"I still don't know if I wanna do this," Joanne whined. The sixteen of us (plus eight bodyguards) stood in front of the double doors of Abington High School.
"I don't think I want to do with, either, but, then again, we never wanted to do anything school related," I pointed out to her. Taking a deep breath, I put my hand on the door. "We might as well get it over with, though." Everyone nodded or groaned in agreement and I pulled the door open. Followed by the others, I walked into the hallway of our old high school. A wave of nostalgia roamed around us six former students. I looked at Maribeth, who smiled back at me. We went up to the table that had been placed in front of the gym door.
"Names, please," the woman sitting there said, not even looking up.
"Monica?" I said, looking down at my elementary school friend. She looked up and smiled excitedly.
"Brittle!" she exclaimed, jumping up. We hugged while Brian and AJ gave me quizzical looks.
"Brittle?" they asked. I shook my head.
"Don't ask," I said. "It's something they used to call me because of a play."
"Oh yeah," Rachel said. "Then there was Portia and Anne and . . ."
"Mrs. Quack-Quack!" Joanne cried, going into hysterics. I turned around and glared at her.
"Remind me to kill you for that one later," I said menacingly. Then I turned to the others. "If any of you mention that name tonight, I will personally ruin you lives."
"Well, I hate to say it, but now that your life-long dream has come true," Monica said, "you don't need name tags."
"True," I laughed.
"We'll take them anyway," Justin said. Monica just shrugged and handed us names tags. Justin took his and put it on me, I put mine on Maribeth, who put hers on Jessica, who put hers on Joanne, who put hers on Rachel, who put hers on Jamie, who put hers on Justin. The other guys watched this commence while Monica just rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Have a good time," Monica said as we went in.
"When you're done door duty, come find us," I said. I waved good-bye and we walked in. The gym was decorated with maroon and white balloons and streamers (our school colors, obviously). There was a bar in the corner and a DJ behind the far basketball net. There were tables and chairs that surrounded an open area in the middle, obviously meant for dancing.
"How come no one's dancing?" I asked.
"Because they were waiting for the dancing queens to arrive," someone said from behind me. "You know you and MB always start the parties at this school." I smiled and turned to see my wacky friend with shoulder length brown hair and blue eyes standing behind me, a soda in her hand.
"Hey, Cait!" I said, hugging her. She exchanged hugs with the others.
"So, Alex," Caitlin said, winking at me. "I see you reached your life long dream." She nodded her head towards Brian.
"Yes, but it's more like my story than yours," I explained in a mock-British accent, acting like a formality. "You see, we didn't meet at the First Union Center, I wasn't dressed like a hoochie, and you didn't dance with AJ."
"Ah, but the night is still young," she said, laughing. Maribeth laughed while AJ just raised an eyebrow, backing away slowly.
"We're going to go mingle," Jessica said. I nodded and everyone disappeared into the crowd. Brian, Chris, and Nick stayed with me and Rachel as we talked to Caitlin. Joey went with Jessica, obviously, JC went with Joanne and Kevin, Maribeth and AJ went off by themselves, and Jamie and Howie went off together, while Justin, who knew almost everyone (he was a very social little kid), took Lance with him as he mingled. I turned around to look at Brian, who looked at me expectantly.
"Oh, god, Brian," I said, apologetically. "I'm sorry." I turned to Caitlin. "Cait, this is my husband, Brian, Rachel's fiancée (yes, fiancée . . . of about five minutes!), Nick, and you met Chris once at my boat. Guys, this is my good friend, Caitlin Esmond."
"Wait, he's your husband?" Caitlin said, exasperated. I nodded and smiled. "You're right, it is more like your story than mine. It didn't even get this far in Rachel's!"
"What's she talking about?" Brian asked. The two girls and I looked at each other and smiled.
"I'll explain later," I said, kissing his cheek. I turned back to Caitlin. "So, when's your movie coming out?" She blushed.
"How'd you know?" she asked, taking a sip of her drink.
"Because you've always wanted to be a movie star," I said. "You always did what you set your mind to."
"True," she said. "It's coming out in February."
"Well, well, look who it is." Caitlin rolled her eyes and I grimaced at the sound of the voice of the girl standing behind me. I didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. Obviously, neither did Rachel.
"What do you want, Donna?" she growled, turning slowly to meet the menacing faces of Donna, Kaitlyn, and the rest of their crew.
"We want our boyfriends," she said, smiling sweetly at Brian.
"Then go find some," I said. "My husband and I are busy talking. Maribeth is pretty busy with her fiancée, too, so, and I know this will be a hard thing to do, you guys should probably go get a life."
"It would be about time," Justin said as he and Lance walked over.
"Oh, hey, Justy," Kaitlyn purred at him. He gave her a strange look and looked at me like he was about to throw up. I stifled a laugh and rolled my eyes.
"Good-bye," I said. The eight of us started to walk away.
"Hey! We're not done with you, yet!" Donna called.
"But we're done with you," I said, flicking a wrist at her over my shoulder. We walked over to the bar and got a couple of drinks.
"Oh, Alex, remind me later that I have something to give to you," Justin whispered to me. I nodded while my eyes scanned the room. Everyone was mingling. No one was dancing. I could fix that.
"Who wants to help me start the party?" I asked, grinning at Caitlin and Justin.
"Lead the way, dancing queen," Justin said. We all made our way to the center of the dance floor. Maribeth saw us and ran towards us, dragging AJ with her.
"You trying to start the party without me?" she whined.
"Never," I said. Just then, Britney Spears "Crazy" came on. Groaning and laughing at the same time, the ten of us danced tot he rhythm. Making a circle like we used to, each of us took turns in the middle, sometimes going in two or three at a time.
"Do I even have to ask who's burning up the dance floor?" I turned in excitement and saw a brown eyed, brown haired man about medium height standing behind me.
"Jason!" I exclaimed, running and hugging my good friend.
"Hey, Al," he laughed, hugging me back. "Long time, no see."
"Definitely," I agreed. "What have you been up to?"
"I'm a lawyer," he said. "Ever heard of Hellmann & Associates?"
"Wait, you're the owner of Hellmann & Associates?" I asked, incredulously. He nodded. "Congratulations! That's awesome." I brought him over to where everyone was dancing. "Jason, this is my husband, Brian. Brian, this is the Jason I was telling you about."
"And just what did you tell him?" Jason asked me, shaking hands with Brian. "I looked at him and smiled knowingly. "How did I know?"
"Because I'm just so darn predictable," I said. "C'mon, dance with us."
"Let me just go get my girlfriend," he said. He disappeared and came back a moment later with Shoshana, my old friend and his old nemeses, on his arm.
"Ha! I'm psychic!" I said, hugging my friend. "Wasn't I the one who said you guys would get together sooner or later?"
"Trust me when I say I didn't even believe it myself when it happened," Shoshana said. They danced with us for awhile, then a slow song was announced.
"We're gonna slow it down a bit, folks," the DJ said. "So grab the one you love, shuffle yourselves out onto the dance floor, and take things nice and slow because, from what I was told, we have these very people in this very room." With that said, the DJ put on "Private Emotions." I looked at Brian, who was smiling down at me. As everyone coupled off, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. I wrapped my around his neck and laid my head on his chest. I sighed and looked over at Caitlin, who looked content in Chris's arms. Jokingly, I gave both of them a thumbs up. Caitlin returned it, but Chris just rolled his eyes.
"You having a good time?" Brian asked me.
"Of course," I said, looking up at him. "I'm here in your arms. There's nothing I like better."
"Look, I'm still sorry about earlier," he said.
"It's okay," I assured him. "No harm done."
"Can I make it up to you later?" he asked, smiling mischievously.
"Fine, but first I want to show you some place special." He nodded and kissed the top of my head. I looked on my other side and spotted my friend Angela, her long brown hair twisted up in a sophisticated French twist. She came up and gave me and the other girls hugs. Looking like a lost puppy, she noticed that she was standing in the middle of a bunch of couples. Before she could back away, someone came up behind her.
"Would you like to dance?" JC asked.
"Sure," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. JC wrapped his around her waist and they began to sway to the music, talking rapidly to each other.
"Wowzers," Justin said, coming up next to us.
"What?" I asked.
"I've never seen JC do something like that with out even knowing a girl," he explained, staring wide-eyed at his friend. "He's usually shy."
"You're right," I said, thinking hard. "He usually is shy. He must really like her." I haven't seen her look that happy in a long time, I thought, watching my friends hazel eyes light up.
"It should be interesting to see what turns out," Joanne said, her and Kevin moving next to the three of us. "If Ange likes his that much, she'll be willing to put up with his schedule. She did do that for Bob."
"Yes, but Bob became an *sshole," I reminded her. "Then she dumped him, got on with her merry little life, and got a very good job . . . yet I forget what it is."
"She's owns a recording studio," Joanne reminded me. I nodded. When the song ended, the five of us joined the others at two large tables that AJ and Lance had managed to push together.
"So, Ange," Rachel said, "are you going to join us down in Orlando for awhile? I already know Caitlin's coming." Caitlin smiled at me, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. I just laughed.
"I didn't know I was invited," she responded, looking at the rest of us.
"You're always invited," Jamie said.
"Yeah, you can stay with us," I offered, looking at Brian. He smiled at me in agreeance.
"Or me," JC offered. We all looked at him, our eyes wide. "What?" he asked. Angela laughed, shaking her head.
"I guess I will," she said. "My studio's being renovated so I'm out of work for about a month."
"Great," Joanne said. "We'll get you an extra plane ticket. We go in two days."
"But don't forget about the cruise," I reminded her. "I'll call Denise and ask her to get us an extra . . . well, everything for the vacation."
"I dunno, guys," Angela said. "I don't think I can afford a fancy vacation right now."
"All expenses are paid," Justin said, smiling at her. "Don't worry about it."
"Hey!" Caitlin whined. "What about me?"
"What about you?" Justin countered like a kindergartener.
"Why aren't my expenses paid for?"
"Like anyone would pay for you," Justin said, rolling his eyes. Caitlin narrowed hers and glared at him.
"Yeesh, touchy," Joanne snickered.
"Yours are paid for, too," Howie assured her. "Don't worry about it."
"I was only kidding," Caitlin said. "Me and Justy always do that."
"But we're paying for you, anyway," Chris insisted. Caitlin was about to protest, but I quickly covered her mouth with my hand.
"Don't argue with him," I warned. "I am the only one who could win an argument with him." Chris raised an eyebrow at me. "Wanna contradict that?"
"Some other time," he said, smiling. I rolled my eyes and leaned back into Brian's arms.