Record Store Geek

The Bonus Chapter (Epilogue)

 IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE

High School Reunion 

"Ryder!" I whined as I waited in our newly furnished kitchen of our big house in Philly. "Hurry up or we'll be be late!" 

"I'm coming honey." My husband replied as I heard him coming down the back stairs to join me in the kitchen "Just making sure the baby-sitter had everything… you sure she knows what she's doing right?" 

A small smile began to tug at the corners of my lips as I nodded my head "Positive, she's 16 though honey and besides we're gone for 3 hours how bad can it be?" 

"Yeah but you just had Bryce and--" 

"Ryder." I said trying to act as stern as possible "It'll be fine, now let's get going I want to see everyone." 

Ryder nodded grabbing hold of the keys with one hand and my own hand with the other before leading me out of the house and towards our SUV. 

Tonight was our high school reunion, an exact 15 years ago we had graduated from our high school in Willows Crest and an exact 15 years ago Ryder and I were in love, just like we were now. 

The whole gang would be joining us at the school for the reunion; Clary and Jared who were happily married with 2 baby boys, Shae and her husband Conner, and the newly weds Summer and Lucas.

Ryder and I had now been married for nearly 10 years and they had without a doubt been the happiest 10 years of my life. Ryder was the dream husband and father. He worked as a baseball agent whereas I was a music producer striving to be both a producer, manager, and agent. We had 3 amazing kids; Derek who was 7, Beca who was 4 and Bryce who was barely 4 months old. It seemed so cliched but our life really was perfect and I loved every bit of it. 

It was a good hour before we finally made it to our old high school, the school's sign that usually said Football Game Friday or Exams! Was now replaced with Welcome back class of 2014! I could feel my stomach exploding with excitement as we pulled into a parking space and parked. 

I could barely remember the last time I had seen my high school friends, we spoke on the phone of course daily but our lives were just so jam-packed it was hard to find a time to visit one another. But the reunion was our chance to see them once again and I was beyond exited

"Alright." Ryder sighed as he pulled into a parking space "Wow is it just me or did this school get smaller?" 

I smiled quickly pecking on the cheek "You're right." I agreed "It does seem a tad tinier, now let's go Clary and Jared should be in there already." 

At that Ryder eagerly hopped out of the car and we walked together - hand in hand towards the school. 

"It feels kind of weird to be back here." I whispered to my husband as I grasped his hand tightly "I still can't believe it's been 15 years."

"I know, it's going to be weird to see everyone… especially my old football coach." He said before shrugging "I drove that guy crazy." 

Laughing, we entered the school. Ryder was right, it did seem much smaller then how I remembered it as a teenager but maybe that was just the age difference of how much older I had gotten. 

Okay, only 15 years but still. 

As we walked down the halls that had once been filled with my classmates and peers who had all seemed to hate me until the goofball beside me entered my life I felt a smile creep onto my face at all the memories of the months we had spent together roaming these halls.