Chapter 17: Chapter 17
THE REUNION
“Your name?”
The woman’s eyes remained riveted on the paper in front of her face, forcing Natalia to stare at the crown of her blonde head. Yet, despite the cloud of hair that obscured her face, Natalia easily recognized the unmistakable delicate features of the woman—Rebecca Laitin.
Natalia blew out a long shaky breath, trying to decide if she should just bolt right then. No one had seen her yet and she was sure she could escape undetected if she got out of there right now, but before she could make a move, the woman lifted her head and she found herself staring into the fathomless green eyes of the seemingly ageless woman.
Natalia instantly glimpsed the awareness on her beautiful face. At first there was a flash of shock, followed by a brief moment of wariness, until finally a serene politeness settled in her gaze.
She forced out a tight smile, thinking that it could have been worse.
Rebecca could have blurted out her shock that the town whore had
decided to show her face as she’d done all those years ago in high school.
Ahhh, but don’t rule it out Natalia. The night is still young.
“N—Natalia.” She cleared her throat. “Natalia Cruz.”
“Hi, Natalia. Welcome to the Bayside High Class of 93’ Fifteen Year Reunion,” Rebecca said warmly as she stuck out a small rectangular object with her name emblazoned on it in bold black letters.
With shaky hands, she grasped the plastic nametag and pinned in on her chest.
“Thank you, Rebecca,” she said softly, acknowledging the woman by name. No sense in pretending they didn’t know each other. If she’d intended to do that then she could have just stayed at home.
No sooner had the greeting escaped her lips, she was surprised to see a wide smile of genuine warmth spread across Rebecca’s face.
“You’re welcome, Natalia. I’m really glad you came this year.”
She nodded stiffly, as her eyes roamed over the lovely blonde’s face, searching for any hint of carefully veiled scorn, but there appeared to be
none. Of all people, she’d expected Rebecca to harbor the most resentment toward her. Hell, she would have resented her too. She’d slept with probably every single last one of Rebecca’s boyfriends while they were in high school. But strangely enough, Rebecca seemed genuinely pleased that she’d decided to come. And that shocked her. She hadn’t expected anyone to be kind to her, so she was taken aback by the
woman’s friendly greeting. Not knowing what else to say, she said
nothing. Instead she dipped her head in a polite nod and turned away from her to walk toward the large gymnasium, a brittle smile plastered across her face.
Again, she considered tucking her tail and running like the yellow belly coward she was. This was a huge mistake. She should never have listened to her best friend Kasey. So what, Kasey was a world renowned behavioral psychologist, she clearly didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. Natalia was sure she didn’t need to return to her high school to put her past to rest. She’d sworn to her friend that she’d dealt with her demons when her mother died, but Kasey had been adamant.
“You missed your last two reunions. You have to go to this one.”
“Why?” Natalia had protested as she frowned down into her friend’s pretty, cocoa hued face. “I have no desire to be reminded of my high school years—”
“But that’s exactly what you need. You need to face the fact that you aren’t that wounded young girl anymore,” she argued. “Once you do that then you will finally be able to move forward and have healthy relationships with men.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I have healthy relationships with men.”
Kasey snorted as she flung her long braids over her shoulder. “If you mean boring, practically sexless relationships that are little more than platonic friendships—”
“Sex complicates things—”
“But it doesn’t have to. Your relationships with boys in high school
have prevented you from having fulfilling relationships with men as an adult.”
Natalia let out a weary sigh. “So, you think if I face all the boys I slept with in high school, that I’ll what? Be able to put that part of my life
into context?”
“I don’t just think. I know. Once you face the fact that those guys
and your experiences in high school do not define the person that you are today then I hope you will be able to realize that sex isn’t something to be ashamed of in a relationship,” she said quietly.
Natalia had not missed the sympathetic look in Kasey’s brown eyes or the sadness in her voice. She felt sorry for her. Hell, she felt sorry for herself too. Despite years of therapy, she was still screwed up. Okay, maybe that wasn’t entirely true, but at the very least she knew she still had issues concerning sex, men and relationships. A lot of it was due to her mother, but a lot of it also stemmed from her interactions with the opposite sex while in high school, and unfortunately, her experiences as a teen had left a lasting impression on her.
In a nutshell, she had once been the town tramp, and she hadn’t quite been able to shake the label in her head, even after all these years.
The painful memories instantly flooded her causing her to falter as the heel of her shoe snagged a rung in the carpet and she stumbled a few steps before catching herself. She dragged in a deep breath and steadied herself. You are not that person anymore.
“You are a successful composer and mezzo soprano who has performed on stages across the world. You are sophisticated, beautiful, and brilliant. This is not high school and you are not that girl anymore,” she said in a low voice, over and over again. She chanted the same thing in her head with each step she took.
Running her hands down her stylish, but demure black cashmere dress, she took one last deep fortifying breath before she stepped inside the bustling gymnasium where the school colors of blue and gold hung from the ceiling as streamers, while balloons bounced back and forth against the strings where they were tied on all the chairs. The party was in full swing and music blared loudly from the speakers, but as soon as she stepped inside, an almost palatable silence descended on the room.
Her heart plummeted and she froze like a deer caught in the headlights as all eyes swung in her direction. It was too late to run now. Everyone had seen her and she knew what they all had to be thinking.
The town slut was back.