two acquaintances, but Everett decides to not acknowledge that fact.

"You made it," Beau says as he pulls away with a pleased smile on his face.

He looks good. It is apparent that he has kept up with shaving his facial hair and he is also wearing decent clothes today rather than his usual sweatpants and t-shirt combination. He has slight eye bags, but his eyes themselves almost sparkle as he gazes down at Everett.

Clearing his throat, the shorter man takes another step back and echoes his statement. "I made it." Wanting to appear casual and friendly, Everett smiles back at him. "So what's the plan for today?"

Beau leads them in the direction of the apartment, but walks past it and turns down another block where more cars are parked.

"I was thinking we could go grab some lunch and figure things out as we go," he responds. They stop at a gray Nissan Pathfinder that looks to be an older model from the early two-thousand's.

"I could've driven us. We were just at my car," Everett points out as he watches Beau climb into the drivers seat. Beau grins at him and closes the door before rolling down the window. "Don't worry about it—I don't mind chauffeuring you around for the day. Get in."

Everett rolls his eyes and walks over to the passenger's side and takes a seat. The familiar feeling of sitting next to his ex makes him feel wistful for the way that things used to be. Shaking his head slightly, he fiddles with the radio to keep his hands busy.

They make small talk during the drive until they pull into a parking lot that they were in not too long ago. "Beau...." Everett sighs as he looks at the building.

"I feel bad that I made you have a bad experience last time," Beau admits ruefully. "We need to have a redo so you can, like, actually enjoy Bernie's."

While he appreciates the gesture, Everett was hoping to go somewhere further away from their hometown. Even if Beau feels regretful over how he acted the last time they were here, there's no guarantee that he'll handle seeing people they know any better this time around. Not wanting to start an argument over where they eat, Everett simply nods and gets out of the car.

He follows Beau's lead into the diner and scans the premises as the taller man talks to the hostess. The place is pretty busy considering it's lunchtime on a Saturday, but Everett thankfully doesn't recognize anyone right away. They are taken to their table and he keeps his head down the entire time until they are sat.