Patrick stared in disbelief at the man in front of him. Jack appeared not to have aged at all. His face was a little leaner, yes, and there was stubble on his high cheekbones but he was still the Jack who had left all those years ago. Even better. The dark circles had disappeared from under his eyes and he no longer looked ridiculously skinny.

"Jack?" he sputtered, eyes shot wide open. "You're back? You're here?"

Any composure he had left from Jack's surprise entrance flew out the window with that wonderful display. Jack tossed back his head in laughter. His dark blonde hair had gotten substantially darker in the ten years since high school and somehow thicker.

"Jesus, Spot," he cackled. "I could not believe that you are working here. In Homo High!"

Patrick got over enough of his shock to correct him. "It's not Homo High no more, Jack. Things changed. And not exactly for the better."

"'No more'?" Jack smirked. "Watch your grammar Mr. Teacher."

Patrick glowered at him. He remembered a time when he had thought he was in love with Jack. And another time when he had gotten wasted and blew him off. Neither were exactly shining moments on his record. But he was thrilled to see him.

"How was Europe and why the fuck did you stay there for ten years?"

"Europe was European," he laughed. "And I don't know. I guess I just didn't want to come back."

He nodded. "Where are you staying?"

"David's place," he replied with ease. "Well, Sarah's place. His parents moved back to Chester when Les started college so I'm staying with Sarah."

"Where's David?"

"She said California." A hurt look passed onto Jack's immaculate face. "She also said that she doesn't know if he's coming to the reunion."

"Oh…I don't even know if I'm gonna go."

"Spot, you gotta be shitting me! You gotta go! It's ten years and you fucking work for the school."

The door opened a crack and voices could be heard.

"Is it him?"

"I dunno, get off of me you wanker!"

"Way to turn on the British, douche bag."

"Will both of you shut up?"

Patrick rolled his eyes. "I can hear you guys. Come in."

He put his sandwich aside, which was immediately scooped up by Hester as he walked into the room. Robbie and Daniel were with him, or rather, in a tangled heap on the floor. They disengaged themselves and stumbling disjointedly into the room.

"Oh, my God, are you seriously Jack Kelly?" Robbie asked, his blue eyes alight with curiosity.

"Yeah."

"Holy balls!" Daniel exclaimed. "You are a legend. People still talk about how you were king of the school!"

Patrick watched Jack appraise the short, British boy in front of him with a smirk on his face.

"Is that so, Mr. Jones?" he queried.

Daniel's face darkened. Apparently being in the presence of a "legend" didn't diminish his short temper or distaste for the nickname that plagued him for years.

"Don't call me that!" he snapped. "Just because I'm short and British does not make me Davy Jones! Got it?!"

Jack laughed and ruffled his dark, shaggy hair. "Hey, Spot. I love this kid already."

"Dude, awesome," Robbie crowed. "Patrick, did you see? It's Jack Kelly. Weren't you guys friends?"

"They were!" Hester proclaimed. "Patrick was mega popular."

Patrick rolled his eyes. "Will you three kindly get the fuck out?"

"No way!" Robbie hopped onto Patrick's desk and grinned up at Jack. "You totally made Homo High what it was. I mean, Heck and I aren't gay but Jester here is and you are, like, an inspiration to him. Well, you and George Michael."

He punched Hester jokingly who chested him back. Jack laughed.

"So these are the kids who go here now? I like 'em."

"Yeah, try being around them all day. Then see how much you like them."

Hester threw his arms around his shoulders. "Aw, you love us, Patrick!"

"Out!"

By some miracle, they listened and bounded outside. Patrick got up from his desk and properly embraced Jack.

"So, you're back to stay?"

He shrugged. "For now. I mean…"

"David?"

"Yeah…"

"You're gonna wait for him?" Patrick cocked a brow. "Jack, you guys haven't spoken in ten years."

Jack shrugged. "I want him back. I mean, Italy has some of the sexiest men on Earth but after fucking them, I realized that I didn't want these guys."

"Thanks for sharing your sexual exploits with every homosexual in Europe, Jack."

"You're jealous," he teased. "Stuck with children all day."

"Fuck up, Kelly. I mean it."

Jack smiled and hugged him again.

"And I'm glad to have you back," Patrick said earnestly.

--

"It just moved. I swear to God that it just moved."

Star prodded the shapeless gray blob on Claudia's tray with a plastic fork. It was supposed to pass as meatloaf and was by far the most inedible thing in the entire cafeteria. Claudia rolled her eyes. He was such an idiot.

They were seated at their usual lunch table and the dumbass trio had just returned from Patrick's classroom to confirm the Jack Kelly sighting.

Claudia was the only one who had to get lunch from school. Star always came with some weird, inter-international recipe that clashed with the mental she had of his super conservative parents—not that she had ever met them. Jester and Wart had their food sent in from some ridiculously expensive bistro and then sushi from Blue Ribbon sushi. Windy and Pickle always had vegetarian slop from their parents. She was stuck with gray meatloaf on an orange tray.

"Get your fork off my tray, douche bag," she snapped, smacking his hand away.

Star retracted it and stuck his tongue out. "God, you're such a bitch."

Before she could reply with a sizzling comeback, Pickle cried out.

"He's back!" he exclaimed.

"Of course, we were just saying that about Ja—"

"Not him!" Hester made a face at Pickle interrupting whatever precious bit of information he was about to say.

Claudia followed the blonde's finger to the door of the cafeteria where the boy who had been his best friend for as long as she could remember had just walked in. The usual slew of crosses and beads hung from his olive-skinned neck and over his plain, white t-shirt. Like Pickle, his hands were covered in rings and his nearly black curls caught the fluorescent light of the cafeteria.

Pickle jumped up and grabbed him into a hug. Several students looked over at the five eleven, lanky blonde boy in the love beads tackling the leather jacketed boy in the doorway but only the more Neanderthal jocks said anything.

"Haha, look, the flower fag is greeting his boyfriend!"

Star grabbed a tater tot off of Claudia's tray and chucked it at him. "Lay off, Chad."

The boy dutifully shut up. Only Star could have that kind of authority over the Cro-Magnons. All the more reason for her to hate him.

"Fucking pricks," Heck mumbled into his sandwich.

One of the jocks overheard him. "Oh, now the hippie whore is talking!"

Windy rolled her eyes. "Can I kill whoever taught them alliteration lessons?"

Claudia had to laugh. Sometime the space-case could come out with something good. The two boys came back over; Pickle had a huge smile stretched on his face.

"Hey, Gypsy," Wart said in his quiet voice.

Gypsy waved and sat down.

"Why're you late?" Windy asked.

"Eva woke up late. Then we got caught in traffic," he explained with a shrug.

"Jack Kelly's back!" Hester proclaimed. "Heck, Star'n'me saw him!"

He nodded almost sagely. "Cool."

Claudia watched him and Pickle with their arms around each other. She couldn't understand why they weren't together. They were both gay and seemed to die without the other one around. It was strange.

"So what're we doing for the reunion?" Heck piped up. "I don't wanna do registration. I'll look two feet tall."

"You are two feet tall." Hester elbowed him playfully.

"We're the band," Gypsy said in his low, mellow voice. "Well, four of us are."

Claudia rolled her eyes. Gypsy, Pickle, Heck and Star had been talking about forming a fanband since seventh grade. She highly doubted that they were any closer now than they were then.

"Heck, it amazes me that you hate the nickname everyone inevitably gives you when they meet you," she said. "And yet you're going to be him in a fanband."

Heck shrugged. "I'm an enigma."

"Wrapped in a mystery," Star added.

"Wrapped in a vest," Windy finished, playing with the suede strips hanging off of his vest.

Claudia rolled her eyes again as the four of them animatedly broke into discussion about their band. Gypsy even managed to make a facial expression.

They were arguing about whether or not Star should have to dye his hair when the bell rang.

"Finally," she said with a sigh, picking up her tray of untouched garbage. She hated to waste food but "food" was used very loosely to describe the slop on her tray.

"Glad you enjoyed our company," Star sneered after her, sticking his tongue out.

She replied by giving him the finger.

--

David stared at the clock. 9:00. Everyone in New York would be eating lunch. He still couldn't get quite used to the severe time difference in New York and California. Even after ten years of living there.

He had entertained several notions in college, including journalist and doctor, but ultimately decided to be a teacher. He wasn't sure why but he felt drawn to teaching English.

David glanced back down at the paper in his hand. The invitation to his high school's ten year reunion. He didn't want to go. It wasn't that high school had ended poorly or anything. It was that he feared that Jack would be there. Even the thought of Jack's name made his stomach do flips and flops and he was afraid to even go. What if Jack was taken? Why was he even considering getting back together? It had been ten years. What if they found that they no longer were compatible. And, goddamnit, why was he even thinking about it?

"What's that?" a voice behind him asked.

David turned to see Josh smiling at him. He handed him the letter.

"Invitation to my ten year high school reunion," he said. "Officially makes me old, no?"

Josh placed the letter on the counter and kissed David's neck. "You're not old."

David put his arms around him and kissed him lightly. He felt bad, considering his thoughts about Jack a moment earlier and the fact that he was kissing his boyfriend of two years now.

"Are we going?" he asked with a smile, shaking his blonde curls in David's face like he knew he liked.

"I don't know," he said.

"Don't you wanna show me off?"

He laughed. "It's gonna be a long flight. It may not be worth it to see my old, corny high school."

Josh kissed his forehead. "Let's go. It'll be nice to see it. What're you afraid of?"

That the boy I was in love with before you will be there and I'd want to jump him right there. Nothing to worry about.

"Nothing," he said. "I just…I don't want to pay for a long flight."

"I'll pay. I'm the fancy resident doctor man," Josh replied. "It'll be fun."

He kissed David again. David glanced at the letter on the counter behind him and sighed inwardly.

Oh, sure. It'll be loads of fun.