Writing Prompt

Four months ago, an invitation came in the mail. The blue envelope with my name written in calligraphy in orange pen, Amelia Harris.

The invitation read:

Class of 1994 Your 20 year High School Reunion is coming up.

When: September 18, 2024 at 7pm

Where: The Old Gym at Washington High School. Yes, the one that has the musty smell that clings to every surface - a potent mix of mildew, rust, and something vaguely chemical.

What to expect: a chance to have awkward conversations with old classmates you haven’t seen in 20 years, unlimited nostalgia, questionable dance moves and reminiscing about the old days before mortgages, children and back pain.

What to bring: A smile, dancing shoes and a willingness to laugh at how we’ve changed (or not).

RSVP and let us know how many will be coming with you or if it’s just you before July 18, 2024 so we know how much of the punch we need to spike.

September 18, 2024

I grab a name tag I got from the ladies sitting at the table in front of the gym and write my name on it. At 7:30 pm on the dot, I take a deep breath and hesitate before pushing open the gym doors. A swirl of nerves tightens in my stomach. What if no one remembers me? I haven’t kept in touch with many people, too busy with work and life. But part of me yearns to reconnect, to see if those high school bonds still exists, even after all these years.

Everyone turns to look at me and I glance down at my white running shoes. I didn’t have enough time to change after getting off work at the hospital before coming here. The gym seems a little smaller than I remember. I can now reach the blue and white banner that is hanging off the basketball hoop. My memory must be rusty because I don’t remember blue and white being my high school colors. I walk around trying to find someone I know. After a few minutes, I see a group of women who look very familiar. I put my left hand on my heart and breath out.

“Hey ladies, it’s been so long!” I squealed, rubbing the back of my neck. “I’m sorry I am late, long day at the office but I’m here now. I can’t wait to hear what’s been going on in your lives these last 20 years!”

The group turns to me with puzzled expressions.

“Sorry, who are you again?,” asks the tall blonde, her name tag reading Alexa Robertson.

I laugh before replying, “it’s me Amelia! We had English class together our senior year. Remember Mrs. Simmons with all her colorful bandanas?”

The women exchange glances with each other. Miranda Walton, the short red head squints and replies,“Amelia? I don’t think I remember you. Are you sure you’re in the right place?”

I glance around again, trying to find a familiar face. Something feels off—the banners hanging on the walls and the length of the gym mats don’t match my memory. But it’s been twenty years. Still, a gnawing doubt starts to creep in as I continue to scan the room.

Another woman in the group, Wanda Le who has been silently observing whispered, “This is the Franklin High Reunion, right? We graduated from Franklin High in 1994.”

Before I can muster a response, a deep velvety voice from across the room shouts, “She didn’t even go to Franklin High with us!”

The room bursts into laughter and all I could do was join in. I walk out with my head down and stand besides the gym with my face in my hands. How had I missed the signs? Maybe it was because I was in a rush to get here after work. I turn around one last time, hearing the music and laughter from inside. At least I made someone’s night. Next time, I’ll double check the address. Who knows- this mix up could be a funny story to tell at my next high school reunion.

She can’t wait to see whose old facebook photos are the most catfishy today. Whose jawlines have gone soft vs who has been preparing for this with semaglutide shots. Its petty, but she is chomping at the bit to hear more about Maria and Tom’s sordid split. They had two kids and apparently divided them up in their divorce paperwork along with the financial assets.

Amelia plucks up a champagne flute full of kirkland brand cava and scans the old gymnasium. So low brow to have this event here, surely after 20 years someone from their alma mater would have made enough dough to rent a proper venue. Upon further reflection of her own sub poverty line upbringing, she redacts the thought. Its a pleasant surprise not everyone here is still trailer trash.

Oh god, Sam is walking over to her. She smooths her dress down & attempts nonchalance. How does he somehow look better now than he did 20 years ago? The salt and pepper hair at his temples, the subtle laugh lines around his mouth.. Amelia feels a twinge that takes her back to the bench seat of his truck, when his hands last ran up her thigh. Swallowing, she reminds herself she’s past this- she’s out earned and outgrown them all.

3 glasses of cava later and Amelia is hanging off of Sam’s Walmart dress shirt. She’s done a shotgun with Tom after he finished lamenting to her about how much of a bitch Maria is. She ripped her 50 dollar sheertex tights and for once she doesn’t care about the state of her wardrobe.

Ready to recreate a scene from decades past, Sam grins at Amelia as he leads her to a slightly newer version of the same white truck in the school parking lot. “Ah, Amelia” he sighs wistfully, “you can take the girl out of Fort Wayne, but you can’t take the Fort Wayne out of the girl”

Amelia took a deep breath, and pushed open the door to her 20-year high school reunion. she stepped through. The cold hall, the wooden floor, the blinding lights hanging from the ceiling, the projector screen still hanging at the front. it was exactly how she remembered. not everything was the same. you know what they say, high school is either the best or worst year of your life, well. for Amelia it was the worst, she was a small frail girl back then, underdeveloped, interested in science and reading, she didn't like to drink or smoke, she loved her parents and would spend lunch in the library. as she looked around now, she realised that maybe that's the best thing that happend to her. the blue-eyes blonde-haired popular girls, who were now middle aged divorced and had had many failed plastic surgeries, the jocks who didn't realise just how unlikely they were to become professionals now jobless and alone. the kids who went to all the parties and had "chill parents" were sat outside the door, there eyes dark, their faces looked numb,they were now drug addicted alcoholics with no future plans. the "smart kids" were now nothing but burnt out stars working a minimum wage job in an average house with an average car and an average life and a well below average mental state. and Amelia, although high school was the worst year of her life, was working a well paid job that she always dreamed of had her husband and two kids at home waiting for her to arrive back, she had her dream car, her dream life, her dream man. all because she didn't allow herself to peak in high school like the others.

She was now 40 and they were all in the 40s married with kids dreams met or lost.

Some rekindled relationships with a high school sweethearts

Most where married but she could sense that some yearned to escape and do something risky

There were flirtatious and static glances around the room

It made her smile that some of the more popular girls who wear catty and beautiful and popular when now housewives with lots of children and aged somewhat badly as the years to toiled on. There was a lot of cellulite to show.

Some have changed facially appearance mellowed with age and maturity

There was not that jealousy or competitiveness that was all left behind now the moment too enjoy what was meant to be or not.

There was silence for those who were not at the reunion who had gone and passed in the afterlife

Remembering the good moments, the bad the teachers who inspired us.

Those who did badly at school the jocks who were in jail and those who better themselves they made a better life

Those we hate it never changed, but we hate it and just the same and those are different

It was all inspiring to find what 20 years can make of our dreams our aspirations and what the realism of life can bring

It’s funny the things you remember, Amelia thought. High school yearbooks would have you thinking high school was all drama club and football games broken up with frozen laughter. But Amelia’s strongest memory of Dennington High was the fresh painted cinder block walls kissing the shiny linoleum floors. Her Pop Pop used to say, butter bean you tend to see what you look for. Meaning what? she thought.A rattling from another catering trolley shook Amelia from her grandpa philosophy and back to the banquet hall.

Coldplay was screaming in the speakers. Behind steaming half trays of rice pilaf and haricot verts, Amelia pushed her trolley to the buffet. Javier, who was manning the turkey carving station, air fist bumped Amelia as she passed. She smiled in spite of herself. It was impossible not to smile around Javier. She donned her plastic serving gloves.

Good thing they were not understaffed tonight. High school reunions were always hard. Not as bad as weddings those were living nightmares. Amelia pasted on a polite smile as the partygoers lined up for sides. Laughing two women came up to her station. Amelia looked up and then away. The pair headed for the carving station.

Dancing to Nicki Minaj the guests were getting louder. Amelia watched them hugging and kissing trying to catch up over the driving bass. Tommy brought over the last of the fresh trays. He offered to give her a break but Amelia sent him off to help the bartenders. Amelia checked her watch.

“Excuse me Amelia.”

Surprised Amelia looked up from the chafing dish.

“Sorry to startle you Miss but where is the little girls’ room?” Monica said.

Amelia gave directions and watched the former cheer captain teeter to the facilities. Scrubbing at her tired face with her forearm, Amelia slipped her name tag in her pant’s pocket. She wondered why she spent so much time looking down while the world whirled by.

Amelia pushed the catering trolley towards the back of house. The DJ was spinning more slow jams. Couples swayed. Javier sang Sam Smith over the drumsticks. Small groups clumped round random tables chatting. It was time to start breaking down and coffee set up.

As she passed Amelia studied the table of missing alumni. There was Amelia’s high school photo amongst the missing. Quickly Amelia looked left and right. She grabbed her photo and headed for the kitchen.

Magic burst through her heart as she stepped through the auditorium. Fellow students mingled, their familiars perched on their shoulders. Amelia felt like a thorn in a rose bush in her plain black dress and fake pearls.

“Amelia!”

A voice addressed her, shrill with joy. She whipped her head in all directions until her eyes met a woman with black hair reaching down to her knees. The way the woman’s steps were taken with enthusiasm made Amelia smile. “Cressida! How are you?”

“I’m wonderful!” Her eyes flirted toward the cat on her shoulder. “You remember Misty, don’t you?”

“Of course!” Amelia stroked Misty’s pink nose. She responded with a gentle purr. “Are you and Melody still together?”

Cressida splayed her left hand out, the large diamond ring glinting bright against her pale skin. “We’ve been married for five years now! She sadly wasn’t able to come. Stuck in bed with the flu.”

Amelia gave a disappointed frown. A flutter of black slipped behind the curtains of the auditorium stage. Neither of them paid any mind. The headmaster must be preparing a speech.

“What about you?” Cressida chirped. “Surely with how active you were in many of the clubs, you must have a very eventful life!”

Amelia looked down at her feet. In transformations class, her fellow witches had taught themselves how to conjure believable lies. In her teacher’s lesson plan, the students would slowly be introduced to the concept at the end of the year. But Amelia and her friends quickly used their newfound talents to delay quizzes they hadn’t studied for. Now, it was difficult for Amelia to make Cressida believe her falsely adventurous life.

“Well…I’ve been busy with work. Specifically at a bank. A non-magical one.” Her hands wrung together in shame. The students of this prestigious academy of magic and alchemy promised to pave the path for future wizards and witches. For some, this path ends in a dead end, and they have no choice but to start anew amongst ordinary humans. Fallouts are what they call those people. And no one wants to be a fallout.

Cressida’s face didn’t falter. “Oh! There’s no need to be ashamed. My aunt works at an ordinary grocery store. She loves it there!”

That’s when the curtains flew open. There was a podium at center stage, and a man in a black cloak and white mask stood behind it. The auditorium erupted in applause.

“Good evening graduating class of 2026!” The mysterious man boasted. “The headmaster is unfortunately unable to make it to this year’s reunion. He ran into an…unexpected emergency.”

The sound of muffled screamed floated into Amelia’s ears, sending her nerves on high alert. Her hand quickly grabbed Cressida’s. The familiar on her shoulder arched her back, giving a feral hiss.

“Many of you have come to this special occasion to mingle with old friends, catch up, and sink into the nostalgia as you recall the wonderful memories of your youth. But for me,” the man began to pace back and forth, bringing a handheld microphone, “I came to remind you of the things you’ve done.”

His voice poisoned the air with its venom. It carried its magic, and in one synchronized motion, all exits were closed and locked. Screams erupted. One woman fainted.

Cressida trembled. “Amelia…”

The masked man continued. “There are so many of you in this room who have gotten away with so many things. Yet you stand here, succes and wealth handed to you like a child earning a lollipop. It’s quite sad really.”

Walls of flame shot up from the ground, further reinforcing everyone inside. This advanced spell elicited more shrieks of terror.

“And someone in this room is witholding the deepest secret of them all, locked deep in their heart. Only until it is revealed, will I let you out. And with each hour, the flames grow higher. You have until the stroke of midnight.” The man took a bow, and Amelia could see the tiniest sliver of a black beard underneath. “Good luck!”

In a puff of purple smoke, he vanished.

“What are we going to do?” Cressida panicked.

“I can’t cast anything. My magic has faded,” Amelia replied. Groups of wizards have gathered around the exits, attempting to perform any spell they could remember.

“This can’t be real,” Cressida crouched onto the floor, curling herself into a ball. “Who would do this?”

Misty pressed a paw against her arm, doing her best to communicate her concern.

“I don’t know, but we’ll figure this out, okay? Just breathe.”

Cressida looked at Amelia with desperate eyes. “How am I supposed to breathe when in a few hours we’ll be dead?!”

A flicker in gaze alerted Amelia. Mixed with tears, heart wrenching fear turned her pupils microscopic.

Along with something hidden in the pools of blue.

A secret.

Its been twenty years sinceI walked out of these doors. Here I am about to walk back into these doors. Feeling the unknown is like the first day of high school. So as I take a deep breath I open these doors to see how much people has changed and to see who all has not changed. Then to see if popular kids now grown adult stilll act like children. I was not a popular kid in school. I just kept to myself and loved school so I guess I was a ‘nerd’. We all know every school had the cool kids and the groupies. Amanda was the Queen of all the girl’s who wanted to be popular. Her groupies were Lilly, Ashley and, Madison. They all were cheerleader of course Amanda was the captin. Then there football boyfriends that they thought one day they would marry. As i look around the room all the popular girls look married and miserable wiht kids and the footbal boys they married are beer drinking guys. My high school bestie who forgot about me our last year of school looks sad. So the best thing for me to do is to find the food and drink and stay away hopfully. Well that did not last long my high school crush walked up to me and did not even know who I was nor my name. Once I told him my name is yelled to the whole gym of all these people whom I did not want to speak to now are all in aw because I am a nurse with my two cats and had a glow up as everyone says. My crush Adam says damn your hot I am sorry about never knowing you in high school. Looks likes your doing amazing now probably better then all of us burnt out jocks. As the night when one it was better then high school this was all i had ever wish for was to just be noticed by anyone. Even my old best friend she walks up to me and apologizes to me about abandoning me our senior year. Beth my high school bestie asked if we can go for lunch and i said yes. My high school crush Adam asks me to dinner and my number this night was the best of my life everything I have always wanted. This for now twenty years later and better than it was twenty years ago. All best i decided to come tonight to the reunion.

Amelia took a deep breath, and pushed open the door to her 20-year high school reunion.

Her hand trembled as she placed it on the brass door knob leading to her high schools PE room, which was also used for prom a few days ago.

“ deep breaths, Amelia. Do it for him. “

She forced herself to turn the doorknob and open the door.

One step.

Two steps.

Amelia looked around. Everything looked exactly as it was during prom night. The tables were still full with red plastic cups, with a colourful pink liquid inside, and a few bottles of beer which shouldn’t have been there. Immediately memories from last night flash by. The forest green dress which fit perfectly around her body, Kai’s hand on her waist, their mouths inches apart. When suddenly he had to go, family emergency, he said.

That’s when she heard a shot.

That’s when a young man’s tuxedo was stained red, right above his heart.

At first she thought it was a some sort of joke, it was tradition that seniors played jokes on other students during their last years. It was almost ironic, and seemed planned since the song murder on the dance floor was playing at the same moment Amelia heard the shot. Until she saw her brother look at her with watery, pleading eyes, before he collapsed to the floor.

Amelia stared at him, unable to move, while everyone ran out of the room and hid under tables and chairs, waiting for the shooter to come inside the room. But he never did. Finally someone called 911. That was when Kai came back, and as soon as he saw Amelia’s body, racking and shaking with sobs, he held her close, not saying it was okay because it clearly wasn’t. That would’ve been a stupid question. That’s the thing Amelia liked about Kai. He was always honest. Always.

Ambulances arrived, doctors rushed into the room, but they knew it was too late. Blood was still pooling on the floor when they arrived, and even though Raimon’s cheeks were still pink, and his eyes still open and deep as always, where he had gone was a point of no return.

Amelia shakes her head. Tears well up at the thought of what happened the night before.

A cop suddenly appears before her eyes, dressed with the classic blue uniform and golden badge on his chest.

“ Miss Arlian, i give you my condolences. I’m very sorry for what happens to you and your family, but we must ask you to cooperate. “

“ Yes. Of course. “

She was determined to answer the questions the police asked her, she wanted to help in any possible way she could. But when she saw her brothers body lying limp on the floor a few metres from her, she froze. The cops words turned into a muffled sound, and Amelia’s vision turned blurry.

She tried to steady herself with a table near her, still filled with food, but she could do nothing as she collapsed on the floor. The only thing she remembered is that she would never have wanted to wake up again.

Oh my God, you like look great!!!

Amelia took a deep breath, and pushed open the door to her 20-year high school reunion. She had changed; that was for sure. She wasn’t where she wanted to be in life, and she saw that some of her classmates on Facebook had achieved all she had wanted and more. Her body could be better, her hair could be thicker, her voice could be more relaxed; these were all things she thought as she walked into the auditorium.

Before her stood her classmates at various tables, making small talk. Some were instantly recognizable and some she did not seem to remember. One thing was for certain: everyone had changed. The suddenness of it all hit her and she took a deep breath.

We’re different now, she thought, _and that’s beautiful. _

With this perspective, the rest of the night went wonderfully. She didn’t think one negative thing about herself, and when she got home she admired herself in the mirror.

“Thank you,” she told herself before she went to bed, patting her chest over her heart. The heart that had gotten her through so much.