PRT 409- Reunion Part 1

It’s hard to believe that it’s 2010.

New Year’s Eve was actually pretty fun. Rocky and I spent it at my mom’s house with her and Dean. Charlie had finally gone home and Zack had as well. It was a nice, quiet night at home…at midnight we drank wine and I had my New Year’s kiss. I enjoyed myself. The weekend that followed was equally as low key. I spent a lot of time with my mom. We watched the final three episodes of Zack show. There was this one scene where he was sitting on a bed in boxer-briefs.

“Should I be disturbed that I find that kinda sexy?” I asked.

“Michelle Pauline Morris, that is your brother!” Mom cried.

“I’m aware.”

“To answer your question, yes, very disturbing.” Rocky said as he walked in the room.

I made a face, “Yeah, you’re right. Ick.”

“Can we please watch the show?” Mom asked.

“Yes. Sorry.”

Anyway, January 4^th finally came around and that meant I had to get back to the real world. I woke up at 5:30 to pack up the car. Once I got everything loaded up I went to find my mom.

“Mom, I’m heading out.” I said.

“Already?” Mom asked.

“Yeah, I need to be at the studio by 8:30.” I said.

“OK, well be careful.”

“I will. Thanks for letting me stay here.”

“Sweetheart, you’re always welcome here. This is your home.”

“Thanks Mom.”

“I love you Baby Girl. Please be careful out there. You know what the road can do to a person.”

“I’ll be fine. I love you too.” I said as I hugged her.

Rocky walked down the stairs with his duffle bag.

“You heading out too Rocky?” Mom asked.

“Yes ma’am. Thanks for letting me stay.” Rocky said.

“Oh, you’re family, you’re always welcome.” Mom said hugging him.

“Thanks.”

Rocky and I walked out together. He threw his bag in the back of his Jeep then walked over to me.

“You be careful out there.” He said as he pulled me into his arms.

“I will. I promise.” I said.

“OK. I’ll see you at the LA appearance. I promise to be there.”

“Awesome. I’ll see you then.”

“OK. I love you.”

“I love you too Rock…more than you’ll ever know.”

We kissed then he got in his Jeep and I got in mine and we each headed in our own direction.

I finally arrived at the LA studio I’d be working in for the next week. The mall tour with the PH cast started the following week and so this week would be intense rehearsal. I walked in and found my two backup dancers and choreographer waiting for me. I did not want to perform these songs, let alone sing them over and over and relearn dated choreography. I sighed.

“Let’s get this party started.” I said.

And so I spent the next week doing pretty much nothing except rehearsing…with the one exception of filming. The show I was on had been cancelled, but it would be September before it actually went off the air. I had a small storyline coming up, due to Paolo leaving the show so I had filming to do. It was the most I’d worked in quite sometime…at least consecutively. With recording and writing I kinda got to do it at my own pace. This was really hard work. I was so sore from the dancing. I hadn’t done that much choreography in awhile. My Vicodin helped with the soreness though. It was an intense week.

The next week is when the real fun began…the tour itself.

Day 1- San Diego, CA

I met up with the rest of the cast at the bus depot we were leaving from. We had two buses to share. Zack, Kelly, and I were on one and Jessie, AC, and Lisa were on the other. Our first stop was San Diego. It wasn’t a long drive from LA…just a couple of hours. The rest of the tour would be much more driving. Anyway, we got to the hotel and checked in. I actually got my own room, which was nice, not to mention a departure from back in the day when Kelly and I shared a room on mall tours. Now Kelly and Zack were sharing a room…which made sense considering they were married. Lisa and Jessie shared a room and AC and I each got rooms of our own. I settled into the room…which pretty much meant just dropping my bag on the floor and falling back on the bed. We were only staying one night here so there was no need to unpack anything. I decided to take a quick half hour nap then there was a knock on the door. It was my make-up and wardrobe people. Since there was no dressing room at the mall we had to get ready at the hotel and show up at the mall ready to go. Normally I’d turn away make-up and wardrobe and insist on doing it myself…however that was only because I was always worried about my communicator going off in front of someone. Right now I didn’t have to worry about that since I was neither a Ranger nor a Solider.

“Pigtails?” Karen, my stylist, asked.

“Not if you want to keep your job.” I said.

“So what do you want?”

“My normal hairstyle. Use a straight iron. No barrettes, no pigtails…and Lydia, no jumpers.” I said as I looked over at the wardrobe girl.

“I thought the idea was to recreate mall tours from ‘PH’.” Lydia said.

“No, the idea is to do a mall tour with the cast. It’s a reunion, not a revival. I’m not 12 anymore. Jeans and a t-shirt will do just fine.” I said as I noticed a pretty purple camo shirt hanging on the rack Lydia brought in, “I like that shirt.”

“Ma’am? It’s just an old camo shirt. Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“OK, I’ll iron it for you.”

“Thanks. Karen, is the flat iron ready yet?” I asked.

“Yes ma’am, let’s get started.” She said as she started to brush my hair.

When I was ready I went to the limo. We were all taking one. When we were all in we headed for Fashion Valley Center, the single nicest mall in San Diego. I’d shopped there before when I was on tour and I loved it.

“You guys ready for this?” Zack asked as we drove.

“Yeah, I guess. This is weird.” I said.

“Not for me. It’s like a flash back, but it’s comfortable.” AC said.

“I guess.”

“She’s just used to being a solo artist.” Lisa said.

“She always did wanna be the star.” Jessie agreed.

“Ok, I’m not the same bratty 12 year old. Chill.” I said.

“She’s right. She’s come a long way.” Zack said.

“Thank you.”

We arrived at the mall and security got us under the stage. We waited there until we were announced.

“It is the honor of Fashion Valley Center to present a cast that changed the face of teen television forever. Their show revolutionized the way teen shows were approached and filmed. Please help me welcome the cast of Palisades High…Jessie Spano, AC Slater, Lisa Turtle, Kelly Kapowski-Morris, Michelle Morris, and the one and only Zack Morris.” The mall manager announced as we each walked on stage in turn. The first thing we did was perform two songs as a band then we took seats at a panel table that was set up for us.

“Thank you so much for joining us today. I know speak for the whole cast when I express how incredibly overwhelmed we are at the support everyone continues to show the show after all these years. I never dreamed it would get as big as it was or that it would still be popular today. To show our thanks to our wonderful fans we are doing a small mall tour and this is our first stop. We want to give you, the fans, a chance to ask us questions so let’s get right into it.” Zack said.

We had the mall manager in the audience with a mic going around and letting fans ask questions.

“Hi guys, it’s a dream come true to actually see you guys in person. I’m a huge fan.” The first girl said.

“Thank you. What’s your question?” Zack asked.

“It’s been years since the show went off the air. Before all the reunion stuff started were you guys staying in touch and have you remained friends?” she asked.

“I think that one is different for each of us. For me, of course I’m in constant contact with my wife and sister. As for the rest, AC and I stay in touch because he’s still my best friend. Kel does stay in touch with Jess and Lis so by default so do I.” Zack said.

“I think they all pretty well stay in touch. Admittedly I’m the worst. I have consistent contact with my brother and Kelly but I don’t keep in touch with the others nearly as much as I wish I could.” I said.

“Zack, your show recently got cancelled while Kelly’s is one of the biggest hits of the summer. Does that cause any tension?” the next fan asked.

Zack laughed, “No, of course not. This is the nature of the business we’re in. I was really disappointed about my show getting cancelled…I had a great time filming it and I thought the writing was first rate, but these things happen. I’m happy for Kelly. Besides, we have kids to think about. One of us needs to have a steady paycheck at any given time.”

“Yeah, Zack and I both actors so we know how these things work. We don’t let business affect our marriage.” Kelly agreed.

The next fan stood up, “Are there any plans for a proper reunion movie or anything?”

“Not at this point but that doesn’t mean it’s not something we’d do in the future.” Zack answered.

“AC, you’re the host of a tabloid show now. Is it hard to report gossip on your friends, like when Michelle was in the headlines?” the next fan asked.

“It is at times. I know Michelle was bothered by all the gossip and it wasn’t my favorite thing to do but at the end of the day it’s my job.” AC said.

“And on my end I realize that. I don’t like it, but I know he’s not the one following me around with a long lens.” I added.

“Michelle, you have been in the media a lot lately. Is any of it true?” was the next question.

“Um…some. Most of it is lies. My husband really annulled our marriage obviously, although the tabloids have printed a multitude of reasons that are incorrect. That’s really the only truthful thing they’ve reported. I’m not having an affair with Jon. We’re friends and that’s where it ends.” I said.

The next fan stood up, “Jessie, are you working on anything right now?”

“Actually yes. I’ve maintained a busy schedule with various movie projects and right now I’m working with MTV on a show that, hopefully, will help young women with self-esteem. I hope to have that on the air this year.” Jessie said.

“You all have done a few reunion projects but at all of them Screech has been noticeably absent. Does this have anything to do with his book?” asked the next fan.

We all looked at each other.

“Zack, you wanna take this one?” AC asked.

“Sure. It’s not tied to the book directly, although I think we’re all hurt that we published that. A lot of it is speculation and flat out untrue on his part. I think we’re all mature enough to realize it’s lies and it’s just his attempt to recapture what was. The truth is he’s drifted from all of us and none of us are really friends with him anymore and it just didn’t feel right to include him.” Zack replied.

I nodded, “He alienated himself from the rest of us and he’s been making lame attempts at cashing in on past success and the success we’ve had for years. I don’t think any of us trust him, let alone want to be around him.”

The next fan’s questions was, “Back when the show started, did you have any expectations and how do you feel about what it became?”

“I don’t think any of us had an expectations coming in.” Lisa said.

“Certainly not. Lisa, Zack, and I were on the original scripted show that ‘PH’ was based on and that show failed. Going into this we couldn’t have expected anything.” I said.

“At the time it was such uncharted territory and we were just kids. It was fun and it wasn’t until it blew up that we started to realize what this was.” Kelly added.

“Yeah, I think what it became surprised us all. We went from being normal kids to being superstars. It’s a big adjustment at that age.” Zack said.

“Was there any fighting behind the scenes that we didn’t see on camera?” was the next question.

We all laughed.

“All the time.” Lisa said.

“Yeah, we were a group of famous teenagers. Of course we fought.” AC said.

“I was the worst. I had an ego the size of Texas. I fought with everyone.” I said.

“She was the worst but we all had egos to an extent. It wasn’t something that could be helped.” Zack said.

“Any kid that rises that quickly is going to get some sort of an ego.” Jessie agreed.

“Lisa, what have you been up to since the show?” the next fan asked.

“Acting here and there. I work with various fashion designers. I have different projects that keep me busy.” She replied.

Anyway, you get the idea. After the Q&A, I performed by three song set then we signed autographs for just over an hour before it was time to go. We were ushered back to the limo and headed for the hotel.

“That turn out was insane.” Lisa said.

“Yeah, I expected a lot of people but nothing like that.” Kelly said.

“The fire marshal said he had to turn people away because the mall was at max. capacity.” Zack said.

“Wow. That’s crazy.” Lisa said.

“Eh, that just means we still got it.” I smiled.

Zack nodded, “And this is only the beginning.