Miranda's Journey

Michael Knauss, Miranda thought fondly as she put on her makeup. Way back when in high school, he was the biggest stud around. Every girl practically went crazy for him, Miranda included. Yet out of all those girls, it was Miranda who wound up being the lucky one that he went out with. She ended up being the lucky one that he took to prom. They had given each other their virginity. Or so it seemed.

It turned out that Michael had been cheating on Miranda for practically their entire relationship with Nadia Fazoul, a cheerleader and pretty much the biggest bitch at school. Michael really only kept up the pretense that he was dating Miranda because he wanted his parents to think he was dating a nice waspy girl and not a provocative girl like a cheerleader.

Miranda broke up with him privately and surprisingly, Michael began dating Nadia publicly. Parents be damned, he told everyone. He was so brave, everyone told him back. It was as if nobody actually cared what Miranda felt.

After high school, their paths had diverged. Miranda found herself stuck at the local community college pursuing an arts degree. Michael and Nadia went to Princeton on full ride sports scholarships, eventually becoming a power couple in professional sporting leagues.

Miranda eventually began dating one of her professors, a man named Daniel Fischer who was also fourteen years her senior. Miranda's parents didn't approve at first, but she always had her sister, Jacqueline, watching her back. Eventually, Jacqueline managed to convince her parents to give Daniel a chance. Six years out of high school, Miranda and Jacqueline got married.

Michael and Nadia also got married, very quickly having two children. Their divorce came even quicker though when it came out that Michael had been cheating, had a lovechild and had been badly abusing anabolic steroids and was in and out of brothels. Ironically, Miranda felt bad for Nadia then. Michael's scandal, however, barely caused a buzz. His career had started with a bang and ended without even a whimper. After that, Miranda didn't really find herself thinking about Michael.

As the years passed, Miranda found time to focus on her job as a high school teacher and her marriage. When Daniel became a bestselling author, his and Miranda's life changed for the better. They quickly found that wealth suited them.

Eventually, growing lonely in their mansion, Daniel and Miranda allowed Jacqueline's son, Jack, to move in with them for his education. Attending the local community college, Jack took as many of Daniel's courses as he could to ensure that "Uncle Dan" would give him the best grades.

At 46 years old, Miranda was content with her life until the previous night. She had gotten a Facebook invite from none other than Michael Knauss. A part of her wanted to delete it, having remembered the pain he caused her almost three decades ago. But something inside of her wouldn't let her. She accepted. That same something made her say yes to dinner with him tonight though every bone in her body screamed for her to say no.

So here she was, at David Orefeo's restaurant, sitting in front of Michael Knauss.