Miranda Wallace looked around at the scores of people surrounding her and wished, not for the first time, that she had chosen not to come to her tenth high school reunion. As usual, she was being treated as if she were invisible However, that was preferable to the other type of treatment she usually received from this charming group of people, which was to be cruelly teased and tormented on their two favorite subjects; her 'station', and the ten-year-old faux pas of having had a crush of the most popular and handsome guy in the senior class when she was nothing but one of the 'losers'.

            Miranda had come from the wrong side of the tracks as far as the majority of the students in her class were concerned, and with few exceptions, she had never been accepted by the group of people of which she had most wanted to be accepted. They were far too cliquish and snooty to allow the daughter of a waitress into their little club.

            "High school reunions... who needs 'em?" commented a masculine voice at her elbow. She turned to find a man who was so startlingly handsome as to knock the breath straight out of her standing there. He looked vaguely familiar, but for the life of her, she couldn't place him.

            He gave her a broad smile. "You don't recognize me, do you? That's understandable. I've changed a bit. This might jog your memory, though." He took a pair of heavy horn-rimmed glasses out of the inside pocket of his Brooks Brother's jacket and slipped them on.

            Recognition flooded into her. "Jordan Clark!" she exclaimed. "Good god, you've changed!"

            He laughed. "Yes, thanks in part to the miracle of cosmetic dentistry and laser eye surgery; the rest was just an act of nature."

            "I can't believe it!" she grinned. "The resident computer geek turned out to be a swan! You're simply gorgeous!"

            "And what a flatterer you've turned out to be, Randy! For someone who was as tongue tied as you always were in school, you're pretty articulate."

            She shook her head. "Who was there for me to talk to in school?" she asked.

            "Well, there was me, for one." he replied. "You're one of the few people in school who'd talk to me, either."

            She smiled. "I guess we were a matching pair of bookends, weren't we? But at least, they would talk to you occasionally." she remarked.

            "Only when someone needed help on a test or their homework." he replied. "The rest of the time, I was too much of a nerd for them to associate with."

            Behind him, Miranda could see three of the girls who had continually snubbed her looking in their direction and talking animatedly. She could guess what they were talking about.

            "Don't look now, but I think that's about to change. Looks like the Barbie triplets have zeroed in on you."  

            He made a face of distaste. "God, I certainly hope not. They were always like a trio of piranhas, and even if I had been the most popular guy in school, I wouldn't have been interested in them!"

            "Brace yourself." she whispered in a conspiratorial manner. "They're coming this way, and they're all teeth."

            "Damn!" he swore, but winked at her.       

            The three girls, Melanie Powers, Greta Truman, and Stephanie Norton all looked as if they played tennis at a country club, and spent most of their weeks working on their tans at a salon, even in high school. None of that seemed to have changed, except they were ten years older, and apparently, still on the prowl. None of them wore wedding rings.

            "Why, Miranda Wallace! Fancy meeting you here!" Melanie trilled with false cheerfulness. She had always been the ringleader of the group.

            "It's a high school reunion, Mel." Miranda replied somewhat sarcastically. "It's for people who went to our school. Even the ones you didn't like."

            Melanie had always despised being called Mel, and the fake smile pasted on her face told Miranda that had not changed.

            "Well, my goodness, you seemed to have developed quite a little wit there, Miranda." she replied flippantly.

            "Oh, Mel, I'm afraid I've only reserved half of my wit for you." Miranda observed casually. "That's all you need."

            The smile on Melanie's face became even more frozen, and Miranda could see that Jordan was struggling desperately to contain his laughter behind his hand.

            Melanie gave a small, tight laugh. "Very clever, Miranda." she said. "Why don't you do the polite thing and introduce us to your handsome friend."

            "Gosh, Mel, I guess that all that Miss Clairol has damaged your eyesight. Don't you think, Jordan?"

            Melanie swiveled her head to look at Jordan, peering at him as if he were a new species of bug.

            "Ha, ha, Miranda!" she shot back, flipping her long blonde hair back off of her tanned face. "Jordan Clark indeed! Jordan Clark was the biggest dweeb in school, and I'm sure we'd all recognize him without a problem --"                

She suddenly stopped, speechless, as Jordan pulled out the glasses once more and put them on. Those glasses had been the butt of more than one joke, and she recognized them immediately.

            "Nice to see you again, too, Mel...." he remarked. " Maybe you need these more than I do."

            Angry and embarrassed, she whirled away and left, leading her posse away. Miranda and Jordan both broke into peals of laughter. When their merriment finally subsided, Jordan grabbed her and gave her a resounding kiss.

            "My, god, Randy, that was the most fun I ever had with any of those guys. And I thought I'd choke over that half wit remark. What have you been doing that has sharpened that tongue of yours? Ten years ago, you would have choked on it if Melanie had said something like that to you!"

            "I'm part of the writing staff for the Terry Potter show." Miranda replied.

            "You mean that comedienne who does all the blonde and political humor?" Jordan asked.

            Miranda nodded. "That's her. Working with Terry has been a very liberating experience. She has one of the most acidic tongues in the world. Coming up with zingers that can match some of hers has a tendency to make you fast on your feet with them. What about you? What are you doing now? Whatever it is, from the looks of that suit, it must pay pretty well."

            "Have you heard of NetSet?"

            "The Internet B to B that went ballistic on the stock market and made the partners millionaires almost over night?"

            He nodded. "I'm one of the partners."

            "Ohmigod!" Miranda exclaimed. "That's incredible, Jordan! So, the computer geek hit the big time? That is just so cool!"

            "Yeah, it is pretty great. Listen, if you've had enough of hanging around this bunch of losers, how 'bout coming with me to In-n-Out for a double double?"

            "Geez, are you still hooked on those things?" Miranda asked with a giggle.

            "Best cheeseburger in the world." he replied, offering her his arm.

            "Why not?" she said. "Let's go celebrate the frog turning into the princess, and the ugly duckling turning into a rich swan."    

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