A plethora of emotions rushed at me when I unexpectedly received our high school class' invitation to a summer reunion. Sooner or later, I know this would happen, now that ten years have passed but I was surprised at the anger and excitement that stirred within.
In the half-light of late afternoon, I walked up to the mirror and tried to find traces of the awkward, bulky girl I once was. Instead, a tall, curvy, brunette wearing black laced lingerie with mile-long legs stood before me, staring back with half-opened lips in an expression of wonder. I caressed my face, ran my hand over my soft cleavage and turned round and round. The clumsy girl with uneven skin tone is nowhere but sheltered inside my eyes shining with warmth but also teeming with vengeance and not to mention, lethal seduction. I slipped the invitation into my brassiere, called to cancel appointments for a week and booked a flight to California, to my past.
I spotted her first, Raquel, the monster of my adolescent life. For a moment I had the impulse to hide and run like a frightened animal. But I remembered how agonized I was upon hearing that she and Josh were engaged a few months back. Josh was my ultimate childhood crush—he was handsome and smart. He was the prince. She was the witch. She should be banished. The prince should be with the maltreated princess. Me. I thought about slipping into a seat but soon found almost all the eyes staring in my direction. Awkward.
Of all the people, Monique took my hand and kissed me lightly on both cheeks. I hugged her back as friendly as I can. She was still pretty, the reason why people tolerated her back then, but she aged too much. She was not as short as I remembered but because of the fats the years had added, she almost looked chubby. She'd blush to know why I was smiling so widely.
"My! The runway girl! Cameron!"
"Oh well. It's just still me, an average Californian dudette. So how have you been ----?"
"Raquel. Raquel Anna Smith."
How could I ever forget you bitch.
She escorted me into the tables and introduced me to our old friends and eventually to her "dearest love, soon-to-be husband." But both wore no ring. His beautiful brown eyes were screaming with awe and amazement. And although I dated too many men, the way Josh looked at me filled me with excitement. I longed for his tongue to be inside my mouth, his long hard fingers inside me.
Soon the girls were in their bikinis and some of the men who have been vying for my attention for the past hour darted towards them. I simply sat and sipped lemonade, vowing to stay in my maroon Bohemian skirt and white off-shouldered blouse. I glanced at my reflection against a glass wall and smiled. The shape of my bare shoulders was seductive enough and I exposed just the right amount of flesh. I gathered my locks to one side and tilted my head to reveal my long, bronze neck. Raquel donned red thongs. Her breasts were large and white and bitch that she was, she had two men apply to her back some lotion and then bury her in sand. She looked at my direction and smiled. I waved back.
By and by, two warm large hands came from behind and covered my eyes with darkness. I was annoyed so I cursed and threatened to hurt the intruder. When I was free to turn around, I saw Josh grinning at me. He was shirtless and his sandy hair was dancing in the humid breeze.
"Hey sorry." He looked abashed. He was muscular like a Greek Olympian. He looked like a demi-god.
"You'd be sorrier if I kicked you."
He pulled off that slow one-sided smile that used to make the girls in school swoon. "I didn't know you have the fight in you."
A lump formed in my throat. I swallowed it. "Nobody fought for me so I figured I had to fight for myself."
Sympathy washed over his face. So he remembered. Perhaps there were times he could have saved me. Perhaps it was a social rule that boys shouldn't mingle with girls' affairs. Perhaps he just didn't want to do anything with an ugly girl.
He sat across me and ordered a drink.
"You know what, I always knew you were going to be somebody. You were pretty and smart. But honestly though and no offense, never this way... "
Pretty? "Flatterer. Men, you are all the same."
"No kidding!" Josh was a nice guy and I desperately wanted to believe him.
"And hey, modelling is a legal and decent job!" It was myself I was trying to convince. "So... you and Raquel? How?" I tried to fake interest.
He shrugged and looked sober. "I tried to help her about two years ago recover from heroin addiction. You see I'm one of those cops who arrested her. Because I knew her, I felt responsible. It just sort of happened."
I wanted to scream, "But she's a witch!"
Raquel was sitting at the shore, chatting up with a blond guy, laughing in each other's faces.
"Getting married soon?"
"I—I honestly don't know." His sincere affection for her cannot be ignored and so was his confusion. For a moment I rebelled against my plan.
There was not an hour that we wouldn't exchange a word, a smile or a look. Poor Josh, he was still a boy. During the afternoon barbecue party, I had wittingly hinted I'll be by the beach at night to watch a meteor shower. Three stars did actually fall from the sky as I waited. I wished for only one thing though: that I could get even. I thought I was waiting in vain when I finally heard his voice.
