OK, so I'm a little tipsy. Dinner had turned into drinks with Sarah, Tim, and their spouses, and soon enough it was past midnight. We hadn't seen each other in a while, and what else is there to do around here? It was the Friday after Thanksgiving, well now Saturday I guess, and after two long, loooooooong, days with my parents, my sister Julie, and Aunt Renee, I was practically climbing the walls to escape. Most years I would have driven back to Philly by now, but tomorrow night was my ten year high school reunion, so I was kind of stuck.
Rather than call an Uber home, I begin walking down Maple Street in the historic district. Even after a four hour meal, and more than a few margaritas, I just wasn't ready to go home yet. I pass a few bars and restaurants still lively with post-holiday noise, but I'd had my fill of neighbors and old classmates saying, "Andy Fisher is that you?" (it's Andrew now, thank you very much), at least until tomorrow, so I kept on walking to the divey part of historic district.
The 'h' light in 'Murphy's' had gone out, and the smell of stale beer carried even into the street. I nudged open the door to find a sullen crowd of people, drinking quietly, playing a half-hearted game of pool in the corner, or just dazedly staring at soccer replays on the tv by the bar. Not a single person in the dimly lit pub looked under forty five. Perfect.
I pull up a stool at the non-tv end of the bar, and waited to order a whiskey or something. It was gonna give me one hell of hangover tomorrow, but that was a perfect excuse to miss brunch and Aunt Renee giving part 548 in her thousand part lecture on why the world was going to hell.
I pull out my phone, and begin absent mindedly scrolling, when I feel the bartender's presence in front of me.
"Jack and Coke please," I said, not looking up. I lay down a twenty, and continue to scroll.
"Andy Fisher, is that you?"
Oh for fuck's sake.
I looked up, wondering who I knew who frequented this dump-- Oh God, it's Kyle Howard.
Kyle Fucking Howard. The star of most of my high school jerk off fantasies. Mister Jackson High himself.
I blink for a moment, locking eyes with him. The last decade had been kind to him. Really kind. He had filled out a little bit, but a close-trimmed beard did nothing to hide that distinctive all-american jawline, and good God, that black t-shirt was hanging on for dear life. He may not have had the perfect eight-pack abs from high school, but if anything, his arms were even thicker now than I remembered. And that little checkerboard tattoo on his bicep just--
"From Jackson High?"
Oh shit, I'd just been staring, "Yeah. Kyle, right?"
He smile, "In town for the reunion?"
I nod, "Yeah, I figured staying after Thanksgiving just made sense. What about you, are you still local?" Shit. Still? That totally made it sound like he couldn't escape.
He shook his head, "Nah, my uncle was a little short staffed, so I decided to pitch in for old time's sake."
"That was nice of you. Where's home?"
"Oh I'm in Philadelphia, what about you?"
"Oh... uh... same."
"Yeah, you went to Penn right?"
I blink, Kyle Howard had been the star quarterback, and the fucking prom king. Knowing my name was a big enough surprise, but actually remembering where I went to school? "Yeah. You went to NC state right? For... football?"
He gives a rueful smile, "UNC actually, but yeah, I played football there for the first couple of years. Let me go get you that drink."
Oh shit. There was a story there, I tried to remember, but my margarita-brain was not putting it together. I was about a third of the way through my Jack and coke, when I realized I could probably just google it. Sure enough, Kyle had been on the field his sophomore year, but had to stop after an injury. He finished up playing at some div two school, but I kind of went cross-eyed trying to figure out the intricacies of college football.
By the time I had finished my drink, I was brave enough to start up conversation again, "So, what do you do when not serving drinks at Murpy's?" I giggled a little bit.
He snorts, and rolled his eyes, "I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed. I work in finance, what about you?"
"Oh, you know, sit behind a computer screen making the data dance correctly."
"Do you enjoy it?"
"Yeah... it's pretty good," he brought over another jack and coke, I hadn't ordered one yet, "So... I'm kind of surprised you remember me."
He shrugs, "well you were one of the only guys who was out in highschool. Kind of hard to forget."
"Yeah... I guess," ah yes, my one claim to fame. Despite that, I had managed to maintain a pretty low profile, mostly.
"That probably made highschool suck quite a bit."
I had basically avoided anything theater or sports related just so I wouldn't get teased so much, "Eh, it could have been better."
"Well, I'm sorry if I ever said or did anything shitty to you."
I shake my head, "Nah, you never did."
He smiles, "I'm kind of surprised you even want to go the reunion."
I shrug, "Well, I have some folks I wanted to catch up with. Besides, I don't really do social media, so I have no idea who crashed and burned over the last decade."
Kyle chuckles, "Well I'm divorced, so I probably count there."