Nova Academy

Starlight Diner (Prolouge)

"So, what have you up to this week?" Connie asked after taking a long sip of her milkshake.

"Well, I haven't really told anyone yet but my therapist encouraged me to go to college." Steven shrugged off his jacket and smiled. "I'm pretty nervous, but I think I found one I've got a good feeling about. They accepted me almost immediately, I didn't even have to wait a full 48 hours."

His eyes skirted around the dinner briefly, trying to escape the yearning he was feeling. It was homey, with a thick scent of breakfast foods drifting from the kitchen that made his stomach grumble. A plump lady with curly red hair smiled warmly at him and he returned it.

His ex best friends hand twitched like she was going to reach for his, but instead she rested it flat on the table. Steven couldn't help but notice once again her new signature black nail polish and the royal blue accent nail. He'd never seen her with her nails painted before recently, but he liked it. "Hey, that's completely normal. Besides, you're almost what? 20 now? It's time to start trying to live as normally as possible."

"I'm 23. Almost 24," He raised a razzing brow. "You know that. Besides, I'm not sure 'normal' is in the forecast, Ni." He winced openly at his slip up. She seemed to be perfectly in control of herself today while he idiotically lost any sense of emotional self defense around her. She made him feel vulnerable. He didn't know if he liked that.

"Ni. Haven't heard that in awhile." A nostalgic smile washed across her face. She stirred her milkshake to melt it a bit more, it had become too thick for her to take even a sip. She tried again and her cheeks hollowed with effort.

"Damn." For the second time that evening, he almost facepalmed. Then again, how exactly was he supposed to respond?

'You weren't, you big dumbass.' His mind scolded.

"What?" She said innocently.

"You know what." He narrowed his eyes at the ebony woman and fought the urge to start thinking impure thoughts. 'Stars and Diamonds, Steven. Get ahold of yourself.'

Each meeting was becoming harder for them to avoid the conversation that needed to be had, but they were so much fun and every time they met they never failed to surprise each other whether it ended well, or with one of them storming out.

"Don't be a pervert, Steven." She sucked on the straw again, drawing it deeper into her mouth and hollowing out her cheeks once more. This time making searing eye contact.

He let it go. "So you're going to a new college too. So far," He dragged a bundle of silverware toward him and carefully unwrapped it, "That's all I know."

The woman shrugged, a bit of heat finding its way to her face. "I just... want to make sure I'm exploring all my options. I really like it there."

Something occurred to him. "Do your parents know?"

She choked a bit at that. "Oh God no." Realizing her mistake she quickly backtracked. "I-I mean, I will tell them!"

"Sweet, innocent Connie Maheswaren has a secret." He leaned back against the seat of the booth. Things were starting to get interesting. "I'm gonna find out, you may as well just tell me. I have friends everywhere."

"Is that how you found me?"

He flushed, the brief moment of fun ceasing. "That's not funny. It was merely by accident." It was mostly true, but she didn't need to know the 'mostly' part.

"Right." He could tell she didn't believe him as far as she could throw him and that irked him. "So what's the name of yours?"

"It's called..." He frowned a bit. "Shit. For the life of me I can't remember. There's not a whole lot of info on mine, but it sounds really exciting. It's just over in The Golden State."