An Unfortunate Reunion

Jane had hated high school. She didn't have many friends, but her biggest complaint was Kelly. Whereas Jane had been a middle-of-the-road student with average grades, Kelly was the beautiful queen of the school with top marks all around. She was even Valedictorian. So when Jane was able to move away from home and stay anew in college, she jumped at the chance. She'd had a bit of a glow-up senior year that carried her right into college.

It was there she met Cal, her now-husband. They were lab partners their Junior year and quickly fell for each other. He didn't know much about her high school years; only that she hated them. So it was odd when she seemed excited to go to the reunion.

"I thought you hated high school," he asked as he sat on the couch. He looked up at his wife of four years in utter confusion.

"I did— do! But this is my chance! I've got a killer job, an amazing husband, a beautiful house... I want to show it all off and rub it in all of their faces. Especially Kelly." She'd mentioned Kelly a few times, but never really expanded on it. Though, he definitely knew how much high school had affected her. She was still dealing with the trauma from those years.

"Well, if you're sure..." Cal replied with an uneasy acceptance.

"Great! We'll need to go get some new clothes. I want to look my best!" She put her hands on her hips proudly. He'd never seen her this confident before. It was nice, actually. Usually, she preferred to be introverted and quiet, but she was far from that now. It seemed **** really energized her.

On the ride to the reunion, Jane talked all about how she was excited to show off her hot body, hot husband, and hot job. She'd become rather successful in every aspect and couldn't believe how lucky she'd gotten. More than that, though, she couldn't believe that she'd get to rub it in Kelly's face! "Remember, tonight, I'm going to shut down that bitch once and for all," she crossed her arms and nodded, proud of herself.

Cal gave her a rather awkward smile as she spoke and rambled about how much she hated most of the people that would be there. On the one hand, he was worried that she might go too far. On the other, he was happy that, for the first time, she at least seemed upbeat regarding something to do with her high school. He wasn't entirely sure if it would last, but it was better than nothing. This definitely seemed to be an ego boost or a **** tour, though, and Cal wasn't too excited to be an accessory to that. It felt petty. Then again, he couldn't judge; her high school experience sounded awful, so wanting to upstage everyone sounded like a way to take her power back.

The school itself was pretty boring. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but the dates brick architecture didn't inspire too much hope about the quality of the festivities. To his surprise, though, the inside was much nicer. The party proper was in the gymnasium which looked like it had been recently renovated. Jane looked a little thrown off by all of this; any familiarity she had to the building seemed to wane as she discovered more and more changes. Still, she had a plan.

The two of them stood in front of the doors to the party. He held Jane's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "You've got this! Let's show them what you've got." Jane nodded, a bit shaky, but quickly steadied herself.

The way everyone talked to her made it seem like her horror stories were made-up. Sure, these people probably forgot or changed since high school, but they all seemed pretty chummy. They were gushing over each other's jobs and lives; Cal stood by as the arm-candy husband who would chime in when appropriate. Soon enough, though, Kelly made her way over.

"Jane! How are you?" The two of them turned to look at the person who had just called out to her and Cal couldn't help but be shocked. Kelly was gorgeous. Obviously, time had definitely been kind to her. But the most shocking part of her appearance was: he knew her.

Kelly pulled Jane into a somewhat **** hug before breaking it to look at Cal. "Cal? Holy shit! It's been so long!" She pulled him into a huge as well, which earned a glare from Jane.

"How do you two know each other?" Jane asked, her arms across her chest. Cal got the sense that things had just taken a bad turn and he knew they were only going to get worse.

"We, uh," Cal stuttered a bit. "We went out a few times."

Kelly playfully hit him on the arm, "oh don't be modest, silly! We dated for like a year! Freshman year of college, right?"

It was an insanely common name. There was no way he could have known that the Kelly he'd dated and the Kelly that Jane hated were the same person. Sure, Jane knew that, but it didn't make her blood boil any less. "Honey, can you go get us some drinks? I want to catch up with Jane." Cal knew that it wasn't a question. He hesitated to leave the two of them alone, but he eventually did.

"I hear you have a great life now, Jane," Kelly smiled with a sickening sweetness. "You have a great job, a nice house, a great husband..."

Jane puffed out her chest a bit. She did a few quick reasonings in her mind before coming to some 'fun' conclusions. "I am truly blessed. Looks like I ended up winning the man in the end, too!" In that unknown competition, Jane figured she had Kelly beat. Not only was she living a great life, but she'd married Kelly's ex, taking him from her.

She knew plenty about the 'Kelly' he dated in college. She also knew that they broke up after she left for a different college. Things had been amicable—which made this sweeter in Jane's mind. Maybe Kelly was still hoping that Cal would be an option all these years later! Her mind whirred with the devious possibilities of ways to tear Kelly down.

"Aw... That's cute. You think he chose you over me. Honey, he settled. I bet I could take him back easily. Married or not, he'll always be mine." Kelly chuckled, unfazed by Jane's provocations.

"Oh bullshit. My husband would never cheat on me. Especially not with someone like you. He knows all of the shit you put me through in high school. He probably hates you more than I do!" Jane rested her hands on her hips. Then an idea struck her. "I'll take your bet. By the end of the night, when you inevitably fail to seduce my husband, you'll have to stand up on the stage and tell everyone that the only reason you were so mean to me was that you were jealous and you're still jealous. Then, you'll be my live -in maid for a month. You'll cook and clean and do everything I tell you to!"

"Sure, Janey. But if I win, I get your husband to myself for a whole month. " Kelly had a smirk on her face the to Jane couldn't wait to knock off. She was insanely confident.

"Sure. Whatever. I'll even be your maid for a month!" Jane couldn't believe how stupid Kelly was: she had no way of winning this! Cal loved her, not Kelly. There were clearly no feelings left for her and she knew it.

"I'll let you tell him about our game if you want; it won't change the outcome. I'm going to steal your cushy life from you, husband and all." Kelly winked at Jane and then wandered off.