Mushroom High

43. Fifteen Years Later

*June 29, 2029*

"Finally!" Peach said excitedly to herself when the doorbell rang.

She opened the door and in came almost all of her classmates from 9th grade.

"Long time no see!" Peach squealed, hugging everyone.

Then all of the guests stood around, glancing at each other and Peach.

"So, everyone's here... Except Boo," Peach sighed.

"I just want him to come out of his hiding spot already!" Bowser stated.

"We all do," Mario replied. "But come on, let's maintain a good mood."

"Right," Peach said. "Follow me to the backyard. Hope you're prepared to swim."

"Dettie, are you gonna swim?" Toad questioned his wife. "I don't know if it would be safe for you."

"Of course I'm swimming," Toadette answered. "I'm only two months pregnant. You can't forbid me to step into the pool."

Practically everyone got into the pool and that was where they decided to begin catching up on things.

"So, how was your honeymoon?" Rosalina asked Luigi and Daisy, who were both significantly more tan than before.

"Let's just say we never wanted it to end," Daisy laughed lightly.

"I love my secretary," Wario sighed happily out of the blue.

"But, she's in Mushroom High," Diddy stated, weirded out. "She's in the 11th grade class."

"Oh, I don't love her in THAT way," Wario replied. "I just appreciate that Mona does pretty much all of my work for me."

"Just like how I appreciate you earning all of my money?" Waluigi said.

"Shut up, you know that you owe me thousands of coins, maybe even a million," Wario shoved his brother.

"No Waluigi, you owe all of the money to Mona, not Wario," Donkey Kong joked.

"Dettie, come in!" Birdo exclaimed, gesturing towards the pool.

"I will later," Toadette promised.

Everyone chatted for about half an hour before Toadette finally decided to go into the pool. Toadette stood at the edge of the pool, about to make a careful entrance.

"Did you all miss me?" a voice suddenly spoke from behind Toadette, causing the pregnant mushroom girl to scream and fall straight into the swimming pool.

Behind her was none other than a slightly bigger and more intimidating Boo.

"Oh Toadette, you haven't changed much," Boo chuckled.

"... B-boo?!" Mario stuttered.

"Yeah, that's me," Boo grinned.

"What are you doing here?" Peach gasped.

"If I'm not mistaken, you invited me to this reunion. Ten times, to be exact," Boo stated.

"Where have you been all this time?" Bowser questioned.

"At home," Boo answered. "I reside in this neighborhood actually, in that mansion that everyone thinks is haunted."

"So, what have you been up to ever since our high school graduation?" Toad asked.

"I inherited my home and money from my parents. I barely go out and buy stuff, meaning I only have to use my money on bills and what not. My life has been pretty pleasant. I was never a people person anyway. But I missed you guys, therefore I decided to attend this reunion. I must say, things are certainly different than I remember from the last time I spent more than a few hours outside," Boo explained. "And what about you all? What have you done since I disappeared? Oh don't tell me, I already know the answers."

"How?" Rosalina replied.

"I can read minds," Boo winked. No one completely believed him, but the subject was dropped anyway.

"Well, you're more than welcome to get into the pool," Peach told Boo.

"Sure, I don't mind floating on water," Boo shrugged.

Finally, the former class was complete.

"Shall I start preparing the lunch?" Yoshi questioned two hours later.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea," Peach answered and everyone began to get out of the pool. "The stuff for the burgers are over there. Are you sure you don't want help?"

"No, I don't need help," Yoshi assured. He began to make burgers for everyone on Peach's backyard grill.

"Hey, Yoshi!" Toadette called.

"Yeah?" Yoshi turned his head to face Toadette.

"Put peanut butter on my burger, please," Toadette requested.

Several people looked at Toadette weirdly.

"Pregnancy cravings," Toadette laughed and everyone immediately understood Toadette's request.

After about twenty minutes, Yoshi served the burgers to everyone. He sat in his seat, not wanting to eat just yet. Everyone else's attention was turned away from their food when they noticed that Birdo spit out something onto her plate.

"Yoshi! What the hell was that?!" Birdo began coughing. "I could have choked or even died-"
Birdo stopped talking in mid-sentence when she realized what exactly she almost choked on. It was a gold ring with a big diamond on it.

"A ring?! Why would you put a ring inside a burger? What were you thinking?" Birdo couldn't help it, she was pissed off.

"Bow, please don't be mad. The ring is for you," Yoshi said patiently.

"Wait, what?" Birdo was now confused.

"The ring is for you," Yoshi repeated. "I got it for you."

The others suddenly realized what was about to happen.

Yoshi picked up the ring from Birdo's plate and got down on one knee.

"I know how you like cheesy romantic movies, so I'll try to be cheesy. Birdo, we've been dating for almost 16 years," Yoshi started. "I can't imagine what these years would be like if we weren't in love. I always tried so hard to be perfect for you, but I've messed up a lot. I'm sorry. I don't know how you never gave up on me, but thank you. I've always been hopeless, even when we were in school. I could go on for hours about why I love you, but you'd eventually stop listening. The reason why I didn't make a move for so long is because I was nervous. I was nervous that I wasn't good enough for you. Actually, I still think I'm not good enough for you. However after at least three years, I'm willing to take a risk. I'm not forcing you to say yes, but... Bow, will you marry me?"

Everyone was suddenly silent as they waited for Birdo's reply.

"Yoshi... Of course!" Birdo's eyes welled up with tears of happiness. She practically fell on Yoshi, hugging him so tightly that this time it was Yoshi that worried he was about to die. Nonetheless, Yoshi felt like he was the happiest person in the world in this exact moment.

No one wanted the reunion to end. This reunion was basically reliving great memories. These great memories would likely be nonexistent if the group's first year at Mushroom High had been any different.

None of the sixteen former classmates ever expected their Mushroom High experiences to affect their futures this much.

First bonus chapter done, two more to go! The next one is my very long author's note so keep an eye out for that if you're interested. Remember to do what I asked of you in the chapter titled "Announcement"- it's really important for the very last bonus chapter. I apologize that this chapter didn't turn out so good. I don't have much else to say except that Birdo's engagement ring in this chapter is based off of the one she wears in the actual games. I'm uploading the next part of this book within this week!

- pinkandpeachy