Free The Boys Are Back in Town by Christopher Golden Page B

Queen rolled past in the back of a classic Mustang convertible. There were enough people trailing the car and walking alongside it that Will was able to slip across the street.
    “Hey, Marti,” he said happily.
    Martina arched an eyebrow. “You know, you're the only person in the world who ever gave me a nickname.”
    “Do you hate me for it?”
    “No. It's actually kind of nice.”
    She kissed him on the cheek and then the two of them turned to face the others. In high school, Brian Schnell had been sort of gawky and unkempt. His shirt was forever half untucked and his hair always needed combing. Childhood baby fat had lingered on him, giving his face a doughy look though he wasn't overweight at all. Adult Brian was still recognizably the same guy, but one look at him and all Will could think of was the bizarre alternate-universe episodes shown from time to time on
Star Trek
. Alternate-universe Brian dressed well and wore his clothes as if they'd just been pressed. He had a goatee and his black hair was well groomed. He was only twenty-eight, but he already had some gray in there.
    When he saw Will, his face lit up with genuine pleasure, as if someone had just told him a wonderful joke.
    “No shit. Will James,” Brian said, and he opened his arms.
    Will hesitated, but only for a moment. Once upon a time they had been the best of friends. It hadn't ended in any kind of obvious falling out, really. It had just sort of happened, the way those things did, the two of them drifting apart, finding they had less in common with one another and more in common with others.
    Still, that was what this weekend was about. Reconnecting with the people who had drifted away. So when Brian went to embrace him, Will hugged back.
    “Good to see you, Bri. How've you been, man?”
    Brian broke the embrace and held him at arm's length. “I've been good, Will. Really good.”
    “You look it,” Will told him.
    For just a moment, Brian's smile faltered. Will felt an unspoken communication pass between them, as though without words they had just begun a conversation about the death of their old friendship. It was awkward and surprising, since Brian seemed to have been so amiable at first.
    Then the moment passed. Brian's smile returned and he shrugged. “Time heals all wounds, they say. You look like you're doing pretty well yourself.”
    “Will!” a voice shouted, and he looked up to see Tim Friel riding in the back of a ragtop Cadillac with Tess O'Brien, who'd been Queen to his Homecoming King eleven years past. Other reunion class royalty rode by in various cars, all following the reigning pair.
    When Will turned back to Brian, Martina had him in conversation, so he said hello to Scott and Mia, catching up with them briefly. Then Martina abruptly broke off talking to Brian and stepped closer to put a hand on his arm.
    “We're going to head in. We're meeting a bunch of people inside. Do you want to join us?”
    “I'll walk with you,” he said, “but I promised Ashleigh I'd come find those guys when I got here.”
    The last of the parade had already turned into the Cougar Stadium parking lot and the road was filled with people moving toward the entrance. They all fell into the herd, waiting patiently and catching up while they did so. Mia was a buyer for a women's clothing store chain, working out of San Francisco. Scott was an engineer for some tech firm or another; Will had lost the name almost the moment he had heard it. Brian surprised them all by revealing that he worked for a major music label. Even Martina was impressed.
    Will had spent many afternoons in Brian's basement listening to CDs and hanging out, singing along and playing air guitar. He was proud of the guy for having turned his passion into his job. Like Will himself, and former-football-star-turned-coach Tim Friel, he hadn't accomplished all of his dreams, but at least he was pursuing them, doing something that made him happy.
    “Good for you, Bri. Seriously,