"Yeah," Amelia nodded, eyes downcast. "He kinda planned the majority of it."
Who was this new guy? The old Harrison would have despised being on any type of group planning committee. Unless it was for a wet t-shirt contest.
"Wow." I gave a humorless laugh as I shook my head, stunned.
I attempted to wrap my head around the image of Harrison with a planner and a clipboard. How did he organize his meetings? Did he send an event invite out on Facebook? Or do one of those polls to settle which color scheme everyone wanted?
"So before you confirm that you wanna do this, just for full transparency, you'll see him a lot more than just wedding duties. So if you wanna change your response, I fully understand," she solemnly finished.
I paused as I re-considered my offer. I mean, thatdidchange things. Did I want to make new and positive memories with my graduating class? Yes. Did I want to do it with Harrison? No.
Maybe I could use this as an immersion therapy of sorts. Want to get over your fear of water? Dive into the deep end of a pool. Scared of spiders? Hold a Tarantula. Want to forgive your high school bully who tortured you for no reason? Plan a party with him.
I mean, the true opposite of that would be to hook up with him, but that would not be an option.
"You know what," I slowly said, regretting it even as I spoke. "Yeah, I still want to do it." I wrinkled my nose. "I mean, I don'twantto want to do it, but you know It's... fine."
Amelia squealed and scrambled around the kitchen island, engulfing me in a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!" She shrilled.
I shoved her away. "God, you need a shower, Meils. You smell like a brewery."
"Okay!" She said, not the least bit offended. "I'm gonna text Harrison to let him know the good news. He can let you know the details."
"Great," I droned.
Amelia stopped mid-skid out the door. She popped her head back into the kitchen, her wild hair falling about her shoulders.
"You know." She grinned mischievously. "If you're missing sex, Harrison is single—argh!" She ducked as a rolled-up towel sailed past her head, her laughter echoed down the hallway.
Twenty minutes later, I got a text notification from an Unknown Number.
Hi, Grace. It's Harrison. I hope you don't mind; Amelia gave me your number. So happy you can help out. The next meeting is tonight at the school hall, 6:30. See you then?
Yep, I was already regretting this.
CHAPTER 6
Thesun'sheatburnedinto the back of my neck as I strolled leisurely through the paved pathways of my former high school. The hall was in a separate building at the other end of the school, but I found myself enjoying my little walk down memory lane.
It was only 6 pm, so I was a little early after walking the ten minutes from Amelia's place. It was done purposefully, though. I always found that walking cleared my head and de-stressed me. I needed it before I was confronted by the buildings that had given me anxiety all those years ago.
I didn't know if it was the beauty of the day, the light breeze ruffling my shirt, or the fact that I didn't have to wake up at 6 a.m. every day for the next few weeks, but I was feeling unusually upbeat. Curiously, I felt none of the apprehension I had expected to feel once I reached the school grounds and the familiar buildings came into view.
Instead, I admired the planted flowers and bushes that lined the administration building. They had not previously been there when I attended. I smiled when I noticed the buildings were still painted white with sky-blue trim on the window sills. The bottom half of the buildings were light brown bricks. Benches lined the pathways for students to sit during breaks, and green metal trash cans were sporadically placed around the grounds.
As I walked through the courtyard toward the direction of the school hall, I felt a sense of nostalgia. Despite the terrible memories I had, some good ones pulled through. Like sitting in the shade of the many Beech trees that lined the perimeter of the school field, giggling with Amelia and a couple of other girlfriends about the latest TV show. We always played a game of fuck, marry and kiss with the celebrities we watched. The game was actually fuck, marry, andkill, but we usually picked the hottest guys to compare, so it didn't seem fair to hypothetically kill one of them off. Thus, we amended it.
My biology class was another fond memory. I fell in love with the subject as a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ninth-grader. I had always enjoyed science and knew I would do something within that field. It wasn't until I encountered my enchanting biology teacher, Mr Jenkins, that I decided which pathway to enter.
When I came across the familiar B Block building, my face broke into a serene smile. The school library was inside, and I had spent many lunch breaks studying or reading for pleasure. It was too bad the building was locked; otherwise, I would have made a detour inside just to get a whiff of the addicting smell of old books.
Just up ahead was the school hall. It was hexagonal, and I recalled thinking at the time how imposing the building felt to me—big and looming, the epicenter of many school assemblies and social activities. Now, without the stream of chattering students milling about, it appeared small and less threatening—just another building.
I noticed the lights were on, and one of the side doors was open. Someone on the committee had the same idea about arriving early.
I sighed in annoyance. God, Amelia owed me so badly. This was definitely a name-your-first-child-after-me kind of favor. My heart kicked up to an elevating rhythm as I approached the double doors. I breathed deeply and mentally prepared myself to be able to deal with Harrison and whoever had been roped into this farce of an event.
As I stepped inside, I was greeted by the familiar sight of wooden beams crisscrossing the ceiling. Just below the high windows, flags lined the wall. They represented the different cultures that currently attended the school. When I was a student, we had Mexican, Argentinean, Brazilian, Chinese, Philippines, South Korean, British, Irish, Scottish, Canadian, and an Indian flag. I was happy to see a few more additions.
