Itty Bitty Stories

Shoot It Before You Lose It

Shoot It Before You Lose It

“OH MY GOD, TANI IS THAT YOU?”

So close.

I let my face droop for a quick second, my tongue dropping out of my mouth and my eyes squinting just a bit. With a flick of the wrist I turn around, a wide fake smile on my lips. It’s not hard to do, actually. I’ve become the master of fake smiles and laughs over the high school years. It’s still a habit I’ve kept, and it turns out to be pretty useful in times. Like the one now.

Mandy Lowther, a girl with bleached blonde hair and spider leg mascara from the 10th grade comes sauntering over to me. Her bleach is gone, now dyed back to her normal dirty blonde hair. The spider legs are a bit less now, just a normal amount of mascara covering her eyelashes. She was the bitchy bimbo of high school. Big boobs, horrible attitude, and boys hooked around her finger. The only problem was that she was smart. Which even makes it ten times worse.

Mandy never really liked me. We weren’t on the same page. I liked baseball, she liked…makeup. We didn’t speak. Which is why I’m confused on why she’s saying my name as if we’ve known each other for years.

“Hi…Mandy…” I reply awkwardly, watching as her manicured nails attack me in a death hug. 

“I’ve missed you so much!” Her whole face scrunches up, looking really wrinkly. “I really think it’s too soon for a high school reunion. We barely just survived college!” That annoying laugh that I haven’t missed at all comes ringing into my ears.

My fake polite smile is still glued to my lips. “Are you sure you have the right Tani?”

The laugh gets louder. “Of course! Come on, let’s go inside. I hear there’s punch.”

Punch. And that’s suppose to make me want to go inside?

Her hand wraps around my wrist before I can escape. She starts dragging me towards the cafeteria. Oakley Waters High School is freshly painted at the top of the cafeteria doors. My high school does a reunion every five years. It’s a bit ridiculous, considering we all have lives to live. Not a lot of people come back to these things. I was going to be one of those people. My mother had a different idea.

See, we kind of made a bet. If I went to the reunion and saw not one of my friends, she owes me twenty bucks. If I do see any of my friends, I owe her twenty bucks. Not a big bet, just a tiny one. But hey, if it get’s me twenty bucks, I’m in.

The death grip on my wrist is released, and I feel my pulse start to flood through again. “I’m going to get some punch.”

Good riddance. “Alright. Bye, Mandy.”

She waves goodbye and heads towards the little table the school set up. Hundreds of cups are filled with a red liquid. They really only should’ve put twenty out. Like I said before, nobody comes to these things. All that really happens is people chatting, music being played, and free food.