A Series of Unfortunate Clichés: Chapter 7: Back to School
Disclaimer: Characters, etc, are not mine. Sadly.
Notes: Major apologies for the delay: got a bit of writer's block and then there were internet connectivity issues… If it's any consolation, this part is longer than the others...
Anyway, again, many thanks to those who left reviews for the last part (and also for "between cracked fingers"); it really does make my day. I'd equally appreciate reviews for this part.
This is another of my favourite fic clichés; I hope I've done it justice and that you enjoy!
She is tense, almost unbearably so. Her shoulders are beginning to ache. And there are too many factors contributing to her stress levels for her to easily overcome them.
As she drives to her parents' house she is not entirely sure why agreed to go to the reunion. She is having doubts, mostly connected to the fact that she hasn't seen many of the people since she left school and at the time swore that she would never see them again, so help her God.
She would never admit to it, but if there happened to be some sort of security emergency in LA this weekend, she would only spend about 2 seconds half-heartedly complaining before heading back as fast as she could. She wonders briefly if she could plausibly create some sort of fabricated emergency herself – without, obviously, the potential for having to do time at the pleasure of the state.
She vaguely looks forward to seeing her parents; her step-dad is great but her mom tends to cause her to regress back to her teenage years. She fears that she will spend the whole weekend sighing heavily and using phrases such as "whatever" and "I said I'd do it, okay" and "I'm not thirteen, damnit". This will, of course, be accompanied by her rolling her eyes, shrugging nonchalantly, and arguing incessantly because resents being nagged.
She hopes that for once she will be able to overcome the need to do all these things if only so that she doesn't show herself up in front of Tony.
It seems unlikely; after 10 years of returning home she has yet to remain entirely adult throughout the whole visit.
The reunion is definitely an issue that adds to her stress. Partly because while she has spent the last 10 years fantasising about how a school reunion might pan out, the reality is entirely different.
Mostly since it is unlikely to end with her getting one over Tamara Young, the most popular girl in school and her arch enemy, or having Chad Mathews, the school hunk, lust over her, or with all the cool, popular kids envying her and lamenting over the fact that they weren't her best friend back in high school. The reality is that most of the nearly 30 year olds most probably won't remember who the hell she actually is, and most probably won't care.
But then she is now also nearly 30, engaged to a very attractive, great guy, and has a successful career, so what should it matter what kids from school think about her?
She looks forward at least to meeting up with her friends. She has not seen most of them in several years and only kept in contact through the exchange of Christmas cards, and occasional emails and she misses them.
But the main source of her tension is that she has yet to inform her parents that she is engaged. More directly, she has neglected to inform them that she has been seeing her "boyfriend" for about eight months, is living with him, and has plans to marry him in less than six.
Her mother is big on marriage. She is also big on knowing about her offspring's relationships. Particularly when they involve marriage. The lack of information given thus far beyond "Hey Mom, so, you know that I'm staying over on the 16th for the reunion? Well, Tony's coming with me" has quite possibly infuriated her to the extent that it will likely to lead to an inquisition of the scope that CTU employees would be impressed.
She mentally grimaces at the fore coming events of the weekend.
Tony reaches a hand over to her shoulder, massaging it slightly, insisting that she relax.
She smiles half-heartedly. If only it were that easy.
Her mom is waiting on the porch for her as they arrive. Michelle hopes that she has not been waiting long, but knows in reality that she has been watching out of the window most of the morning in the anticipation of catching a glimpse of Tony.
Her hope at this point is that her step-dad will quickly intervene and divert any attention away from her bringing a boyfriend home for the first time in about ten years. Putting it in those terms, she supposes that she can understand her mother's inquisitiveness.
She is at least slightly amused that Tony's impassive demeanour has now disintegrated to the point that he is asking hurried questions about her mom, her step-dad, other family members, and answers to any questions that might be asked. She doesn't take pity, remembering the recent "obfuscated" information regarding his upbringing and family situation and how much interest his parents would take in her.
She reluctantly exits the car and walks up to the house, Tony a short distance behind her.
"Mom," she says simply before she is caught up in an embrace and comments on how she doesn't keep in contact frequently enough.
"This is Tony," she informs her mother after she has finally been released. She notices that her step-dad has now exited the house to observe the commotion.
Tony dutifully steps forward to shake hands with both of her parents, greeting them and handing them the rather expensive bottle of wine that he felt was necessary to bring.
They are immediately enamoured with their future son-in-law, although either has yet to know about the fact that he will be their son-in-law. Michelle is rather grateful that the inquisition has apparently been put off a few minutes.
They are invited into the house.
The house is almost exactly as she remembers it, although she has not visited in about two years. They enter the kitchen and her mom offers them coffee, which both readily accept.
The inquisition begins as soon as the coffee is handed out.
There are many questions and most of these are aimed at Michelle, much to her consternation. Fortunately, they are all sitting down in the living room before the question of intentions is asked and answered.
There is a long pause after her mom hears the news that she is engaged. Michelle inwardly braces herself for the potential fallout and "who, what, where, when, why" questions, mostly pertaining to "why was I not informed of this information", but is at a loss when none of these are demanded. Instead her mom shocks her by smiling, crying, hugging her then Tony, and making comments such as "I'm so happy" and "finally!" and "I never thought this would happen!"
Eventually, her step-dad intervenes and invites Michelle outside to look at the garden, which she understands immediately as a ruse for "let's get out of here". Michelle, remembering the recent meeting with Tony's family, abandons him without pity.
"The, uh… grass is looking good," she comments, unable to recall the names of any plants.
"Tony seems like a nice guy," her dad notes after a pause as they walk the border of the garden. He puts one arm round her shoulder, bringing her closer.
She doesn't reply; she's not entirely sure what she should say. But she has always been close to her step-dad and revels in the comfort of being near him.
"I'm glad you're happy, kid," he says, kissing the top of her head, and that signals the end of their conversation about her relationship.
The room is gaudily made up, with a banner welcoming the class of '92 back. She wishes immediately that she had drunk more wine with dinner.
She enters hesitantly, more than ready to declare defeat and return home. Even if it does mean that she will have to answer more of her mother's demanding questions.
Tony pushes her along and she makes a bee-line for the bar. She recognises the faces of several of her classmates, but has a general wish to ignore them.
Before she can reach the bar and enjoy a cool glass of whatever contains the most amount of alcohol, she sees Tamara Young. She has more of a specific wish to ignore Tamara. She notes, rather annoyed, that Tamara is not unattractive and overweight as she had hoped. Unfortunately, the years haven't been too unkind, which screws up her reunion fantasy to some extent. It is also unfortunate that Tamara is entirely oblivious to Michelle's wish to ignore her and makes herself known in a most unwanted way, by smiling a little too widely at Tony. Tony, much to Michelle's delight, apparently also wishes to ignore her.
Tamara is either unaware of this fact or completely ignores it and walks over to introduce herself to Tony, seemingly unaware that Michelle is standing next to him.
She holds out her hand. "Tamara Young. I don't remember you from school," she comments in a flirtatious tone of voice.
"I wasn't at this school, Michelle was," he replies.
Michelle smiles insincerely. She thinks about getting a lot to drink then going home. She mentally wanders through the possible emergencies which could feasibly occur in LA and rather hopes that a non-violent terrorist attack – potentially involving computer systems – is suspected so that she could be called home.
Tamara smiles. It is a manufactured smile. "I'm afraid I don't remember you," she trills.
"We weren't exactly friends," Michelle comments. "You used to make fun of me," she recalls matter-of-factly.
Tamara laughs gaily. "Oh, aren't kids horrible at high school!" she replies, clearly flirting with Tony as she places one hand on his arm. He isn't happy about this contact, but is polite and only moves slightly away.
"Aren't they just," Michelle notes with a sarcastic smile.
"Anyway, must go circulate. Catch up with you later!" It is not entirely clear who this comment is actually aimed at, although Michelle suspects it is more probably Tony than herself. Tamara ends the exchange by blowing air kisses at them both. Michelle mentally rolls her eyes.
After her departure they head off again to the bar.
She drinks another half glass of wine before she starts to feel slightly more comfortable. She downs the rest.
"Why doesn't she just literally throw herself at him?" she comments bitterly, looking at Tamara, who has apparently interpreted "must go circulate" as "must go flirt with any attractive male, regardless of marital status".
"What's the deal with this Tamara, then?" Tony asks.
"She's evil," she replies. There's a pause before she smiles. "Okay, so evil might be overstating it, but she made my life at high school living hell. Her and Chad Mathews, her football captain boyfriend. Although everyone reckoned she was screwing around with the rest of the football team."
"And you liked Chad?" he asks with a smirk.
"No!" she denies. She looks over at his disbelieving look. "Okay, maybe. But I was young and naïve. And everyone else liked him too," she defends herself.
"And he didn't return your love?" he attempts to sound serious but a teasing grin betrays him.
"I wasn't the most popular girl at school. I studied, which apparently wasn't so cool. I was in science club. But it wasn't as though I was in chess club. He alternately ignored me and teased me." A brief look of horror passes over her face. "And if anyone talks to you about the cheerleading trials, it was nothing, okay."
"Cheerleading trials, nothing, okay," he repeats, obviously planning to ask the first person he sees about it.
"It wasn't my fault," she insists. She takes the third glass of wine of the evening and begins to drink. "But they never let me hear the end of it."
"Okay, see, now you have to explain," he informs her, intrigued. "It'll be worth your while." She raises her eyebrows. "Back home."
She thinks about it for a very short period of time. "There was an unfortunate incident with a human pyramid," she recalls with a shudder. "And that's all you're going to find out," she smiles, as she spots her friends.
He sighs dramatically and she laughs. She takes his hand and drags him towards the table where her friends are seated.
They spend a good part of the evening catching up with her friends. She has to admit that it is actually quite fun; far more interesting than her feared version although potentially less thrilling than her fantasy version.
Her friends all have different careers, different interests, different relationships and families, and she revels in the stories that they tell. Tony talks with her friends, their partners and husbands at length on a variety of subjects, and she doesn't worry that he might not be enjoying himself.
Later he goes to get drinks. She watches him out of the corner of her eye, unable to take her eyes completely off him, her adoration of him magnified by her consumption of alcohol.
Unfortunately, Tamara Young apparently also finds it difficult to keep her eyes away from him. She approaches him at the bar as Michelle watches on in astonishment at her audacity.
"I see that Tamara Young hasn't changed at all," her friend notes.
Tony manages to dispel her interest and returns to the table without comment.
It is later when Chad Mathews walks over to Michelle as she talks to her friends. "Y'know, I don't care who you came with but you're coming home with me, baby. I was high school football captain," he boasts. He has obviously drunk a fair amount.
Michelle smiles deceptively cheerfully despite this arrogant approach which entirely failed to impress her. "That's nice. I was in the science club, but I'm definitely not going home with you. I hear Tamara Young might be desperate enough to be interested, though." She turns back to the conversation with her friends.
It is apparent that Chad recalls who she is. Finally. "Hey, weren't you the geek in school who used to follow me everywhere? You've totally changed! Cause now, you're totally hot, y'know," he tries again.
"Well, that makes all the difference," she says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. He clearly hasn't yet grasped the concept of sarcasm and places his hand on the small of her back, from where it migrates further south, making its claim on her. She places one arm behind her back, grabs his thumb, brings it around her front and twists it, causing him a small amount of pain. "Chad, honestly? You're currently way past a line that you shouldn't cross. I'm not the same person I was back at school. I will not fawn over you like the other women might. Also, I'm getting married in a few months, and the guy over there glaring at you? He's my fiancé. He was in the Marines." She smiles; twists Chad's thumb a little more to make her point, then drops it.
Chad nurses his thumb, looking warily over at Tony. "Right. Cool. Suppose I'll go check on Tamara."
Her friends, who have been watching the interaction closely, attempt not to laugh. They are spectacularly unsuccessful in this feat.
Tony wanders over after the altercation, not wanting to interfere throughout its duration, knowing that she can take care of herself. "You okay?" he asks, attempting not to sound too concerned.
She smiles. "I've not had this much fun in ages. I never thought I'd get to turn down the football captain. He's so dreamy," she ends sarcastically.
It is about the same time that, after seemingly having passed over Chad, Tamara walks over to their group.
"You having a good time?" she asks, the question obviously directed at Tony.
He looks between Tamara and Michelle briefly, unsure of what the etiquette is in this situation. He opts for polite but disinterested.
"Uh, sure, it's been interesting."
"You know, you look like you're a great dancer. You should get out on the dance floor," she smiles, placing her hand on Tony's arm yet again. There is an obvious insinuation of "you should join me on the dance floor".
Michelle looks at her with disdain. "Tamara," she sighs, "Leave us alone."
Tamara trills, laughing an obviously false laugh. "Can't I talk to my new friends?" she asks.
Michelle raises an eyebrow, tired with the evening's events and immaturity of some of her classmates. "You're no longer in high school, Tamara. Some of us decided to grow up. Stealing everyone's boyfriend when they were 15 might have been amusing to you, but continuing to interfere in people's relationships reeks of desperation and insecurity. Seriously, guys don't find it attractive," she turns her back on Tamara and draws Tony back into conversation with her friends. Her friends watch on, amused at their high school enemy's reaction as it momentarily turns to abject dejection before the false smile re-emerges and she walks off, allegedly unaffected.
"Feel better?" Tony asks, amused.
She smiles in response. "While this has probably been one of the best nights of my life, I think I've had too much excitement for now. I just want to go home."
They say goodbye to all of her friends, promising to keep in contact and exchanging numbers and email addresses where necessary.
"So, did you have a good time?" he asks her as they head to the car.
"Well, I remembered why I had vowed never to talk to half the people from high school," she comments. "But two of my three high school fantasies did work out: not only did Chad Mathews ask me out, but I actually told Tamara Young what I thought of her. It was, like, so cool," she mocks.
"You feel better, then?" he repeats with a smile, placing one arm round her shoulders and drawing her close.
She laughs. "A little."
End of part seven.
Am moving house this week, so not entirely sure when I'll next get the opportunity to write. Hopefully it won't be too long.