Dee Sanders walked into her old high school and looked around. Since she'd graduated a new wing had been added for athletics, and the school had been repainted. Pretty much everything else was the same as she remembered. She was greeted by lots of smiling faces, but if she was being honest with herself, not even the name tags rang a bell.
It had been 10 years since graduation, so forgetting a few faces was expected, but she couldn't believe that she hardly recognized anyone, even once they told her their name. The only friend she'd kept in touch with was Betty Fields who had called her the week before frantically studying her yearbook for names and faces. Dee had thought that was silly at the time, but maybe it had been a good idea after all. She hoped to find Betty soon so that she could hide behind the fact that Betty knew who everyone was.
The main part of the reunion was in the new gym, and it had been decorated with trophies and pictures from their time in high school there. She ran her fingers over the picture of the cheerleading squad from her senior year. They had come in third at the championship, and the football team had done even better, winning the whole shebang.
She and Betty were standing near the back of the group of girls in short skirts and pigtails, with their hands on their hips and fake, bright white smiles on their faces. It had always seemed silly to them how cheery they really expected the cheerleaders to look, and even though she had loved it for sport, she hated the politics of it all.
At the front of the picture she saw Stacy Mathers, team captain, looking smug with herself. "Ugh, hate her!" Dee turned around to see that Betty was standing right behind her, not at all trying to hide her contempt for mean girl Stacy. Luckily, that's one person she had yet to run into.
"Oh my God, Betty; how are you!?" They hugged and exchanged kisses on each cheek like they always had in high school. It was comforting that some things just didn't change.
"Girl, you look good. I bet you'd still fit in your uniform. Mine won't even go on one leg!" The two women laughed. It was just like Betty to be completely obnoxious. That's probably why she had never fit in with Dee and the rest of the cheerleaders, but that was exactly her appeal to Dee. Dee had hated all the things that she'd had to do to stay a part of the in crowd, and Betty had always been such a relief from all of that.
"I'm so glad you're here Betty. I have no idea who these people are. I feel so embarrassed. Was I really that out of touch in high school?"
"Psssh, nonsense Dee. Nobody big has shown up yet probably. We're a little early for that, and it wasn't exactly your fault you didn't get to know a lot of the ordinaries. I mean Stacy Mad Hatter had you under lock and key, remember? Half the time you weren't even allowed to talk to me."
"You really still call her that Betty?" Dee shook her head at her friend; Betty was as stuck in the past as she was.
"Not to her face, of course." The women locked arms and went to mingle with the crowd. Dee felt much better now that she had a friend here. She was actually really nervous about the whole thing. While she had been kind of popular, and she had kept her figure pretty slim over the years, she was one of the few not married or with children. She had focused on her career, and she'd finally found a guy, but after a long engagement due to both their work schedules, she'd broken it off because of his infidelity during the engagement. Not that she could really blame him with the hours they worked and how long they had been holding off the wedding.
She was pretty sure even Stacy had a husband now, even with her attitude. She'd heard that Stacy had married some morning weather man or something.
Dee spent most of the next hour following Betty around chatting it up with people she could at least now pretend to know. Around nine o'clock the lights went down and a projector screen came down at the front of the gym. Betty was busy gossiping with a couple of pregnant women who had been on the drill team in high school, so Dee quietly stepped away to get closer to the screen.
Glancing down at the itinerary she'd picked up on her way in, she saw that it was time for the tribute and toast. A slideshow began in front of them showing various photos, many that she recognized from her yearbook. They showed the marching band, the cheerleaders, the drill team, the debate team; pretty much any group there was. It made her feel bad for the population of students who never joined a group. Were they not important?
After they had exhausted the group pictures words appeared on screen saying 'In Tribute'. The words were followed by pictures and names of those who had passed, either while still in school with them or between graduation and the reunion. A few of them surprised her, but most of them had died before their senior year. She was bracing herself for what she knew was coming, though.
Daryl Carmichael came up on the screen. She hoped they would only spend a few seconds on him, but they were spending time on him, showing off his many touchdowns and other accomplishments. He was the quarterback and the head of the debate team. He was also Dee's first love.
They had dated all through freshman and sophomore year. It was only after Stacy had moved to town and gained everyone's attention that they broke up. He had been made quarter back, so he'd gotten a big head and felt he needed to be with the captain of the cheerleading team. Right before he died they had started seeing each other in secret again, and he was planning on breaking up with Stacy at a party the following weekend.
However, she humiliated him at the party after he did it, so he got wasted and got a ride home from other guys on the team who were wasted. The car wrapped around a tree. It broke her heart, but what she had always been thankful for is that he had called her that night after the breakup and told her he loved her. That was as much as any girl could ask for in that situation.
As the screen faded out, she felt a presence next to her. "Brutal isn't it? Kinda morbid too if you ask me. Though, I bet he's looking down from somewhere just soaking up the attention." Dee looked up at the guy that had taken the space next to her. He had blue eyes and blonde hair. She was pretty sure he'd been on the football team, but she couldn't quite place what position. "Oh, how rude of me," he said as he saw the look Dee was giving him. "I'm Brent Jackson. I wouldn't expect you to recognize me. I was the kicker for the football team; a small guy. Though, not to toot my own horn or anything, I was an excellent kicker. And you are Dee Sanders. You were a cheerleader, and you dated Daryl, right?"
Dee wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or creeped out. "Umm, ya, but how exactly do you know so much about me?"
Brent chuckled, "It's not exactly classified information. You were pretty popular, so everyone pretty much knew that about you. Now, how about instead of listening to them give a lame depressing speech, how about we get out of here and see if we can't have some fun." Dee looked around for Betty and didn't see her anywhere, so she figured she might as well go with this guy. He was right about it feeling depressing now, and what was the point of coming back to high school if you didn't get to have a little fun?
She nodded and followed him, surprised when he led her into the girls' locker room. In front of them were about two dozen brand new cheerleading uniforms. They were definitely skimpier than the ones they'd worn her year. "Go ahead, try one on." Brent beamed at her.
"You're kidding me right?"
"No, ma'am. Just put it on, for old times' sake and meet me out on the field, okay?" He left the room before she could have a chance to say no. She searched for a cheerleading uniform that looked close to her size. She knew she was bigger now that puberty and womanhood had finally caught up with her.
She picked a uniform near the middle and began to change. She rushed through the job and snuck out the back door to the football field.
