Page 11 of Serenade Me

“Say what?”

“Say I win.”

“Like hell. Like you could ever win, you manwhore!”

“Anca?”

I spin around and come face to face with one of the cellists from the band. I’d hoped to sneak out of here tonight without being spotted. But the manwhore foiled even that plan.

“Jez!”

“How come you didn’t come over to talk to me?”

“Oh, I was busy, trying to get rid of a creepy stalker.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the manwhore come closer, with his mouth open about to say something. Jez eyes him and then looks back at me.

“What? Who is it? I’ll get rid of him.”

“It’s okay, I can take care of it, geez.”

“Anyway, I’m so glad you’re here. Come say hi to everyone.”

“Wait, you know Jez?” The manwhore asks.

“Yeah, of course.” I roll my eyes.

“Yeah, man, duh. She’s Anca.” Jez replies, looking at the manwhore, confused.

Manwhore’s mouth drops open, and it’s almost worth all of the night’s aggravation to see how he’s going to react to what’s about to be said.

“You’re… Anca?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh my god. You’re Jez’s…” He starts.

“Sister,” I finish for him.

He stares at me, unblinking.

I lean in, stretch up on my tip toes and whisper into his ear, “Surprise.”