Renee's High School Reunion

Renee’s High School Reunion

By Cheryl Dragon

Resplendence Publishing, LLC

http://www.resplendencepublishing.com

Resplendence Publishing, LLC

2665 N Atlantic Avenue, #349

Daytona Beach, FL 32118

Renee’s High School Reunion

Copyright © 2012 Cheryl Dragon

Edited by Michele Paulin and Juli Simonson

Cover art by Les Byerley,
www.les3photo8.com

Electronic format ISBN: 978-1-60735-458-1

Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

Electronic Release: January 2012

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.

Chapter One

Staking out the hotel lobby and waiting for Renee made AJ McNamara feel a little like a stalker, but his intentions were good. He stared at Jesse, his lover of ten years, from across the round booth in the bar not far from the hotel lobby. They both needed to catch up with Renee and see what sparked.

The hotel bar buzzed with activity as early arrivals poured in for their high school reunion. Jesse seemed relaxed, but not much got him rattled. The artist had been out in high school and accepted life as it came. AJ’s road had been bumpier.

“We don’t have to try this,” Jesse said.

AJ smiled. Jesse sensed the unease. “It’s not about the threesome. We can try it, see if she’s into it. Maybe we’re too focused on the idea?” Jesse nodded. “We’ve been kicking it around for a few years now. Can’t hurt to see, but we’ve only ever agreed on Renee. I know I get ahead of myself. Maybe I played on your bisexual side too much. We both want her, but it’s been awhile. Of course, reunions are stressful without love and sex games behind the scenes. Everyone is judging everyone else’s lives. In high school, I thought I’d be a famous artist and photographer by now.”

“You will.”

Jesse was a dreamer, and AJ loved that about him. Always positive and fearless.

“Maybe we shouldn’t get our hopes up that it’ll develop into anything. A weekend of fun is good. It may not work out to be a relationship,” AJ continued.

“I know. I feel good about it.” Jesse shrugged. “She could always say no.” AJ had considered the possibility. “Renee was pretty sexually adventurous in high school.”

Jesse smiled. “Another free spirit.”

AJ had to agree. Renee was special. He’d dated her during senior year but had always had his eyes on her. He didn’t really fit in the football and jock world, but he had the skills. He liked cars more, but family pressure had put him in a sports uniform. Being popular felt good. Renee was the type to be comfortable in any situation. No one scared her or was too unpopular for her.

Not the Goths, the jocks or the geeks. She was pretty and popular but had never seemed snobby.

A hard trick in high school.

Jesse had been one of her best friends back then. The artsy type with his photography.

She’d loved to dabble in different worlds. Of course, she’d had a lot of friends in the nerd category, as well. No one bullied someone Renee hung with.

“I can’t believe she’s a pilot. I figured her for an activist of some sort. She always rooted for the underdog.” Jesse had done enough searching to find out she piloted commercial jets and was still single, which had spurred AJ’s mile high club fantasies.

AJ chuckled. “She never could sit still. It’s the perfect job for her.” Renee had eventually brought AJ and Jesse together. When they talked about adding a woman, she was the only choice that they never doubted.

“We should keep it open, a little fun. Just a weekend. Ten years is a long time. If it seems like there’s potential, we can bring it up before she leaves.” AJ nodded.

“Sounds good to me.” Jesse slid his hand over AJ’s underneath the table. “No matter what, we’re not going home alone.”

AJ sighed. “It’s not that. We’re good. It’s the gay thing. No one from high school knows about me.”

“We can leave. Find Renee while she’s in town and offer her the fun without doing the drama of the reunion. The jocks probably won’t roll out the rainbow carpet for you.” Jesse scooted closer to AJ.

The fear of rejection had been there all his life. AJ’s parents and older brother had set the bar high. AJ had never measured up, but he’d tried like hell. Renee was the one person, until Jesse, who’d loved and never judged him. Never pressured or nagged him to be something or someone he truly wasn’t. They both accepted him and everyone for who they were.
Everyone is
different.
That was Renee’s quote in the yearbook.

If Jesse and Renee had the courage to be themselves, AJ couldn’t hide. He was a late bloomer, but he was no chicken. “I’m not leaving. We’re not going to run. Let’s enjoy it.” Jesse squeezed his knee.

“Renee, over here!” shouted a female voice from the other side of the tall private booth.

AJ started to get up. Jesse held his arm and put a finger to his lips. “Let’s see where this goes,” he whispered.

Jesse had patience. AJ kissed his one and only male lover. It’d taken them time to sort out their bisexuality, but AJ knew he belonged with Jesse, wherever they ended up.

* * * *

“Hey, Linda.” Renee hugged her old friend. Linda was still thin and tall, but she’d filled out a bit. She had a timeless look with glasses and a lot of curls. “How are you?” Renee sat across from her.

Linda shrugged. “Same old since our last email. Teaching and saving my pennies for a European trip someday. Boring old me.”

“When you’re ready, call me. I’ve got plenty of frequent flier miles to share.” Renee knew Linda saved beyond most. Her job as a professor no doubt paid her well, but after her dad had bailed, she and her mom had been on their own. But Linda had never complained or gotten depressed. She saw the sunny side of things. Renee liked that about her.

“Anyone interesting around? I swear if I didn’t have a layover in Vegas and a few friends I want to see, I’d just skip the reunion.” Renee ordered a diet coke from the passing waitress.

“It’s like prom; you need to have the experience, right?” Linda asked. “You got me to go to prom.”

Renee nodded. “The experience is good.”

“I saw your senior year boyfriend around I think. AJ. He’s still cute. Hope that’s not a drama waiting to happen. He got so mad at prom and punched Jesse. Talk about possessive. But that probably feels good. A man who wants you to be his so badly.” Linda smiled.

Renee hated the memory. The two guys she loved in high school fighting had made her sick on prom night, and the memory still made her sad. “AJ hadn’t been so much possessive as he’d been a little prone to overreact. His dad was a beast. Very old-fashioned. AJ probably felt terrible about it later. God, we’re all reduced to our high school reputations and worst or best moments.” Now that she stopped to think about it, she missed a great friend like Jesse. That petty high school crap had gotten in the way, but she’d counted on those two guys, and they let her down because of jealousy.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. It’s a weekend not forever. Ten years is a long time. We’ve all matured and mellowed, I hope. I think I saw Jesse around here, too.”

“Did you talk to them? I really hoped they’d be here. I’d like to catch up. Doesn’t seem like a Jesse thing.”

“No, I doubt they’d remember me. Maybe Jesse has a hot new boyfriend to show off? He was always so sweet and had such an eye. He took my only candid picture in the yearbook. It was me in library surrounded by books, trying to do research for a paper. I almost looked cute.” Renee groaned inwardly. Linda was kind to everyone but herself. She’d admit to being smart but that’s all. She hadn’t changed a bit. “Don’t put yourself down, Linda. All you need to do is get out there a bit and let men have a look at you. They won’t hunt you down in the history section of the library.”

“It’s no one’s fault there weren’t a ton of pictures of me. I was always working after school and on weekends. I wasn’t in a lot of activities. I’m making up for it at UNLV. Now, I get to be faculty supervisor for some clubs on campus.” Linda sipped her cola. “So, no men? Maybe you and AJ will reunite. Reunion romance.”

“I’m sure he’s married with kids by now. I can’t get my hopes up. It’s fun to see people, but they change.” Renee checked her cell for messages. “I don’t really feel like I’ve changed much though. More mature, but I can’t see myself settled down with a husband or anything. I travel so much and I love it.”

“I don’t feel like I’ve changed, either. I’m older, but I’m still working on school. PhD is next. And dreaming of my European summer. I think we’re all who we are, at our core. That never changes. We just get more honest with ourselves.” Linda sat up straight. “Maybe, I’ll get drunk at the reunion and have a fling? Be totally not myself.” Renee laughed. “You couldn’t.”

“Probably not.” Linda frowned.

“And you shouldn’t.” Renee lived her life with few regrets and didn’t want to see Linda jump into something for no reason.

“Why? You probably will. You made the guys crazy.” Renee tried not to give advice, but with Linda it was hard. She’d been so sheltered by her mother and spent all her time with her books. Even her afterschool job had been at the local library. Renee knew Linda had a darker side, a curious nature. Someday, the right guy would find her; Renee just hoped Linda wouldn’t miss him. “You need to be who you are. You’re not about random sex. I’ve had my share of flings. If all you need is the physical release, it works, but you’re way more emotional.”

“Fine, so let me live vicariously through you. If AJ’s single, would you fling him?” The idea made her skin tingle. “Maybe. We never really talked after prom so things were left unfinished, and he could never be just a fling.”

“What better way to make up and bury the past?” Linda asked suggestively.

“I would like to clear the air.” Her one regret from high school was that she’d caused the fight at prom. She’d posed nude for Jesse’s photo project, and though it hadn’t shown her face, AJ had known her body when he’d seen it. She should’ve told AJ and smoothed if over first, but Jesse was gay. Nothing had happened at the photo shoot so what did it matter?

Renee hated regrets. In her life, she had very few. AJ and Jesse’s messy prom night was one. “Healing old wounds will take effort from both sides. I hope they’ll be up for a talk.”

“You talk to Jesse, right? He was your best guy friend.” Renee shook her head. “Not since prom night. I left some messages at his house. I didn’t want to bother him about it when he didn’t call me back. I felt so bad, and I didn’t want to embarrass him further. Next thing I knew, I was off doing the pilot thing and he was probably away studying art.”

“Probably for the best. I know coach yelled at them for a while.” Linda stirred her drink.

“It’ll be great to get it all out there and be friends again. I tried to find them in the online social networks, but I never could. Weird.”

“Very weird.” Renee expected Jesse at least to be out there. He loved to network. “Maybe his boyfriend is someone famous or something so he’s being discreet?”

“Discreet? That guy was out way back. He wouldn’t go in the closet.” Linda shook her head.

“I know. I’m just pondering why he’d be so quiet. It’s not like him.” Renee loved that Jesse knew who he was. A kindred spirit, Linda called him. Renee had trusted Jesse with everything. Even her first time. She’d never regretted losing her virginity to Jesse. The right guy at the right time.

“Some people are private. Maybe he’s a super famous artist now and uses a fake name and is concerned about safety.”

Renee smiled. “More plausible than him going back in the closet. I guess we’ll find out this weekend.”

“Well, you won’t find them sitting here talking to me. Are you checked in?” Linda asked.

“Not yet. The bar is always a good first stop. And I don’t ditch my friends for guys.” Renee finished her drink.

“Very noble but I want the gossip and entertainment. Let’s get you checked in and registered for the reunion. Lines have been long.” Linda scooted out of the booth.

Renee followed. “Sounds great.”

At least, she wouldn’t have to face the reunion without a friend in her corner. But Renee definitely had her eyes out for the two men who’d defined her high school experience.

* * * *

Jesse ducked around the corner to make sure they were gone then sat back next to AJ.

“Same old Renee.”

“She thinks I’m married with kids.” AJ hung his head.

“Don’t let that bother you. She has no idea the turn your life took because of me. We should’ve contacted her sooner. She feels guilty, and it turned out great for us. We can’t let her live with all that guilt and regret. That’s not her.” Jesse kissed AJ’s neck.

“True. And she was open for a reconnecting.” AJ grinned. “You’re sure you don’t want to bail? You’ve only ever been with a girl once.” Jesse shook his head. He’d wanted to tell AJ who that girl was from the first time the three-way idea took hold, but the timing had never seemed right. Now would definitely throw a wrench in this plan. AJ needed the female form, so did Jesse, even if only for one weekend.