Until the Stars Go Down

chapter three

                 "No."

"Ugh." A pause. "Come on, I promise we'll have a lot of fun."

"I see." Jackie's lips purse in mock contemplation before she speaks up again. "No."

This time, Lexi turns to me with a pout. I roll my eyes and fill her half empty glass with water. "Nova, can you please try and talk some sense into Jackie? She's being a bitch. Again."

With a self-pitying sigh I look at Jackie whose eyes are stuck on my uniformed figure, glaring. I regret it already, and I haven't even begun yet. I take a step back and start, "Babe, it's just a few hours. I'm sure Dev will be fine with the prospect of a double date with your roommate and her girlfriend."

The word babe softens the blow but only by a touch. Her glare shifts into a discerning scowl. "How many times do I have to tell you guys? Dev and I are not together, we just fuck each other occasionally." She pauses for a second. "I am just a booty-call to him and he's -- well, he's just a booty-call to me, too."

Lexi snorts. "That doesn't stop you from fantasizing a happily ever after with him." Her nose wrinkles up. "I really don't understand you straight people. It's very clear you both like each other, why don't you just cut the crap and get together already?"

"Because, Lex, life isn't a fairytale," Jackie snaps, clearly annoyed with Lexi's bombardment. "And besides, Dev has made it clear a bunch of times that he has zero interest in dating. He thinks the whole concept of dating is — "hocus-pocus."

I frown. Dev and Jackie have been each others' booty-calls for almost three years now. It all began in freshman year, when the two swiped right on each other on a dating app I couldn't be bothered to learn the name of. A late-night hookup later, the two had the talk — wherein they discussed how they were both not looking for anything serious at that point in their lives. But it has been thirty months since, and I'm affirmative that Jackie's feelings toward Dev have drastically changed. I have noticed the glow in her eyes whenever his name's brought up in a conversation, I have noticed the way she blushes whenever he passes her by. And that's the thing — Jackie never blushes.

"Nova?" I hear my manager, Jem, call and I step away from my friends' booth. Sparing a single glance at Lexi and Jackie -- who both look heavily annoyed with each other -- I raise my hand and do a silent finger-salute. Jackie's eyes narrow infinitesimally at my less-than-mature manner of greeting but she stays silent, otherwise. Lexi grins at me and finger-salutes back.

The two could not possibly be more polar opposites than they already are.

When I reach the counter, Jem shoots me a tired smile as she slides me a tray of two BLT sandwiches and sugary drinks. Jemila Aden has been my manager ever since I started part-timing at Urbania. Just outside the UCI campus, this trendy diner has become one of the go-to spots for the students. It has been in business for almost thirty years. Jem took over for her parents a few years ago, who after hitting twenty-five years, decided to finally take time off and have been living a quiet life in rural Hawaii ever since. Being a daughter of first-generation immigrant parents, Jemila has definitely adhered to her parents' work ethic and is currently looking to expand their business by trying her hand at a few more diners.

My admiration for her doesn't stop at her diligence, it barely starts there. She decided to hire me despite my lack of experience in the waitressing department and gently guided me through the process. She's one of the major reasons I am a bearable waitress.