Authors Note: Thanks to American Idiot for her amazing ability to come up with last names on demand and for just being here. You rock and I love you. DNQ of course, but either way. Also thanks to Adam for spell checking this for me. You also rock dude.

Chapter Four

"Everything's alright in the end. If it's not alright, then it's not the end."

She could have used an alcoholic beverage. Or a shot gun. Either would work. Arcadia High School looked the same as it had eleven years ago. It was like taking a trip to the Twilight Zone.

"Okay, this is just weird," Grace said under her breath, glancing around the hallways.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Scott asked her.

"Home is sounding like a good place," she responded quietly. "The lunch room," she said louder, taking off in the direction of the lunch rooms, dragging Scott behind her.

----

"Hey Luke, I got you a trendy name tag," Joan said, returning to the table the two were sitting at and handing him a stick on name tag reading 'Hello, my name is Luke Girardi.' Luke took it from her and shook his head, applying the name tag.

"You look like you're having fun," Joan noted, taking a seat across from him.

"Loads," he muttered. Joan sighed.

"Come on. A little fun won't kill you," Joan said, instantly regretting it. Luke stared at her and got up.

"Really? Yeah, fun never killed anyone," he said, getting up and leaving.

"Jane?" Joan turned around, her face lighting up.

"Adam! Hey!" she said, getting up and hugging him.

"Hey," Adam said, hugging back. "What was that about?"

"Oh, I'm just an idiot," Joan told him, letting him go. "Where were you today?"

"I had to go to Baltimore. Tim told me you called, but your cell phone was off when I tried to call you back." Joan nodded.

"Yeah, I was out with Luke trying to get him to come tonight. What did you have to get in Baltimore?" Adam smiled.

"Grace," he said.

"Seriously? You convinced her to come? That's awesome! Is she here yet?"

"She is," Grace said, appearing behind the two.

"Grace!" Joan exclaimed, pulling her into a hug.

"Girardi!" Grace said, trying to sound annoyed, but failing. She was thrilled to see Joan again, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

"Sorry. How've you been? What's new? I haven't seen you in forever! Who's that?" Joan asked, pointing to Scott.

"Breathe Girardi. This is Scott Walden. My boyfriend," Grace said. Joan's jaw practically hit the ground.

"Boyfriend? How long? Why didn't I know about this?"

"Two years," Grace said.

"Two years?! Why didn't you tell me? Adam, did you know?" Joan asked. Adam nodded.

"So I was the only one who didn't?!" Scott looked from Grace to Joan.

"Maybe I should go.." he said, leaving. Grace glared at Joan.

"My personal life is my business," she snapped, walking out of the lunch room.

----

Walking out to the front steps of the school, Grace pulled the old leather jacket she'd had since high school tighter around her. It was September, wasn't it still supposed to be warm? She leaned back against the wall of the school and noticed a familiar looking figure sitting on the steps.

"Geek?" Grace asked, leaning down to get a better look at the shadowy figure sitting on the front steps of the school. She hadn't seen him in five years, but she was almost certain that it was. He turned his head around to look at her.

"Grace?" he asked.

"Hey," she said, sitting down on the steps next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Joan forced me into coming. I'm not really in the mood for partying. What about you? You never struck me as the reunion type." Grace shrugged.

"I'm not. Rove talked me into it." He nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"About what?" he asked.

"Please. You're easier to read than a picture book dude." He smiled despite himself. Even after ten years she still knew him too well.

"It's nothing," he told her.

"Alright," she responded as the two fell into a comfortable silence.