Work in Progress - Sometimes Fanta Offers Good Advice...

Sometimes Fanta Offers Good Advice on How to Deal with Shade, But He Isn't Helping Tonight 

Marianne is in a mood.  Her latest boyfriend just broke up with her and she wants to throw a dinner party in a couple of weeks.  She's inviting the whole neighborhood and everyone we know.  But she hasn't figured out what she wants to do - buffet or sit-down dinner or take-out pizza. 

"Are there people coming or is this just us?"

Most of the time Marianne talks about parties, it ends up being me and her and nobody else.  She says people are coming, and they want to know all the gossip about George and Spain and before that, like what happened with his tattoo place. 

"Why are you having this party?"  And the other thing I'm wondering is what people she’s inviting, since she and Delucca aren’t speaking.  There's something different about the way she's going on about this celebration.  But then she says it's a surprise and she tells me she isn't sure if everything will work out the way she wants but she's having it anyway.  And this reminds me of Thanksgiving when Beast and I first started going out.  She had (what seemed like) the neighborhood over then too.

"Come up with your guest list, Vanessa," Marianne says.

But all my friends are here in my room.  They're helping Shade get ready for the prom in December.  At this point in the memory, one of Shade's friends says, "Do you have a scarf?"  They talk about bringing out the gold flecks in Shade's eyes, but it's to disguise a breakout even the wheatgrass, green tea, and chamomile remedy Shade read about online didn't fix.  Shade hasn't noticed the pimple on her nose yet.

I open my reader.  Fanta and Aphrodite are off on an adventure with Persephone.  It's hush hush.  I ask him a dozen questions about what he knows about Marianne’s party, about my ghost boyfriend Beast, but he doesn't say anything.  I start writing Marianne's guest list instead.   Who's coming and what's on the menu.  

So far it looks like this:

Vanessa

Marianne

George (Last I heard he's somewhere in Madrid, but he could show up).