Valo stared incredulously at the envelope, then back at the paper that had been kept inside of it. She let out a brief, almost hysterical-sounding laugh, her fingers gripping the paper so tightly that it crumpled and even tore in a few places. For several seconds she stood there, seemingly unable to control herself. Then, as quickly as her laughter had started, it stopped. She set the paper aside and flopped onto the sofa, shaking her head at the idea.

“This has to be some kind of joke,” she muttered to herself. “It has to be. There’s no way I’ll be able to control myself if this is for real.”

But, she thought, how do I know if this is for real? This is private, by invitation only, and considering who it’s for… well, there’s only a few people who would have also received notice. Briefly, she ran through a mental list of possible people to contact for verification. Ophelia, Charise, Jade… and I’m sure there’s a few others I’m forgetting. I bet one of them got one of these, too.


Ophelia crumpled the paper and hurled it into the wastebasket, scowling. She gave the wastebasket a dirty look, as though it had just turned into her worst enemy, then gave it a brief but sharp kick.

“I can’t believe it,” she hissed, biting her lip. Her eyes were narrowed with fury. “Even when the b*****d is dead, he still tries to creep into my life. Well, you better believe I’m not going to be saying anything nice about him at that damn memorial service!” She gave the wastebasket another kick, for emphasis. She panted, as though she had run three miles, and kicked the wastebasket several more times, growling, “I can’t believe this is happening! I thought he was out of my life for good once he died! Why the hell does my past have to keep coming back?”


Charise read the paper, then re-read it to make sure that she hadn’t missed a word. She hadn’t. What a crazy thing, to ask me to come to something like this, she mused. I haven’t seen, much less dated, the guy in ages. Why would they want me to come to something like this? She shook her head. It’s a celebrity thing, she decided. I’m the daughter of a celebrity, and it’s always a big deal when a celebrity or celebrity’s kid is involved with big-money people, even when it was years ago. That’s got to be it. I hope.

She sighed and dropped the paper onto her desk, then lowered her head into her hands. I hope that’s all it is, she thought. Then, another thought occurred to her. I’m probably not the only one who was invited, she realized. Lia… I bet she was invited. Probably Jade, too. Maybe… maybe even Valo!

Charise sighed and shook her head. “This is not going to end well,” she murmured.


“This is a joke,” Jade said, to no one in particular. She ran her hand through her hair, mussing it into a wild tangle. “It has to be. This can’t be right.”

She sank onto the couch and stared off into space. I know he died… but… she thought. But… but I thought… I thought I wouldn’t have anything else to do with him. I was sure of it. And now, this. I don’t know what to do. I thought when we ended things, that would be the end of it. No more dealing with him, no more being connected to him. So… so, why…

“Why was I invited?” she cried out. “Why was I invited when I still hate that man?!”