Those Returning
by Peaches
A/N: Sigh... Well, I have bad news for anyone who likes my writing or stories... Come September... I'm going to be banned from the computer for everything but school projects. Stupid grades, which by the way, had nothing to do with the computer, went down (I'm still top of the class in English, so I don't see what my parents are bitching about...) Anyway, just thought I'd let you all know so you wouldn't get mad if it's a long time between installments. Now, back to your regularly scheduled fic...
4. Brains, Dudes, and the Occasional Skateboarder
"SPINELLI!"
Spinelli looked up from her magazine and put her coffee down as she did. Standing in the doorway of Kelso's was a tall, beautiful woman with short red hair to her ears. Spinelli stared hard at the woman, trying to place her in her memory...
"Oh my God!" Spinelli exclaimed, realizing who she was seeing. "Gretchen?"
It was, indeed, the brain from her childhood years who had just walked through the doors of the much beloved childhood hangout, though if anyone could see a resemblance between the bespectacled little girl from the past and the beauty striding through that door, they deserved a medal.
Gretchen Grundler's gangly pre-image was now cast aside, leaving in its wake a tall, slim, auburn haired woman with a perfect smile and lightly freckled cheeks. She was now about 5'10", her copper hair cut in a style not unlike that of Cameron Diaz', wearing, at that moment, an Armani tan leather jacket over a scoop-neck black babydoll tee-shirt and a pair of denim jeans that flattered her slender figure perfectly. Her glasses had been replaced with contacts, Spinelli assumed, considering Gretchen's face was absent of any lenses. With amazement at her former friend's image, Spinelli wondered for a moment if her own features had altered so dramatically as well.
"Oh, my god, it's been ages!" Gretchen remarked, hugging Spinelli tightly as the raven haired girl stood from her booth seat to meet her. "I can't believe it's really you!"
"That makes two of us!" Spinelli laughed as she was released. "Oh, man, how've you been?" she asked, then laughed and shook her head. "Wait, stupid question."
"No, not stupid," Gretchen laughed as well, taking a seat in the booth across from Spinelli. "My work's been great, but life in general has been even better!" She extended her left hand to her old friend, revealing a rock that looked like it had come straight from a diamond mine in Brazil that day. A huge stone set in a white gold band with tiny, intricate yellow gold roses on a vine tracing the band. Spinelli took a breath as she inspected it.
"Who in the world did you catch who could afford a piece of hardware like this!?" she asked in amazement. Gretchen giggled.
"Remember Theodor's old friend Frank?" she asked, giggling again. "One of 'the Pale Kids' from room 51 back at Third Street?" Tensing slightly at TJ's name, Spinelli nodded. "I met up with him two years ago at NASA. He's an engineer there."
"My god, you are full of surprises," Spinelli smiled. "Have a date picked for the wedding?"
"He only proposed a few weeks ago!" Gretchen said. "I've been flat out busy with work since then, so no. How have you been?"
"Wow, how could I ever top that?" Spinelli laughed. "What are golden globes compared to marriage?"
Spinelli saw Gretchen's face dim slightly as she said that. She must have only just remembered the past.
"I saw your last movie," she said quickly to cover up the moment. "And I never miss any of your interviews. God, what's it like? I mean, I was on the cover of time, but you've been everywhere! You did some charity work in Ethiopia for Amnesty International recently, didn't you?"
Spinelli nodded. "I was helping to repair damages from the war over there a while back. It's amazing work. I never thought I'd ever be there in my life! But it's so exhausting, and it's rare to get a moment without the press tailing you."
"Any new movies or anything coming up?" Gretchen asked. "The humble public wants to know!"
Laughing, Spinelli nodded again. "Yeah, but I'm under contract not to say anything! Sorry!"
"No problem," Gretchen chuckled. All was silent for a moment. Only the sound of the slush machine whirring broke the eerie silence. "Have you seen Theodore lately?" Gretchen finally asked in a tone not unlike that which Spinelli's mother had used. Spinelli looked down at her chipping French manicure and shook her head.
"Not lately," she muttered. She could feel Gretchen's look of sympathy on her as she clicked her nails on the table, still looking down.
"Look, Spinelli..." Gretchen started.
"Gretch, I really don't wanna talk about it right now, okay?" Spinelli cut her off, just a hint of snap in her voice. Gretchen bit her lip and nodded. She understood. Not everyone enjoyed dredging up the past.
"Well, I should go," Gretchen said with a hint of being hurt and uncomfortable. "I just came to pick up something for dinner for me and Frank."
Spinelli sighed and rubbed her temples. "Gretch, I'm sorry," she sighed, knowing her mouth had gotten her in trouble again.
"No, really, you're right," Gretchen said understandingly, her anger melting, "I was out of line to bring it up in the first place." She smiled at the black haired woman for a moment before disappearing into one of the food aisles. Spinelli sighed. Why was she the only one who didn't want to remember the past?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oh my god, it's Ashley Spinelli!"
Spinelli had a hard time suppressing a smile. She felt like laughing every time she heard that. She was all out embarrassed at award shows when someone wanted to interview her. She thought it was outright hilarious that she could still draw attention in jeans and a teeshirt.
She felt a twinge of nostalgia seeing that the outside of Washington High was still a favourite skateboarding spot due to the absence of a skate park during the summer, even after all these years. Three boys and a girl, all in their teens, were riding the rail on the stairs... or at least attempting to. The girl looked so familiar to her, Spinelli had a hard time remembering she hadn't been home in 10 years, and that these kids would have been in kindergarten or first grade when she graduated.
Spinelli walked passed the four skateboarders and up the concrete stairs to her old high school slowly, memories playing like ghosts before her eyes. She saw where Theodor had stood, delivering a rousing speech in front of protesting students when the school board tried to cut the teachers wages. She saw where Vince and Lawson had scrapped it out during their second year over the results of the football tryouts (when Lawson made receiver and Vince made Quarterback). As she ventured into the building, she found more ghosts lurking around the corners. Grinning, she saw her name still carved into the edge a wooden desk that was still sitting outside old Mrs Lewis' classroom, where she had spent many a class sitting for misbehaving. She fleetingly thought of looking on the roof to see if her spray-paint "Geo-glyph" graffiti was still there. After hearing Gretchen talk about giant pictures carved in the desert sand by natives hundreds of years earlier that could be seen from space, she had decided to leave her own little piece of history. Of course, now she had a star on the Walk of Fame, but she had no way of knowing she would get one way back then.
Spinelli made her way to the Main Office, surprised she still knew her way around after ten years. She stood at the front desk and cleared her throat at the male secretary, who looked oddly familiar.
"Yes, what do you..." the man started. He gaped at Spinelli through small, black framed glasses then smiled. "Ashley Spinelli, Detention Queen. It's been a while." Spinelli grinned.
"Hey Menlow," she smiled. "Gonna write me up as 10 years tardy?" Menlow grinned.
"You thanked your hometown last Oscars, I think I can let you off this time," he laughed. Spinelli laughed and shook her head in disbelief.
"It's been too damn long," she muttered. "Is Frank in? There's that many summer-schoolers her, he's probably working full time, hmm?"
"He's in the gymnasium, I believe," Menlow said, "Overseeing preparations for the reunion."
"Thanks, Menlow," she said, waving as she made her way out of the office.
"Spinelli?" Menlow called after her. She stopped and looked back. Menlow smiled. "Welcome home."
"Thanks," Spinelli grinned, then made her way out to the gymnasium. She found Principal Dudekoff directing people on ladders.
"Well, well, well," he said as he saw her enter. "I see our star has returned to us. What is a celebrity of your magnitude doing in out humble gym?"
"I'm asking myself the same question," she laughed. Mr Dudekoff laughed and shook Spinelli's hand. He was still in terrific shape for a 40-something year old. His hair was still brown, with only hints of grey at his temples.
"Welcome back, kid," he said. "We're proud of you."
"Thank you, sir. I just came to give you something in person," Spinelli said. She reached into her purse and pulled out a slip of paper; a check. Mr Dudekoff read the check and his eyes grew wide.
"Well, ahem," he stuttered. "It's... a generous offer, Spinelli...but... I'm sure you're mistaken with the zeros... math was never your strong point, you always had a tendency to round up your answers..."
"Please, just take it," Spinelli pleaded. "It's for the school. I just didn't want to make it too public." Mr Dudekoff chuckled.
"That's rather ironic, coming from you," he said. "Well, if you're sure, Ms Spinelli, I am happy to accept it on behalf of the school. I'm sure the drama club will appreciate it, especially. You know, they consider you a demi-god." Spinelli grinned.
"I'm sure they will appreciate it," she said. "And who knows, maybe I'll come to a performance next time I'm in town. Thank you, Mr Dudekoff." With that, she waved and made her way out of the gym.
"Oh, and Miss Spinelli?" Dudekoff called after her. She turned to him. "I am looking forward to your speech." Spinelli smiled and left.
She walked outside into the warm, dry Arkansas summer air and saw the skateboarders still ollying and trying to pull tricks. She smiled and realized she was wearing her sneakers.
"Hey, guys," she said, stopping them all dead in their tracks. She grinned as they all looked at her speechlessly. "Got a spare board?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
by Peaches
A/N: Sigh... Well, I have bad news for anyone who likes my writing or stories... Come September... I'm going to be banned from the computer for everything but school projects. Stupid grades, which by the way, had nothing to do with the computer, went down (I'm still top of the class in English, so I don't see what my parents are bitching about...) Anyway, just thought I'd let you all know so you wouldn't get mad if it's a long time between installments. Now, back to your regularly scheduled fic...
4. Brains, Dudes, and the Occasional Skateboarder
"SPINELLI!"
Spinelli looked up from her magazine and put her coffee down as she did. Standing in the doorway of Kelso's was a tall, beautiful woman with short red hair to her ears. Spinelli stared hard at the woman, trying to place her in her memory...
"Oh my God!" Spinelli exclaimed, realizing who she was seeing. "Gretchen?"
It was, indeed, the brain from her childhood years who had just walked through the doors of the much beloved childhood hangout, though if anyone could see a resemblance between the bespectacled little girl from the past and the beauty striding through that door, they deserved a medal.
Gretchen Grundler's gangly pre-image was now cast aside, leaving in its wake a tall, slim, auburn haired woman with a perfect smile and lightly freckled cheeks. She was now about 5'10", her copper hair cut in a style not unlike that of Cameron Diaz', wearing, at that moment, an Armani tan leather jacket over a scoop-neck black babydoll tee-shirt and a pair of denim jeans that flattered her slender figure perfectly. Her glasses had been replaced with contacts, Spinelli assumed, considering Gretchen's face was absent of any lenses. With amazement at her former friend's image, Spinelli wondered for a moment if her own features had altered so dramatically as well.
"Oh, my god, it's been ages!" Gretchen remarked, hugging Spinelli tightly as the raven haired girl stood from her booth seat to meet her. "I can't believe it's really you!"
"That makes two of us!" Spinelli laughed as she was released. "Oh, man, how've you been?" she asked, then laughed and shook her head. "Wait, stupid question."
"No, not stupid," Gretchen laughed as well, taking a seat in the booth across from Spinelli. "My work's been great, but life in general has been even better!" She extended her left hand to her old friend, revealing a rock that looked like it had come straight from a diamond mine in Brazil that day. A huge stone set in a white gold band with tiny, intricate yellow gold roses on a vine tracing the band. Spinelli took a breath as she inspected it.
"Who in the world did you catch who could afford a piece of hardware like this!?" she asked in amazement. Gretchen giggled.
"Remember Theodor's old friend Frank?" she asked, giggling again. "One of 'the Pale Kids' from room 51 back at Third Street?" Tensing slightly at TJ's name, Spinelli nodded. "I met up with him two years ago at NASA. He's an engineer there."
"My god, you are full of surprises," Spinelli smiled. "Have a date picked for the wedding?"
"He only proposed a few weeks ago!" Gretchen said. "I've been flat out busy with work since then, so no. How have you been?"
"Wow, how could I ever top that?" Spinelli laughed. "What are golden globes compared to marriage?"
Spinelli saw Gretchen's face dim slightly as she said that. She must have only just remembered the past.
"I saw your last movie," she said quickly to cover up the moment. "And I never miss any of your interviews. God, what's it like? I mean, I was on the cover of time, but you've been everywhere! You did some charity work in Ethiopia for Amnesty International recently, didn't you?"
Spinelli nodded. "I was helping to repair damages from the war over there a while back. It's amazing work. I never thought I'd ever be there in my life! But it's so exhausting, and it's rare to get a moment without the press tailing you."
"Any new movies or anything coming up?" Gretchen asked. "The humble public wants to know!"
Laughing, Spinelli nodded again. "Yeah, but I'm under contract not to say anything! Sorry!"
"No problem," Gretchen chuckled. All was silent for a moment. Only the sound of the slush machine whirring broke the eerie silence. "Have you seen Theodore lately?" Gretchen finally asked in a tone not unlike that which Spinelli's mother had used. Spinelli looked down at her chipping French manicure and shook her head.
"Not lately," she muttered. She could feel Gretchen's look of sympathy on her as she clicked her nails on the table, still looking down.
"Look, Spinelli..." Gretchen started.
"Gretch, I really don't wanna talk about it right now, okay?" Spinelli cut her off, just a hint of snap in her voice. Gretchen bit her lip and nodded. She understood. Not everyone enjoyed dredging up the past.
"Well, I should go," Gretchen said with a hint of being hurt and uncomfortable. "I just came to pick up something for dinner for me and Frank."
Spinelli sighed and rubbed her temples. "Gretch, I'm sorry," she sighed, knowing her mouth had gotten her in trouble again.
"No, really, you're right," Gretchen said understandingly, her anger melting, "I was out of line to bring it up in the first place." She smiled at the black haired woman for a moment before disappearing into one of the food aisles. Spinelli sighed. Why was she the only one who didn't want to remember the past?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oh my god, it's Ashley Spinelli!"
Spinelli had a hard time suppressing a smile. She felt like laughing every time she heard that. She was all out embarrassed at award shows when someone wanted to interview her. She thought it was outright hilarious that she could still draw attention in jeans and a teeshirt.
She felt a twinge of nostalgia seeing that the outside of Washington High was still a favourite skateboarding spot due to the absence of a skate park during the summer, even after all these years. Three boys and a girl, all in their teens, were riding the rail on the stairs... or at least attempting to. The girl looked so familiar to her, Spinelli had a hard time remembering she hadn't been home in 10 years, and that these kids would have been in kindergarten or first grade when she graduated.
Spinelli walked passed the four skateboarders and up the concrete stairs to her old high school slowly, memories playing like ghosts before her eyes. She saw where Theodor had stood, delivering a rousing speech in front of protesting students when the school board tried to cut the teachers wages. She saw where Vince and Lawson had scrapped it out during their second year over the results of the football tryouts (when Lawson made receiver and Vince made Quarterback). As she ventured into the building, she found more ghosts lurking around the corners. Grinning, she saw her name still carved into the edge a wooden desk that was still sitting outside old Mrs Lewis' classroom, where she had spent many a class sitting for misbehaving. She fleetingly thought of looking on the roof to see if her spray-paint "Geo-glyph" graffiti was still there. After hearing Gretchen talk about giant pictures carved in the desert sand by natives hundreds of years earlier that could be seen from space, she had decided to leave her own little piece of history. Of course, now she had a star on the Walk of Fame, but she had no way of knowing she would get one way back then.
Spinelli made her way to the Main Office, surprised she still knew her way around after ten years. She stood at the front desk and cleared her throat at the male secretary, who looked oddly familiar.
"Yes, what do you..." the man started. He gaped at Spinelli through small, black framed glasses then smiled. "Ashley Spinelli, Detention Queen. It's been a while." Spinelli grinned.
"Hey Menlow," she smiled. "Gonna write me up as 10 years tardy?" Menlow grinned.
"You thanked your hometown last Oscars, I think I can let you off this time," he laughed. Spinelli laughed and shook her head in disbelief.
"It's been too damn long," she muttered. "Is Frank in? There's that many summer-schoolers her, he's probably working full time, hmm?"
"He's in the gymnasium, I believe," Menlow said, "Overseeing preparations for the reunion."
"Thanks, Menlow," she said, waving as she made her way out of the office.
"Spinelli?" Menlow called after her. She stopped and looked back. Menlow smiled. "Welcome home."
"Thanks," Spinelli grinned, then made her way out to the gymnasium. She found Principal Dudekoff directing people on ladders.
"Well, well, well," he said as he saw her enter. "I see our star has returned to us. What is a celebrity of your magnitude doing in out humble gym?"
"I'm asking myself the same question," she laughed. Mr Dudekoff laughed and shook Spinelli's hand. He was still in terrific shape for a 40-something year old. His hair was still brown, with only hints of grey at his temples.
"Welcome back, kid," he said. "We're proud of you."
"Thank you, sir. I just came to give you something in person," Spinelli said. She reached into her purse and pulled out a slip of paper; a check. Mr Dudekoff read the check and his eyes grew wide.
"Well, ahem," he stuttered. "It's... a generous offer, Spinelli...but... I'm sure you're mistaken with the zeros... math was never your strong point, you always had a tendency to round up your answers..."
"Please, just take it," Spinelli pleaded. "It's for the school. I just didn't want to make it too public." Mr Dudekoff chuckled.
"That's rather ironic, coming from you," he said. "Well, if you're sure, Ms Spinelli, I am happy to accept it on behalf of the school. I'm sure the drama club will appreciate it, especially. You know, they consider you a demi-god." Spinelli grinned.
"I'm sure they will appreciate it," she said. "And who knows, maybe I'll come to a performance next time I'm in town. Thank you, Mr Dudekoff." With that, she waved and made her way out of the gym.
"Oh, and Miss Spinelli?" Dudekoff called after her. She turned to him. "I am looking forward to your speech." Spinelli smiled and left.
She walked outside into the warm, dry Arkansas summer air and saw the skateboarders still ollying and trying to pull tricks. She smiled and realized she was wearing her sneakers.
"Hey, guys," she said, stopping them all dead in their tracks. She grinned as they all looked at her speechlessly. "Got a spare board?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~