Playing With Lightning

Reunions

“Stop rocking the carts!” The attendant yelled from below us, looking right at Max, Siva and Tom. They grinned guiltily and stopped jumping up and down in their seats. Idiots.

The carts did their final spin and started unloading. Jay and I jumped down from the seat, running over to meet the others where they were waiting for us. Nathan and Taylah joined us a moment later and we all went off together to find another ride.

“Let’s go on the haunted house!” Tay suggested excitedly.

“Taylah Parker, the biggest wuss we know, wants to go through the haunted house?” Tom said, raising his eyebrows. She stuck out her tongue and pulled us over to the line.

We were standing there waiting, just talking and laughing, when I spotted something, or rather someone, over Nathan’s shoulder.

“Shit,” I cursed, ducking my head and pulling Jay in front of me. They all looked at me like I was a complete nutcase, which at the moment I’m pretty sure I was acting like one. “Just hide me, please.”

“What are you-” Max asked curiously before he was cut off.

“Maeve?” A voice broke across the fairgrounds. “Maeve George, is that you?”

“Dammit fuck shit!” I stamped my foot childishly, turning around to face the girl coming towards us. She was a pretty asian girl, my age, with long straight black hair and a flawless complexion.

From the corner of my eye I saw realisation dawn on Max’s face. He knew who she was just as well as I did. She stopped right in front of me, staring at me as if she was still trying to figure something out.

“It totally is you,” she said after a moment. “Remember me, it’s Lucy, Lucy Li? From school?”

“Of course I remember you,” I managed to put a smile on my face. “How could I forget?”

“God, you’ve changed so much,” she commented, sounding impressed. “I barely recognised you. I mean, remember how you looked a few years ago? I guess you just hit your peak a little later than everyone else, hey?”

“Yeah, so I’ve been told,” I looked to the others for help, but besides Max they all just looked lost. “Um, you remember Max, yeah? And this is Jay, Nathan, Tom, Siva and my best friend Taylah.” Emphasis on the best friend, as in that thing that you used to be.

“Nice to meet you,” she looked over the boys approvingly, her eyes lingering more than they should. “And it’s so good to see you again Maeve. It was never the same after you left, a lot less fun without you around. I’ve really missed you.”

“I’m sure you have,” I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. Who did she think she was fooling with that fake smile and subtle remarks?

“You know what,” she said as if having a huge epiphany. “We’re having a party soon, like a reunion kind of thing. I’m sure everyone would love to see you, you should come along. You can bring your friends too.”

“Um yeah, maybe,” I nodded awkwardly. Why was I so… my old self right now? Just because I was back in her company I’d reverted back to the me I was in high school.

“Wicked,” she smiled another overly bright smile. “Give me your number and I’ll text you the details.”

I put my number into her phone and handed it back. She slipped it into her bag, leant forward and gave me a hug, which was weird, and ran of to meet up with some friends. After she was gone I kind of just stood there.

“Okay, so I’m not the only one who’s confused right?” Tom said, breaking the silence.

“That was Lucy Li,” I said strangely, I was still trying to get my head around it. “That was Lucy Motherfucking Li!”

“I cannot believe that just happened,” Max was just as surprised as I was. “Lucy was Maeve’s best friend at her old school and well.. you guys remember what happened.”

“Wait, that was her,” Tay spoke up, making the ‘her’ sound like a dirty word. “Why didn’t you tell me? Bitches would have gotten slapped!” She pouted like I’d take away all her Christmas presents and set them on fire. It was enough to break me out of my trance and make me smile.

“That was the weirdest experience of my life,” I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “She seriously hasn’t changed a bit though.”

“But you have,” Nathan pointed out. “And I’m not just talking about your looks, which have without a doubt improved. Even she saw you’re a different person, you could tell.”

“Hells yeah you have,” Jay agreed. “Now you’re a confident, only slightly less awkward pain in the ass.”

“The amount you guys do for my self esteem,” I rolled my eyes. “Now, are we going on this ride or not?”

The haunted house was like one out of a bad teen horror movie, with a big hay bale tractor through a dark maze. We all sat in the back as it drove through the twists and turns.

Okay admittedly it was pretty scary. There were projections and people in costumes that jumped out at you at every turn. One even reached up and touched my arm, making me squeal and jump and the boys all laugh. That was until a fake spider dropped onto Tom’s head and he screamed like a girl, flailing to get it off.

“Tom, spider!” we were all yelling teasingly as we got off the ride. He just shrugged it off in good nature and let us have our fun. There were a couple of paps outside, obviously having gotten word that we were there. We posed for some group photos before a group of fans came up and asked for pictures with the boys.

Taylah and I sat back and watched them interact with their fans. It was cute to watch how much they cared. I often wondered what it would be like to just be a normal fan, always pining after someone you’ve never met. It made me realise just how lucky I was to know the boys like I did.

It would be hard to imagine my life without any of them.