"One large coffee black!" The bartender called out.
"Thanks." Arthur Read replied, taking the coffee and going to find his seat.
It had been five years since Arthur left Elwood city to go to Europe, and now, at age 25, had completely lost touch with everyone. He did write as many letters as he could to his friends and family, but as the years went by, he got sloppy and eventually, the letters stopped. Now he had no idea where anyone was, or what his friend were up to.
He sipped his coffee in thought, when he heard an "Arthur?"
Looking up, he saw a cat around his age. She had shoulder length, wavy, orange hair and was dressed quite down to earth.
"Arthur Read?" She asked in surprise.
Arthur blinked in surprise, he knew he should know this girl, but he didn't know why.
She ran over to him, excited. "Oh my gosh! It is you! I haven't seen you since you left Elwood City!"
Arthur was confused. "Um, yeah, it has been a while... um..."
The cat laughed, almost sadly. "It's Sue Ellen Armstrong. From Lakewood elementary."
Arthur's eyes lit up as flashbacks of one of his childhood friends came into his mind.
"Sue Ellen! What are you doing here? What has everyone been up to?"
Sue Ellen raised a hand. "We'll talk about that later. Right now, I need to get my drink."
After a few minutes, she was sitting opposite Arthur, a cup of chai tea in her hand.
"So, how do you like Europe?" She asked, sipping her tea.
Arthur looked around. "It's nice, nothing like Elwood City... did I mention I got a job working on TV shows?"
Sue Ellen looked up over her cup. "That's interesting. What shows have you worked on?"
Arthur shrugged. "Just some stuff here and there. They want me to write a pilot for a show, but I have no idea what to write."
Sue Ellen set her tea down. "Well, whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll write something good. You did have some good ideas."
Arthur shrugged, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. "What are you doing here, anyway?" He asked, sipping his coffee.
Sue Ellen smiled. "My parents are doing a conference here for a month. Since I wasn't doing anything, they let me come along. I'm just glad I found you. Elwood City sure has changed since you left."
"What's everyone been up to?" Arthur asked, "I'm so out of touch."
"We all noticed..." Sue Ellen replied, almost bitterly. "After your letters stopped, we weren't sure where you had gone off to... or if you had moved."
Arthur pretended to be focused on his coffee. "I'm sorry about that..."
Sue Ellen smiled gently. "It's okay." She finished the last of her tea. "Want to go for a walk?" She asked, "I can keep you posted on what everyone is up to."
Arthur finished his coffee and put on his coat. "Sure. Can I walk you home?"
Sue Ellen nodded. Hands in pockets, the two set off down the street.
"Well, who would you like to know about first?" Sue Ellen asked.
"Buster, of course." Arthur replied.
Sue Ellen grew somber. "Unfortunately, we haven't seen him in a while either."
Arthur felt his stomach sink. Buster Baxter, his best friend! Gone?
"G... gone?" Arthur began.
Sue Ellen nodded. "He went to stay with his dad for a while, an extended trip."
"Ah..." Arthur began. "Well... tell me about everyone else."
Sue Ellen scratched her chin in thought. "Where do I begin?" She said. "Well, there's Francine..."
Arthur looked up. Francine and him had dated for a bit in high school before realizing that things were too complicated and decided that they were better off as friends.
"Francine is actually going to compete in a triathlon soon. She's been working hard, and Muffy has been supporting her every step of the way." Sue Ellen laughed. "I remember Muffy once said to me 'I know Francine wants to win this triathlon, but does she have to track mud into the house?'"
"Oh?" Arthur began, "are they roommates?"
Sue Ellen shook her head. "Arthur... they're lovers."
"L... lovers?" Arthur asked, shocked.
Sue Ellen nodded. "Yeah, a week after you left, Francine came out as a lesbian, and Muffy came out as bisexual. They're going to be married next year."
Arthur smiled. "I'm happy for them." He began.
"Yeah." Sue Ellen continued. "And Muffy became a huge entrepreneur, like her dad, so she's even more rich than before."
Arthur almost laughed at the thought of that.
"Wow... what about the Brain?"
"Ah, Brain..." Sue Ellen continued. "He's actually the mayor of Elwood City now."
"How's that coming along?"
"Pretty good. Once we were able to convince him not to create a rule about everyone needing to create a robot in order to graduate college that is."
Arthur paused and tried to imagine Brain doing that.
Brain would probably have all the robots line up single file and scrutinize them for any minor flaw.
"He's a good mayor though..." Sue Ellen finished.
"And Binky? Arthur asked. "I know you had a crush on him in high school... did you ever?"
Sue Ellen nodded. "We dated for 8 months... I'm not his type."
Arthur knew not to ask why. "So, did he end up as a famous wrestler?"
Sue Ellen shook her head. "Surprisingly he's now a clarinet player in the symphony AND he's done work in the ballet."
Arthur's eyes widened.
"But right now, he's focused on his godchild."
"Godchild?" Arthur asked.
"Remember when Molly stopped going to school?"
"Oh..." Arthur began, "Slink or Rattles?"
"Rattles. Slink, on the other hand, is doing time."
"What for?"
"No one knows. When people ask him in prison, he changes his story."
Flashback
"I was caught with twenty pounds of crack."
"I robbed the ban."
"I killed a man... with my pinky."
End flashback
"I missed so much..." Arthur began.
"It's okay." Sue Ellen replied. "People grow up and move away."
"Did Fern ever become a writer?" Arthur asked.
"Yep." Sue Ellen replied. "But instead of publishing under Fern Walters, she goes by Rose Noire."
Arthur gasped. "Rose Noir? I have all her books! The Plasma series is my favourite!"
"Mine too!" Sue Ellen exclaimed.
The two of them laughed, and for a while, it seemed like they had never been apart... like they were... Arthur blushed and looked away.
"What about everyone else? Ratburn still teaching? How's my family?" S
ue Ellen nodded, pretending to be focused on the grass. "Ratburn is still teaching. He always was my favourite."
"Mine too." Arthur replied, pulling his hand out of his pocket.
Absentmindedly, their pinkies brushed against each other.
"Kate turned 17 recently..." Sue Ellen continued. "And D.W. Is FINALLY dating Bud. Ladonna went back to Louisiana. Said she missed it too much."
Arthur frowned. Deep down, there was a huge part of him that still saw D.W. as a Mary Moo Cow loving brat.
"Also, D.W. prefers Dora now. And she got glasses too."
Arthur tried to imagine Dora with glasses, but found it hard.
As the two silently walked home, their pinkies slowly began to link, the two pretending not to notice.
Finally, they made it to Sue Ellen's.
"It was great to see you again." Sue Ellen began. "Oh! I was told to give you this if I see you."
She dug into her pocket and pulled out an envelope.
Arthur looked at it in surprise. "Thank you." He said.
Sue Ellen smiled. "If you want to come in and see what it is, you can."
Arthur nodded and headed in.
Sitting on the couch, he slowly tore open the envelope. Many pictures came falling out. As Arthur looked through them, he felt his eyes fill with tears. Each one was of one or two of his friends, and at the bottom was "miss you."
When he got to the penultimate picture, the tears started to flow.
It was a picture of all his friends and family, sans Buster, waving at the camera. At the top was written "we love you Arthur."
When Sue Ellen came into the room with a plate of cookies, she stopped and went over to Arthur when she saw him crying.
Kneeling down, she gave him a hug.
After a bit, Arthur hugged her back, quietly crying on her shoulder.
"I'm a bad friend." He began. "I miss everyone... and now Buster's gone, the others have moved on with their lives and..."
"it's okay." Sue Ellen firmly replied. "Everyone still loves you. I'm sure even Buster loves you, wherever he is."
Once Arthur calmed down and wiped away his tears, he flipped to the final picture.
It was of a cornfield with weird indents on the grass. The caption read "the last place anyone saw Buster."
Arthur and Sue Ellen looked at each other in shock.
"It couldn't be..." Arthur began.
After a few hours of catching up, it was time for Arthur to return home.
"I'm glad I got to see you again." Sue Ellen began.
"I am too." Arthur replied.
Leaning in, he gently kissed Sue Ellen.
"I'll visit you tomorrow." He promised before heading home.
Meanwhile, Sue Ellen, red as a tomato, sunk to the ground, a huge smile plastered on her face.
A few years later
"I'm so glad your pilot got picked!" Sue Ellen exclaimed as she leaned over to give her boyfriend a congratulatory kiss.
Arthur smiled. "After seeing how much everyone missed and cared about me, I decided to create a show to show them how much they mean to me."
He gently laid a hand on Sue Ellen's tummy. "And junior can watch it when they become of age."
Sue Ellen rubbed her tummy lovingly. "May I see it?"
Arthur nodded and put in a video cassette.
The two snuggled up on the couch as the into began:
"Every day when you're walking down the street, everybody that you meet..."