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Anna sets the cup down on the counter beside her and withdraws a sheet of paper from her folder. I glance at it, seeing a long list of handwritten questions along every single line. I fight the smile forming on my lips as she nervously clicks her pen.
“Okay, so…” Her eyes scan the paper. “Ready?”
I lean against the counter. “Fire away.”
She nods. “Your teeth.”
“My teeth?” I repeat.
“Are they naturally straight like that? Or did you have work done?”
I press my lips together, feeling a tad self-conscious. “I had a little work done,” I answer. “Not a whole lot. Just a few wonky gaps in the upper row.”
“Upper row…” She scribbles it down. “What was your SAT score?”
“I never took it.”
“ACT?”
“Thirty-four. But I cheated, so that’s not helpful.”
She looks up. “How did you cheat on the ACT?”
I smile, hesitating. “I, uh… told the girl sitting beside me I’d take her to prom if she let me sneak a peek at her exam book.”
She laughs. “Did you?”
“I did. She was fun. Nerds often are, if you give them a chance.”
“Well, that was sweet of you.”
“Eh, that story doesn’t really end happily,” I say. “I got wasted and left with the prom queen. She never talked to me again.”
Anna frowns. I shrug.
“Okay, moving on,” she says. “Are your parents still alive?”
“Technically, yes.”
She glances up but doesn’t push it. “Grandparents?” she asks instead.
“I think so.”
“You think so?”
“They disowned me,” I say. “So, I don’t really hear much.”
Her pen slows. “Really?”
“It’s a long story, full of woe and strife.” I wave a dismissive hand. “I have a brother that I still talk to now and then, but that’s it.”
Anna pauses, her face showing a bit of sympathy. “Any allergies?”
“Peanuts.”
She smiles. “Charlotte, too.”
“Charlotte?”
