Disclaimer: This story was written by me, with the help of my friend. Some of the names of places, schools and certain companies I do not own such as Dell or Mountain View High, but I did create ComputerApplications and if there is any relationship other than the above it is purely coincidence. I hope you enjoy my story!!

The Reunion

Chapter 1

The Dream

She stared around the room, her soft brown eyes searching for someone she knew. Why did I even come to this stupid reunion anyway? she wondered. I’ve been here fifteen minutes already and I haven’t seen anyone I know. I guess I just wanted to see how my old friends were doing...kinda pointless, since I can’t find them. She was standing, alone but not really lonely, at the entrance to the cafeteria at her old alma mater, Mountain View High. Crowds of people milled aimlessly about, with the occasional high-pitched squeal from one of those stupid preps, most of them pregnant with their fourth or fifth child. You could look around and see oh-so-familiar faces from high school, since some people don’t change much. Others, however, had grown so far from their high school faces that you couldn’t even recognize them anymore. Larissa was one of those. She had been beautiful in high school, but no one could surpass her now. Her hair had been lightened just the slightest bit and made slightly more auburn, and she had grown taller so that she wasn’t quite average height, but not many people considered her short. She was lovely and friendly, funny and happy, and everyone that knew her, loved her. (Her personality hadn’t changed much since high school.)

As she stared around the room, taking in the sight of everyone that she had known, she heard a soft voice say, "Larissa?" She turned and had to cover her mouth from gasping, for the most gorgeous man she had ever beheld stood in front of her. His brown hair flopped playfully over his deep brown eyes, which sparkled like a thousand stars shimmering in the night sky. He was tall, but not overmuch, and a slight smile played over his full round lips.

"Jacob?" she asked wonderingly.

"Hi," he said, that simple word accompanying a dazzling smile. "I didn’t think you’d be here."

"Neither did I," she said, and they both laughed. "How have you been? I heard you married Chelsea Smith."

"Oh, that rumor," he said, a slight tinge of pink coloring his cheeks. "She proposed, but I wasn’t ready to get married yet. Plus, I realized long ago that she wasn’t for me. She’s too much of a ditz." Larissa chuckled quietly, having known that ever since she met him.

"Yeah, but she’s still pretty nice. So...did you ever marry?" she asked as casually as possible.

"Oh...no. I’ve been looking for that special someone for a long time, but I haven’t found her, yet. Have you gotten married?"

"Nah," she replied quietly. "I got into quite a few relationships, but they all turned out crappy, and one-night stands aren’t much of a thrill anymore. But, I haven’t truly fallen in love since high school."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Do you want to go outside and get some fresh air?" he quickly added. "I haven’t really looked around the outside of the school yet, I heard its really changed."

"Sure," she meekly said. They both quietly exited through a side door, but before Larissa left she gave a coy wink to Sam, one of her longtime friends.

* * * *

The cold, fall air was eagerly greeted by both Larissa and Jacob. They walked around for a while, looking at some new buildings and the old ones. They were heading to the football field, where Larissa remembered when at a Varsity football game, also known as "The Civil War Game", received her first true kiss, with tongue and everything.

"Good God," Jacob murmured. Larissa quickly looked up at him. He was staring at the football field as if he had seen a ghost. At that precise moment, Larissa had to catch her breath, for Jacob looked absolutely dazzling with the bright moon shadowing behind him, catching all his handsome features with the gentle white rays. His hair shined, his skin glowed, and, most of all, his eyes sparkled.

"What is it? Is everything ok?" she asked in a not-so-desperate voice.

"Oh, well, I just can’t believe it hasn’t changed at all. I had so many great memories on this field," he quietly responded while slowly walking up to the stands with his hands in his jean pockets.

"Oh, I know what you mean. So many great memories here, especially from those loud Varsity games. You definitely had many memorable moments on the field when you played on the Varsity team. Didn’t you get a scholarship to UCLA to play for them?" she asked while walking up halfway of the stadium. He quickly followed and sat down beside her; not too close, but, yet not too far away. She looked out and around the field and sheepishly smiled to herself.

"Yes, I did receive a scholarship there and I went for the full four years. I did a lot of stupid shit, but I learned from my mistakes. I majored in computer programming and three years ago I started my very own company called ComputerApplications. The first two years in college, I had been working at Dell. So, now you know my life story in one paragraph," he jokingly said. They both laughed out of nervousness and after a while there was complete silence in the stadium. Jacob looked down at her and noticed a quaint blush and smile from her. He asked, "It seems something wonderful happened here one night or you wouldn’t be smiling like that. Am I right?"

She turned and he saw her face was lit up with such happiness, but mostly he saw how her eyes were sparkling and it seemed her eyes were a hue of a different color, but it couldn’t have because when he looked again her eyes were a soft brown. He figured it must have been the moonlight reflecting a lighter color. She was smiling and sort of gave a half-shrug.

"No, no. You’ve got my interest at a high point and now need to tell me, I saw you a while ago. It looked like you had just remembered the most happiest moment of your life," he said. "Please, tell me, I really would like to know," he gently prodded further.

An instant reaction crossed her face and he wondered what she was thinking.

"Ok, fine, you don’t have to tell me anything, I didn’t mean to pry," he quickly looked away. Jacob stared off into space for a while and Larissa gladly looked out upon the quiet field for a quick few moments.

Jacob was brought back to reality when he heard Larissa sigh, stand, and stretch. He stood up beside her and decided that they had been gone far too long from the party. He took her hand, which surprised both of them, and led her back to the reunion. Just as they had entered the building and was heading over to the refreshment table a noise resounded, "Ring...ring...ring!"

Larissa sat up in bed and realized she had been dreaming about her five-year reunion. She heard the ringing noise again and quickly leapt over her bed to answer her cell phone. It was Alexa, her four-year old daughter.