Per Contra Fiction Fall 2007: John Martin

From "Centerpiece"

"The party was scheduled to start around three. Henry waited till four to begin getting ready, bracing himself with a Long Island Iced Tea that he mixed in a sports bottle and carried around with him as he put on his clothes. On his way out the door, he suddenly remembered a way Laurie had looked at him once after he’d said something rude, and the pain of those feelings seemed a sentence of sorts, a judgment for crimes that no amount of penance could ever undo. With fanfare, she was saying goodbye—not to return for a year, perhaps even longer—and this was to be the party that would make it official.

How should he behave at such an event? Even to be gracious seemed a deception, an insult in fact—but if he sulked the whole night, he would never forgive himself." - Click Here to Read Full Story

Per Contra Fiction Fall 2007.