LHS Class of 01 Reunion '21

It has been about a year since Covid shut down places around the globe and the lockdown had changed the lives of many all over the world. But once the regulations had been lifted, many things changed. The same goes for the Lincoln High School class of 2020 and the upcoming class of 2021. The school had to shut down and the students had to resort to remote learning and because they couldn’t have prom or a in school graduation, the diplomas would be sent home. The class of 2021 would have some challenges but would make something work as they manage to return to class but under new guidelines. Mrs. Martin had retired after the 2020 school year ended and Mrs. Smith had stepped in as the new principal with the class of 2021 to be the first one to graduate under her. As for the class of 2001, their upcoming 20 year reunion is on a different track, but everybody made plans on going regardless. Keeping a distance and having masks are part of the guidelines until further notice and the school gym has not changed since the 15th reunion. So Mrs. Smith would have to do some quick thinking especially after realizing that the senior prom and the reunion were accidentally scheduled on the same day.

Megan stared at the tiny rectangular window of her laptop, the familiar blue glow reflecting off her glasses, while Joan's face appeared in crisp detail on the opposite side of the screen. The two longtime friends had settled into a familiar rhythm, their voices overlapping like a well‑rehearsed duet, and the conversation quickly turned to the upcoming high‑school reunion that loomed on the calendar like a bright, slightly intimidating star. “Can you believe it’s been twenty years?” Megan asked, half‑laughing, the memory of their senior‑year lockers spilling out in a cascade of nostalgic anecdotes. Joan, tapping a pen against her notebook, responded, “I know, right? I still have the old yearbook tucked away, and every time I flip through it I swear I hear the hallway chatter again.” Their words wove together a tapestry of anticipation, each detail about the venue, the dress code, and the guest list adding another thread to the growing picture of the night they were both eager yet nervous to revisit.

As the meeting progressed, the pair began to map out a strategy for ensuring that the reunion would be as smooth as possible, taking into account the many obligations that now crowded their adult lives. Joan pulled up a shared Google Doc, the cursor blinking at the top of a list titled “Reunion Checklist,” and she pointed out, “We need to confirm the catering by Friday, and I think we should ask the school to let us use the old auditorium for the after‑party; it has that nostalgic vibe we both love.” Megan nodded, her eyes flicking between the screen and her own notebook, and added, “Don’t forget to send out the RSVP reminders—some of our classmates are still on the fence, and a gentle nudge could make all the difference.” The conversation, peppered with the occasional chuckle over old inside jokes, was a vivid reminder of how effortlessly their teamwork had carried them through countless group projects back in their teenage years, now repurposed for a social event that felt both familiar and strangely new.

While they were finalizing the logistics, a new item entered their agenda: contacting Emily, the classmate who had become a hard‑working project manager at a downtown firm and whose demanding schedule often left little room for social gatherings. “Emily’s been swamped ever since she took that promotion,” Joan observed, scrolling through a contact list that displayed Emily’s name in a bold font, as if marking her importance. “She told me she’d be working late on Thursday, but I think we could catch her once she’s home—maybe around 7 p.m.?”