MADversary (14 page)

Benny smiled.  “Yep…I go by
Ben
these days, though.”

Tyler nodded.  “Good to see you, man.”

That was all it took, though.  The table was in turmoil for a good ten minutes, long past the time the salad plates had been gathered up by the servers.  They’d even tried to give Tyler a plate and wine or iced tea if he’d wanted, but he’d told them he wasn’t going to stay.  The three
clique
women glommed onto Tyler, drilling him with questions and bathing him in admiration.  They’d actually given him the time of day back in high school but not much more than that.  Still, Tyler was gracious and talked to them for a while.

When the servers began bringing the entrees to the tables, Tyler had a chance to sit and address Megan herself.  “I missed you today.  I was starting to think you were avoiding me.”

No way was she going to tell him she
had
been.  She shrugged and maintained eye contact when she said, “I just needed some time alone.”

“You never
were
comfortable at big group things.”  His statement took her by surprise.  It was something she hadn’t thought about in a long time
,
but it was true
,
and the fact that Tyler had remembered…
.

She shrugged again, hoping to appear nonchalant.  He was right, of course, about her basic nature but not about her motives.  She wasn’t about to correct him.  Instead, she smiled
and took a sip of the ice water in her goblet.  “Well, I’m here now.”

He smiled, flashing his white teeth at her, disarming her of any negative emotions she’d been feeling up until this point.  Suddenly, she was glad she was there and couldn’t imagine doing anything else.  He said, “Lucky me.”  He got a little closer and lowered his voice.  “I can’t stay for the dinner, but I’ll see you at the high school later, right?”

Yeah…he had her.  She nodded.  “I’ll be there.”  He kissed her on the lips, but it was innocent.  No tongue, just a sweet kiss followed by a hug.  She could feel her desire building, though, just by being pressed up close to his
upper
body.  She was glad the kiss had been innocent or she wouldn’t have been able to contain herself.

He whispered in her ear.  “Good, ‘cause I’ll be singing for you.”

After Tyler left, Lisa asked, “You
are
going, right?”

Megan sighed and nodded.  “How could I say
no
to that?”

* * *

The dinner had been nice
…e
legant food, classy setup, and decent conversation.  While everyone was finishing up dessert, Penny and two of her helpers
went back to the mike and talked about “What are they doing now?”  Penny read entries from their Senior Yearbook as well as projecting those
yearbook
pictures on the wall.  She let her classmates know what happened to the Person Most Likely to Succeed, the Most Athletic, the Funniest, the Cutest, et
c
etera
.  Most of those people were
there
and stood up to receive a certificate from the Reunion Committee.  It was a fun way to end the dinner, and it gave eve
ryone a few minutes to let the
food settle.  If people really intended to dance later,
settling
was a good idea.

Lisa drove the two women to the high school.  They listened to the radio but rode
without talking much.  Megan
knew Lisa was enjoying her new
found romance with Randy but she thought that was making her friend’s view on her own fling
with Tyler
a little skewed.
  Lisa
wanted
and expected forever.  Megan might have wanted forever, but she didn’t want to expect it.  Tyler already had a life, a successful one, and Megan doubted she could fit neatly into it.  After all, Tyler was a hardcore rock star with all manner of hot, slutty girls ready to do whatever he’d bid them.  Would he find himself happy with a quiet, unassuming assistant librarian?  She didn’t think so.

It was twilight when they arrived at the high school.  Megan
had
dr
iven
past it on occasion
since graduating
, but she hadn’t been on school grounds for a long time.  It felt strange walking that familiar path to the gymnasium where she’d watched countless football and volleyball games.  As they got closer, Megan heard Lisa squeal.  When she turned to the side, she saw her friend in Randy’s embrace.  “How was dinner, beautiful?” he asked.

“It was all right, but I missed you.”

“I’m here now.  That’s all that matters.”

Lisa giggled.  Megan suppressed a sigh.  She’d be alone again for a while, at least until Tyler was done playing.  The three of them walked into the gym together, but Randy and Lisa were oblivious to her presence.
  She’d left her purse with all her belongings in Lisa’s car, wanting to be unfettered, but she’d forgotten about Randy
.  He’d make Lisa forget about Megan, and she could very well find herself stranded
again
.  She took a deep breath.  There wouldn’t be a repeat of last night; Lisa had promised not to leave without checking for Megan this time.

The gym was well lit but Megan knew that would change.  She saw a platform up against the bleachers on the north wall, and the rest of the gym was wide open.  There were a few decorations but nothing too outrageous.  Megan was sure that was the plan of the Reunion Committee.  They’d already done so much.  Why would they want to spend hours decorating just to have to clean it up shortly afterward?

There were already lots of people packed in the gym.  Megan tried to remember how many people in her class had graduated.  She thought it was around two hundred people, but she couldn’t be sure.  She knew not everyone had come to the reunion, but many of the ones who did brought spouses along. 
So it wasn’t too crowded, but there were plenty of people, and she could tell the hot July air was going to make it unpleasant and sticky before all was said and done.  She was glad she’d worn a thin dress so she could maybe stay cool.
  There were a few oscillating fans placed around the room, but Megan doubted they would make much difference.

She
hated
feeling like a third wheel.  Lisa and Randy were hanging on each other, and Megan expected them to start getting grabby.  She focused her gaze on the stage, trying not to see what the two of them were up to.

Then she felt rather than saw someone approaching her.  She turned her gaze from the stage to her right and saw an old classmate.  She was taller than Megan.  She had black hair and she’d lined her blue eyes with dark black makeup as well.  Her lips appeared to be in a permanent pout.  Megan knew this girl….

When the girl stopped beside Megan, she
shivered
.
Yes, and she’d seen her last night and had already blocked out the memory.
 
It was
Tamara
Dickens.  Or at least that had been her name in high school.  And it all flooded back.  She’d been Tyler’s girlfriend before Megan and she seemed determined to continue with the bad feelings she should have let go of years and years ago…

Chapter Seventeen

TAMARA SMILED DOWN
at Megan. 
“Hi, Megan.
  Last name still Walker?”

Megan forced a smile. 
“Yep.
  You still Dickens?”

The girl nodded.  “Yes, but I wasn’t for a while. 
Had a shitty marriage until I dumped the
asshole
.”

In a short time, Megan felt uncomfortable
,
but she planned to be civil.  “Sorry to hear that.”

Tamara laughed.  “His loss,
ya
know?”  Tamara got closer, as though they were close friends.  “So…did I see you kissing Tyler
earlier
?  I thought you guys broke up after high school.”

Megan wondered what
Tamara’s
angle was, but there was no need to be dishonest.  “Well, yeah…we didn’t exactly
break up
, but long distance relationships don’t work very well.”

“But you guys are back together now?”

“Not exactly.”
  She didn’t want to be rude, but she wanted to end the conversation.  Unfortunately, she couldn’t see a polite way of doing that right at the moment.  So she decided to just answer the question.  “We…hooked up again, but that doesn’t mean we’re
together
.”

“Glad to hear that.”  Well,
that
was rude.  The gloves were off now, so Megan would have no problems telling Tamara to get lost now.  Before she could, though, the woman said, “He’s a dick, and you don’t need him, girl.”  Megan felt her brows furrow
,
but she said nothing.  She’d misread the girl, but that didn’t make what she was saying any more pleasant. 
“Oh, God.
  You don’t know, do you?”

Megan felt confused.  “Know what?”

Tamara took a deep breath.  “I’ll catch you later.  There’s something you need to know.”  The girl stormed off.

Megan felt relief
that she left
and planned to avoid the woman
for
the rest of the reunion.  Their encounter had been weird and painful, a good reason, Megan thought, to avoid any more future high school reunions.

Someone’s hands covered her eyes from behind, and she was sure they were Tyler’s.  She turned around, grinning, and was glad
to find it
was
him.  She wondered if he’d seen Tamara.  He and Tamara had dated in the fall of their senior year, but they’d broken up before Thanksgiving, and Megan remembered that Tamara had been a little psycho
about the whole thing
.  They’d been broken up for a few months by the time Tyler had asked Megan out, but Tamara tried to stir up trouble the rest of the year anyway.  She’d been either cold or rude with Megan in school, and Megan hadn’t thought of her again until tonight.  If Megan had an adversary, Tamara was it.

But she wasn’t going to burden Tyler with their conversation.  Megan hoped that would be the end of it.  “You made it,” he said.

“I promised, didn’t I?”

“That you did.”  He bent his head over, and this time his kiss wasn’t innocent at all.  His tongue worked its way into her mouth and she sucked him in, wanting so much more.  But it would have to wait.  He had a small concert to perform.  So when his lips parted from hers, she had a hard time opening her eyes.  When she did, his eyes locked onto hers.  “Tonight, you will be the only person in the audience.  You’re who I’ll be singing to, Meg.”

She couldn’t help but smile.  “I wish I could say I’d be the only one watching you.”

“You’ll be the only one who matters.”
  She smiled.  “Well, I better go.  See you soon.”  He kissed her again and left.

As he walked away, Lisa placed her arm around Megan’s shoulders and whispered in her ear.  “That looked pretty serious to me.”

“Shut up, will
ya
?”

Lisa raised her eyebrows in mock horror and turned back to Randy.  A few minutes later, Penny was on the platform with the mike once again, only this time she was surrounded by the band’s equipment.  “Fellow classmates, we have a treat for you tonight.”  Screams and cheering overpowered her and she had to give the crowd a few moments to die back down.  “For some reason, Winchester High graduates successful people.  We’ve had several successful politicians and business owners come from our high school in the last t
hirty years, but we’ve even had a couple of graduates go on to be Broadway successes.  We’ve had two who became famous football players.  We have one independent filmmaker and even a few rock stars. 
Lucky for our class, one of ‘
em
is ours.
  For those of you living under a rock, let me enlighten you.  Our very own Tyler Green is lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the band
Madversary
, and tonight we are honored to have them play exclusively for us for free.  Two of his other band members are from Denver, but one is from California, so we know how fortunate we are that they’re doing this for us.  So, without further ado, I give you
Madversary
!”

Just like a real
concert, the crowd went wild, screaming and cheering as Tyler and his band took the stage via a small wooden staircase on the side.  There were lights on the corners of the makeshift stage, but there was nothing fancy about
it
.  There would be no laser lights, no pyrotechnics, no smoke and fog, but there would be good music.

Tyler took the middle position, pulling hi
s guitar over his head, and the four musicians
took up standard rock band formation.  The bassist was on the left of Tyler, the lead guitarist on the right, the drummer at his kit center and back. 
Tyler walked up to the mike.  “I can’t tell you how cool it is to be
doin
’ this.”  The audience roared again, and when their noise died down, Tyler said, “We considered doing a cover of our class song.  How many of you remember what that was?”  There was more commotion and some yelling.  Tyler said, “Yeah…it was Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself.’  We didn’t think we could do that song justice, considering it’s a different genre, out of our comfort range, but we’re hoping they’ll play it tonight for the dance.  In the meantime, though, we’ve put together a small set of a few of our most popular tunes, ones we hope some of you know.  And for those of you who aren’t metal fans, well, we hope this is quick and painless.”  Tyler smiled a killer grin and backed away from the mike, cuing the drummer to begin tapping his sticks together, a human metronome preparing the band for its first song.