Eight Years
Plot: Mallory meets up with Ava and Jasper at their wedding reception.
The reception area at the Mayflower Inn & Spa was beautiful, and Mallory couldn’t help but look around in awe as he entered, along with the other sixty-four guests that had left the church with him after Ava and Jasper’s wedding ceremony.
“Wow, they really outdid it with the decor!” Una remarked from behind him, startling him a little.
“They sure did,” he agreed. “Must’ve cost a pretty penny.”
“Several pennies, if you ask me.” she laughed, then excused herself to greet her fellow half-siblings from the Apollo cabin.
Mallory made his way to the bar, and stood there awkwardly while a few people passed by him. Several recognized him from camp and casually greeted him, to which he did the same, but still remained there - standing and smiling awkwardly, and waving at more people he recognized from camp - until he took a seat at a stool nearby, and ordered a drink.
He saw several people from the Aphrodite cabin walk past him - all dressed in the fanciest dresses and suits, as though they had just arrived from a photoshoot - and in between all of them was Drew Tanaka. He was quite surprised to see her, especially after hearing what had happened after he left camp, as her and Ava apparently had a huge showdown which caused a rift between their friendship. Mallory could only assume that she cleaned up her act after that, since she got invited to the wedding.
As she made her way to the dance floor with the rest of the Aphrodite siblings, they all let out an uproar of cheers as they saw the bride, and Mallory almost choked on his drink.
Ava was beautiful, and her wedding dress accentuated that. She looked as though she hadn’t aged a bit, and he felt as though he was back at camp. She still had that warm smile she’d use whenever she saw her friends, or anyone that crossed her path, and her contagious laughter rang across the room, making him remember how much he had liked her back then.
He let out a long sigh, and looked down at his drink, remembering his last year at camp again, and the look on her face after he called her those awful things, when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw Ava standing before him, smiling warmly at him.
“A-Ava.” he stammered.
Ava chuckled. “Mallory, it’s been so long!”
And she went in for a hug, which Mallory followed.
“Hey, uh, congrats! You’re married!”
“Thanks!” she smiled. “Hope you’re liking the reception?”
“Oh yeah, yeah, it’s great!” he exclaimed, taking another sip of his drink. “Never thought I’d be in such a fancy place like this!”
Ava laughed. “Yeah, Jasper’s uncle wanted to make sure we had ‘The Wedding’, you know?”
“Right.” he chuckled.
“Oh my, how long has it been since we last talked?”
“Eight.” he replied. “Eight years, I mean.”
Ava gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth in astonishment.
“No way!!! That long?! Oh my gods, it feels like yesterday that we were all training at camp!”
“Yeah.” Mallory nodded, laughing a little. “Time sure flies, I guess.”
Ava nodded in agreement. “So, what have you been up to?”
“Ah, well...uhh…” Mallory took a long gulp from his drink. “I...went to college, after camp…”
“Oh that’s great, what did you major in?”
“Computer science.”
“Wow, I didn’t know you were into that!”
“Yeah, but...I dropped out after a year…”
“Oh...well, you’re not the only one.” Ava chuckled.
Mallory raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
Just then, an old lady - which Mallory assumed was Ava’s relative - came up to them with a crying toddler, and Ava gently took him into her arms, wiping the tears and snot away from the little tyke’s face.
Mallory blinked. “Is that...your…?”
Ava nodded. “Yep, a lot has happened since camp.”
He stared at the two for a while, looking back and forth from Ava to her baby, until he let out a nervous chuckle.
“Wow, um - congrats, I think? Uhh--” he stammered. “Y-You’re a mom!”
“Yeah.” she chuckled, adjusting her son on her hip.
“Wh-What’s his name?”
“Ruben.” she smiled, and kissed her son on the cheek.
At that moment, Jasper came up to them from behind, gently placing his hand on Ava’s back, and giving her a light kiss on the cheek. Mallory’s hands were already sweating when Jasper finally looked up at him.
“Hey, man.” Jasper said with a smile, and extended his hand towards him.
Mallory awkwardly wiped the sweat off of his hand, and took Jasper’s, shaking it nervously, though trying desperately to keep his cool.
“You alright?” Jasper laughed after shaking his hand.
“Y-Yeah, yeah!” Mallory reaffirmed him. “Uh, congrats on the wedding, and the - uh - kid!”
Jasper and Ava exchanged glances with each other, before laughing awkwardly.
“Thanks…” said Jasper.
“Mallory, are you sure you’re okay?” asked Ava, looking very concerned. “You don’t seem like yourself.”
Mallory let out a deep sigh, and took a swig from his glass, finishing his drink.
“I’m sorry, it’s just….I can’t help but think about what I did to you at camp.”
“Mallory, that was so long ago, you even apologized!”
“I know, I know, but - I still think about it…” he trailed off. “And...I just feel so bad! Things just weren’t the same afterwards, y’know?
“And, I’m sorry I picked a fight with you, Jasper.” he said, turning towards him. “I was jealous, and acted in the worst way possible...I’m - I’m sorry, man.”
“That’s alright.” Jasper smiled. “We were, what, eighteen? People do dumb shit when they’re teenagers.”
“Yeah.” Mallory agreed, nodding his head. “And I’ve done the dumbest of dumb shit back then…”
“But what’s important is that you recognize that now,” said Ava. “And it’s helped you to become a better person.”
Mallory smiled. “I guess I...did change a bit since then...I’m not major cringe anymore - at least, I try not to be.”
“You’re doing great.” she smiled.
Just then, little Ruben started to cry again, and both Ava and Jasper immediately went to parent-mode, while Mallory stood there awkwardly watching them, unsure of what to do.
“Well, it was nice talking to you again, Mallory!” said Ava over her crying baby.
“Yeah,” Jasper agreed. “We should meet up sometime again!”
“That’d be great!” said Mallory.
And they both wished Mallory a wonderful night, as he congratulated them both on their wedding, and the newlyweds went on their way to soothe their crying child, while Mallory rejoined with Una on the other side of the room.