Step inside

You spent the rest of the day driving around town, seeing what was still standing from your time at school and what had changed or been replaced. eEventually the hours passed by and you returned to the hotel room, getting ready then heading out again.

The reunion was happening in the old gymnasium of the school, as you pulled up you weren't surprised the outside look of the school hadn't changed much, only the things that'd needed to be changed and replaced over the years having been done so. As you parked up, you took a deep breath to centre yourself. Reminding yourself that you weren't the skinny, weak little nerd any more and that you'd actually made a success of your life. You focused on your success, on your hard work and all you'd achieved since you were last here. But some of the more troublesome memories of your time here came to the front of your mind, and you find yourself smirking as you looked in the mirror.

"You know what? I hope he does try something." you said to yourself before stepping out of the car and heading to the school.

As the crowd of people slowly trickled into the old building you recognised a few people, some hadn't changed much over the years apart from the usual weight gain, changed hair styles and the stress of life. Most people had changed so much you had no idea who they were, but it didn't matter to you, back in school they were faces in the crowd of people who just stood by and let you get bullied.

"Hi, welcome back" a perky blond woman said as she sat at the greeting table that had everyone's name badges on it. You instantly recognised her as the ex-cheerleader captain who'd dated the school jock and your bully. As you looked her over you saw she looked you over as well, not only trying to place who you were but to enjoy the eye full in front of her. "I'm Grace Chastity, can I have your name?"

Grace didn't look too bad to say it'd been 20 years, there were the tell tale signs of someone who'd had several kids, and still had a full life. Whatever her home life was like she wasn't just someone who sat at home doing nothing getting waited on hand and foot.

Considering how she was in school, you had to admit you were a bit surprised. To put it bluntly, Grace was a bitch during her time at school, and often bullied other girls. Not as bad as you were bullied but she could've easily ruined any persons life. As for the name Chastity, that was a joke. If you believed half the stuff her boyfriend bragged about then she would've made porn stars blush, but everyone knew it was mostly bragging and lies for the most part.

To see she looked like a respectable parent and person actually made you happy she'd grown up to and taken responcibilities.

"Hi Grace, I'm Kain." You replied smoothly giving her a small smile as she checked her lift of names

"Kain... Kain..." Grace mumbled to herself as she scanned down the list, only to stop and look up at you with a shocked look on her face as she realised who you are and remembered what you looked like "Wait you're That Kain?"

You couldn't help but smirk a little more as you saw the surprised look on her face as she stared at you and looked you over again, obviously remembering the small weakling you were.

"Oh, here's my tag," you said after a few second, picking up your name tag and pinning it you your suit jacket, which brought Grace's attention to your clothes and making her realise how high quality it looked. "See you inside, Grace" you said as you walked inside, feeling her stare at you as you walked away, a few other people staring at you as well as they'd heard your name and remembered who you were.

You couldn't deny, it felt good to make such an impression before even fully walking in the door.

As you stepped into the gym, you saw it was done in the same style it'd been in for your prom, recreated nearly perfectly. Only thing that was missing was the crappy DJ and band set up on stage. As you looked around you saw a buffet table was set up with food already on it, as well as a long drinks table. You made a bee line for the drinks table but as you got near it, someone big blocked your way.

"Kain? Is that really you?" the deep voice said, the man was at least 6 and a half foot tall and had a bulk that was an obvious mix of muscle and fat, even though he was bald now you still recognised him

"Big J?" you asked surprised. He had been the teams best defend and your bully's best friend.

"HA! No one's called me that for a long while, now they call me Father Jonathan" John said as he pointed to his priests collar

"Holy shit, how did that happen? Oh, sorry" you said sheepishly as you realised what you said, only getting another laugh from John

"No worries, and that's a long story. But before that," taking a deep breath, the bigger man looked serious and looked you right in the eyes as he said "Kain, I'm sorry for all the horrific shit I did to you when we were in school, some of was bordline **** and no one should go through that. I wouldn't blame you if you don't forgive me, but I want you to know that I trully am sorry for everything I did to you and put you through."

You were genuinly shocked at when John had said, you were half expecting to run into him tonight, and kind of hoped he'd try something stupid just to give yourself an excuse. But to see him now, saying sorry and actually meaning it? Didn't even cross your mind.

"I gotta say John, didn't expect this. The apology or the priest thing." Going silent you went quiet for a few moment as you stared at John, seeing the uncertainty on his face as he waited for you to say something. "I admit I won't forget what you did to me, John, and there are something's I can't forgive. But I don't hate you John, and as long as you can look me in the eyes and promise me you're not the same prick you were in high school, we can move forwards."

Holding a hand out, John chuckled as she took it and shook it, looking you dead in the eyes as he said "I can promise I'm not the same prick I was in high school, and I like to think I've done some good with my life and helped people. How about a drink?"

"Only if you tell me how this happened" You said as you motioned to your neck, indicating the priest collar her was wearing

"Fair enough," he smiled as you both turned to the drinks table "Most of the team got scholarships to get into college, of course the best of us went to the same college, but we were also the worst of us." Dipping the ladle into the punch bowl John scooped out two cups and passed one to you. "We practised and played hard, did what few lessons we needed but no real effort were put into them, we were set with the scholarship. But that also means we partied hard, and not just on the weekend."

Taking a sniff of the drink, John quickly put the plastic cup down as you took a sip and felt the burn of the rum that'd been put into it.

"One night we decided to go driving and of course we were more sauced than a freshly dipped chicken nugget. We got into an accident, a bad one. No one died but we all did time in the hospital, we were lucky we didn't go to jail. But with a DUI, being cought drinking and several cracked ribs there was no way in hell I was keeping my scholarship, none of us. Came home, got into a depression and into even more drinking. I was in a dark hole when I met the woman who became my wife" John smiled at the mention of her and started to look happier, being sombre as he told you about the DUI, as he continued he looked prouder of himself

"Her dad was a preacher, I first talked to her than her dad, and they pulled me out of the funk I was in. I cut off the drink for good and started to focus up again. Started helping out and doing good, eventually became a priest so I could help others as they helped me"

"That... actually great, John. I'm glad you got help and didn't waste your life" You smiled at him

"Same, I'm just sorry it took me a bunch of broken ribs to make me a better person. Now I won't keep you, suppose you want to look around and see some familiar faces and places. Hope you have a good night Kain"

Shaking hands again, you departed from John and did look around, seeing a few people you did know and talking to them, everyone surprised at who you were and how you looked. You were even starting to enjoy yourself when you heard someone shout over the music

"HOLY SHIT, IS THAT CLUMSY KAIN!?"