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I looked up and forced a smile. “Nah, just tired. Long flight.”
“This is why I never go anywhere far away.” Carl chuckled. “Let’s head to my truck.”
He motioned with his hand and walked toward the exit. I fell in behind him, rolling my suitcase.
“Could you cut this any closer?” he said.
“Huh?”
“We got the reunion in three hours, bro,” Carl said. “You’re barely gonna have time to drop your things off, take a shower, and get presentable.”
“Sorry, it was hard to get the time off. This was the best I could do.”
“Yeah, and you’re flying out tomorrow.”
“Like I said—”
“Best you could do.” Carl shook his head. “Whatever. Guess the good thing is you’re here.” He grinned. “The whole gang: The Fabulous Five.”
I stared at him. “That’s still as weak as it was in high school.”
“Ouch, Alex.”
I grinned. “Just the truth.”
“Yeah, okay. Let’s just get to my truck, and you can catch me up on the Texas construction game.”
* * *
I ran a comb through my hair as I stared in the mirror. The dark suit I was wearing felt weird. I’d not worn something like this since my dad’s funeral, and it still clashed with my earrings. Didn’t mean I was about to pull them out.
No shame. No fear. I’d lived my life that way for a long time, and I wasn’t about to start just because of a high school reunion. I didn’t care what anyone in Livingston thought of me. It wasn’t like I’d see any of them again after the reunion.
I grunted. Why the hell had I even come? For Aspyn? We hadn’t talked in 10 years. I assumed she was married with her 2.5 kids. I’d had my chance, and I’d thrown it away.
I didn’t know. Maybe I was just looking for a little reminder of where I came from. This wasn’t about regret. It was about moving forward.
Stuck. That’s what I was. I liked my job and the guys I worked with, but I also wasn’t really friends with them. We didn’t hang out much. Nothing wrong with them. I just had trouble caring.
I glanced up at a clock on the wall. It was time to get going. The reunion had already technically started about 10 minutes ago. I wasn’t worried. My hotel was right across the street from the high school.
After taking a deep breath, I threw open the door of my hotel room and headed for the stairs.
A few minutes later, I arrived at the front door, where a smiling blonde woman in glasses grinned at me.
“Alex Kline,” she said, grinning like a fool. “It’s so good to see you again.” She reached over to the table and snatched up a preprinted nametag with my name on it. “Enjoy! Welcome back to the Class of ’08.”
“Thanks, uh, Mandy.”
She smiled even wider. To be honest, I didn’t recognize her at all. I didn’t think she realized I’d read her name off her tag.
Stepping into the gym, bright lights and Nirvana assaulted me, specifically “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” I grimaced, remembering the reunion had some sort of ‘80s-‘90s theme deal. It didn’t make sense to me, but it wasn’t like I’d helped organize it, so who was I to bitch?
Half the gym was filled with tablecloth-covered round tables surrounded by folding metal chairs. The other half had been cleared so people could dance, even though only about 10 people were bothering at the moment.
From what I could tell, looked like a good 60 or so people. Better turnout than I would have guessed.
At the other end of the gym, there was what I was interested in more than dancing: namely an open bar and the catering stations.
