The Record Scratch Romance

Falling

You blink at the handsome stranger. Did he just say what you think he just said? Anthony raises an eyebrow at you. "Y/n, is this your date?"

You glance at the man, who smiles without betraying anything else. You swallow. "Uh, yep, this here is my date."

Despondency flashes across Anthony's face. "Oh, that's nice. It's nice to see you, Ken."

"Nice to see you as well," Ken responds.

You furrow your brow. Ken wasn't the name he'd told you at the ice cream place. 

Deanna lets out an exasperated sigh. "Well then, are we going?"

"No thanks." The man places a cautious arm around your waist, doing his best to respect your boundaries as he tries to seal the deal. "Me and y/n have elsewhere to go."

"Oh, alright. Maybe I'll catch you two around," Anthony says.

"Yep, totally. Bye, Anthony."

You watch after him as he drifts of with Deanna on his arm. They were perfect for each other, the same class and level of beauty. What stake did you have in his claim?

"You could make it less obvious you like the guy."

Your attention turns towards Ken. You cross you arms. "You don't even know me."

"I know that your name is y/n, you work at Maladay's, and you have a thing for Anthony Bashire."

"Big whoop. Anyone could know that about me."

"Fair enough, I'm just proving what I do know."

You raise an eyebrow at him. "And why are you helping me by pretending to be my date?"

"I just figured you could use the help. I'm always free to play pretend."

Your heart pauses in your chest. Did he just say that to you? He grins at your baffled expression. "It's not like that. I'm just good at keeping secrets."

"It seems like it."

He glances at his watch and sighs. "You wanna head outside? This music is giving me a headache."

"What? Are we acquainted now?"

"Acquainted enough."

You stare at him for a moment and realize you have nothing else to do at the party but stand around now that you'd lost sight of Lisette. You let out a breath. "Fine, let's go."

You follow him down another hall to a balcony standing over and endless field of grass and trees, the space around them illuminated by the bright moon. 

"You're not Etherwoods royalty?" he asks.

"Not even close. Are you?"

"Nope. How'd you get invited here?"

"I'm friends with one of the people here who's a lot more royalty than me."

"Oh, Lisette?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I've seen you two around. It's still wondrous how you managed to become friends with her."

You raise an eyebrow at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't take it the wrong way, but social spheres here don't really float and intermingle."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." You look over him. "And how did you get in here?"

"A lot of people here know me."

"I've literally never seen you before today."

He gave a small laugh. "I move around a bit, what can I say? But me and some of the people here go way back."