Reunion

Chapter Four

Dancing for the first time felt weird. I wasn't used to it. I never learned because I was never motivated to do it. I wasn't sure if asking for an impromptu or sudden dance lesson from Brian was the right thing to do.

Why did I ask in the first place? I wanted to have fun. I wanted to feel like one of the groups for once. Even though Anna was my best friend, she and I were different people. She wasn't shy like me. She knew how to have a good time, while I always kept busy working. It was one of the reasons she had met Matt and became so close to him in high school.

I, on the other hand was awkward. I was the typical nerd that always went to school to learn. The small amount of people I called friends were the ones that shared my same experiences. Anna was sent from heaven to be my best friend.

After the song was over, I decided to walk to the bar and ask for a glass of wine. Matt excused himself to go to the bathroom while Anna and Brian took the dance floor together. Smiling, I walked to the closest bartender attending the counter.

He smiled and asked what I wanted. I ordered the glass of wine and waited for it to be served.

"Hey, there you are," the voice of Jeff was heard. I turned around.

"Hey," I responded smiling.

"I'm sorry I had to step up like that. I'm always getting calls because of work, so I had to take that call," Jeff explained.

"Here you go miss," the bartender said, giving me the glass of wine. I thanked him with a smile and grabbed the glass.

"Can I have a beer, please?" Jeff asked before the bartender walked away to attend the other guests.

"Are you staying the night?"

"Yes, I am staying for tomorrow's activities. I have to go back to work on Monday, so I leave tomorrow evening," I responded, before taking a sip of the wine.

Jeff was always a nice person. He was good to me when we were in high school. Jeff was one of the guys that were in the same group as me. He was a nerd too. He didn't always look the way he looked now, so it was hard to stop looking at how much he changed over the past ten years.

He had become very successful. Physically, he had changed, but I felt like he was still the same cool, nerd that I had my first kiss with. He was the same boy that helped me with my Math homework every time I had trouble solving the problems.

"Good evening class of 1998. Could everyone gather in front of the stage, please?" the voice of the girl that used to taunt me in high school was heard over the screechy microphone. The music stopped playing. The people started to walk past the tables and towards the dance floor. Those who were already in front of the stage turned their attentions to Maddison.

"Come on," Jeff said, extending his arm. I placed mine in his and together we walked to the stage. As soon as I saw Anna, I got out of Jeff's hold and smiled. I stood next to Anna who was standing next to Matt. Brian appeared with a beer in hand and stood next to Matt.

"Now that I have everyone's attention I will like to present to you a little gift that the committee has put together for all of you in order to remember the old and good times, by the Huntington, Beach High School Class of 1998. Enjoy!" Maddison explained.

Everyone clapped as we all witnessed the projector screen dropping from the ceiling. The lights went dark and slow music was played in the background.

It was a presentation about the class. Old photos from the yearbook and those that were supposedly in the school's archives were shown in the presentation. People laughed at the funny ones as they became overwhelmed at the ones they don't want to see or remember.

Anna and Matt smiled as one of their pictures as a couple was shown. I blushed and felt embarrassed as one of the "geeks" group appeared. Jeff and I were laughing in that one. It was at least nice to remember the good times. I was thankful that no other embarrassing ones were there.

Matt, Brian and his friends from the band at the time were shown and everyone clapped and whistled. They were loved in high school and they are very much loved now by not only their old classmates but also by their fans. They have made a good name for themselves, and it felt nice to see them tonight.

Then, the room went silent. Only the slow music was heard as images of one of Matt's and Brian's friends were shown. I remembered him. He was known to be unique, funny and weird at times. It was quite surprising that he wasn't at the reunion tonight. I have forgotten his name though.

Below the images, a sentence below appeared. In loving memory of James Sullivan, it read. I felt guilty thinking that I was questioning why he wasn't here. I didn't know he had died. Anna and I never spoke about Matt, his friends or anything related to them until the reunion.

I didn't know if she knew what happened to James, but I certainly didn't.

I turned my gaze towards Matt. He was smiling, but he looked sad. I noticed that Anna grabbed his hand. I observed how they intertwined it together and that made me smile. I saw that Brian walked out of the room. I didn't know why but I had the urge to go after him.

Maybe he wanted to be alone?

I didn't know, but my heart was telling me to see if he was alright. Of course, he wasn't. I remember James being Brian's best friend. I still had the urge to go after him.

"Excuse me," I told Anna and Jeff. They nodded their heads. I walked away. I put the glass of wine I had on my hand on top of one of the tables and followed Brian outside.

When I walked out of the event room, I saw that Brian was leaning against a wall. He had grabbed a cigarette from a box and lit it up. He inhaled and exhaled as I made my way to him.

"Hey," I greeted. He turned around. I saw the surprised expression he had on his face.

"Hey," he replied, throwing away the cancer stick.

"I'm very sorry about James. I didn't know," I entreated. He looked at me and a warm smile appeared on his face even though he was obviously, showing signs of sadness.

"Thanks, he liked it when we called him Jimmy," he responded.

"I noticed that you left and somehow I wanted to make sure you were alright. I should get back inside, seeing that you'll need some time alone," I explained. He looked down and nodded his head.

"Thank you, Lilian," he said, smiling.

"Anytime," I replied. I gave him a warm smile and walked away. I turned around before I opened the door of the room and saw he was looking my way. We smiled at each other once again, before opening the door and getting back to the reunion.