Cheers erupted from the entire crowd as everyone began to get up from their seats and walk towards the stage. Cokie said, "For those of you who dont know or remember me, my name is Cokie Mason. I was your homecoming queen, head cheerleader, head of the dance committee..and most importantly, our reunion coordinator!" followed by more cheering. After that died down, she continued and said "and I just want to thank you all so much for coming AND for purchasing your reunion tickets. The profits from those, along with a few generous donations from several of our classmates have made this reunion possible. So thanks again! Now, I'm not going to be up here for too long but I just wanted to do a few things and give out a few fun awards before you guys get back to dancing." First, I'd like to pay tribute to our classmate, Pete Black. For those of you who don't know, Pete passed away 4 years ago in a motorcycle accident here in Stoneybrook," which was met with some shocked gasps from the crowd. While Kristy and Mary Anne knew about Pete's accident, Dawn, Stacey and Claudia looked completely shocked as Stacey turned to Claudia with a sad face but didn't say anything. "Can we please raise our glasses and make a toast to a friend and a wonderful guy. To Pete!"
Almost in unison, the entire crowd chanted, "TO PETE!"
Changing to a more upbeat tone, Cokie said "Ok, now it's time for the awards!"
The girls stood through the ceremony, cheering on people they knew and didn't know as they walked up the stage to accept a small framed award for various reasons. Most successful was one of them. Most predictable job was another, which went to Alan Gray. Robert Brewster won for least changed and the award for furthest traveled went to Anna Stevenson. Cokie then announced that she had a double award. One for most changed and one for least traveled.
"Kristy Thomas!" blared through the loudspeakers.
Kristy felt a little confused and her cheeks flushed a bit as she walked up the stairs to accept her awards. Least traveled, yeah that made sense but most changed? Kristy assumed it must have been because she was dressed more glamorous than usual and had grown into a much more feminine adult. Cokie said "Congratulations Kristy" before turning to the crowd and said "and since I already have this lady up here, I just wanted to ask all of you, who here remembers The Baby-Sitters Club?"
Cokie's question was greeted with a small amount of clapping and cheering and Kristy swore she heard someone say "Oh yeah. I remember them."
" Well.." said Cokie "Kristy here was the president of that club and all of the other members are here with us tonight as well! I'd like everyone to give them a big round of applause!" The crowd didn't disappoint as louder cheering and clapping ensued.
Cokie yelled "Get up here, ladies! "Mary Anne Spier, Claudia Kishi, Stacey McGill and again our two time award winner tonight, Kristy Thomas everybody!" The whole room cheered for all of them as they walked up to the stage and gave a wave to the crowd. "Ok, folks. That concludes the ceremony. Everyone have a great night and enjoy your party!" One last round of cheers filled the ballroom as the music started up again. One by one, all of the girls thanked Cokie. Kristy, still not friendly enough with her to hug her, instead just whispered in her ear "this has been a wonderful party. You did an amazing job!" Cokie smiled back and mouthed "Thank You" over the loud music.
The party raged for a few more hours, with everyone having a blast, dancing and getting drunk but sadly, all good things must come to an end and the party wound down around midnight. By that time all the ladies were pretty tired, Kristy, Claudia and Mary Anne all feeling pretty tipsy so all of the girls mutually agreed to call it a night and walked out of the party, saying goodbye to many people along the way. Before going their separate ways for the evening, Kristy had a quick conversation with the ladies about something she wanted to do with them on their last day in town on Monday. Once the plans were made, Kristy arranged for the uber to pick her, Mary Anne and Claudia up, Dawn and Stacey dropping off her car and then Mary Anne & Dawn heading back to the other side of town with their husbands.
Once back at Kristy's, Claudia and Stacey immediately changed clothes and went to sleep. Kristy was tired too but decided to grab a glass of water to try to hydrate herself after the night of drinking and dancing before retreating to her bedroom to change into her pajamas and sleep it off. After that, as she laid in her bed and closed her eyes, the events of everything from a few hours ago, to the weeks leading up to it swam around in her fuzzy head. The invitiation, the excitement, dress shopping, the confrontation and reconciliation with Claudia and even earlier that day at the salon. The night she had been waiting for had finally come and gone but it was better than she could have imagined. She couldn't believe Stacey and Claudia were in the room next door and that she would be able to see them all one more time before they left. As she began to fall asleep, she had one more thought. "Tonight was nothing more than..perfect."