Title: Past Reflections

Author: Leelee

Summary: A jaded Sarah Williams takes revenge on her high school classmates. Title from a Jackson Browne song. Not a songfic, though.

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The party was over. The cleanup crew had come and gone. No one was left. The gymnasium seemed so empty...save for one lost, lonely soul. A girl of average height, with long brown hair, slowly threaded her way across the room, past the locker room doors, past the basketball hoop, coming finally to a stop before the bleachers. There she stood for a very long time, just staring into space. It was obvious that she wasn't seeing the room she was in, with faded, chipping paint, cracked ceiling, and rough, stained wooden floor.

The girl was dressed simply, wearing only a pale pink dress and matching shoes. The dress had no ornamentation; it needed none. Her beauty was all that was required to accessorize her outfit. Full, pale lips, a rosy complexion, and warm, chocolate eyes...

Eyes that leaked tears of pain, tears of humiliation, down onto the front of her dress. She bowed her head, closed her eyes, and let herself feel every laugh, every snide comment, every little snigger aimed at her back. She remembered well how much she had been tormented these last few years. She had never really fit in, never really belonged to any one 'group.' And now she didn't care anymore. She had given up on the one thing that sustained her through all of the tortuous years of high school - hope. Hope that once it was all over, all done with...That once she had that diploma in her hand, it wouldn't matter any more... All that hope was gone.

Her eyes closed once more, and her head drooped down onto her chest. She could see it vividly in her mind. The entire scene playing over and over again... The principal about to hand her the ticket to freedom...One of her many bullies reaching up to take it from her... Her own hand stopping in midair, as she was unable to believe that still - *still* - they would not let her be. Continuous torture...neverending shame... .

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BANG!

In one second...it was over. She stood, victorious and triumphant at last. *She* had won. *She* had the last laugh. *She* had the final say...

And in a rush, the girl standing in the gym came back to herself. She opened her eyes, and looked around. It was still empty, still devoid of all life. Drawing a deep breath, she walked away, toward the twin doors, with the blinking EXIT light flashing over them.

As she placed her hands on the bar, Sarah Williams turned back for one more look at the scene of the crime. She allowed herself to smirk. Fools. As much as they tried, no one had been able to connect her to the tradegy that occurred here two months ago. No one knew that *she* had the last laugh...

The smirk broke into a full smile, as she recalled the looks on her tormentor's faces, just before the bomb went off underneath them.