Reconnect: The Story of an old flame

Part 7: Wine, Courage and Audacity

Friendsgiving. It's a relatively new thing or maybe not so new but it's certainly become more popular. The day before or after or maybe even of Thanksgiving, where you get together with close friends and celebrate family style.

My friends and I were no different and on the day after Thanksgiving, black Friday, we met for a nice supper- sharing food and a few bottles of wine. It was nice. I loved the days when we got together for a cook out or made dinner and just relaxed. Today we couldn't seem to stop talking about the past though. It was one thing leading to another and suddenly there was piles of photos, yearbooks, memory books, calendars, pep rally signs and fliers... scattered endlessly over Kelly's counter. Eventually, our other friends left and it was just us girls, gushing over the last of the wine.

"Look- Prom!" Jen said, reaching for a stack of old photos. Keep in mind, all this happened before camera phones were really a thing and so we took our photos on a disposable camera. We began to shuffle through them, laughing at how terrible some of these photos were.

"The good old days." I said with a smirk. "Now a days we take half a dozen selfies in different lighting and filter it before we allow ourselves to post it. Back then, we didn't know what it was going to look like so we just went for it."

"I know. I can't imagine taking photos you were going to show people without knowing what they would look like first." Kelly said.

"We should do it- buy a disposable camera and take a few candids." Jen said and we smile.

"On your birthday!" I said excitedly. It was only a few weeks away and Jen would be the first to turn 31.

"Look, Nancy." Jen said, pointing to a photo of all of us lined up. It was our OG crew- the OGs of the OGs- the girls who'd been together since middle school or longer.

"She lost so much weight." Kelly said.

"I know- it's amazing." I said. Nancy had been quite big in high school and it wasn't until a couple of years ago that she'd begun to post photos of her healthy meals and new bod. We were impressed.

"I can't believe you two wore the same dress." Jen said, laughing as a photo of Kelly and I posing together appeared.

"Oh god, I know. I don't understand why we didn't figure it out beforehand either. Had I know, I would have exchanged mine." Kelly said.

"Me too." I replied. "So, who wore it best?"

They laughed. It wasn't a serious question. When I looked at the photos, we both looked great.

"Look, Joe!" Jen said, pointing to her date. He was one of our favorite guy friends in high school and to this date he always commented sweetly on any photos of the three of us we posted.

"Awww, he's in California now, right?" I asked.

"Yep, still a marine." Jen nodded.

"Cool. Look- my Joe!" Kelly said, pointing to a photo with her date.

"God, can't you do anything original?" I said, making them laugh. Kelly's date was also a boy named Joe, except he came from another school.

"There's no pics with your date." Jen said after a minute.

"I know." I said, "I don't even remember if we took any."

"Don't tell me you don't remember prom either?" Kelly said, looking at me wide eyed.

"Parts yes, but I remember the after party more." I said, trying to focus on the actual prom.

"I couldn't believe that you took Jake." Jen said, looking like she regretting bringing it up instantly. I sighed.