Dear reader, this is my entry into WINTER HOLIDAY 2024 and I hope you will enjoy my story.
If you do, then please read my others or follow me to receive notifications of new stories as I publish them.
A huge thanks to Aoife and Nicole for their help and support, all the typos and mistakes are mine.
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Susan looked at the school gates with apprehension as her mother's farm, hooked through hers, tugged her along. Bad memories flooded back through her from eighteen years ago. Ones that had been locked away and forgotten for a long time.
Terror pumped through her veins as they stepped between the two brick gate pillars, the symbolic point of no return.
"Come on dear, it's only a Christmas Fete. What's there to be scared of?" Her mother chuckled, not noticing Susan's blood turning ice cold with dread.
She shuddered as she thought, "Annie Battlefield, Tim Thomson, and Mr Saddler, the sports teacher, that's who." As memories of being the last to be picked at any team game flooded back.
The day Annie cut her beautiful ponytail off still tied her stomach into knots, which beat Tim Thomson pulling her skirts up in the playground to laugh at her brother's baggy Y-fronts she'd put on in the rush to be at school on time.
She shook her head to clear her mind of childhood pain. "You're a grown woman. We were just kids back then." She reminded herself.
They approached the crowded car park where, up on the steps to the main entrance, stood a gaggle of adults with a huge white ribbon, flanked all around by giggling students.
At the centre of the commotion was the local celebrity clown, dressed in baggy, multi-coloured clothing, teasing and playing his role with a gigantic pair of scissors.
Her mother rubbed salt into Susan's self-doubt without realising, as she told her, "If you'd done something more mainstream, then maybe they'd have invited you to open the fete rather than the playhouse's popular clown."
"Cheers Mum, perfect way to start a fun-filled day," Susan grumbled sarcastically as she searched for the two faces that would cement this into her worst adult day ever, Annie or Tim.
Her gaze was met by wide smiles and cheerful faces, regardless of whether child or adult, neither of which she associated with Mayfield Junior School when she was here.
"Suzy? Suzy Rayworth?" came a shout from the crowd.
Susan scanned the questioning looks surrounding her to see a gorgeous, buxom auburn-haired beauty at the front, waving at her. She was too young to have mothered the dozen students about her, but there was something familiar about her.
A bullhorn squeaked, causing the children to squeal and hold their hands over their ears, as a man with the horn adjusted it to hand it to the clown. Who, after the much-expected horsing around, cut the ribbon, letting everyone flood inside.
Susan politely allowed parents and children to pour in as she and her mother held back. The Auburn hand waver was now ushering the surrounding students into the building, but she still couldn't quite place the beauty's face.
The old school smelled the same, but they were relieved to be out of the icy wind. The entrance hall had a substantial Christmas tree in the corner, with decorations liberally strung around it. Decorations hung from the ceiling along with huge lanterns and tinsel strings on the chandelier-style main lights.
A middle-aged man, wearing an overstated Christmas jumper, welcomed them and introduced himself as Terry the headteacher. Susan's mother went to explain the link between Susan and the school, but three students burst in, demanding his attention, and he ushered them into the hall behind.
Susan and her mother followed him into the bustling main hall, which was similarly bedecked with Christmas bunting and another tree in the far corner with a baby grand piano. Eighteen years ago, the hall was enormous, but as an adult, it seemed tiny.
Various stalls wrapped around the hall with a few more in the centre. All selling a mixture of craft and Christmas items. At the other end was the stage with its large red curtains pulled closed and in the one corner was a little cafe where Miss Auburn was selling cakes.
Susan's mother drifted off to lap the stalls and followed the busy flow of visitors, but the delicious Miss Auburn attracted Susan, beckoning her over. She wore cute, bright red-rimmed glasses perched on a button nose framed by freckles, which gave her an academic air. Her tight, red and white Christmas jumper accentuated her plump but sensual frame.
She completed a transaction with a mother, handing her a cling-filmed cake and greeted Susan with a beaming smile and sparkling eyes, which drew her interest immediately.
"Hi, Suzy. After we heard you'd moved to London, I never thought I'd see you again."
Cheerful dimples appeared in her cheeks as she reached towards Susan, who still couldn't recollect this woman who clearly knew her.
"I... I'm sorry. This is embarrassing. I can't quite place you?"
Her warm hands clasped Susans, and she pulled her around to her side of the table. Despite her lack of recognition of her, Susan found her smile infectious and grinned back.
"And why should you? You left for the big smoke and fame, yet I stayed here in this backwater to be boring and safe."
She took her glasses off, flicked her long auburn hair behind her, and goofily stuck her upper teeth out over her bottom lip.
"Come on. This is your one and only clue."
Suddenly, it all flooded back. The goofy teeth and the awkwardly cute look on her face clinched the deal. She recognised her only friend and confident throughout her teenage years.
As if it were obvious, she revealed the answer as she squealed, "Jen, Jennifer Bird?" at Susan.
This time Jen saw a smile of recognition and as quick as a flash, she replaced her glasses and drew Susan into a bone-crushing bear hug. Even through her woollen coat and thick jumper, Susan could feel Jen's most popular assets pressing into her.
Susan reciprocated, as happy memories of her childhood friend flooded back to blanket out the pain of the location. Burying her head onto her shoulder, catching the scent of her hair, she oddly finally felt at home.
They both relaxed but remained in each other's arms, looking at each other.
"Geez, you've changed, the glasses are new."
"Yeah, turns out it was my eyesight holding me back, not my big boobs or bum!"
She laughed that long-forgotten infectious laugh of hers whilst flicking her head to shake her long hair.
"And a trip to Turkey to get these gnashers under control."
She smiled a stunning Hollywood smile, proudly showing off two rows of beautifully whitened ivory teeth that any 'A' lister would be proud to display on a TV talk show.
"Holy cow, girl, I need sunglasses. They're fabulous."
Suddenly, coughing from the other side of the table caught Jen's attention as a mother and two children offered coins and pointed at the chocolate cupcakes. As Jen dealt with the growing queue of customers, Susan felt flushed, which wasn't helped by watching Jen's gorgeously rounded bottom inside her tight blue stretch jeans as she bent over.
Susan loosened her coat and let it hang open, feeling a little useless as Jen and the other women on the stall busied themselves selling cakes and juices to the children. Not wanting to be in the way, Susan edged around the table to head into the flow of prowling visitors.
Shimming between two tables, Jen spotted her, and her eyes gave a brief flash of fear. Guilt wracked through Susan, as she exclaimed, a little too loudly, "Don't you dare leave me again without a bye or a leave."
