Luna had her head down on the desk when Jake walked into the clubroom. He chuckled and shook his head as he took his usual seat beside her. “I’ve got a grande hazelnut latte for Ace.” He said in his best barista impression.

She moved her head just enough to look at him with one eye. “Only a grande?”

“Sorry, kid.” He placed the coffee on the desk in front of her.

He watched as she wrapped her hands around the cup and pulled it toward her. It was still hot, but the walk from the campus Starbucks to the lecture hall they sat in now had cooled it enough that he didn’t have to worry about her burning herself. She gulped it greedily.

“Did you sleep at all last night?”

“Nope.” She set the coffee down and stretched, arching her spine backwards and nearly punching Jake in the face.

He ducked in time and smirked at her. “Nervous?”

“Too busy to be nervous.” She rolled her shoulders and sighed. “The file didn’t finish exporting until four this morning.”

Jake was alarmed. “What’s wrong with your computer?” The Luna he knew was crazy about keeping her computer in tip top condition. She ran monthly speed checks and deleted any files that were causing problems.

“Nothing. I just didn’t start the exporting proses until three forty-five.”

Jake shook his head in disbelief. “I hope the final touches were worth it.”

The grin that spread across her face brought her life back. “So worth it.” She pulled out a flash drive and dangled it in front of his face. “Want a sneak peak?”

“We’re literally about to watch it.”

She shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

They chatted while the rest of the animation club trickled into the room. A few people wished Luna good luck on their way past. Some even brought her more coffees. It was not unusual for someone to not sleep at all the night before their showing.

By the time the club president arrived, Luna had downed four coffees and was bouncing in her seat from the caffeine. Yup, that was the Luna everyone knew and loved.

The president drew the club meeting to order by dimming the lights. “We are gathered here today,” He began solemnly. “to view a short film by one of our own. Luna Ace.”

Everyone applauded as Luna got up and plugged her flash drive into the computer at the front of the room. The projector hummed to life and she hit play.

Jake watched, grinning. He loved Luna’s work. Her art style was different, simpler from most professional studios. It worked with the story she had come up with, a tale of a young boy who would rather play dress up than soccer baseball. Luna loved stories like that.

Jake recognized all the voices in the short film. They were all Luna’s friends from her theater classes. He had met them, and was even considering a few of them for his own project. Not that he was anywhere near ready to start recording dialogue. He was new to animation, and wasn’t happy with anything he had made so far.

When the film ended and the credits started to roll, the club applauded. Jake was loudest of them all, impressed by Luna’s work.

He stopped quickly though. The song Luna had used for the end credits made him want to silence everyone else as well.

It wasn’t Jen, although he could tell it was meant to be the boy from the film. It was close, but it had a different quality from Jen’s voice. He couldn’t quite name what that quality was, but it was special.

He sat perfectly still, studying the song with his ears and the credits with his eyes. He waited patiently for the sound credits, his eyes darting over the pieces she had gotten from royalty free websites.

There. ‘Identity’. Written by Amy Sheffield. Produced by Luna Ace. Copywrite 2017.

But… There was no ‘Performed by’ line.

Jake stared blankly as the file ended. The club president congratulated Luna and everyone cheered for her. Then she was returning to her seat and the president was starting a discussion.

“What did you think?” Luna whispered.

He slowly turned to her. “Who performed that song in the credits?”

He expected her to get flustered about accidentally leaving out a line. It wouldn’t have surprised him if she ran from the room to go fix it immediately and he had to chase after her to get his answer. That would be a Luna thing to do.

But instead, she held a finger to her lips. “It’s a secret.”