Disclaimer: All characters are 18 or older.
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Deanne Taylor was 43 years old and tall, about 5"11" with dirty blonde hair. She was no skinny model, but she carried her weight proportionally on her large frame. She was getting annoyed at the extra 5 pounds a year she seemed to gain, but regular work outs meant she was in decent shape, though she was now up to around 180 pounds.
She had her daughter, Alana, 18 years ago while in a long-term relationship, but she broke up with Alana's father before she was born. The father moved out of state, and Deanne was left to raise her daughter on her own. Deanne was a development engineer for a defense contractor, though, and that provided a good life for Alana and herself.
It was Fall Break, and Alana was hanging out with her old high school friends in the finished basement. Alana and her friends all lived in the same neighborhood and grew up together from elementary school to high school, growing closer as the years wore on. The girls in the group all became part of the popular crowd, all of them becoming cheerleaders in high school. The one outlier in the group was Leonard, who lived two houses down, and the only male in the group. He was shorter and didn't fit in looks-wise with the rest of the group, but he had hung out with them since elementary school, and he kind of always stuck around. As the girls grew into young women, Leonard was too short, had too much acne, and was too socially awkward to appeal to any of the girls, but he proved his worth by helping them on homework and studying for tests. The girls started dating, and some boyfriends briefly entered the circle, but the girls and Leonard were the constants.
After graduation, the group all followed separate paths to different colleges. Alana went to Frostburg State, and the rest of the group was scattered at other universities across the mid-Atlantic. After the challenge of starting over at a new school and having to make new friends, they all jumped at the first chance to catch up with old friends during Fall Break.
"Mom, can we order some pizzas?" a voice called from the basement.
Deanne sighed silently. She had 8 college aged kids in her basement, and it was almost dinner time. She went online and placed an order for delivery.
"Mom, did you hear us?" Alana asked, as her head popped out from the basement door. "We're starving down here."
"Just placed the order, honey. It should be here in a half hour or so," Deanne replied.
Alana ran back down while Deanne returned to cleaning upstairs. She marveled at how grown up her daughter was and wondered where all the years went. Alana was almost a carbon copy of her mother at 18 years old, a statuesque beauty, 5'9", and with smooth legs on the skinny frame that Deanne missed having.
Soon the pizzas arrived, and Deanne called the kids to come up from the basement to eat. Deanne was glad to have the kids over at her house. After Alana left for college, the house felt empty, and Deanne loved seeing the house full of noise and laughter again. She sat to the side, listening to their chatter as they tore into the pizza. Leonard sat off to the side, attentive but not directly involved in the banter.
The kids wolfed the food down, and then they scurried back downstairs. Deanne took a quick peek to the finished basement. The kids had resumed playing a board game, although she also saw video game controllers scattered about and Netflix on the TV. Looks like they were having fun, doing whatever caught their fancy, she reasoned.
Deanne went back upstairs and retired early to bed. She woke up the next morning and took a quick shower before changing into some grey sweat clothes. Then she went down to the basement to survey the damage. She loved her daughter but cleaning up after herself was not a strength. The kids went home at some point after Deanne went to bed, and she proceeded to clean up the aftermath.
When Deanne came back upstairs, she saw Alana groggily coming down.
"How late did you guys last?" Deanne asked.
Alana yawned sleepily before replying. "Everyone left about 2 AM."
Deanne looked at the clock in confusion. "It's only 7 AM. Why didn't you sleep in?"
"We're going to spend the day hiking up Old Rag, and we want to get an early start so we can be back for dinner," her daughter replied.
"When are you leaving then?"
"Right after I finish this muffin," Alana answered.
True to her word, Alana, quickly inhaled the muffin and then grabbed a small backpack for some water and snacks before heading out to meet her friends.
Deanne returned to cleaning up around the house after Alana left. An hour later, the doorbell rang, and she answered the door. Leonard stood at the doorstep.
"Is Alana here?" he asked.
"No, I'm sorry. She left with the girls. She said they were going hiking." Deanne realized immediately after she spoke that Leonard must not have been included. She could almost visibly see his hear sink.
"I guess I wasn't invited," Leonard replied, looking downtrodden.
"Come in, come in," Deanne beckoned, feeling sympathetic. "Why don't you come in and get some breakfast?"
Leonard took a deep breath and then took up her offer. He took a seat at the breakfast nook, his shoulders still slumped.
"We have some muffins and bagels. Or I could fry you up some eggs and bacon, if you'd like," Deanne cheerfully offered.
"It's alright," he replied sullenly. "I'll just have a muffin." Leonard half-heartedly grabbed one, but he made no attempt to actually eat."
"What's bothering you? I'm sorry they left you behind. Maybe -- " Deanne started.
"How long ago did they leave?" Leonard interrupted.
"About an hour," she answered.
Leonard shook his head. "It's pointless. It's no use going now. I don't want them to sit around for an hour just waiting for me to catch up."
"It's ok, I'm sure they just forgot to invite you," Deanne tried to reassure him.
"Exactly. They forgot. I'm an afterthought," Leonard said in exasperation.
"No, not like that."
"It's ok, Miss Taylor. I'm used to it by now. I get it. I was only useful to them in high school. I helped them keep up their grades, studied with them, and helped with their homework. But I was never good enough to be anything more than that. And now that we're all in different schools, taking different classes, now they have no use for me."
Deanne bit her lip. She knew there was a lot of truth to Leonard's rant. He was smaller, probably around 5'4", and shorter than all the girls in the group. He tagged along on a lot of their activities, but that was just it, he tagged along. He always came off like the runt of the group. A hanger on. During high school, as his dark hair grew out and he started wearing glasses, he was teased for bearing a more than passing resemblance to his namesake on the Big Bang Theory tv show.
"I'm sure it's just an honest mistake," Deanne tried to console him.
"It's not. They don't want me around. I probably just need to move on. I just wish -- " Leonard's voice trailed off.
"Wish what?"
Leonard looked at Deanne for a long moment before answering. "It just hurts. I know I'm not good looking. Or athletic. Or smooth talking. But I watch them all go out with their string of boyfriends, and I wish... I wish... I just wish they'd look at me just once the way they look at those other guys."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. You know I actually went on a date with a girl last month. My first one ever. I think she maybe even liked me. But then she wanted to do more, and I... I... it's like I didn't know how to do anything. She got frustrated and cut the night short." Leonard shook his head in frustration. "I'm just tired of being lonely."
"Leonard," Deanne tried to comfort him. "You're a good guy. Lots of girls would be lucky to have you. You just need to find the right girl who appreciates you."
