Page 153 of A Duet of Darkness and Dreams

Next? How long have I not been paying attention?

“I’d like to call to the stage, musical artist, Dana Aldenberg.”

My heart does a triple beat in my chest. “Dana Aldenberg?” I whisper, sitting forward.

“You know her?” Dave asks.

“Know her?” I repeat, my cheeks pinching at the smile on my face. “I’m obsessed with her.”

“Isa!” my mother says a little too loudly. “Is that really Dana Raina?”

“Who?” Joel asks from across the table.

I turn to face my friends. “Just the biggest Disco star of the seventies. I can’t believe she’s here.”

My head whips back to watch as the Disco goddess herself walks across the stage in nothing less than exactly what I expect her to wear. A gigantic feathered headdress and an outfit that seems to scandalize most of the older folks in the audience. But damn, she looks flawless.

Stepping forward elegantly to the microphone she smiles. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.”

Something like a squeal escapes my mouth and I catch sight of Becks across the table who smiles brightly, her eyes twinkling at my excitement.

“I am honored to present the nominees for the next award of the evening—the award for best Memoir.”

The smile fades from my face. Oh god, it’s happening. Dana “Raina” Aldenberg is giving out the award for best memoir—my category—the whole reason we’re here tonight. I think I might throw up.

“Nineteen eighty-seven was an interesting year for memoirs,” Dana continues, “with books ranging from Olympic sports triumphs to touring with a rock band.”

Yup. Definitely might throw up.

“These five incredible memoirs are not only stories of an individual’s life, but are stories that teach us a lesson about life. A theme to ponder. Something we can take and use to shape our own futures. All of these authors have done that in their own unique and beautiful ways. Here are the nominees for best memoir.”

There’s silence throughout the room as Dana reads off the envelope in her hand. My whole body is shaking and blood ispounding in my head, my ears, my heart. My stomach is churning and the edges of my vision begin to darken as I glance around at the nervous faces of my friends and family. But then my gaze lands on Dave and he’s simply watching me with a soft smile on his lips and a sparkle in his eyes.

All of a sudden this becomes real. The fact that I might win an award from the Literary Association of America tonight. At first, being nominated was simply a fun thrill. I thought it would be a nice way to spend an evening with my friends and my parents who I haven’t seen in four months. To show them that all the bullshit I put them through moving away for college was worth it. But now that it’s here Iwantto win. I want it so badly that I can’t even remember the names of the other nominees as they’re said out loud.

“And the winner is,” Dana announces with a coy smile. “I’m with the Band, by Isabella Rodriguez.”

The noise explodes around me and the next thing I know I’m being scooped up in two muscled arms. “You did it, Izzy,” he says in my ear. “You won!”

I think I’m floating. It’s as if my feet don’t even touch the floor but I also can’t stop the voice in my head from screamingwhatever you do, don’t trip in front of Dana Raina.Next thing I know, I’m walking across the stage and enveloped into a hug by my musical idol.

“Congratulations, sweetheart,” she says, squeezing me tightly. “I was rooting for you.”

This is a dream. I’m surely dreaming. “You—You were?”

She smiles, gently cups my cheek with her palm then retrieves a beautiful glass statuette from the person behind her. Placing it in my hands, it nearly slips as I realize just how sweaty they are. With a gesture to the microphone, I turn and shakily take in the audience before me.

“Wow.”

I’m shaking so hard that it’s difficult to take a breath, but as I look out over the crowd I see Dave and the people I love most, and the rhythm of my heart steadies.

“This—Wow, this is such an incredible honor. I would’ve been happy enough just to have been in the same room as Dana Raina herself, so this is the cherry on top.”

There’s some scattered laughter and I swallow the nervousness in my throat.

“Thank you so much to the Literary Association of America for bestowing upon me what might be the biggest thrill of my life. When the opportunity to cover Carnal Sins’s first tour was offered to me, I had never been lower in my life. I had been blackmailed and betrayed, thinking I would never even get the chance to copy edit at a real newspaper let alone write a feature for a magazine—then later a book.

“I have to thank Harold Lewis. A man whose vision and work ethic for modern journalism is what has turnedEarworm Magazineinto one of the top entertainment magazines in the country in only eighteen months. He took a chance on me, a gamble that anyone would have told him was foolish, and I will be forever grateful for that. He’s been the best mentor and I’m very lucky to consider him a friend.”

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