Status: oneshot!
Five Years Later
1.
Jack hated thinking about the reunion.
It’d only been five years since he graduated high school and he wasn’t even sure why it was necessary to have a reunion this soon. Shouldn’t they be waiting until ten or fifteen years after graduation at the very least? Regardless of how long it had been since he walked away from the school for the last time, holding his diploma in his hand and saying good riddance, he thought he wouldn’t have to go back.
“Come on,” his sister pressured him. “It’s not so bad. A five-year reunion isn’t the worst one by a long shot. This is the reunion where everyone’s still at a dead-end job and everyone in your class is thousands of dollars in debt. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
May wasn’t wrong – he fell straight into the category of a twenty-something stuck in a job that led to where he only assumed was nowhere, was only barely making it living away from the comfort of his parents’ home with a roommate who constantly came home at 4 AM from the bar across the street. But Jack couldn’t get away from feeling like he should be past that point. He knew someone at the reunion would be ready to brag about their spectacular post-high school life. He wasn’t sure who, but he wasn’t ready to compete with the asshole who was going to ty to shove their life in his face.
But he’d already filled out the RSVP, so there was no turning back.
“May!” he called from his room. “Can you help me tie this freaking tie?”
May shook her head as she walked into her brother’s room. “You’re 23 and you still can’t tie a tie. Sometimes I wonder about you, kid.”
“What an esteem boost, May. On the list of things I can tell the people I went to high school with, let’s put next to shitty job and shitty apartment: cannot tie a tie at age 23.”
“Jesus, Jack, calm down,” May said, pulling the knot toward his throat. “You look good.”
“Thanks.”
“Now get out of here before you miss out on all the fun.”
Jack hated the reunion.
There were girls he remembered that were pregnant during his senior year that had five-year-old kids tugging on their mother’s dresses, screaming for the attention that they were giving their classmates instead of them. He saw the same guys who would drive past his house at 2 AM laughing loudly from all the alcohol they’d consumed still drinking a few tables over. Each of the cheerleading squads stuck to their own tables: football cheerleaders, basketball cheerleaders, wrestling cheerleaders.
Jack sat alone at a table at the far end of the gym, occasionally tipping back a beer into his mouth and watching people walk across the room to talk to each other. He started to wonder why he RSVP’d in the first place when there was no one there he was even remotely interested in talking to. Jack sighed and decided to get up when another guy sat down across the table from him.
“Shit,” the man said. “Jack Barakat, is that you? I didn’t recognize you without the skunk stripe in your hair.”
Jack stared at him for a moment, blinking in disbelief. “Alex?”
Alex beamed at Jack. “Glad to see you haven’t forgotten me.”
“How could I forget you, always trying to dig your nose into business that wasn’t yours? You were the only person in high school that wouldn’t leave me alone.”
“Well, I guess it’s probably a good thing I decided to be a journalist if that’s what you remember me best for.”
Jack laughed. “No shit?”
“Really! I’m working for the Baltimore Sun. I’ve even landed on the front page once or twice.”
Well, Jack thought, I’ve found him. I’ve found the asshat who’s going to brag about his life to me all night long.
“That’s awesome,” Jack said, faking a smile.
“It’s pretty cool,” Alex said. “What’ve you been up to since graduation?”
“Not much. I’m working a job that gets me more than minimum wage, and I guess that’s something to be proud of.” Alex leaned in, nodding, wanting more from Jack. He always wanted details, details, details. Jack sighed. “I get coffee for people and make phone calls, Alex. It’s a shitty job. I’m not exactly climbing the corporate ladder at high speed.”
“You know nobody’s forcing you to ‘climb the corporate ladder,’ Jack.”
“Shut up, Alex. You and your fancy fucking journalism career? This is the kind of thing I was trying to avoid at this reunion. And all throughout high school, to be honest. Everyone shoving in my face the things that I don’t have. Careers, kids, above-average lives. I don’t know why I said yes to this thing, but I’m out.”
“Jack – ” Alex called as Jack got up, leaving the rest of his beer at the table.
Jack made his way out of the gym and into the hallway. He slid down against one of the lockers and sat down on the cold tile floor. He looked toward the end of the hallway and saw a couple making out.
“They should’ve done that five years ago,” he heard Alex say next to him.
“Would you leave me alone? Jesus.”
Alex looked up at the ceiling. “You said you remember me for always sticking my nose in other people’s business.”
“Which is something you still do to this day, according to your resume.”
Alex laughed. “Funny. But no matter how much I tried to get details out of you, I could never figure you out. I would try to talk to you in the hallway or in classes during school but I just – I don’t know, Jack. You’re the one person in school I could never get through to, and I’ve thought about that for the last five years. I don’t know what it is that makes you tick, Jack, but I want to.”
Jack stared at this man, the only one who had ever cared to strike up a conversation with him during school other than his teachers. He wondered how he hadn’t seen it before, how he hadn’t seen it until Alex slowly started sliding his hand over Jack’s on the floor.
“I just want to know you, Jack.”
“Where do you want to start?” Jack whispered.
Alex slipped his fingers in the spaces between Jack’s own and leaned forward. His lips brushed gently onto Jack’s freshly shaven face. “How about right here?” Alex whispered.
“How about somewhere other than the hallway?” Jack whispered back. “I think Tori and Jesse already claimed it.” He nodded toward the couple hooking up at the end of the hall. “How about we get out of here and grab a drink?”
“I think I’d like that.”
Jack and Alex walked hand in hand down the hallway, past Tori and Jesse ripping off each other’s clothes, and out the doors of the high school toward a couple of beers and a chance to find out what they never knew about each other in high school.
It’d only been five years since he graduated high school and he wasn’t even sure why it was necessary to have a reunion this soon. Shouldn’t they be waiting until ten or fifteen years after graduation at the very least? Regardless of how long it had been since he walked away from the school for the last time, holding his diploma in his hand and saying good riddance, he thought he wouldn’t have to go back.
“Come on,” his sister pressured him. “It’s not so bad. A five-year reunion isn’t the worst one by a long shot. This is the reunion where everyone’s still at a dead-end job and everyone in your class is thousands of dollars in debt. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
May wasn’t wrong – he fell straight into the category of a twenty-something stuck in a job that led to where he only assumed was nowhere, was only barely making it living away from the comfort of his parents’ home with a roommate who constantly came home at 4 AM from the bar across the street. But Jack couldn’t get away from feeling like he should be past that point. He knew someone at the reunion would be ready to brag about their spectacular post-high school life. He wasn’t sure who, but he wasn’t ready to compete with the asshole who was going to ty to shove their life in his face.
But he’d already filled out the RSVP, so there was no turning back.
“May!” he called from his room. “Can you help me tie this freaking tie?”
May shook her head as she walked into her brother’s room. “You’re 23 and you still can’t tie a tie. Sometimes I wonder about you, kid.”
“What an esteem boost, May. On the list of things I can tell the people I went to high school with, let’s put next to shitty job and shitty apartment: cannot tie a tie at age 23.”
“Jesus, Jack, calm down,” May said, pulling the knot toward his throat. “You look good.”
“Thanks.”
“Now get out of here before you miss out on all the fun.”
***
Jack hated the reunion.
There were girls he remembered that were pregnant during his senior year that had five-year-old kids tugging on their mother’s dresses, screaming for the attention that they were giving their classmates instead of them. He saw the same guys who would drive past his house at 2 AM laughing loudly from all the alcohol they’d consumed still drinking a few tables over. Each of the cheerleading squads stuck to their own tables: football cheerleaders, basketball cheerleaders, wrestling cheerleaders.
Jack sat alone at a table at the far end of the gym, occasionally tipping back a beer into his mouth and watching people walk across the room to talk to each other. He started to wonder why he RSVP’d in the first place when there was no one there he was even remotely interested in talking to. Jack sighed and decided to get up when another guy sat down across the table from him.
“Shit,” the man said. “Jack Barakat, is that you? I didn’t recognize you without the skunk stripe in your hair.”
Jack stared at him for a moment, blinking in disbelief. “Alex?”
Alex beamed at Jack. “Glad to see you haven’t forgotten me.”
“How could I forget you, always trying to dig your nose into business that wasn’t yours? You were the only person in high school that wouldn’t leave me alone.”
“Well, I guess it’s probably a good thing I decided to be a journalist if that’s what you remember me best for.”
Jack laughed. “No shit?”
“Really! I’m working for the Baltimore Sun. I’ve even landed on the front page once or twice.”
Well, Jack thought, I’ve found him. I’ve found the asshat who’s going to brag about his life to me all night long.
“That’s awesome,” Jack said, faking a smile.
“It’s pretty cool,” Alex said. “What’ve you been up to since graduation?”
“Not much. I’m working a job that gets me more than minimum wage, and I guess that’s something to be proud of.” Alex leaned in, nodding, wanting more from Jack. He always wanted details, details, details. Jack sighed. “I get coffee for people and make phone calls, Alex. It’s a shitty job. I’m not exactly climbing the corporate ladder at high speed.”
“You know nobody’s forcing you to ‘climb the corporate ladder,’ Jack.”
“Shut up, Alex. You and your fancy fucking journalism career? This is the kind of thing I was trying to avoid at this reunion. And all throughout high school, to be honest. Everyone shoving in my face the things that I don’t have. Careers, kids, above-average lives. I don’t know why I said yes to this thing, but I’m out.”
“Jack – ” Alex called as Jack got up, leaving the rest of his beer at the table.
Jack made his way out of the gym and into the hallway. He slid down against one of the lockers and sat down on the cold tile floor. He looked toward the end of the hallway and saw a couple making out.
“They should’ve done that five years ago,” he heard Alex say next to him.
“Would you leave me alone? Jesus.”
Alex looked up at the ceiling. “You said you remember me for always sticking my nose in other people’s business.”
“Which is something you still do to this day, according to your resume.”
Alex laughed. “Funny. But no matter how much I tried to get details out of you, I could never figure you out. I would try to talk to you in the hallway or in classes during school but I just – I don’t know, Jack. You’re the one person in school I could never get through to, and I’ve thought about that for the last five years. I don’t know what it is that makes you tick, Jack, but I want to.”
Jack stared at this man, the only one who had ever cared to strike up a conversation with him during school other than his teachers. He wondered how he hadn’t seen it before, how he hadn’t seen it until Alex slowly started sliding his hand over Jack’s on the floor.
“I just want to know you, Jack.”
“Where do you want to start?” Jack whispered.
Alex slipped his fingers in the spaces between Jack’s own and leaned forward. His lips brushed gently onto Jack’s freshly shaven face. “How about right here?” Alex whispered.
“How about somewhere other than the hallway?” Jack whispered back. “I think Tori and Jesse already claimed it.” He nodded toward the couple hooking up at the end of the hall. “How about we get out of here and grab a drink?”
“I think I’d like that.”
Jack and Alex walked hand in hand down the hallway, past Tori and Jesse ripping off each other’s clothes, and out the doors of the high school toward a couple of beers and a chance to find out what they never knew about each other in high school.
♠ ♠ ♠
Writing prompts are always wonderful. :)Hope you enjoy, comments are always appreciated! xo