High School Reunion

The often dreaded, sometimes anticipated ten year high

school reunion usually takes place around Thanksgiving. I guess organizers figure

many people will be back in their hometowns celebrating the holidays with their

families – being thankful, until…They have to get ready for their reunion.

The Ten Year High School Reunion is different for everybody

depending on quality of high school experience. Personally, I have great

memories of high school and consider myself lucky to say it was a happy

chapter in my life. When my high school reunion rolled around a couple of years

ago I was kind of indifferent. High school was great, but it was what it was,

and to be honest, I didn’t start forming lifelong relationships till college so

hadn’t really spoke to anyone from high school since I moved clear across

country to ASU– at that time a decade prior. That said, after debating

bringing my hot, former Armani model, gay roommate as a date and trying to pass

off that we were living together (which we were) and seriously involved, I went

solo, made superficial ‘how have you been’ conversation, was surprised how much

some people aged and how much others looked exactly the same – and that was about it.

On the flipside, my sister didn’t have such a charmed high

school experience. She was (and still is), taller and prettier than a lot of

girls, so already an inspiration for jealousy. She was (still is) somewhat stubborn

so wouldn’t just go along with the group for the ease of agreeing rather than

disagreeing. She was friends with a lot of the older guys (result of having an

older sister in high school) adding another reason for high school jealousy,

another cause for clique-y high school girls to misconstrue shyness with

arrogance. All in all, while not a disaster, my sister doesn’t look back on the

halls of high school too fondly and she too hasn’t kept in touch with

anyone since.

Tonight is her high school reunion. It’s in NYC, less than

two miles from our apartment so for curiosity’s sake alone (and because she

looks even hotter than she did in high school) it didn’t make sense not to go.

Today we got primped and pampered, waxed, nails manicured, hair cut and blown

out and a fashion show to choose what to wear. Before she left we had cocktails

and a shot. She’s now been at the reunion for 15 minutes and I’m sitting up on

the couch like a parent waiting for their kid to come home from their first

date. A bad high school experience can leave a person with lasting scar, but a

kick ass time at a high school reunion can be a way to if not erase the scars that can be left by high school,

at least lighten them.