A Reunion to Remember

Chapter 4

Eva Longoria as Mia.

Chapter 4

The DJ was suddenly the center of attention.  

"Alright, everyone out on the dance floor. I want to see everyone shaking their groove things!" he screamed into the microphone.  

"Anybody else going out there?" Maggie asked as she stood up and motioned toward the dance floor. 

All three other women shook their heads vehemently from side to side.  

"That's what I thought," she said, pouting slightly. "I really wish Keith didn't have to work. He'd have been a good husband and danced with me." With that, she was on the hardwood floor in the center of the room. 

"I'm going to go talk to my brother for a minute," Kara said, heading toward her twin brother, Karl's table.  

Kristy spotted Nate Kissel on the other side of the room. She had the biggest crush on him throughout high school.  

"I'll be back. I want to go catch up with Nate," Kristy said with excitement.  

"See ya soon," Ronnie mumbled. 

As she sat at the table alone, she looked around at the people. She wasn't sure why she was here. She would have been so much happier at home. She decided to walk out onto the deck and see what all this cruise hype was about. She was less than thrilled with the company, she might as well enjoy the scenery. 

She was standing on the deck. The air was nice and crisp, not like the stale air inside. The water, however, had a slightly creepy affect to it. It was all but black in the moonlight, and there was no land to be seen. She was about to head back inside when someone tapped her on the back. She turned around to see Josh standing there. 

"I didn't think anyone else would be out here," he said. 

"No one else was until you showed up," Ronnie barked. 

"I'm sorry," he apologized, looking down at his feet again, "I'll go back inside." 

She had done it again! She could be so insensitive.  

"No, don't. We have a few things to straighten out. Might as well do that now," she reasoned.  

"Yeah," he said, "I guess you're right." 

"So, were we secret lovers? Because, if she talks to anyone else here besides me and my musketeers, she'll realize we never dated." 

He thought for a second before speaking. "Yeah, I guess. That would be a good way around that roadblock. You always were pretty smart," he commented. 

"Thanks," she said, "You were, too." 

"I guess you're wondering what's going on," he said. 

"Yeah, I kind of am. It's not everyday that a guy who loved you for a year, talked to you for that year and the year after, then acted like you didn't exist for the next twenty-two suddenly shows up at a class reunion with his fiancée, asking you to pretend that you dated all through high school. It's a little nerve wracking. Do-able, but nerve wracking." 

He was staring at her, smiling. "Glad to hear that it's the same old Ronnie inside that head of yours. Lets get down to business.  

Okay, you see, after I proposed to Mia, she had this crazy idea that we should track down all of our former lovers and make sure that we'd rather be with each other than with them. 

She said that it would solidify our love for one another. It didn't matter to me one way or the other - I knew she was the one for me - so I went along with it.  

We've been many places, tracking everyone down. I thought we were finished. That's why I set it up to get married on the beach at the last stop on the cruise. Both of our families and the members of our wedding party are flying out to meet us there. It should all be very beautiful. 

Then, as we're walking onto the boat today, Mia tells me she has one more surprise. She tells me that you are on the cruise, and that she arranged for me to have my time with you, too." 

This was a lot for Ronnie to take in, but she had followed the story up until now. "Your time? With me?" she asked bewilderedly. 

He nodded. "Yeah. First of all, our 'time' in this case consists of a little conversation about our past relationship, a little making out - even sex if necessary." 

"Wait just a minute there, Soldier! I am NOT having sex with you tonight or tomorrow, or EVER!" she all but shouted. "What kind of weird crap are you guys into?" 

"No, no. I wasn't planning on having sex with you. I didn't even THINK you'd be here. You hate boats, you don't fly, and you really aren't fond of anyone here besides the friends you came with. I never realized you'd ever have to find out about my little white lie." 

"Your little white lie? Is it the small detail that made me a part of this sordid affair?" 

"Yeah. That would be it," he admitted sheepishly. 

It shocked her that he still knew her so well. A small pang of regret creeped its way into her heart. This was the Josh Hinderman she almost decided to date. Stupid Austin.  

"So, spill," she exclaimed. "What's the white lie? That we dated all through high school?" 

"Yep, that would be it. It happened somewhat accidentally. I was talking about you once when I first started seeing Mia. She asked if you were my first love. I told her yes, because, well, you were," he explained, looking at the ground as he said it.  

"She asked if we had dated. I told her you were my high school sweetheart, because you were the only girl I ever loved in high school. I know it was stupid, but I didn't fathom at the time that I would be marrying Mia, much less tracking down our former lovers!" 

Ronnie couldn't pretend that the sentiment didn't pull at her heart strings at least a little. She hadn't realized that Josh really thought he loved her back then. She used the term lightly when describing his affections for her. He was nothing if not serious. Man, she really should have dated him.  

"So, how did you manage to evade me up until now?" she questioned. "Why did you think you were done if you skipped me, your first love?" she mused. 

"Because I told Mia that you had denied my friend request on Facebook, and that Jemma had talked to you about the agreement, and that you flat out refused to see me," he explained. 

"So you made me the mean guy? I didn't send you any friend request because you didn't speak to me at the end of high school. You didn't even try to get to me through Jemma," she cried, almost pouting. 

"I don't really talk to Jemma all that much. Also, my Facebook app on my phone has been crazy, and I haven't looked at it for at least a year. I didn't talk to you in high school because you were so obsessed with Austin that no other boys existed. Especially me. It just hurt too much. I'm gonna go in now and find Mia." 

She didn't want him to go. He had squeezed so much information into such a short span of time, she wasn't sure she'd caught it all. Suddenly, she didn't feel so well. 

"Goodnight, Josh. I guess I'll see you for our 'time' tomorrow?" she asked hopefully. 

"Yeah, " he said sullenly. "Mia will fill you in tomorrow morning at breakfast. Have a nice night." With that, he disappeared inside the dining room.  

Boy, do I know how to make an awkward situation worse, Ronnie thought. She texted her friends that she was going to sleep and went to her cabin to get ready for bed. 

There were still so many questions regarding this story. If she was supposedly such a meanie, why did she agree to it now. Whose magic convinced her this was a good idea? I'm just going to bed, she thought, I'll deal with this in the morning.