Emily had no idea what Sam was going to be dressed like – so, as not to be potentially outdone, she dressed her best. An outrageously expensive black-and-white blazer with gold buttons, a short but modest black skirt and her favorite three-inch heels. She strutted into the coffee shop like a rich fish out of water, flipping her shoulder-length hair as she made her way through the insouciant crowd.

Sam was immediately recognizable. Dressed in painfully casual yoga pants and a sporty tank top, the only thing different about her was the fact that her hair was chopped into a shaggy pixie. She waved enthusiastically at Emily, and beckoned her over to the small table she'd chosen.

"Oh my gosh, Emily, you look great!" Apparently she couldn't resist hopping up out of her seat and meeting her halfway. The next thing Em knew the other woman was practically crushing her in a tight hug.

Despite her usual distaste for people touching her, Emily couldn't help but feel a little bit glad for the human contact. In all honesty she couldn't remember the last time she'd hugged or been hugged by someone. It might have been years.

"You look good too, Sam." They sat down at the table. "I like the hair. Suits you."

"Thanks," Sam beamed. "It's much more practical, too – no getting grabbed by claws or teeth."

"Huh?"

"Oh, I own a veterinary practice," Sam added.

"Oh." Emily swallowed. It was crazy how quickly buried memories could resurface in the presence of an old friend. But as quickly as they came back, she squashed them down again. "That's interesting. So I'm assuming you're still into the whole vegan lifestyle and all that?"

"Mhm." Sam smiled a little. "Twelve years and counting."

"Damn, that's some dedication."

Sam chuckled. "So how are things in your life? I know you're a big successful editor, but besides that?"

"Besides that?" Emily exhaled. Her career had pretty much become her life – she'd found that too much idle time just led to dwelling on things she'd prefer to forget. As a result, there wasn't much else for her to talk about. "Um, I have a house. Small, but I like it small. Unimposing. I also have a three-year-old Sphynx named Rin."

"You really love that breed, huh?" Sam said with a smile. "I remember you having one when we were younger."

"Yeah. I was actually looking at Persian cats before I got Rin. But I just find something about Sphynxes so, I don't know, endearing I guess. I couldn't resist."

"Do you have any pictures of her? I love seeing people's pets."

With a tiny smile, Emily pulled her phone from her purse and flipped to one of the hundreds of pictures she had of her little princess. Sam squealed. "Oh, she's adorable! And I love the collar."

"Yeah, isn't she?" Emily dropped her phone back into her bag. "And, thanks. Swarovski crystals. I was considering going with genuine diamonds, but I decided it might make Rin a target for getting cat-napped."

"Probably a good idea. So is it just you and Rin at home? Or is there anyone else, you know, in the picture?" Sam grinned slyly. "I mean, maybe you don't live together, but–"

"No." Her response unintentionally came with a bit of bristle.

Sam quickly changed the subject. "Oh, okay. So, um, anyway, I've been trying to get in contact with the rest of our old friend group. I found Chris and Ashley. Did you know they got married? And they have two little boys?"

"Two kids already? Isn't she younger than us?"

"She's twenty-eight I think. Yeah, she's a year younger than us."

"Jesus, I'm glad I'm not saddled with two kids already." The thought occurred to Emily that she hadn't inquired about Sam's familial status. Nor had Sam volunteered anything. "What about you?"

"Not unless you count furry kids." She laughed a little. "A dog, two cats, two guinea pigs, an iguana, and a tarantula. Well the iguana isn't furry but you get what I mean."

Coming from Sam, that response didn't faze Emily in the slightest. "So is it just you and your animals?"

"Oh, no." She held up her left hand, exposing a gleaming wedding band. "I'm married."

"Seriously? You too?" Emily made a face. "Am I the only one from the old group who isn't married?"

Sam tapped her chin. "Well I know Matt's married. Chris and Ashley are obviously married. I'm married. I haven't been able to find Jessica, so I don't know about her…oh! Mike's not married."

"Of course he isn't. Why would he ever want to commit to just one woman?" Emily wrinkled her nose. The fact that Matt was married didn't surprise her, either. He was probably a househusband to some dominatrix.

"Would you have a problem seeing him again?" Sam asked. For a second Em thought she was talking about Matt, but quickly realized she meant Mike. "I was thinking about getting the old group together sometime soon and inviting you all to dinner at my house. I thought it might be nice to reconnect. But if people still have old grudges – in your case a totally understandable one, but nevertheless – I wouldn't want to make anyone uncomfortable."

"The whole group, huh." Emily folded her arms and cast her eyes to the side. "You think that's a good idea? We never exactly had the best track record for group hangouts."

It wasn't like people died the last two times or anything.

"Well, we're adults now. A lot of us have families, kids – I don't think it would be like it was back then."

"Michael doesn't have a family, apparently. And neither do I." Emily scowled. "It won't be any different for us."

"Like I said, you don't have to go if you don't want to." Though her words were a bit snippy, her tone was gentle. Sam had always had a funny ability to scold you without making you angry at her. "I just thought it would be nice."

"…So you haven't found Jess, huh." Emily decided to veer slightly off that topic.

"No. And nobody seems to have heard from her, either." Sam's cheerful demeanor ebbed a bit. "But I didn't find any evidence online of her being…you know…I didn't find any obituaries or anything."

Emily's shoulders drooped. She'd attempted to re-establish a friendship with Jessica after that night on the mountain. They'd made a little progress, but Jessica was really struggling after all that had happened to her. She had trouble leaving the house. Her sentences often trailed off into meaningless fragments. Looking back on it now, what Emily did was terrible, and she knew that – but at the time, unable to deal with seeing her former best friend in such a state, she'd pulled away from Jess. Permanently.

"Maybe I'll go to the dinner," she said.

Sam brightened. "Really? You would?"

She'd never had friends as good as the old group. Starting with Jessica, her first real friend and connection to the group, they had scooped her up as the friendless little bookworm in class and given her a sense of security she'd never had before or since. She still vividly remembered the time Sam stood up for her in gym class when the other kids were mocking her for her terrible athletic performance. That was the very beginning of young Emily's realization that she didn't have to take shit like that. And so, armed with false confidence and lots of buried anger, and backed by Jessica and all of Jessica's friends, who eventually became her friends as well, Emily had forced herself to transform.

She wouldn't be where she was today without them.

Emily kept her chin up. "Yes. I'll go."

Sam grinned. "That's great. Thank you, Em." She pulled something out of her pocket – a crumpled piece of paper with writing on it. Emily hadn't noticed until then that she had a tiny pen clipped to the breast pocket of her tank top. "So, any date you would prefer? Weekend? Weeknight? Time?"

"I work Monday to Thursday nine to five-ish, Fridays nine to three. I'm off weekends, but I'm often meeting with clients and associates then."

"Okay. Well I already met up with Chris and Ashley and they're good anytime, as long as they have enough notice to arrange for a sitter. Matt lives in San Fran, so it's kind of a ride for him, but he can get here pretty much whenever. Mike is…very busy, like you." She skimmed the paper, making some additions as she went. "He says a Saturday night would be the best."

"What about, like, a month from yesterday?" Em asked. "That would give everyone plenty of time to clear their schedules."

"Sounds good!" Sam smiled at her. "I think this will be good for all of us."

After that discussion, they decided to hang around the shop a while longer, sipping some coffee and catching up some more.