"There she is, man! I can't believe she came. Check her out, dude. Damn! She's still hot as hell!"
He looked over and saw her walking in alone and thought, "How could I have let her have so much power over my life back then?"
Jimmy was right. She was still hot as hell. In fact, she'd gotten even more beautiful over the last ten years. Her hair was shorter, but it still fell slightly below her chin. It was dark, soft, silky, and smooth; it even appeared to shine. Her face was still gorgeous, but it now had a more mature, more sophisticated look to it.
As his eyes continued their trip down memory lane, he fondly remembered those two naturally-large melons he'd fallen in lust with back in high school. They were typically adorned by soft, figure-hugging sweaters most of the year and they'd driven him crazy day after day. Her body was still long and lean and her legs were as shapely as ever. In a word, she really was still hot. Smokin' hot. He laughed when he remembered wondering if he could hurt something by 'doing that to himself' three or four times a day while fantasizing about her.
He thought about walking over her to her and saying hello just to see if she even remembered his name. He also thought briefly about letting her know he'd graduated from college, spent five years in the Air Force flying F-16s, and now had a job flying for United Airlines out of SeaTac airport but decided against it. He was bigger than that now. Besides, Campbell Edwards came from money and she wouldn't be impressed with his minor, little, insignificant accomplishments. She'd likely just say something like, "Oh, how nice for you...um...what did you say your name was again?" even though it was printed in big letters on his name tag.
Chaz Rhodes didn't need the headache or the heartache. Like so many other guys he'd been hopelessly and helplessly in love with Campbell Edwards his last two years of high school while she'd had no idea he was even alive. Then why would she? He'd been a good 25 pounds overweight, was still wearing braces, and could barely speak to a girl without getting so tongue tied he'd stammer and turn red.
As to Campbell, she was well...Campbell. She was...her. She'd arrived at the start of their junior year and it seemed as though everyone, both boys and girls, was talking about her from the first day of school on. The girls felt threatened by her presence and/or desperately wanted to be her friend—or at least not become her enemy, and the boys all wanted her.
What everyone else was also saying back then was there only one guy who even had a chance and he was already dating the cutest, most popular girl school. Well, now that Campbell was on campus, Karen Powers was the second cutest girl in school. The only question was would Mark Harding dump his beautiful girlfriend and make a play for the new Queen Bee? Even he might might be found wanting. For that matter, it might well be she preferred older guys; college boys or even men a little older than that. After all, she could have anyone she wanted and she knew it, so would she even consider Mark?
Like a moth to a flame, Mark let Karen go and made his play. Chaz remembered feeling almost sorry for him when he heard she'd not only turned him down, she'd laughed at him when he asked her out. She'd been surrounded by her normal entourage of adoring sycophants when he walked up and asked if he could talk to her alone. "Right her will be fine," she'd told him. He evidently looked around then asked her to Homecoming. She looked at her best 'friend', smiled then said, "In your dreams." Everyone nervously laughed while secretly wishing he'd asked them as Campbell said, "Come on, girls. Let's roll." And off they went down the hall carefully adhering to their assigned pecking order.
Via Jimmy, Chaz learned that Karen had made Mark sit in the penalty box for three months but ended up taking him back with open arms. He'd also found out they married each other right after graduation and had a couple of kids in quick succession. Two or three years ago they divorced and Chaz wondered whether either of them would show up.
In the final analysis, Chaz knew none of it mattered now. That was high school and high school was a fantasy world. For him, it had been a cruel-nightmare fantasy world, but it certainly wasn't reflective of reality. It was a kind of phony dress rehearsal for real life where popularity, looks, and athletic ability trumped hard work and intelligence—the things that mattered after graduation. Sure, a girl as beautiful as Campbell Edwards could become rich-er and successful on her looks alone by marrying wealth or power, but Rhodes knew that didn't necessarily equate to happiness, the things money and power were supposed to deliver to the rich and famous. He'd often wondered whether or not she was possibly miserable deep down and all her bluster just a show. He'd learned over the years that truly beautiful people were often some of the loneliest people on earth. It was counterintuitive to be sure, but it often seemed to be the case.
Chaz had taken the reverse path. High school—well, school in general—had been a long, lonely time for him. He'd had only one real friend—Jimmy—and never so much as had a date. But once he got his braces off and started college, he made a discovery that changed his love. He found the gym almost by accident and started fooling around on the various machines. His curiosity kept him coming back and soon he was spending countless hours each month there transforming his body from soft and round to hard and firm. Coupled with a perfect smile and great hair, and his newly-developed physique, Chaz Rhodes became what others proverbially called a chick magnet.
He'd always been smart and he did extremely well at the University of Washington in Seattle, graduating with honors while serving in Air Force ROTC. Socially however, his life did a virtual 180 and he was dating (and bedding) more co-eds than he could keep up with.
As an Air Force pilot, he continued to enjoy a never-ending stream of beautiful women and had become a hardcore, committed bachelor who never saw the same girl more than twice and most only once. But since he left active duty just under a year ago and started flying commercially, that old fire had slowly died out. Maybe it was due to no longer pulling G-forces but just taking off and setting the plane on autopilot until it was time to land. Even then the pilot-in-command did most of the flying. Maybe it was just a function of age. Whatever it was, for the first time in his 28 years, he thought about actually settling down. He laughed out loud when he thought about doing so with Campbell Edwards.
"Dude? What's so funny? Does that mean you think she isn't smokin' hot or something? Seriously?"
"What's that? Oh, no. Not at all, Jimmy. She's definitely still fine as fine can be. But just look at her. Expensive dress. Fancy jewelry. It's that same old veneer. Beautiful outside but rotten to the core below the surface. It all still screams snob. No thanks. I don't want any part of that."
"Yeah? Well, I'd hit that," he said. Rhodes didn't laugh out loud, but Jimmy's chances of 'hitting that' were less than the odds of an asteroid scoring a direct hit on Manhattan and wiping out the earth. Time had not been a friend to Chaz's buddy. He'd completely let himself go and was now sporting a beer gut that could more accurately be called a 'deer gut.' He was also losing his hair—no fault of his own, but when coupled with his thick glasses and asymmetrical face, it wasn't hard to understand why he was still single. Were it not for 'ladies of the night' and massage parlors, Jimmy might well still be a virgin.
"Yeah, she is beautiful. I'll grant you that. But unless something's changed—seriously changed—I wouldn't hit that with your rod, dude."
Rhodes also laughed to himself at having said 'dude.' He only talked like that with Jimmy. Even though they only spoke on the phone two or three times a year, he always fell right back into their same old high school routine anytime they talked.
"So...who else looks hot?" Jimmy asked him.
Rhodes smiled and said, "Go take a look around, dude. Flirt a little. Those same girls who wouldn't even talk to us in high school will be some of the most approachable women here now. Trust me on that one."
"Yeah, but they'll all be married, too."
"Okay, you got me on that one." He looked again then said, "But um...I don't see a ring on Campbell's finger. Go say 'hi' to her."
"Dude! Are you kidding? No way. No chance in hell. Uh-uh. Ain't happening. You go say 'hi' to her."
"Nah. I'll pass. I think I'll just sit here and nurse this beer. But don't let me hold you back, bro. Go check it out. Who knows? Maybe you'll strike gold."
"Yeah. And maybe pigs will suddenly sprout wings and fly." He paused and said, "Speaking of pigs. Is that Ellen..."
"Dude? Grow the hell up, would you?" He looked over and saw Ellen Townsend, the one Jimmy had always cruelly called 'soo-ee!' to. She looked...different. Really different. Wow different.
"Wish me luck, man. I'm goin' in," Jimmy said.
"Good luck, dude. And hey...be nice!" he called out to him. Jimmy turned around as he walked away, flashed a 'thumb's up' to Chaz, then managed to trip on his own two feet. Rhodes chuckled as Jimmy skidded directly in front of Ellen's feet. He saw her try not to laugh as his friend stood up, brushed himself off, and said hello. To his surprise, Ellen smiled and nodded to whatever Jimmy had suggested.
Sitting all alone with his beer and his thoughts, he watched Campbell fend off one guy after the other with a quick smile and an, "Excuse me."
"Same old cu...bitch," he said quietly to himself.
Many of the girls who'd hung on her every word barely spoke to her. A few however, warmly embraced her and told her how good it was to see her again. Evidently, she'd moved away from their home town of Renton, Washington. Perhaps she'd married into even more money and already been divorced. Maybe even more than once. It wouldn't be that surprising. After all, who could live with a woman like that?
