“This place hasn’t changed a bit.” Maggie looked around the gym.
It was tastefully decorated, if you counted balloons and streamers to be tasteful. The theme was apparently blue and white, for some unknown reason, since the school colors were black and yellow. There was a table at the far end of the room with drinks and another beside it with desserts and trays of veggies and bowls of chips.
On the opposite end of the gym, where the stage was, the same stage that had seen many Christmas concerts performed over the years and high school assemblies, played host to Devon Hills. He had his laptop open and was spinning tunes the same way he had for all the school dances.
Ash decided to be nice and not comment. She could be haunted by her past and still refuse to be a bitch, couldn’t she?
“Maggie,” she said softly as Trace came to stand beside her. “This is Trace. Trace, Maggie.”
Trace shook Maggie’s hand and Maggi grinned. “Nice to meet you.” Her eyes swept over Trace appreciatively and Ash felt nothing but pride.
“You need to get social media,” she said ruefully. “You’re not on it and it’s the only way that people keep in touch now. The only reason I came was to see you and Ruth. I hoped you’d both be here.”
Maggie sighed. “I know, I know, I just wanted to skip out on all the drama. I just don’t see the point.”
“The point is, I miss you and you disappeared. I’m not good at emailing or calling people’s parents to try and find out what their cell number is, not that anyone has a landline.”
“My parents don’t have one anymore. They got rid of that a long time ago.” Maggie winked. “Maybe I’ll give it a try, just for you. I wanted to contact you too and I was sad I couldn’t do it.” She made a face as Lana Delmont and Stephanie Driedger sauntered into the gym. They both had their significant other on their arms. Lana’s was tall dark and handsome and looked like he’d been dragged there against his will. Stephanie’s whatever he was, wasn’t good looking. He was balding and had a paunch, which could have been overlooked if he was nice, but Ash could tell by the ‘bow to me’ expression on his face, that he was full of himself.
Judging by the way Steph walked around with her nose in the air like she’d just smelled something bad, she clearly hadn’t changed a bit from high school. Their school was just big enough to have football teams and jocks and cheerleaders. Steph had been captain of the team. She was pretty, blonde and curvy, but her attitude ruined it.
“She used to call me saggy Maggie,” Maggie stated, as if Ash had forgotten.
Ash ground her teeth together. Suddenly she was right back there, standing in the hall, Steph taunting her and Maggie. Asking Ash if she’d been to an Ash Bash on the weekend and how many cocks she’d had inside of her. Then of course, Steph reminded herself that she was silly. No cocks would ever be inside of a girl as ugly as Ash. Or one as saggy as Maggie, even though she wasn’t saggy at all.
“Yeah, I remember,” Ash mumbled. Trace’s hand wrapped around her waist and she leaned back, taking solace in his presence.
“You’re a goddess,” he whispered in her ear. “Just remember that. And that girl over there,” he was obviously talking about Steph, “has a major stick up her ass.”
“That she does,” Ash agreed. She turned to Maggie. “Don’t worry. You’re incredible. It’s been ten years and you look just like you did back then. Like a model. Tall, graceful, beautiful. Are you seeing someone? Where are you working? You have to tell me everything.”
Maggie grinned and launched into a welcome conversation. While they were talking, the gym filled up. It was like everyone had the same idea she did about coming an hour late. And here Ash thought she was being original.
She kept a wary eye on the whole thing, but Trace’s arm at her back kept her calm. Her fears and worries drifted away, and the tension drained out of her muscles. She didn’t see Ruth, but it was nice to hear that Maggie was seeing someone and had been for over a year. She now had a Business Degree and managed a large fashion store in Minneapolis.
At one point, she looked up and found Trace studying her. His light blue eyes stopped her heart and stole her breath. He winked at her, sending off a storm of butterflies in her stomach, and smiled until she felt her chest tighten.
“I’m so glad you’re happy,” she told Maggie as her friend finished up giving her the abbreviated notes version of her life.