Barclay Davis - Old School, Conclusion
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| Art by Scopedog |
Max and Frida soon arrive at the banquet hall, where Max's high school reunion takes place. As they enter, there's a table by the door to where the reunion is being held. At that table, is a friendly face to Max. A slight heavy set woman of Middle East descent wearing glasses, and with long black hair where the front roots are white. She's at the desk welcoming their former classmates and letting them in.
Max and Frida approach the desk, with Frida just behind Max. Then, Max says, "Maria? Maria Hakim?" The woman at the desk didn't recognize Max, so he continued. "Don't you recognize me? Little Max Edwards?"
"Max?" She said, rather loudly. Maria then got up and had her arms out to him, saying "Oh Max, it's so wonderful to see you again!" Her and Max hugged, and after, Maria said "I thought about you a lot, after we left high school. I thought you went into despair or had hurt yourself!"
"Ah, not me!" Max answers Maria. "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. Besides, I've practically come full circle. I'm a high school teacher now, myself!"
"Really?" Maria asks Max. "That's incredible! At least you know how to deal with students, given what you went through."
Max has a bit of a laugh at that, then asks her, "So, what have you been up to, Maria?"
"Well, my name now is Maria Johnson." She tells Max, as she shows him her wedding ring on her hand. "Been married to a wonderful guy for so many years now. I can't wait for you to meet him, Max!" She then sits back down in order to check him off so he can enter. When she get's to Max's name on the list, she has a brief pause and says to him. "Oh! It says here you brought a guest with you. Are they with you, at the moment, Max?"
"Of course they are!" Max tells Maria. "And let me introduce you to her now! Meet the love of my life, my girlfriend, Frida Olsen!😁" Max says as he gets behind her with his hands atop Frida's shoulders.
Maria's mouth was left wide open, as she was looking at the lovely young woman accompanying Max. After an awkward silence, Maria spoke out. "Duh, duh...this...this is your girlfriend?!" Max was nodding his head up and down to tell her yes, finishing with a big, cheesy grin on his face! (The sound effect for Max shaking his head would be the rattling of a can of spray paint). Maria was left stunned, looking at Frida. She continued. "Oh my God, Max! She's absolutely stunning and gorgeous!" Frida liked hearing that, as Maria continued. "How did you two ever meet?"
"Work." Max said. "She's a teacher, like me."
"Oh Max!" Maria said, sounding as if she was about to burst into tears, as her hands were out for him, as Max grabbed her hands. "I am so, so happy for you! I was worried that your life would have been so terrible, after high school. But I see now you've never been more happy in your entire life! I hope you two have a great night tonight!"
After Max hugged her, Maria then looks at Frida and has her hands out as well, which Frida obliged. Maria then said "And you...I hope you're taking really good care of Max. He deserves all the happiness in the world, after all he went through!"
"Oh don't you worry about that!" Frida assures Maria. "I know how to take REAL good care of Max!" Frida then stuck her long tongue out and started wiggling it in front of Maria.
Maria response to that:
Frida then coolly walks away, leaving Max to say to Maria, "Hah! Her and I, a couple. You wouldn't have..." Frida then grabs Max by the ear again and drags him away, with Max saying "Yoik!" Maria was left with a happy face.
"She seems nice!" Frida told Max, as they were both walking in.
"She was one of the very few people that was nice to me in high school." Max replied. "I'd have asked her out, but I was afraid that would ruin the friendship."
Max and Frida enter the main room, where all the former students have congregated. Max was able to recognize some of the people he went to school with. Others looked unrecognizable. Nobody noticed Max, as most had assumed he wasn't going to show for many reasons. But everyone WAS noticing Frida, looking her hottest in her very short black miniskirt that showed off her sexy bare legs.
Some tried to take action.
When Max broke from Frida, for a moment, a balding, reedy looking mustachioed guy, with booze on his breath, approached her. "Hey babe!" he told Frida, in a creepy tone. "Don't seem to remember you in any of my classes."
Frida just told him "That's because I didn't attend your school. I'm with someone who did!"
"Really?" he said. "And where's this person you're with? Would I know him?"
"Gary? Gary Skinner?" Max said, walking up to him. The guy turned to look at Max, whom he didn't recognize at first. But upon closer look, was surprised to see him.
"MAX?!! Max Edwards?" Gary said to Max. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be the last person who'd show up!"
"So did I!" Max told Gary. "But I was talked into attending by my girlfriend." as Max puts his hand on Frida's shoulder. "This is her. Frida Olsen."
Gary was at a loss for words when Max told him about Frida. "She...she's YOUR girlfr...YOU have a girlfriend?!!"
"Yup!" Max told him. "Shocking, isn't it?" he says nonchalantly.
Gary was still processing what Max just told him. Then, Gary blurts out "Which online site did you hire her from?"
Max, not liking that answer, tells Gary, in an angry tone "We both work at the same high school, as teachers, Gary!"😠😠😠😠😠
Gary, feeling stupid for asking him that, goes "Oh...uh...ahhh...sorry, I didn't mean to...I should just leave you two be right now." and walks away in embarrassment.
"Charming!" Frida says to Max, in a disgusted tone.
"Gary was always a creepy type." Max told her. "Guess some people never grow up."
Max and Frida continue to move around inside. Max never said a word to anyone. He was still processing everyone and everything inside. Frida then turns to Max and tells him "Can you excuse me for a moment, Max? I suddenly have to do something." They kiss and Frida goes on her own.
Max is left by himself. He feels quite naked without Frida by his side, as he's mingling with other people. Max kept walking about, until he heard a too familiar voice from his past.
"There he is!" When Max looked at where that voice was coming from, he startled screamed. He saw his former tormentors approaching him. Wayne Clarke, the leader of them, was the one who said that. His old girlfriend, Janet James, was by his side, along with Mark Dryden, Mario Esposito, Paul Mahovlich, and Ray Savard. Max responded to them by freaking out, as his past was approaching him, and he was reliving his torment again. Wayne said to him "It's good seeing you again, Max! We were afraid you wouldn't show up!"
Max started panicking on the spot, as his past with them surfaces to the top. In his head, he was back being a small, greasy haired, pimply faced dweeb with braces, and they were all about to swarm and attack him.
"How have you been, Max? Has life been good for you?" Janet asked Max, who was still standing in fear of them.
"I-I...I'm..." Max is having trouble communicating to them.
"Are you ok, Max?" Mark asked him. "You're starting to sweat badly."
"Yeah Max." Mario told him. "Is there something you want to get off of your chest?"
Max kept breathing heavy and was sweating profusely in their presence. Until, he mustered up enough courage to tell them all. "YOU FUCKING JERKS BULLIED AND HARASSED ME THROUGHOUT HIGH SCHOOL!!! YOU ALL MADE MY LIFE A LIVING HELL!!!"😠😡🤬
"Yeah. We know!" Wayne told Max. "And you have no idea how horrible we all feel for that."
Max's face went from anger to puzzlement, as he never expected Wayne and them to say that.
"We thought we were all acting big and tough around everyone." Wayne continued. "But we had no idea how badly we hurt everyone until long since we left school. Especially you, Max."
Paul then spoke up "Some of us were doing that, because our own home lives were awful, and we took out our aggressions onto others. My old man used to beat the crap out of me every day, because he was a drunken alcoholic."
"Same with my old man!" Wayne said.
"Mine walked out on my family when I was a kid." Mark said. "That left me feeling empty and angry at the world."
Ray then spoke up next, confessing "And I acted the way I did, because I didn't want people finding out I'm gay!"
"But we all grew up in a hurry." Wayne said to Max. "We've all been able to find peace of minds ourselves. I married Janet, and she's been an important part of my life ever since."
"I joined the priesthood!" Mario said, removing a scarf he was wearing that hid a priest's collar he was wearing.
"And I found the love of my life!" Ray said, as he wrapped his arm around his husband.
Max still couldn't believe what he was hearing. His former tormenters were all pleading mercy at him for what they put him through. Wayne then continued talking. "I know there's no excuses for our behavior, and we can't go back and change the past. All we can do is ask for your forgiveness for all the crap we put you through."
After some awkward silence, a bit of a smile started growing on Max's face. Then, he told them "Well...if you guys can be big about this, then so can I." Max then reached his hand out to Wayne, who obliged, and both men shook.
This was a strange feeling for Max. The guys who used to bully him are now being genuinely friendly. Then they started talking like adults.
Wayne then asked Max "So what have you been up to these days?"
"Well, believe it or not, I'm a high school teacher." Max answers. "I teach American history at a school not too far from here."
"Really!" Janet tells him. "I bet you know how deal with unruly students in your classes."
Max laughs at that, and says "Well, I've had my fair share of them, that's for sure." He then tells Wayne and Janet "You know...you two actually make a cute couple."
Wayne and Janet look at each other, with Janet saying, "Oh well thank you Max, that's awfully sweet of you to say that!"
"And what about you, Max?" Wayne asks him. "Do you have someone significant in your life?"
After a bit of a pause, Max casually says "Wellll...funny you should say...THAAAuuuAAAuuuAAAT!!!" Max screamed that last word out, awkwardly, because Frida had sneaked up behind Max and grabbed him by his sides to surprise him. When she let go of him, Max turned to look at Frida acting all innocent.
"I'm sowee!" Frida said, talking like a toddler and acting all child like innocent at Max. "Did I badwee scawe yew?"
Max, all bug eyed and still recovering from the shock Frida just gave him, said "Yaaasssss. You most certainly DID!!!😬"
"Awwww!" Frida said, while putting a finger on her mouth and still acting innocent. "Yew not gonna pank me fow dat now, awe yew?🥺"
Max had a sly look on his face, as he was staring at Frida. Then, he grabs Frida by the shoulder, saying to her, "For you, young lady..." and pulls her close to him, continuing "It will be a seveeeeere TONGUE LASHING!" and then plants a big, deep, French kiss on Frida, which left her trembling. Frida then wrapped her arms tightly around Max, as well as her right leg around him, and returned French kissing him with passion.
Max's former tormenters were looking at all that and reacted, thusly:
Except their jaws all dropped to the ground from left to right to the tune of the Wheel Of Fortune's opening puzzle jingle. THEN their eyes all bugged out!
Max and Frida were still standing there kissing each other, passionately. Frida was gently kissing Max's face after their kiss broke. Max then saw Wayne and the crew looking at them awkwardly, then turned to them, saying "Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners?" He got behind Frida and put his hands on her shoulders to say to them "I'd like you guys to meet Frida Olsen. She's a fellow teacher at my high school, whom we've been going steady now for quite some time!😁"
"Hello guys, nice to meet you all!" Frida told them while waving at them. There was a lot of awkward hellos and hi's from Wayne and company, as they couldn't believe that the little guy they used to pick on has with him the hottest, sexiest woman they've ever seen, loving him in public like that! Mario was heard to say, "Lord, have mercy!" while making a crucifixion sign in front of him.
"I'll just introduce you all to them, from left to right." Max tells Frida. "That's Wayne, and Wayne's wife Janet. There's Mark, Mario, Paul, Ray, aaaand Ray's husband, who I don't know his name because we just met." He tells him it's Grant, and Max thanks him.
Max continues talking to Frida. "We were all just reminising, and it's great that you joined us so that we can all continue talking together."
Frida leans into Max and tells him "Actually Max, I have something else planned for the two of us."😉
"Oh?" Max says. "And what might that..." Just then, Max starts hearing this...
And then says to Frida,"...I seeee!"😈
Max then takes Frida by the hand, and looks at Wayne and friends and says to them, "Sorry guys, looks like I'm being called out onto the dance floor. I'll catch up to you all in a bit, ok?" And he and Frida are soon off to dance, with Wayne and the lot of 'em still gasping and talking to themselves about Max being with someone as hot as Frida. Even the likes of Grant and Janet seemed interested in her!
Then, Max and Frida are on the dance floor, with the two of them eyeing each other intensely.
"Are you ready for me, Max?" Frida sexually asks him.
"Are you ready for ME, Frida?" Max says, returning the favor to her.
"Bring it!" Frida mouths to Max.
They soon start dancing. And, it was quickly apparent that their dancing was going to make them stand out to everyone. Frida was her awesome self on the dance floor. But Max was able to keep up with her, thanks to Frida teaching him how to dance, as well as the martial arts training Paul had given him to help his coordination.
Max was showing some impressive moves of his own. But Frida was showing off her leg work, doing the splits as well as high kicking it, with one leg high up and pointing to the top, which, with her micro miniskirt, had people looking at the inside of Frida's legs, which were covered with her black panties.
Wayne and the crew were looking at all that, still wondering how Max was able to land a woman like Frida. They acted even more crazy when, as the two of them were face to face, Frida licked Max's face, from his chin, all the way up to his nose, with her long tongue. And when Frida started twerking, a pair of eyes zoomed in to catch all that jiggling up close, only to have them pulled back by Wayne's wife, Janet, who then smacked her husband at the back of his head for doing that.😠😠😠😠😠
Everyone on the dance floor soon stopped dancing to watch Max and Frida go at it. And yet, none of them were able to figure out who they were, much less wonder why they were here. But when Maria showed up and started telling people that the guy they're all seeing dancing is Max Edwards, their immediate reaction to that was...
Finally, as the song was coming to an end, Max is holding Frida up by her side and legs, where the bottom part was level with the ground and her top leg bent at an angle. And when Max dropped down on one knee, he and Frida were kissing passionately.
And as the song ended, a loud noise ripped across the room. Led by Wayne, Janet, and the other former bullies, everyone was cheering Max and Frida for their awesome dancing. It was loud and continuous. Max and Frida were looking around, surprised that everyone was applauding them. Then, they all started chanting, "MAX, MAX, MAX, MAX..."
It was then, Max and Frida were looking at each other with smiles on their faces. They then hugged each other tightly, and Max looked up at the people cheering him with the most grateful look ever, as Frida gently kisses his face.
***
In the end, Max and Frida were the most popular couple at the reunion. A far cry from what Max had originally envisioned.
It's easy to look at the past, thinking nothing will change. But life has a way of fixing people's outlooks. One can be excused for believing people are all the same. But a moment here, and a discovery there, and soon people start seeing things differently. And at times, it's for the better.
For years since Max left high school, he was always thinking about getting back. Settling the score with those who hurt him. What would he have done if he had confronted his tormentors as an adult? Revenge can be such a powerful feeling for those looking to fix wrongs in their past.
But Max discovered something far more powerful than revenge. And that was forgiveness.
It was quite odd from Max's point of view to see his former tormentors throw themselves at him, asking for mercy for what they did to him. But, as he learned from Frida, people are capable of change, once they see the error of their ways and are genuine about it.
And it's that type of change that turns yesterday's adversaries into today's friends.
And from that, Wayne and the boys recreated their pose from high school - that got put into Max's year book, where Max was walking away in the background, after they pulled a cruel joke on him - to have their pictures taken.
Only, this time, Max joined in with them!😁👍