Crazy Little Thoughts: PAPERS (One shot Collection)

Reunion

How many of us can be lucky enough to bring back the romance of teenage love stories? Can you ever forget your high school love? Or does that spark come alive when you come across each other again. Jamie Barlow shares his joy of melting in love.

A school reunion. I wondered if I should go.

It had almost been a decade since I’ve even given that a thought.

Back at school, my pals and I had pledged that we would try and make it there each year, but well, I gave up on that thought the very year I graduated.

But then this time, as I held the invitation, something within me urged me to participate in it.

What the heck, I could definitely use another night out, I told myself.

I called a few of my old school buddies and convinced them to make it there, and they were quite surprised to see the all new vigor in me to go to the reunion this year.

The anticipation of the reunion

The D-day arrived and on that warm evening, I expected nothing extraordinary, just a few paunchy men, and a posse of chattering women.

But inside I felt a queer excitement that I hadn’t felt for a long time.

Being in the entertainment industry, parties were what I indulged in, for a living. But then, something was different this time, or was it just my lousy intuition?

The reunion at the glitzy hotel was nice, quite interesting. As the party set in, it was great! It was fun to see my old friends with nicknames like ‘curly’ now with great big bald patches. We laughed and talked like little kids in their ninth grade. It was fun, and I wondered why I had never bothered with reunion parties all these years.

Memories of a teenage love story

I walked up to the bar counter to get myself another drink. I excused myself through groups of middle aged teenagers in their twenties and thirties, spilling beer as they laughed voraciously. The reunion was fun, I reminded myself. With a drink in my hand, I walked back across the room.

I was lost in my thoughts as I unknowingly elbowed someone in a bunch of giggling women. I pulled myself together and apologized to her. She was very pretty, and accepted the apology gracefully. Her eyes were charming.

I walked past, and her eyes reminded me of a beautiful memory. Something I couldn’t have lost, but had tried to forget during all these years. My heart missed a beat, and began to pound hard, really hard. Could it be her? I turned around and wished for a miracle.

Oh my god, it IS Nancy!

This was the very girl who stole my dreams each night years ago. I could tell it was her with a glance. I could never forget those lovely doe like eyes. She was beautiful, and hadn’t changed a bit since I last saw her. I stumbled to a chair as I tried to hold my heart within my chest. I was panicking, I felt like a little boy we read about in those love stories. The same way I always felt when she was around.

Memories of teenage love

The first time I felt this way, I was in ninth grade. I was one of those kids you call a dorky middle bencher, not too geeky, but yet not cool enough to fit in, at the back of the class. There was this new girl in school, and the teacher introduced her to the class. Her name was Nancy. I wanted to “make friendship with her” but each time I walked up to her, I just froze and ended up with a sheepish grin.

One day in class, I whispered to the girl sitting next to me to introduce me to Nancy. She just smiled and kept quiet. When the bell rang and the teacher walked out, this girl just stood up and shouted out at the top of her voice, much to my bewilderment, “Nancy, this Jamie likes you!!”