Monday, August 11, 2008

despite the bruising, i survived my high school reunion

damn, has it really been 10 years? i knew that my 10 year high school reunion was coming, and they were going to really do it up. they rented the ball room at the w hotel at perimeter mall, they rented out a club, they met up at a lounge, they went to church AND they had a barbecue. say what you want about ghettofabulous southwest dekalb high school, my classmates did it up. i actually forgot about all of the other events but thankfully sunday my homegirl nicole reminded me about the picnic, the last event and she even volunteered to drive. part of me really didn't even want to come because after a slight altercation with someone a few days ago (DON'T EVEN ASK) i'm left with scratches all over my face and a hideous stye that (lucky me) appeared on my eye. if there is a god, he laughed his ass off at my misfortune. who doesn't simply dream of showing up to their reunion broke, still finishing their degree, with a face that screams "domestic abuse victim." (which, for the record, i'm not TRAVIS !!! lol)
as we approached all i could think was where did i fit in? i imagined seeing the pretty girls, the smart girls, the skinny girls, the rich girls, the popular girls, and then going to stand in a corner by myself. as nicole and i walked up, i swear i felt like people were looking at me as if i was an alien. i walked up to maxine (for some reason she's one of the smart, pretty, skinny, popular girls that became one of my dearest friends) and once she and i embraced, along with leah, who was sitting right next to her, the vultures (i mean pretty/skinny/rich/smart/popular girls) realized that i wasn't a crasher, just a fellow student they never so much as stopped to spit on, the mean-mugging stopped. before i got there, i imagined that the same bastards that picked on me mercilessly would be there to remind me of whatever stupid thing i used to do or say in 3rd or 4th period. but it wasn't like that. there were hugs. laughter. getting to know eachother's kids. holding conversations with people i never talked to before. we weren't kids. we were and are adults. some have degrees. some own businesses. some are married. and we came together and embraced. and it felt good. i was one of those people that said "why the hell would i want to see those assholes? screw them all." but i'm glad nicole brought me. it brought closure and clarity to the very strange period of life known as high school. i'm no longer malika, that awkward fat nerd. i'm malika, that pretty funny, sarcastic, smart, loving mother. i'm malika.
and i'm an adult.