School Reunion

I got an unexpected phone call last night from a former classmate. He told me that they were organizing a small batch reunion this week. He was asking if I would be able to attend.

"It would be great to meet old classmates and friends," he told me. "Who do you keep in touch with? Maybe you can invite them as well."

I told him that I already had plans that night. He should have called sooner and I might consider attending the get-together.

He asked again, wondering who I still kept in touch with. I told him that everyone I know has either migrated to a first-world country or gone off the radar (keeping a low profile). I could call up our reclusive classmates and invite them, but I doubt if they would want to go.

From what I heard, this has always been a problem with our batch. Only a few people show up at reunions and school homecomings. Most of the organizers end up frustrated at the low turnover of people. I don't blame my former classmates, we were never really close as a batch. We had a lot of cliques and social circles, and many loners and misfits. But there was nothing (as far as I can remember) that tied us all together.

As we continued to talk, my mind drifted into this bizarre fantasy of what our high school reunion would be, if everyone in the batch attended. The intellectual elite would be seated on one table, next to the social butterflies. The basketball jocks and soccer jocks would be together, talking about their next game (or maybe about their new passion, which is golf). The other "clique-less" people would also be there (me included), alone or forced to sit together in a table.

I resumed our conversation, chatting about the time I got him into detention for a mistake I made. He was surprised that I remember something as trivial as this. As much as I like to attend reunions, I feel that I won't really connect with the people there. They still had their cliques and friends attending the party. My friends are somewhere else. They want to come together to remember the past. I still carry much of the past in my mind.

In the end, we exchanged numbers and promised to add each other at Facebook. He asked me (for the last time) come to the reunion. I told him that I'll try. He must have sensed my hesitation, but didn't force the topic anymore.