During high school, I despised school spirit. It literally made me sick. Ten years later, I walked into my high school gym with tons of school spirit in a black dress with a silver headband and a purple bangle on each wrist. I can’t say I wasn’t nervous about seeing my old friends again. I hadn’t seen any of them in four years. Eight of us had been the best of friends in high school and even in college, despite the fact that we all went to different universities. Then, we just stopped trying to see each other. Of course, we still talked every once in awhile but it just wasn’t the same after we graduated.

The first person I saw upon walking into the decorated gym was the one person I had kept in touch with and for that I was grateful. Louis Zir and I had gone to the same university and therefore had stayed friends. I released the breath I had been unconsciously holding since I got out of my car and walked over to him.

“Hey, loser.” I pushed his arm lightly. “Where’ve you been? I called you when I got the invitation but you never called me back.”

“Sorry,” he laughed, “I’ve been a little busy planning a proposal.”

“No!” I exclaimed, “You proposed to Heather!”

“Yep,” he nodded, “she came with me. She’s in the restroom.”

“She gets to meet all of your old friends,” I laughed, “she’ll think you’re insane!”

“Skye!” a familiar voice called my name, “Lou!”

Allison Reader walked up to us in a knee length purple skirt, black boots, and a silver shirt. She still looked exactly the same. Her frizzy blonde hair was still cut short so she didn’t have to do anything with it and she was still tall and skinny. She hugged me and smiled then stuck her tongue out at Louis.

“Hey, Spices,” I greeted her; “do people still call you Spices?” I never understood why we called her Spices. We just always did, just like we always called our friend Jennifer by her last name. There really was no reason.

“Melissa still calls me Spices sometimes but everyone else calls me Allison,” she explained, “She won’t let me call her Missy anymore though.”

“Why not?” Louis asked.

“Probably the same reason why you practically bite my head off when I call you Lou,” I shrugged.

“No,” he shook his head, “her name doesn’t sound like the word loser.”

“Hey, guys,” Jennifer Fanta walked over to where we stood by the punch bowl accompanied by a short stern looking Asian man. She was wearing a knee-length purple dress with a black purse and silver pumps. She’d never worn pumps in high school. She was always in flats. She never wore short dresses either. She was the most modest teenager in the world.

“Fanta!” I hugged the girl who had once been my closest friend. The man behind her bowed once she released me and the rest of us just stared at Jennifer unsure of what to do next. She bowed her head a bit and we all bowed too.

“I’m sorry,” Fanta apologized, “this is my boyfriend Matsumoto Hiroshi.”

“Hello Matsumoto,” I nodded and smiled.

“Hiroshi,” he laughed.

“Oh I’m sorry,” I apologized, “Mr. Hiroshi.”

“No,” he shook his head, “my first name is Hiroshi.”

“Jeez, Skye,” Louis laughed, “you’re so dumb. Haven’t you ever been to Japan?”

“Shut up!” I yelled at him just as Heather walked over, “Hi Heather.”

“Oh yeah, like that’s going to work,” he laughed.

“Hey, baby,” she put her hand on his shoulder causing him to spin around.

“Hey!” he grinned, “guys this is Heather, my fiancée.”

It seemed that as soon as he introduced her, everyone walked in. Melissa Farther, Poppy Vera, Sessaree Rodriguez, and my twin sister Clarissa walked over to the punch bowl. Everyone looked so much older but somehow exactly the same. After exchanging hellos and hugging each other, we sat down at a large table. Everyone had brought someone except me and Allison.

“Why didn’t Steve come?” Melissa asked.

“He had to work,” Allison shrugged.

“Is Steve your boyfriend?” I asked.

“Husband,” she flashed us the huge rock on her finger.

“Wow!” I shook my head, “when did you get married?” I was shocked that she hadn’t even thought to invite us.

“We eloped a month ago,” she smiled.

“Oh,” I felt guilty, “anyone else married or engaged?”

“Sean and I got engaged a few months ago,” Poppy looked at the man sitting to her right. They didn’t seem to fit together. She was prim and proper in her suit with her long hair pulled back into a tight bun while he was in jeans and a band shirt. He looked just like the type of guy she went out with in high school.

“Are you involved with anyone?” Melissa asked, eliciting a fit of laughter from Heather and Louis.

“Skye never goes out with a guy twice,” Heather commented.

“Are you serious?” Melissa’s boyfriend George asked.

Louis and I answered contradictorily in unison. We locked eyes and glared at each other for several minutes before the laughter of all of our friends broke our trance. I blushed and looked down while they finished laughing.

“Oh, I love this song!” Heather grinned, “Louis, come dance with me!”

“Ok,” as they both stood up.

“Louis is a great dancer,” she told them as if they didn’t know.

“We know,” everyone said together as they walked onto the dance floor together.

“I’m going to the restroom,” Sean excused himself.

“I’m going as well,” Hiroshi followed him.

“I’m going to get some food,” Sessaree’s boyfriend Kevin got up.

“Me too,” Clarissa’s fiancé Brian followed him.

“Well, I don’t want to be the only guy,” George went with them.

“So…” Melissa urged, “Heather?”

“Eh,” I shrugged. Heather and I were friends. We had been since we roomed together in high school, but ever since she started dating Louis, I started finding more and more things to hate about her.

“She’s very blonde,” Allison giggled, “reminds me of Katie.” Katie was Louis’s high school girlfriend. She was a ditzy blonde cheerleader and we all hated her. I knew Heather was nothing like her but I just couldn’t seem to bring myself to tell them.

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“I really thought you’d end up together,” Poppy shook her head, “remember when I drew that picture of the two of you getting married? It’s still on my wall. I saw it there when I went home before the reunion.” I tried to laugh but I couldn’t seem to get it out.

“You’re still in love with him!” Sessaree said a little too loudly.

“Shh,” I motioned for her to be quieter.

“Oh, Skye,” Clarissa put her hand on mine, “you really need to get over that.” I glared at her. There was a time when we both had a huge crush on Louis. He went out with Clarissa for a few weeks sophomore year and she got over it. I didn’t speak to her for a month. She liked him but she also knew that I liked him more. I had always wished I looked like her. She had bright blue eyes and straight hair. I had icky brown eyes and the curliest hair ever.

“She’s right,” Poppy nodded, “it’s not healthy.”

“I hate shrinks,” I threw a napkin at her, “why couldn’t you become something else?”

“Hey!” she yelled.

“I disagree,” Spices commented, “you two belong together. You should break up the wedding! What are you going to do?”

“Nothing,” I insisted, “Heather and I are friends. She’s nice and he loves her. What do you want me to do?”

“Tell him that you love him,” Sessaree suggested.

“Remember last time I tried that?” I murmured.

“He broke up with me,” Clarissa asserted.

“He broke up with you because he found out that was why I was mad at you and didn’t want to come between us,” I explained.

“He cares,” Melissa interjected.

“Of course he does,” I retorted, “we’re friends. We have been since we were thirteen. I know he cares about me but not enough to leave his fiancée. Can we stop talking about this?” I shook my head. We stopped talking just in time. Hiroshi, Sean, Kevin, Brian, and George returned each with two plates of food one of which they gave to whoever they were with.

“I wish I had someone to get me food,” I laughed just as Louis and Heather returned to the table. They too had food in their hands. Heather was carrying one plate and Louis was carrying two. Heather sat down with his plate and Louis sat down with his two. He got two forks and looked as if he was about to eat off both plates at once before he pushed it over to where I sat.

“I made sure to put extra beef on your salad,” he joked, “I know how much you love meat.”

“Thanks,” I smiled, “I was just saying how I wished I had someone to bring me food but, you know what, I don’t need a boyfriend because I’ll always have you.”

“Ha,” he laughed, “that’s what you think.”

“I don’t know how you’ve gone fifteen years without eating meat,” Clarissa laughed, “I would die!”

“She’s our tree hugger,” he touched my hand and grabbed a tomato from my plate.

“Personally, I think it’s unhealthy,” Heather shrugged, “I’m a nutritionist and I always discourage my patients from becoming vegans.”

“Excuse me,” a voice said from behind me. I turned around to see Daniel Dashmen standing behind me. He was the hottest guy in school and still looked just as good if not better. “I thought it was you, Skye!” he smiled, “Hi, it’s Dan. Remember me?”

“Of course,” I nodded.

“Would you like to dance?” he asked.

“I’d love to,” I nodded and walked with him to the dance floor. We danced at the edge and I could see the table. “I read your column everyday,” Dan told me, “I love the name. The Green Report.”

“You live in New York?”

“Have for two years,” he nodded.

“Oh,” I smiled, “what do you do?”

“I’m an ad executive,” he laughed, “I deal mostly with candy.”

“Still smoking Smarties?”

“Yep,” he nodded, “can’t seem to kick the habit.”

Back at the table, Heather stood up and walked away. As soon as she did everyone else got really close to Louis.

“So,” Dan smiled, “you have a boyfriend?”

“Nope,” I shook my head.

“Still into Zir?” he asked.

“What?” I looked him in the eye.

“You’ve been staring at him,” he chuckled.

“I’m sorry,” I looked down, “I’m being rude.”

“It’s ok,” he shook his head, “you’re very good at carrying on a conversation and staring at someone. Impressive.”

We danced in an awkward silence for a minute then suddenly Louis stood up and walked away from the table. “Are you all still friends?” Dan asked.

“We keep in touch,” I said absentmindedly.

“What’s going on over there,” he turned us around, “why are they all following Zir?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I brushed it off, “what have you been doing?”

“I already told you,” he laughed.

“Oh right,” I nodded, “candy ads. Any I would’ve seen?”

“Well,” he thought for a moment, “have you seen the new Willy Wonka commercial where he falls into a big vat of chocolate.”

“Of course,” I nodded, “that was yours?”

“Yep,” he beamed.

“What?” Heather shrieked, “You’re breaking up with me today!” Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at them. Even the music stopped playing. I turned to watch and Dan stood behind me.

“Heather, please, calm down,” Louis tried to make her stop yelling.

“You dragged me out here,” she reminded him, “I didn’t want to come. You made me come. I just had to come and meet your friends. Then you dump me for her! Remember the first thing I asked you when we started dating?”

“You asked me if I liked Skye,” he mumbled.

“And you said no. You said she was just a friend. You said that you’d known her forever and didn’t think of her like that!” she screamed, “What happened, Louis?”

“Heather!” he tried.

She screamed and walked over to me. She pulled the ring off her finger then grabbed my hand and placed it my palm. She screamed again then stomped out of the gym. Most of the people went back to doing what ever they were doing and the band began to play but Louis and I just stared at each other. Dan touched my arm and walked away. I was just staring at him and holding the ring in my palm. After a few minutes I walked over to him and gave him the ring.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Oh, Allison told her that you like me and she got all possessive,” he rolled his eyes, “she said I wasn’t allowed to see you anymore.

“Oh,” I nodded

“Oh my god!” a familiar voice called, “Louis Zir.” Louis smiled at me then walked away to see the person who was obviously behind me. I turned around and saw Katie hugging Louis. I shook my head and walked to the table where my friends were sitting.

“Hey,” I sat down.

“I really thought you’d get together,” Allison smiled weakly.

“Me too,” Poppy nodded.

“It’s Louis,” I shrugged, “he’ll never think of me like that.”