5 Year Reunion : Chapter One

         Today, everything is perfect. I’ve never been so sure of my life and where it was headed. I know who I am and what I want. Best yet, I have what I want. Ok, maybe not everything I want. But I do have Jared. And Jared is perfect. For me at least. He’s so perfect for me that I know that he’ll forgive me for running late for our date again. It’s not my fault. He’s the one so perfect for me that I have to stop to write in my diary about him all the time!

         Sarah sighed and closed her journal. She pulled herself up from her comfy bed and surveyed the room. As usual, it was a complete mess. It was otherwise a nice apartment. It had high ceilings and crown molding and clothing strewn everywhere.

Where did I put my Vans this time…

She began to walk through her bedroom tossing things aside and muttering her frustrations when no shoes were discovered below them. Finally she flopped onto her belly on the floor and lifted her dust ruffle and there were her baby blue tennis shoes.

“Awesome,” she said in relief as she dusted them off and then got to her feet.

Sarah loosened the laces a bit, tossed her shoes on the floor and shoved her feet inside them. She dashed for the door, grabbing her messenger bag off the table and flung open the door to find Jared waiting in the hall.

“Why didn’t you knock,” she questioned breathlessly, leaning towards him to give him a quick kiss.
“Well,” he began, “I knew you were going to take forever so I figured waiting out here is better than trying to walk through that deathtrap you call an apartment.”
“Funny,” she smirked, “So, how was your day?”
“Uneventful… boring… getting much better by the minute,” he responded smiling.
“Well of course,” she joked as they waited for the elevator, “So, where are we going?”
“Ok, you’re going to love this, “he said excitedly, his eyes lighting up. She loved it when he got all giddy about things. Nothing cuter. His eyes would light up, making them look even bigger and browner than they were. And he would start to run his hands through his shaggy, curly black hair a lot. Exactly like he was doing now. And she loved how he would look at her when he finished, expectant of the same excitement from her. Just like he was looking at her now.

Uh-oh… I have no idea what he just said to me…

“Well, doesn’t it sound like a place you’d love?” he  prodded, waiting for her answer.
“Oh yeah, of course. I can’t wait!” she lied, smiling as wide as she could manage.
"Alright," he said, smiling, "then let's go!"

----------

        Mark had an amazing life. Everyone could see that. Perfect job, gorgeous girlfriend, nice apartment, plenty of money, brand new corvette, good friends... Life can't get better than that. In fact, his life was so great that after only five hours of work at his perfect job, he was back home in his nice apartment, holding the keys to his brand new corvette, and about to head out to pick up his gorgeous girlfriend for a night out. The only problem with the living picture of his amazing life, was that Mark didn't look very happy. He locked his apartment, wearing a tense expression and checked his phone again as he walked to the elevator. Still no call from Cynthia. He couldn't believe it. He hadn't heard from her since that afternoon when he listened to her demanding message she left on his voice mail. "Mark- There's no way in hell we're getting pizza tonight. I don't really care how tired of so-called "snooty restaurants" you are. I'm making a reservation for 8 at Fatina, so you better be at my door by 7. And I don't want to have to wait." The next sound was a click and he'd called her 4 times since then with no response. Mark was getting sick of being bossed around by everyone. He got bossed around by his "advisors" enough at work, and now Cynthia was really starting to wear on his nerves. When did she turn into such a bitch? Was she like that from the start and he was just now noticing? He walked off the elevator and Martin, the doorman, handed him his keys as he walked through the lobby. His car was waiting just outside the door, but he stopped before he reached it. He turned and motioned Martin over.

"Hey, Mart. Do you think you could get one of the guys to put the 'Vet back?" Mark asked politely, "I actually would rather take the Chevy tonight."
"Of course sir," Martin replied quickly, taking the keys and heading through a side door as he spoke, "One minute."

Mark turned back around and walked outside to wait by the valet drive. He pushed through the rotating door and gazed at the fountain out front as he thought. Cynthia was probably going to be pissed. She didn't know he'd bought the Chevy, and he knew she'd probably hate it. He'd just gotten it yesterday. He was stopped at a red light in Santa Monica, when he noticed it gleaming in the sun at a car lot on his right. He'd always wanted a '57 Chevy Bel Air, and this one was perfect. It was red and white, with a vinyl top. He loved driving it a lot more than he liked driving the Corvette. The Corvette had been fun at first. It was how he hooked Cynthia even. But now he was tired of the image it portrayed, as another wealthy asshole in a trendy, fast car. Martin pulled the Chevy up and Mark couldn't help but feel his mood improve as a smile crossed his face. Martin walked up and handed him the keys.

"I rather like it better too, sir," Martin said with a smile, "Have a good night, sir."
"You too, Mart," Mark replied as he walked climbed into his car and started the engine.

----------

Well, Jared had been right, Sarah did love the place he took her. It made it more fun too, not knowing where they were going. It had been a perfect night. He'd taken her to this cafe right outside a bookstore down near the beach. It had been dark out when they got there so the iron bistro tables were lit up by candles in glass vases on each table and tiny, white light strands strung through the trees and small, white paper lanterns hanging from the trees above and all around them. It was so beautiful and peaceful. The intimate atmosphere seemed to encourage everyone to keep their conversations in whispers so that the main thing you heard were the waves crashing on the shore nearby. They had coffee and desert there and talked for a few hours before they decided to call it a night. After Jared dropped Sarah off, she danced into  her apartment, tossing her purse on the floor, kicking off her shoes and belly flopping onto her bed, cell phone in hand. Sure it was late, but Sarah felt the story of her perfect night out couldn't wait till morning. Plus, Lily was usually up way past this anyhow. She dialed her best friend's number quickly and kicked her legs impatiently as the phone rang.
"Lord, Sarah, do you wake up all your friends at one am or just me?" Lily asked with an emphatic yawn.
"Oh hush, you weren't asleep anyways," Sarah giggled, "Besides, I have to tell you about tonight!"
"Ok, yeah, wasn't asleep, but I could've been," Lily insisted and then sighed, "Spill."
Sarah described the place Jared had taken her and all their conversation, giggling repeatedly throughout the story. Lily through in all the appropriate "oohs and aahs".
"And guess what else," Sarah prodded excitedly, "He applied for a job at the bookstore behind the outdoor cafe so if he gets the job we can meet at the cafe for his lunch break!"
"That would be pretty cool," Lily agreed, "Either way, we should meet up there tomorrow after I get out of class, since it's so near school. I really want your advice about some drawings I did for my fashion class."
"Sounds good Lil," Sarah said with a nod, "Ok, let's get some sleep. I'll see ya tomorrow."
"See ya!" replied Lily.
Sarah set down her cell phone and then grabbed her diary to write as much as she could remember about the night before she fell asleep, still in her clothes, with her diary open on her lap.

----------

Mark pulled up in front of Cynthia's building, climbed out of his car and tossed his keys to the valet. He walked past the doorman, into the building and checked his cell again. Still no message from Cynthia. He pushed the up button on the elevator and waited, silently fuming. He'd been in a good mood until he had reached her building. Now he was back to mad and wondering why he had even come. She never even gave him a chance to accept her plans, so really he had no obligation to acquiesce to her demands tonight. He climbed into the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor. Cynthia had the penthouse. She was never one to be outdone so it was a given that she would get the best place in the building. What Mark wouldn't give for something normal once in awhile. He missed pizza and putt-putt and going to the movies and girls who weren't insane... The elevator doors opened and Cynthia was standing there in a silk red dress and black heels with her hands on her hips and pissed look on her face. She silently stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the lobby.
"You're late," she seethed, looking straight forward and striking the same pose as before.
"Did I ever tell you I'd be here," Mark replied with an obvious hint of irritation in his voice, "No. And why not? Because you never even answered your damn phone."
They stepped off the elevator and into the lobby. Now Cynthia looked livid, but she said nothing and walked ahead of him towards the door. Mark rolled his eyes and followed behind, waiting to see her reaction when the valet opened the door of the Chevy for her and not the Corvette. He stepped outside and saw Cynthia turn to the valet and snap, "Wrong car moron. It's a black Corvette. Do you even know what that is?"
"Leave the guy alone Cynthia," Mark snapped back, "That's my car."
Cynthia turned quickly to face him and laughed "We are not taking that."
She turned to face the valet waving as if to banish the Chevy, "Just get my car and put this piece of crap away."
"No," Mark said with a smile, "I'll be needing my car, as I'm leaving now."
Cynthia's jaw dropped and she laughed, "What? Fatina will never let you in with that car!"
"I'm getting pizza," Mark responded as he climbed into his Chevy, "And you can go to hell, Cynthia. Good night."
Mark didn't even look back as he drove away, laughing and feeling much better than he had in awhile.

----------

Sarah woke up and realized she was still dressed from the night before. She stretched and heard her diary fall to the ground. Looking down to the diary sprawled on the floor, Sarah noticed how messy her room really was. She reached down and peaked under her bed to find clothing, shoes and books that had been kicked underneath. Sarah looked around the room at the piles of clothing and junk and made up her mind. Today she would clean her apartment. It really shouldn't be too hard. It was a small studio and most of the stuff was dirty laundry anyhow. She flipped on her stereo and danced around her room, grabbing clothes to toss into her laundry hamper in the corner as she went. She flopped down on her stomach and grabbed a ruler from underneath. The ruler made it much easier to sweep everything from under her bed that she couldn't reach. It only took about 20 minutes to get the clothes all together and the apartment was looking better already. Feeling extremely proud of her work, Sarah decided to take a quick shower and head over to the cafe she was meeting Lily at early for some reading and relaxation.

Once Sarah was dressed, she grabbed her bag off the table, stuffed a copy of Mansfield Park inside, and walked into the hall. She checked her cellphone to see if there was a message from Jared about whether he had gotten the job or not. No missed call or texts though, so she put her phone away. She climbed on the elevator and pushed the button for the ground level. While the elevator began to move, Sarah looked to her right to see if there were any interesting notices up on the elevator board. She noticed a flier for a show featuring a band called Gaining Ten and jotted down the address and date since it sounded like something Jared would like. The elevator opened and she walked outside into the sun and around the corner to the parking lot where her baby blue Javelin sat. Sarah loved her car. She'd named her Phoebe after that girl from Friends. She gave the hood a loving pat and climbed inside.

When she got to the cafe, she sat down at the first table she got to, ordered an iced latte and pulled out her book. Sarah was a pretty fast reader and she was in the last chapter of her book so it wasn't long before she was finished with it. She checked her watch and, noticing she still had an hour before Lily was supposed to meet her, she looked around to see what there was to do. She finally decided to go inside the bookstore to see if she could find a new book to read.

----------

"Thanks, I can't wait to start!" Jared said smiling as he shook his new manager's hand.
"Want to start now then?" asked Ryan, "One of our girls actually called off and Roxie is here by herself. I'm sure she'd love the help and she's been here forever so she can show you the ropes."
"Yeah! I don't really have any plans today anyhow," Jared responded excitedly.
"Well, right this way and I'll introduce you," Ryan instructed, walking out the employee door and into the bookstore.
'Roxie, Jared's going to be starting with us today so I thought you could let him follow you around and help out a bit," Ryan explained, gesturing beside him to where Jared was standing. Jared gave a small wave and a smile in Roxie's direction and then looked away. Jared wished silently that he was training with someone else because Roxie was incredibly attractive, seemed really confident and was wearing a low-cut, tight red top that made it hard not to stare. Jared was awful with girls like her. He never knew what to say, stumbled over his words, and felt like an idiot around a girl like Roxie.
"Well, Roxie can handle it from here, so I'm going to head home and be back later tonight to close. Good luck Jared." Ryan said as he waved goodbye to Roxie and left.

"So..." Roxie said, looking Jared up and down, "What are you into Jared?"
"Uh..." Jared said, freezing up as he tried to think of something cool to say, "I like music... and... um... books." Jared finished lamely, mentally calling himself an idiot. He stared at the bookshelf to his right as if it fascinated him, while he tried to act casual and not like he wanted to bolt. That's what he liked best about Sarah. She was easy to talk to and looked like a normal girl, not one so intimidating. She was pretty, but simple and laid back, with straight brown hair and black rim glasses. Plus, she wore t-shirts, jeans and tennis shoes, not low-cut, red tops with short black leather skirts, fishnets and shiny black heels. And she did not have platinum blond hair cut in a bob, wear bright red lipstick or thick black eyeliner.

Roxie laughed and walked towards Jared with a flirtatious smile on her face. She leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms as she stared at Jared. He slowly turned to face her and gave her a tight smile.
"Do I make you uncomfortable or something?" Roxie asked Jared coyly, uncrossing her arms and moving closer to him. She traced one perfectly manicured, bright red nail down his chest and smiled at him, her face only inches from his.
Jared smiled and laughed nervously, "No... I'm fine. You're... fine."
Roxie placed both of her hands on his chest gently and stared into his eyes with one eyebrow raised and a grin on her face. Jared grinned back and blushed.

That's when Sarah opened the bookstore door and looked up to see Jared grinning like a moron with some tramp up against him. Jared and Roxie turned towards the sound of the door opening at the same moment and Jared quickly took a step back, while Roxie turned and asked politely, "Can I help you with anything today?"
Sarah stood in the doorway frozen with a look of disbelief on her face, looking from the tramp to her perfect boyfriend who now looked perfectly uncomfortable.
"Sarah... I was just..." Jared started, but Sarah cut him off.
"No," she said simply and she turned around, letting the door shut behind her as she walked away.

----------

Mark sat facing away from his desk in the study of his apartment, leaning back in his office chair and sipping on scotch.
"I did," he said to his buddy from high school, Colin, "I told her to go to hell."
"Just like that," Colin asked bewildered, "Over dinner at Fatina?"
Mark took another sip of scotch and set the glass on his desk.
"It wasn't just about Fatina, Colin," he explained as he rocked back in his chair, "It was everything. She didn't listen to anything I said. Didn't even care really. She hated my car, which I happen to love. And besides, she was nothing but a pain in the ass anyhow."
"She was amazingly hot Mark," Colin defended with a laugh, "At least, if you're through with her, can I have her number? Please?"
"Take it, but don't say I didn't warn you," Mark answered, pulling her business card out of his wallet and tossing it on the floor, "But now, I just want a nice, decent, normal girl."
Mark turned to his desk and began sorting through his mail. As usual, it was mainly bills and credit card offers, with a few magazines and business letters mixed in. Then he came across a small letter with a Grundler High School return address. He opened it up to find an invitation to his high school's five year reunion scheduled next weekend.
"Did you just now gets yours," Colin asked, looking over his shoulder, "I got mine like a month ago."
"Yeah," Mark answered distractedly, "Weird. It must have gotten mixed in with these magazines."
"Hey, I bet you could hook up with one of the girls we went to school with at the reunion," Colin suggested with a grin, "Ya know, get your mind off the Cynthia problem."
Mark tried to remember a nice, girl-next-door type from his Grundler days, but all that came to mind was a sea of bleach blond hair and short skirts. Mark stood up and walked across the room to his bookshelf, reaching up to the top to find his senior yearbook. He pulled the green leather volume down and set it on the coffee table between him and Colin. Mark sat on the couch beside Colin and opened the yearbook.
"There has to be a normal girl somewhere in our senior class," he insisted, glancing at Colin hopefully, "And we're gonna find her."
Colin shrugged and turned to the senior pictures. They looked together through the A's and although they both had some laughs, there was no girl that really stood out to Mark as the type he was looking for. Mark rose and walked across the room to the bar to grab another glass and a bottle of Glenlivet. He set them on the coffee table and poured a glass for Colin. The guys worked on the bottle as they flipped through the pages. Colin had a few suggestions for a good reunion fling, but Mark said no to each of them and they worked their way through the alphabet.
"Rapport, Heather," Colin read aloud, "She looked cute."
"Nah," responded Mark, "Not the right type. Let's see... Reynold, Katie. No. Richards, Miranda. No. Roberts, Sarah... Wait..."
"Sarah Roberts," Colin asked, looking confused and picking up the yearbook, "I don't remember her. Lemme see her picture... No, I've never seen that girl in my life. She's kinda plain looking."
"I had French class with her both semesters Junior year. Sat at the same table as me second semester. Didn't see her much senior year," Mark recalled sitting back with his arms behind his neck, "She was nice though. Kinda quiet. Pretty, but didn't really wear makeup or anything." Mark smiled and thought back to Junior year. He hadn't really noticed her at first because she was so quiet, but when he would make a joke she would always laugh and smile and he had liked that. She'd worn jeans and cute t-shirts a lot, but when she did wear a skirt, he couldn't help but notice how nice her legs were. She'd had braces then and glasses too, but her smile was contagious and she was flirtatious, but subtle. One time she'd had her cd's with her in her backpack and she had let him look through them. He was amazed to find Greenday and Offspring in there and they talked about music for most of the class. Another time he decided that it'd be funny to rip up some paper and put it in her hair when she wasn't looking. She'd faked mad and pouted until he said he'd get it out for her and her hair had been so incredibly soft to the touch. He remembered that she'd smiled and blushed and he had felt so incredibly into her, but knew it wouldn't go anywhere because she wasn't really his type. Now he found himself smiling and wondering what had happened to her since high school.
"Ok, really, I get it that Cynthia pissed you off, but Mark...this girl is so not you," Colin insisted, staring at the goofy grin on Mark's face, "So let's just stop drinking and talk about this later. I think you've had enough."
"Colin, I'm not drunk," Mark said with a laugh, "And we'll just see if she's even at the reunion before we start overreacting, ok?"
"Whatever man," Colin sighed, "It's your life. And that just means more hotties for me!"

----------

Sarah walked quickly to her car, feeling numb and confused. She opened the door, climbed inside and pulled the door shut. She started her car and pulled on her seatbelt with her left hand, as her right hand pulled the shifter into drive. Sarah focused on driving and didn't let herself think of what had just happened. When she stopped at a red light, the sudden shrill ring of her cell phone snapped her attention back to earth. She picked up her phone and saw that it was Lily. She turned right into a shopping center and parked her car before pressing the button to answer Lily's call.
"Lily," Sarah began, but she couldn't get another word out before she burst into tears.
"Sarah!?" Lily exclaimed with worry, "Where are you? What's wrong?"
"Can... I... Come... Over... Please," Sarah sobbed into the phone, leaning her head against the steering wheel and rubbing at her eyes with her left hand.
"Are you ok?" asked Lily fretfully.
"I'm fine... I'm fine.." responded Sarah between sniffles as she wiped away her tears and sat up to try and calm herself, "I'm driving over now and we'll talk when I get there, ok?"
"Alright Sar," Lily accepted uneasily, "But be careful, ok?"
"I will," promised Sarah. She hung up with Lily and wiped her face again, taking deep breaths and instructing herself to at least stay calm until she'd gotten to Lily's. Once she felt ok to drive, she backed out of her parking space and pulled back onto the road. Fortunately, Lily's place was a short drive away and it wasn't long before Sarah was knocking on her door. Lily threw open the door and grabbed Sarah into a hug and the tears came again. By the time Sarah had told Lily the entire story, her tears were dry and she felt nothing except numb.
"Do you think it was just some random girl who threw herself at him?" Lily asked gently.
"I don't know Lil. It just seemed so weird," Sarah said tiredly, "He doesn't tell me when his interview is. He doesn't tell me he's working there. I mean, who knows how long he's known her. And they did seem awfully close... But, ya know, I don't even care. I don't want to know why or how. I'm just done. Done!" Sarah threw her hands in the air and let them fall down beside her.
"Well, he's a stupid ass and you're better off without him," Lily said decisively, "Besides, isn't your reunion next weekend?"
"Yeah," Sarah said with a sigh, "But I dunno if I'll go."
"Go! You'll have fun," Lily encouraged, a mischievous look crossing her face "I'll even goes as your date. We'll say I'm your partner and that we met in film school."
Sarah laughed and threw a pillow in her best friend's direction.
"You can go with me, but not as my lesbian lover," Sarah giggled, "You'll just goes as my guest and that's all they'll need to know."
"Yes! It's gonna rock," Lily exclaimed, "Let's go to your place and look through your yearbook at all the hot guys we're gonna hook up with!"
Sarah giggled and agreed and the two girls piled into Sarah's car and headed for her apartment.

At Sarah's apartment, Lily worked on margaritas in the kitchen while Sarah tore apart her room searching for her yearbook. She finally found the gold one with green lettering from her junior year and set it on the counter while Lily poured the drinks. The girls sat on stools at the counter and paged through the year book as they sipped their beverages. They laughed at how goofy some of the pictures were and Sarah told stories about a couple people they came across in photos. Lily asked about a couple guys who's pictures she saw and Sarah let her know all she could remember about them. They turned to the H's and Sarah began to giggle.
"What is so funny," asked Lily as she burst into giggles as well, "How many drinks have we had?"
"Too many maybe," giggled Sarah, and then she toppled off her chair and onto the floor, bursting into full-blown laughter.
"My... God... Sarah!" Lily exclaimed between laughs as she clung to the counter to avoid meeting the same fate as her friend.
When Sarah finally got control of her giggles, she hopped back on her stool with a grin and pointed emphatically at a photo.
"He," Sarah declared, "Was gorgeous in high school."
Lily pulled her friend's finger aside and looked at the photo beneath it. The guy was attractive at 18, Lily had to admit.
"I completely agree," responded Lily as she high-fived Sarah for her good taste.
"Wow... I had SUCH a crush on Mark in high school," Sarah gushed with a silly smile on her face, "He was so cute and popular and nice and sweet and a swimmer..."
Sarah trailed off and blushed profusely as Lily burst into giggles again.
"Did you ever see his body," Lily asked excitedly.
"Ok," Sarah whispered secretively, gesturing for Lily to lean in closer as if someone else was in her apartment that might overhear their girl talk, "This one time,  he stood up to pull his sweater off, and his shirt went up with it a lot, and ohmygod!"
Both girls burst into yet another bought of laughter as they clung to the counter for dear life.
Sarah gasped for breath and wiped a tear from her eye as she grinned.
"Ok, who was his best friend Sar? We have to hook up with them this weekend," insisted Lily as she grabbed the yearbook and thrust it into Sarah's lap.
"Oh god Lily," responded Sarah with a baffled look on her face, "I could never hook up with Mark Hendricks! He dated girls like this." Sarah thumbed through the pages and turned the yearbook to face Lily as she pointed to a cute blond girl in a cheer costume with the name Jenna Brenon printed below it. After a short moment, Sarah turned the yearbook back around and began thumbing through it again. She flipped the yearbook towards Lily once more and pointed.
"That was me," Sarah explained slowly, "You see the difference?"
Lily looked at a picture of a plain, brown haired girl with glasses and braces and nodded.
"Well, but you said he was nice and sweet, so you must have at least known him in high school," suggested Lily, "You at least talked to him before, right?"
"Well... yeah," replied Sarah thinking back to 11th grade French class, and the semester she sat beside Mark. She'd noticed him from the beginning. How could you not? But she didn't talk to him at first because she figured a guy that looked like that would probably be a jerk. He always seemed really bored in class and sometimes he'd fake that he was passing out from boredom during one of the teacher's spiels and she would giggle and he would look at her and smile. Other times he would make fun of the teacher when she would get really emphatic about something and Sarah would laugh and have to cover her mouth and pretend to cough so the teacher wouldn't get mad at her. He'd looked through her cd collection once and she'd been thrilled to find that they liked a few of the same bands and could talk about music together. Her favorite memory had been when he'd put torn up paper in her hair when she was turned away and she'd made a pouty face until he rolled his eyes and smiled and offered to get it out for her. She worried that he would see how much she was blushing as he touched her hair and she'd felt her heart racing. She'd told her friends at lunch that day about what had happened and one of her friends at the time had said that was nice of him, but that they could never be cool enough to get guys like that. Sarah decided to tell Lily about the paper story and see what she thought.
"I think he must have liked you," insisted Lily, "At least a little."
"Well, that doesn't change the fact that I still don't look like a girl who could get a guy like Mark," Sarah argued back, "Besides, who even knows where he is or what he's like now anyhow."
"Let's google him," suggested Lily, "And then we can see if he looks worth our reunion weekend, and you can show me who his best friend was."
Lily hopped off her stool and rushed over to Sarah's bed where her laptop lay. As Lily pulled up the internet and began to type, Sarah poured herself another drink and began to daydream about running across the beach in slow motion, hand in hand with Mark.
"Found him," Lily announced as she spun around the laptop and Sarah turned to see the screen. He was even more gorgeous than he used to be and posed like a model in a photo online. He wasn't a model though. Apparently he ran some type of financial company in L.A.
"Lily, look at him," Sarah exclaimed desparingly, "I could never fit with that."
"Sarah, just trust me," Lily vowed, "We can make this happen. Now show me his best friend!"