Just Like That

Has it really been ten years since I graduated?

Memories came flooding back as I walked through the hallways: that was where I almost pissed my pants, that was where I always ate lunch, that was where I yelled at a teacher. I brushed nostalgia away as I followed the blaring house music to the auditorium where they were holding our reunion. I open the doors and I immediately regretted coming back. In a quick second, time rewinded and I was back in high school again. There he was. And there I was - insecure and scared. I only ever felt this way around him. A text from my girlfriend, Cara, snaps me from my haze. She tells me that the reunion will be fine and that she loves me. Her punctuality is impeccable. She knows about Eric. When I told her about what I went through, she told me she loved me wholeheartedly. She’s too good for me. As I’m looking down at my phone, a pair of brown Oxford shoes come to visibility. I didn’t even have to look up to know it was him. He looks into my eyes and smiles. He says something. I think it was, “I’m so glad to see you”.

And just like that, all the gears switched into motion: the past began to unbury itself, my heart started racing, and the butterflies woke up from their ten year coma.