Grace walked leisurely through the paved pathways of her former high school. The school hall was in a separate building at the otherside of the school but Grace found herself enjoying the little stroll down memory lane.

It was only 6pm so she was a little early after walking the ten minutes from Amelia's place. It was done purposefully, though. She always found that walking cleared her head and de-stressed her. She thought she needed it before being confronted by the buildings that had given her anxiety all those years ago.

She didn't know what she had been worried about, though. She felt none of the apprehension she had expected to feel once she reached the school grounds. Instead, she admired the planted bushes that lined the administration building and had not previously been there when she attended. The buildings were all painted white with sky blue trim on the window sills. The bottom half of the buildings were light brown bricks. Benches lined the pathways for students to sit during their breaks and green metal trash cans were sporadically placed around the grounds.

As she walked through the courtyard toward the direction of the school hall, she felt a sense of nostalgia. Despite the terrible memories she had, some good ones seeped through.

Like sitting in the shade of the many Beech trees that lined the perimeter of the school field, giggling with Amelia and a couple of other girlfriends about the latest show on TV and which celebrities they would fuck , marry and kiss. She knew the game was fuck, marry and kill but they usually picked the hottest guys to compare and it didn't seem fair to hypothetically kill one of them off; so they had amended it to kiss.

She also fondly remembered her biology class - a rare Harrison free zone - and falling in love with it. She had always loved science and knew that she wanted to go into that field, but it wasn't until she encountered her enchanting Biology teacher, Mr Jenkins, that she had decided which pathway to enter into at college.

She gave a contented sigh as she came across the familiar B Block building. The school library was inside there and she had spent many a lunch break either studying or reading for pleasure. Too bad the building was locked, otherwise she would have made a detour in there, just to get a whiff of the familiar smell of books.

Just up ahead was the school hall. It was hexagon shaped and looked smaller than she had remembered. The lights were on and one of the side doors that was facing her was open.

She sighed again but this time it was with annoyance. God, Amelia owed her so bad. As she walked closer to the double doors she mentally prepared herself in dealing with Harrison and whoever had been roped into this farce of an event.

Once she stepped inside she was greeted with the familiar wooden beams that crisscrossed the ceiling. There were seven metal support beams that were painted the same sky blue as the window sills. They were against the side walls and stretched up and across the ceiling, meeting in the middle.

Up high, just below the windows, flags lined the wall. They represented the different cultures that currently attended their school. As small as Langley was, they were not the stereotypical Southern town that you see being portrayed on TV and movies. Yes, there were some prejudiced towns in the South but the majority of them were warm and welcoming and actually had a lot of minorities and multiculturalism. When she attended, they had a Mexican, Argentinean, Brazillian, Chinese, Philippines, South Korean, British, Irish, Scottish, Canadian and Indian flag. Liam himself represented the Irish flag since his Dad was from there, despite him being born in the US. As she counted the flags she was happy to see a few more added on.

"Grace?" Harrison's deep timbre interrupted her thoughts.

She jumped and glanced at his lone figure. A quick look around showed her that he was the only one present.

"Where's everyone else?" she queried. She did not want to be stuck making small talk with him.

He smiled as he came closer. She didn't miss his gaze sweeping down appreciatively at her figure.

Since it was a hot evening, she wore white shorts and a black tank top. She gave him a quick perusal as well and her cheeks heated at his toned and tanned figure. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and navy blue shorts. Goddamn but he looked handsome. It so wasn't fair!

"They'll be here soon. You're actually early." He stuck his hands in his pockets as he regarded her with a small smile.

"Oh. Yeah, I thought I would take a walk around the school. Check out my old haunts," she joked. "I saw the lights on in here and got curious to check inside." She looked everywhere but at him. "Um, so, when did you get here?"

"About thirty minutes ago," he answered. "I wanted to set up before you came. And all the others," he added.

"So who exactly is coming?" she asked as she moved past him towards the tables in the center of the hall. Four chairs surrounded it and a blank notepad was lying beside a blue ballpoint pen. "Uh, how many of us are in this committee?"

"You, James, Ruth and I." She jumped when she heard just how close he was to her. She turned quickly and stared up into his chocolate eyes. She took a step back and met the back of a chair.

"Only four people?" she queried.

"Mmm hmm," he murmured as he moved a step closer to her.

"I still don't see how you need me? The reunion is, what, three weeks away give or take?"

He took a step back, looking uncomfortable for the first time. "Uh, yeah. The Saturday before the wedding. Umm, so this is just a relaxed meet up. It's true, most details have been finalised but we're just meeting up to make sure everything runs smoothly."

"Wait, did you say James was coming?" she asked.

Her anxiety started to creep back in. While Harrison and Jessica were her harshest abusers, James was also part of that crew. He never initiated any nastiness with her. After all, he was in her biology class and never said boo to her. But she had also seen him laugh along with the popular crowd at her expense. He said a few snide words here and there at Harrison's bidding but to her that was almost worse. He was secretly kind to her during the start of her bullying before he too succumbed to peer pressure. When it came between a teenager doing the right thing and popularity, hardly any of them would take the former option.

In some way, the person she least respected was James. Either be an asshole or not. Too many times she had thought that she had seen James about to cave and call out Harrison, but he never did. She always labelled him a coward because of it.

Despite Harrison's behavioural turn around and Amelia's insistence that he had cut out his old friends, clearly he still retained some of the former crew.

"Yeah, you remember him don't you?" she gave him a look that said you gotta be fucking kidding me before he rolled his eyes and flushed. "Of course you do, sorry, I wasn't thinking."

It took a lot for Grace to make a snarky comment about that but she refrained. Maturity and all that.

"He's on the committee, yeah. And his wife, Ruth. You may remember her as Ruth Van Hoffman?"

"Oh my God," she gasped. She remembered the petite dark haired girl from their year. She played the trombone for the school band and was on the yearbook committee. She was part of her crew. I mean, okay, they were friendly acquaintances but they hung out in the same circles. She was a fellow nerd.

"Wow, I did not put them two together. I mean, I don't even think they talked when we were at school."

"Yeah, turned out James had always had a secret crush on her. They ended up at the same college doing law and have been together ever since. They both work at his dad's law firm."

"Well color me shocked, O'Connor." she said, shaking her head. "Any other odd couples who ended up together?" she joked.

Harrison gave a small, almost sad smile. "I'm hoping for one other."

Grace frowned at that cryptic comment but before she could question further, footsteps sounded up the steps of the hall.

"Helloooo? Harry?" Ruth's sweet southern drawl called out before she squealed. "Grace!" She bounded towards her in delight and threw her arms around her. One arm strapped across a shoulder and the other around her waist.

Grace grinned as she gathered the petite dark haired woman in her arms.

"Ruth!" she laughed, "gosh, you still look the same," she exclaimed.

That wasn't some fake pleasantry, Ruth genuinely looked like she could enrol into highschool tomorrow. They stepped back and grinned at each other. Ruth was a petite little thing. She was all big brown curls, big brown eyes and full red lips. The only difference was that she used to wear big black framed glasses that dwarfed her face.

"Contacts?" she queried.

Ruth shook her head, curls bouncing around her shoulders. " Lasik Eye surgery. Had some money saved up from working at Trina's and had them done before college. I joke that that's how James ended up with me. I had a glow up!"

A deep chuckle interrupted her rambling. "I keep telling you, woman, it was your trombone playing and those tight band pants that won me over."

Grace stiffened as she watched James approach them. Facial wise, he looked the same, although his hair was cut shorter than she remembered. He was still tall and broad shouldered, however, she noticed that he had put on a little weight. He wasn't overweight or anything, just a bit chunky - dad bod as her colleague, Kira, would say. She figured since he had stopped playing football and taken what is essentially a desk job, some weight had snuck in since he was no longer active. That being said, he was still a handsome man with sparkly blue eyes that were lovingly staring down at his wife.

The smile had faded from Grace's face once James glanced up at her. He gave her a lopsided smile, one that looked slightly uneasy and embarrassed. "Hey, Grace. Good to see you. How are you?"

"Fine." she curtly replied. She wasn't going to start being fake and gush over how long it had been since they last saw each other. She was here to show her face and contribute god knows what to this event and that was it.

Ruth's face fell at Grace's tone and she turned her pretty face up to her husband and glared at him. She thought she heard her murmur, "do it!" at him before she saw her elbow discreetly dig into his stomach.

Oh, shit. This was like some sad movie where all the townsfolk lined up to apologise to the wronged girl. Hallmark would make a killing out of her life.

James' face flushed red and he glanced down, shuffling his feet. His wife's next elbow dig, must've hurt more than it looked as it made her husband jump and rub his stomach. Ruth must be dynamite in the sack.

"Listen, Grace," he started.

Oh crap, so this was happening. He must've sensed her apprehension as he stopped and glanced down at his wife again, unsure.

So he was still a coward, she thought snidely.

"Are you trying to apologise for being a dick to me in highschool?" she bluntly asked.

James' face recoiled in horror as she heard Harrison choke on something in the background. Ruth threw her head back and laughed.

"You were never one to beat around the bush, Grace." she said, her mouth twisted in mirth. She glanced up at James and smiled sympathetically. "Honey, go on." Before James could continue Grace interjected.

"James, I dont want to prolong this torture as im sure you're just as horrified as i am. It's been seven years and I have moved on." at the relief in his eyes she continued. "In saying that, I would like an apology because I did nothing to you," she turned and looked at Harrison pointedly. "Any of you" she stressed. He nodded and looked down, shamefaced. She turned back to James. "So for that I do deserve a fucking apology." she folded her arms and waited.

James moved his wife aside and stepped up to her. He looked her dead in the eye, unflinchingly.

"Grace, I was a complete and utter bastard to you. Part of the reason why Ruth rejected me in high school when i asked her out was because of how myself and my friends treated you. When we heard that you were coming back for Amelia and Liam's wedding, Ruth demanded that I apologise to you. But to be honest, I was going to anyway. It's something that I've always regretted. I was immature and concerned with being popular rather than doing the right thing and for that I am genuinely sorry."

Grace blinked, stunned. "Damn, Fletcher. Kinda hard to keep hating you after that."

James gave a small smile. "I hope we can make amends and you can start to start liking me a little? I promise I'm a lot nicer now. Ruth makes me."

Grace laughed, "I don't doubt that." she agreed.

"Look," she sighed. "Let's put it behind us now. I appreciate the apology and if you weren't married to such a sweetheart I wouldn't have believed you'd changed." she joked.

"Okay," she clapped her hands. "Let's never do that again. We have a party to plan."

She pulled one of the chairs out and sat down. As they all followed suit, Grace remarked, "just to warn you, apart from Amelia's bachelorette party, I have never really planned any other event. But from what I understand, most details are finalised and we're just, what, chatting about any loose ends?"

"Ah, yeah," Harrison cleared his throat. Grace was keenly aware of the close proximity of his body to hers. Had he pulled his chair closer? It felt like she was being suffocated with his intoxicating scent. Clean soap with a faint hint of cologne. He had a slight stubble and his hair was sexily tousled as if he had been running his fingers through them.

"So are there any decors or themes that you're into, Grace?"

James turned sharply to stare at Harrison. "Dude, we've sorted all that." he said.

"Yeah but maybe Grace has some other insight. Like, do you like masquerade balls, 80's themes?"

"I'm confused," her brow scrunched up. "Isn't the theme something that you've already planned out in like, I dunno, the first meeting? What did you guys decide on?"

"Yes, we have," Ruth said, glaring at Harrison before turning to Grace. "We're doing "Prom Revisited."

Oh, God, it was worse than she thought. "Okay," she said slowly.

"Basically," Harrison breathed, "we're redoing Prom."

You could hear a pin drop.

"Do you remember Prom?" James broke the silence.

"I heard about Prom. Didn't end up going in the end," she casually said. She gave Harrison a tight smile, "this will be a lovely trip down memory lane for me," she sweetly said.

"Shit," Harrison raked his hand through his hair again, red streaked his cheeks. "I'm sorry, Gracie, we can -"

"No," she sighed. "It's fine, really. I did just tell you guys that I've moved on and truly I have. You can't blame me for giving little digs here and there," she joked.

"Of course not, Gracie," Ruth reached out and patted her hand. "You're entitled to your feelings. Like Harry said, we can change the theme."

"Oh please don't," Grace said. God wouldn't that just be precious of her. The prodigy daughter coming back to town and demanding they change the party. "Really I'm fine. It just caught me off guard for a minute. It would be nice to reenact what I missed. And i don't mean that in a sarcastic way. It will be fine, really." It wouldn't but she was hardly going to make waves.

"Are you sure, Gracie," Harrison murmured. She turned to look into his soulful brown eyes and her heart leaped at the genuine concern in his eyes.

"Yes," she breathed. They stared at each other for a moment, the air between them sizzling. A discreet clearing of the throat broke their spell and Grace glanced down at the paper in front of her.

"So, okay," James said, "what have we confirmed so far?"

From there the three of them - for she was too lost to contribute - started discussing the finer details of the event, turning every now and then to fill her in or explain further.

Apparently the theme at Prom was "Casino Royale". She had no recollection of this but perhaps it was because she knew that she was not going and it was so close to the end of the school year that she blocked out anything to do with Prom. She kept her focus on graduation and getting the hell out of there.

The decor at prom was basically Vegas and Casino - what a great theme for teens. The girls had dressed up to the nines and the boys wore tuxedos. They couldn't do too much with the theme due to the fact that they were not only kids but that gambling laws in Kentucky were quite strict, only relegated to horse racing, bingo halls and lotto.

At least the reunion party sounded marginally better. So while they couldn't play for real money, they were going to replicate Monte Carlo, the Casino used in Casino Royale and make it seem like they were in a real casino. They were going to have a silent auction, a raffle game of sorts with the grand prize being a weekend away to Las Vegas and various mini games throughout with spot prizes. It actually sounded quite decent, not that she would ever admit it. When she queried how this was getting funded, Ruth explained.

"Part of it was left over class funds but Harrison was quite vocal in organising it. He put the feelers out to see who was interested and we set up a party well. So we had our class - those who wanted to attend - donate. We actually had such a good response that we're saving some in the class fund for our next reunion."

Grace turned to Harrison in surprise. "Wow, O"Connor," she grinned, "I think you've missed your calling as an event planner." she joked.

He grinned down at her, his face lighting up at her response. "Well, if this teaching gig ever collapses at least i have a back up." She laughed along with him.

"So are we done here?" James said, standing up and stretching. "We gotta relieve the babysitter."

"Oh my gosh, you have kids?" That's all it took for Ruth to bust out her phone and show Grace a picture of their three year old daughter, Tabitha." After cooing over her chubby cheeks, James gently guided his wife to the door, with a farewell over his shoulder.

The door closed, causing an echo in the room.

They were alone.

The silence in the room was deafening and slightly awkward for her.

"See," Harrison said, bumping her shoulder. "That wasn't so bad,"

She gave a small laugh. "I still would rather be in my jammies watching The Real Housewives but yes, this wasn't too terrible."

"I'll take that compliment," Harrison laughed.

He stood up and stretched. His shirt rode up and she saw a sliver of male flesh, his stomach hard and flat. She wanted to lick it.

"So!," Harrison said, interrupting her lewd thoughts. "You walked?" At her nod, Harrison swept up his car keys. "C'mon, I'm gonna drive you home."

Before she could protest he held up a hand. "Please, Grace. I need to get some things off my chest and I can't do that with you avoiding me at every turn."

Well, how can she argue with that? After all, she had given James a stage to apologise to her. Surely she could give the same courtesy to Harrison.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak before following him outside into the warm evening air. The short drive back to Amelia and Liam's was silent and tense. She would've preferred him to chat during the drive so that she could be distracted with the moving scenery but it appears that he was saving his apology tour for the door.