Dates from Hell(48)

“Yeah right,” Claire muttered to herself unhappily. This was going to be the date from hell…or the double date from hell.

“Did you say something?” Kyle asked, catching her comment as he finished at the registration table and joined her.

Claire forced a smile, but shook her head as she reached for the name tag he was holding out. She accepted it, then froze as she saw it was a pin-on name tag.

Oh, this was bad, Claire thought faintly. In order to do the quick change between herself and Brad Cruise, Claire had borrowed a black satin strapless gown from Jill. However, she wasn’t wearing it now. She’d showered, done her hair and makeup, then donned the gown only to have Jill take a picture with her digital camera. They’d printed it, then Claire had used it to shape-shift into herself. That had been Jill’s idea and Claire had thought it brilliant at the time. It saved her having to worry about stashing her dress somewhere while she was Brad. Unfortunately, it also meant that Claire had nowhere to pin her name tag. There was no way she was poking it through her, her skin or her cells or whatever. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but it was part of her and she so wasn’t harpooning herself with a name tag.

“Do you need a hand? Shall I put it on for you?” Kyle asked, noting that she was still just staring at the pin.

“No,” Claire said sharply, then forced another smile and said more calmly, “No, I don’t want to put holes in Jill’s satin gown. Do they have stick-on name tags?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” He turned to the table to ask Maureen, swiveling back a moment later to say, “Apparently if you slide the label out of the clear casing, the label itself peels off its backing.”

“Oh, good,” Claire breathed and set to work taking the label apart.

“There we are.” Kyle smiled as she finished with the pin and slapped the label onto the black satin of her chest, which really was her chest, Claire realized, and hoped it wouldn’t hurt to peel it off.

“Shall we?”

Shrugging off the concern of removing the name tag, Claire smiled. She placed her hand on the arm he offered and allowed him to lead her into the reunion  . Once through the doors, Claire peered around at the tables set everywhere. They were covered with maroon-colored tablecloths and had silver and maroon centerpieces. These were the school colors, and most of the decorations carried them. With the lighting low as it was and all the decorations hanging about, it was easy to forget it was a gymnasium. Someone had decorated it with the same moonlight, stars, and heavenly aspect theme as at their prom some ten years ago.

“It feels strange to be back here, doesn’t it?” Kyle said with a wry smile.

“Yes,” Claire agreed and gave a small shake of her head as she peered over the people milling about, wondering who they all were. “I’m torn between feeling old because I don’t recognize anyone, and yet feeling like a teenager again. I’d almost expect old Mr. Hardwick to come marching up and ask for my book report.”

Kyle chuckled at her words, but frowned slightly as he peered around. “Everyone looks so different. Surely we haven’t changed as much as everyone else appears to have?”

“Maybe,” Claire said, peering at him. Kyle had aged well, growing into his looks and his body. He’d been much thinner when he was young, almost gawky. As had she, Claire supposed, but merely said, “Do you recognize anyone?”

“Not really. But there were a lot of—Oh, I spoke too soon. I do recognize someone.”

“Who?” Claire asked curiously, following his gaze.

“Magda Richardson at two o’clock and closing in on us like a shark,” he announced, then added, “I apologize in advance for any nastiness she may spew our way.”

“Why should you apologize?” Claire asked with surprise.

“Because Magda has gone out of her way to be rude to me and anyone I was with since she cornered me in the science lab in grade twelve and tried to trade kisses for help with homework. I refused.”

“Magda hit on you in high school?” Claire asked with shock.

“Yeah. But I think she just wanted help with her science project. Still, she wasn’t too pleased when I said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’ The few times I’ve run into her over the last ten years, she’s been sure to be rude.” He frowned. “Is that Ted with her? I thought he broke up with Jill because he was marrying some—”

“Magda was the ‘Ted’s wife lotto’ winner,” Claire informed him dryly as she noted the smug look on the man’s handsome face as they approached. Kyle, of course, hadn’t been privy to the news when Jill had shared it with her.