Okay, it's time for the "round robin" story! We'll do it a little different than usual. I'll start the story, then it's up to YOU to finish it. Let's see how far we can go by next Monday. All you have to do is read what the people before you have written and then CONTINUE the story! It'll be fun to see what twists and turns come about.
Anyone can participate. And everyone who participates will be entered in a drawing for a fun prize. I'll keep the story open through next Sunday, March 18th.
If you do not have a blogger account, you might not be able to post. I'm not sure. You can try to post a comment by choosing anonymous. Just be sure to add your name at the bottom of your comment, so I'll know who to add into the drawing!
You can participate as many times as you'd like during the week.
Okay, here's the story beginning. Have fun!
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Kendra Jackson took a deep breath before walking into the hotel ballroom to face her high school classmates from twenty years ago. She scanned the room looking for one person─Jim Chandler. Gazes turned her way, but she ignored them, as she floated across the room in her full-skirted black dress and Saks Fifth Avenue heels. Not a single person would know the truth─that she'd made her own dress and "borrowed" the shoes. She had a mission to accomplish, and she wanted to do it in style. In high school, she'd been the poor girl from the wrong side of town, the one most everyone shunned. Except Jim.
A few moments later, she spotted him sitting at a table with the other football jocks, cheerleaders, and spouses. Lifting her chin a bit higher, she steeled herself before taking the last few steps to invade their party. The conversation stilled. Ten pairs of eyes looked questioningly at her. Of course they didn’t recognize her. That was her intent. She forced a smile, hoping it looked sincere.
"Hello, Jim." She saw the moment he recognized her. The puzzled look gave way to a frown, then a huge grin.
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Jim rose from the table and walked to greet her, taking both her hands in his as he gave her a long, flattering appriasal.
"You look wonderful, Kendra," he said quietly, his eyes locked intently with her still nervous stare.
Turning up the voltage on her forced smile, Kendra offered a soft, "thank you" as she was led to a seat next to him at the table. Jim held her chair, then sat himself. He looked at the curious faces surrounding him. "You all remember Kendra Jackson, don't you?"
The smile froze in place. Of course they wouldn't remember her, except maybe as an object of pity and scorn. One of the former cheerleaders looked positively mortified as recognition dawned, and she tried valiantly to hide it by picking up her wine glass and draining it.
All around the table, the tension deepened, and faces smoothed into carefully cultivated politeness. They were remembering her now, and with the memory came other things. Things some of them would probably prefer not to recall. Things that were not nice, and reflected badly on them in their blissful pretence of happy, secure lives well lived.
Looking at them, Kendra felt a moment of pity, and wondered why she'd felt she needed to prove anything to them?
A gentle hand at her elbow dragged her attention away from the masks of the people at the table, and she turned to again look into Jim's sparkling eyes...
Denyse -- BTW, this is cool!!
... A pang of remorse caused her to falter. The last time she'd seen Jim, he hadn't smiled. His eyes hadn't sparkled.
Twenty years ago, after graduation, she'd left town because she couldn't face what had happened. She couldn't tell Jim the truth.
Chris said,
She pushed that thought aside. After more than twenty years of looking back and living with regrets, she was ready to live for the moment and at this moment; she was looking into a pair of magnetic eyes. Her pulse leapt with excitement, she could feel the heat from his body. As hot as she knew she looked, he felt hotter. The voice of reason tried to warn her about playing with fire, but she wasn’t in the listening mood.
She couldn't misinterpret the curiosity and mischief in his eyes, could she? After all, the men who'd come before had been mere practice for this moment--the moment that he would realize what he'd let slip away all those years ago.
A woman she didn't recognize stood and touched Jim's arm. "Darling, I don't believe Kendra and I have been properly introduced." Though she smiled, her eyes coldly appraised Kendra, sizing up her competition.
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