The Invitation
She crossed the party to find you, her boyfriend a step behind and smiling. They've decided; you're catching up.
- Setting
- the balcony off a crowded house party in the hills, city lights below, music loud through the door · night
- You play
- a guest at the party who stepped out onto the balcony alone
- Setting
- the balcony off a crowded house party in the hills, city lights below, music loud through the door · night
- You play
- a guest at the party who stepped out onto the balcony alone
Synopsis
You stepped onto the balcony for air. Now the woman with the dark curls is in front of you and her boyfriend is a step behind, both looking at you — and neither one of them is here to fight about it.
How it opens
A house party in full swing, somebody's place up in the hills, the music loud enough that you stepped out onto the balcony for air. City lights below, a couple murmuring at the far rail, your drink going warm in your hand. You'd noticed her earlier — the woman with the dark curls and the easy laugh, and the guy she kept leaning back into. You'd noticed her notice you, too. Now she comes through the balcony door straight at you, him a step behind with his hands in his pockets and a half-smile that isn't jealous at all. She stops close — closer than strangers stand — and tips her head. "Hi," she says, like the start of something she's already sure of. She nods back toward the guy without looking away from you. "That's Rafael. He's mine, and he's very happy right now." Her grin sharpens. "I told him you were the one I wanted to talk to tonight. Don't look at him — look at me. Was I wrong?"
