I recently rediscovered the series "Freaks and Geeks" courtesy of public library. I forgot how brilliant the series was. All characters are property of the shows' producers and I do not own them.
March 1987, Chicago Illinois.
Lindsay Weir quickly scrambled around her Chicago apartment frantically searching for the last few things she needed to pack for her trip home. As she was deciding on what clothes to take, all of a sudden she wondered why she was so nervous about going home. It had been over two years since she had gone home for more than an afternoon. She spent her summer backpacking across Europe with her friends and boyfriend. Between her friends, her boyfriend, the high demands of being a political science major at Northwestern University did not leave her a lot of time to make any trips home.
All of a sudden Lindsay heard a load horrendous sound. It was the annoying intercom and her ride had an unfortunate and aggravating habit of pushing the buzzer continuously until she answered.
"Hold on a second I will be down in a minute!"
"Hurry I'm doubled parked Weir." Her ride replied.
Lindsay did a quick sweep of the apartment trying to remember if she needed anything else and turned off all the lights and locked the door. She hurried down the stairs and smiled when she saw her ride Ken Miller waiting for her.
Ken and her had a unique relationship to say the least. In high school, she was going through a hard time and began to hang out with his friends, Daniel and Nick. Over time she became close friends with Kim Kelly but Lindsay and Ken were never very close. Lindsay used to think that Ken merely tolerated her because his best friend Nick was in love with her and dated her for a couple of weeks during her sophomore year. At the end of sophomore year, Ken developed a huge crush on her friend Amy. She helped play matchmaker and eventually they ended up dating pretty seriously. Ken and Amy dated throughout high school despite their social differences. She was a band geek and he was often referred to as a stoner.
Ken was a year older than Amy and Lindsay so he graduated first. When he left high school, he had no direction whatsoever. One day as Ken puts it, "he just woke up and decided he was too good for this town." He took classes at the community college and he was able to get into the University of Illinois in Chicago. Amy and Lindsay went to Northwestern. They were all in the same city and eventually Ken and Lindsay's friendship grew.
"Hey, where's Amy? Isn't she coming home with us?" She said as she went up and gave Ken a quick hug.
Ken grabbed her bags and said, "She's in the car. This morning she decided that my driving wasn't up to her standards so she is driving the entire way." Ken rolled his eyes and sighed.
Lindsay couldn't help but laugh. She was used to her friends mocking each other every chance they got. She thought that is why their relationship worked so well because they challenged each other. She got into the car and settled in for the six-hour trip back home and she realized that she was getting more nervous.
Finally, seven hours later after a huge traffic jam, two boxes of Ho Hos, numerous arguments about the music selection, they had finally reached the town they all grew up in. First they dropped Amy off since she lived closest by the interstate. Now Lindsay and Ken were pulling up to her house, against her better judgment she let Ken drive. When they reached her house they both got out of the car. Ken surprisingly grabbed her bags without even being asked.
Lindsay smiled, "Looks like my girl has you trained really well."
"Yeah it took her long enough. Hey Linds I just want to ask you something. Are you as nervous about coming home and seeing the gang again? I mean its not like we are all strangers or anything. I try to talk to Daniel and Nick at least once in awhile. But you know everyone has changed. I feel like I have changed completely since I left four years ago." Ken said in almost a mumbled tone.
"Thank god I am not the only one. I mean think about it. We weren't exactly best friends in high school and now I like to think we are pretty close. And sometimes I feel like I can't even relate to Kim anymore because our lives are so different. And I know Nick and I dated for like a week almost 5 years ago, I still feel like he is going to come out and start stalking me again or acting all weird" Lindsay said slowly.
Ken looked at his feet and said, "Well tonight should be interesting then. I'll pick you up at 8 then and we can go and meet everyone." Ken placed her bags down as her was walking away he said, "Just so you know Linds I am glad we are friends and I want you to know that I have your back with Nick and everything."
"Thanks Ken."
"No problem. Say hi to lover boy for me." Ken hollered as he sped out of the Weir's driveway.
Lindsay smiled to herself and took a deep breath and entered the place that was her home for the first 17 year of her life. After a long and somewhat painful reunion with her parents, she went into her room to collect her thoughts and unpack. It was somewhat reassuring to see that her room had not changed since she left for college even though she hadn't stepped foot inside in over two years.
Suddenly Lindsay heard her mother yelling down the hallway, "Lindsay phone for you."
She picked up the phone. "Hey, I was wondering when you would call."
"I thought you would be busy with your parents and I didn't want to interrupt."
"Always the considerate one. See I thought my boyfriend of almost 2 years would have called to make sure that his beloved girlfriend made it back from Chicago safely. But no I have been home for almost 3 hours and I haven't heard a word. Not to mention I haven't seen you in a week since our stupid colleges have opposite spring breaks. So I thought my boyfriend would actually want to talk to me." Lindsay said to her boyfriend in a teasing tone as he began to laugh.
"Hey why don't you come over for dinner so we can see each other tonight. I am sure my parents would love to see you again. After dinner Ken and I are going downtown to meet up with some of our old high school friends."
"I'll see you at 6 then, love you."
"Love you too." Lindsay replied into the phone.
Lindsay smiled thinking of her relationship with BARRY Schweiber. She knew him practically her entire life. Their younger brothers had been best friends since kindergarten and his father had been her dentist since she could remember. He was three years older than her. When she was a sophomore in high school, at his parent's party, they shared a passionate kiss. Lindsay didn't think too much about the kiss after that night until a few years later when she ran into him at his brother Neal's graduation party. She noticed that he grew out of his geeky persona and was comfortable with who he was. She found this refreshing. Not to mention he is one of the few people she can actually talk to about politics and world events. Lindsay had just finished her first year at Northwestern and BARRY had graduated from college a few years prior. But he was unhappy with his job and had decided to go law school at the University of Chicago. Soon the two childhood friends were living in the same city and sparks began to fly and the rest was history. They had been going strong for a while now.
After dinner just like he promised, Ken came for Lindsay. They drove in silence as they headed downtown to meet up with their old group. Even though it was only a fifteen minute drive and they weren't supposed to meet everyone until 8:30. Daniel, Kim, and Nick had already arrived and looked like they had been there for a while.
During Kim's senior year in high school, she discovered that she was pregnant with Daniel's child. Daniel had already dropped out of high school the year before when he discovered that he needed to go to summer school because he failed math. Daniel and Kim have been married for four years and have two kids. Daniel works long hours as a mechanic to make ends meet while Kim waitresses at the local Denny's.
Following high school, colonel Andopolis forced his son to join the army much to Nick's protest. However, his stint in the army was short lived since he failed a drug test and was dishonorably discharged less than a year later. Now he was working in a gas station and still trying to make it as a drummer.
Lindsay and Ken approached the table where their high school friends sat.
"Hey, look who it is… Ken and Linds." Daniel said very loudly while trying to get out of his seat. He was obviously already drunk.
Nick steadied Daniel so he wouldn't fall and immediately ran over to Lindsay and gave her a huge hug.
Ken noticed that she was looking uncomfortable and he knew that his good friend Schweiber would not like this. "Hey man. Give her a little air."
Lindsay quickly mouthed a 'thank you' to Ken as she went up to say hello to Kim.
"Thank god you finally decided to come and pay us a visit Lindsay. I don't know how much more of hanging out with these two idiots I can take."
Ken and Lindsay sat on opposite sides of the table and joined their friends for a beer.
Quickly, the five friends began to catch up and discuss their lives. However, Lindsay noticed some things were different since she left. Daniel seemed to be drinking an awful lot. Daniel had already had four beers in the hour they were sitting there. Kim didn't seem to want to have anything to do with him. Every time he touched her, she shoed him off. Her face looked like she had aged 15 years since high school. As usual, Nick seemed to be off in his own world and was using two knives to drum along with the song in the back ground.
The five friends stayed until the bar closed at 2 am. They had spent the whole night reminiscing about high school. Throughout the night, Lindsay noticed that Nick was staring at her when he thought she wasn't looking.
As Ken drove Lindsay home, they silence that encrypted the air on the way to the bar was long forgotten. "So that wasn't as weird as I thought it would be. Its weird how I think they have not changed at all since high school. It was almost like being in a time warp." Ken said.
" I know what you mean. I felt like the only difference was we are all over twenty-one and are able to drink legally now. I am still not entirely sure what we all have in common with them now except for high school."
"Yeah I know what you are saying. I mean you know I don't drink that much any more and I don't think I have smoked pot since we were all in Europe when Amy threatened to break up with me if I went back to that stuff." Ken said as he pulled onto Lindsay's street.
"Well we are supposed to meet them tomorrow night with Amy and BARRY. Who knows how that will go. I just hope Nick behaves."
"Umm. Linds I hate to do this but I didn't want to say this in front of everyone else. But I already have plans tomorrow night."
"You what?" Lindsay asked as they pulled into her driveway.
"Can you keep a secret?" Lindsay nodded as Ken turned off the engine. "Well tomorrow I plan on taking Amy to LaserDome. It's the last night they are going out business. Its where we had our first date. And I am going to ask Amy to marry me."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I have been ring shopping for almost a month it isn't much but I hope she likes it." He pulled the ring out of the glove compartment to show her. "You have to promise to not tell anyone. I want it to be a surprise."
"Wow Ken. I am so happy for the both of you. I know she will say yes."
"You really think so?"
"Yeah she is my best friend and I see the way you two are together."
"Thanks Lindsay. Well I am sure I will see you at some point tomorrow. Call me and let me know whats going on with you and Schweiber."
"Okay have a good night. And you guys better call us." Lindsay called as she walked up to he front porch. She waved to Ken when she got in and felt relieved that the first day home was over with. She just wondered what would be in store for the next couple days.
A/N Please review and let me know if I should continue or if it should just be a one shot.
