Fullest Heart

Lincoln High, Class of 1988 : The Reunion

Summary : At Lincoln High's high school reunion, Rachel caught a glimpse of high school years from her husband's eyes and soon learned how different his experiences were compared to hers. ONE SHOT.

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Lincoln High, Class of 1988 : The Reunion

Rachel felt like she just travelled back in time as she stepped inside the building of their high school - Lincoln High. Everything looked the same as she remembered it except maybe for the fresh paint job and dozens of additional features that didn't exist back then. She stood in the middle of the hallway - surrounded by student's lockers, and as she closed her eyes, she could already imagine herself back in high school. So young, clueless, and somewhat innocent in its own way.

Rachel loved her high school days, especially her glory days back in her freshman year - when she first joined the cheerleader team and found out what popularity tasted like. Those times were amazing. She became the most popular girl in school soon after she joined the team. Every girl in school envied her, whilst every boy worshiped the ground she was walking on.

She was almost like a celebrity here, not a single person in the school didn't know who she was.

She was 'The Rachel Green'.

She was that popular girl you'd seen in a movie. Beautiful, talented, and mean. Yeah, she wasn't really proud of the last one.

High school was overall an amazing four years for her and it felt good to be here today, reminiscing her glory days - her youth.

She loved her life right now, don't get it wrong- her life was perfect.

She was married to the love of her life and together they had three wonderful children, she couldn't have asked for a better life. The thing was, she also wasn't getting any younger and as she officially entered her 40s, a reminder like today - who she was in high school - somehow made her feel young again. Being back here brought out so many memories of her youth that she was almost convinced she was still seventeen as soon as she stepped inside this building. She felt so.. young.

"Would you look at that?" Rachel heard her husband's voice as he stopped his track to look at the trophy cabinet.

Rachel halted her steps, turning around to face the object her husband was looking at. Suddenly, a smile crept out of her lips. "State Championship 1886." Rachel smiled at the memory as she recalled that day vividly in her head. "Our team captain sprained her ankle during our rehearsal and our coach asked me to lead the whole team. I never led the whole team before and I remember I was so nervous, Monica dragged me to the restroom to calm me down."

Ross stared at his wife in awe, feeling proud because he knew exactly how that day ended.

"I never thought we'd ever won. I just wished I didn't screw the team, but then everything went perfectly - even better than we had ever practiced before, and suddenly they announced the winner. I was still stunned when they called out our name - still thinking that it must've been only my imagination, but it's not. We won that day. I guess luck was on our side."

"It's not just luck, it's you. You led the team perfectly." Their gazes locked and Ross could see the tears building up in the corner of her eyes as she reminisced about the past. He smiled, gently running his thumbs against the delicate skins of her cheeks. "I was there that day, Rach. Sitting at the bleachers, at the very back - watching you perform flawlessly on stage and you just blew my mind away."

"Thank you.." Rachel murmured, giving him a quick kiss. Their hands found each other and intertwined. "I really wish I did things differently in high school.."