Chapter Text
Ava is enjoying her egg white omelette with spinach and mushrooms on the way to campus when the car jerks to a halt. Her orange juice almost makes it past the rim of the glass before she reaches out and catches it.
“What’s wrong?” she rolls down the partition and sticks her head through to talk to Rip.
“I fear that we have stumbled across a traffic jam, Ms. Sharpe. I don’t know how long we’re going to be.”
Ava rolls her eyes and pulls her head back. They should have left earlier this morning, but she’d been reading last night and had trouble waking up. She’d even gotten scolded by her mother for lingering around the coffee machine. After mulling over her morning for a few minutes, she dials the university’s administration office.
“AFU administration, how can I help you?”
“Good morning, this is Ava Sharpe, junior, I’m calling to ask about the procedure of moving into the dorms during the middle of the semester, can you help me with that?”
“Of course, Ms. Sharpe. It’s customary for students to move into the dorms when they begin their studies, but I assume you requested an exceptional ruling from the school board in your freshman year? In that case, moving into the dorms won’t be an administrative problem, since the board can just dismiss the previous ruling.”
“Yes, it was granted to me based on my athletic performances. But now, I would like to put in a request to be moved into the dorms during Christmas break. I assume I need to fill in some forms for that, so if you could tell me where to pick those up today that would be great.”
“You can pick them up at the front desk at the Main Entrance, I’ll make sure they’re ready for you. See you in a few minutes.”
Ava locks her phone and closes her eyes, trying to convince herself that this is the right move. She doesn’t understand why her mother had insisted on keeping her at home when she started university. The tradition was to get shipped off, live in a shitty dorm and only return for Christmas and summer break. Living at home for two and a half years while attending classes at a college with on campus housing was… weird.
The car starts moving again, slowly. Rip tells her their ETA is 08:25, five minutes before classes start but still ten minutes past her usual arrival time. She’d have to hurry to class to make it in time. Ava Sharpe is never late.
She arrives at the entrance to the building at 08:26 precisely and realizes she’ll have to pick up her forms during the first break while speedwalking to her first class of the day, Applied Physics.
She gets paired up with Alex Danvers for their winter break project, which is convenient because Alex is extremely smart, and a really hard worker, and very sweet and helpful, and she smells great. Not that Ava cares about the way girls smell. She just has a sensitive nose.
“Hey Ava, can I have your number?”
Ava’s heart drops into her shoes and she’s pretty sure all the blood is sucked out of her face when she hears Alex’ voice.
“Wh-what?”
“I don’t know my schedule for winter break yet, Kara wants to go bobsledding or something, but I’ll text you as soon as I know so we can get together for the project.”
Oh, right. Ava extends her hand.
“I’ll put it in your phone, text me so I’ll have your number as well.”
After typing in her number and confirming, Ava hands the phone back to Alex and tells her she’s excited to start the project. Alex smiles at her and they separate to head off to their next classes.
She picks up the dorm transfer forms before she has lunch, figuring that the line in the cafeteria will have shrunk significantly by the time she gets there.
Her mom calls right as she’s about to take the first bite out of her spaghetti.
“Hi.”
“Ava, why did you request to be moved to the dorms?”
So much for a hello.
“This is something we should discuss as a family. You can’t just make these decisions for yourself. We will talk about this when you get home. What time is that exactly?”
“I have practice at 4pm, mother. I expect to finish around 6, so I’ll be home by dinner.”
“Your father and I have a dinner appointment with a client of his. Bennett will make you something, do you have any specific wishes?”
Ava rolls her eyes. “Whatever’s in the fridge is fine. Bennett doesn’t have to stay for me, I can order pizza or heat up some leftovers.”
“Nonsense. You need to eat well, especially after exercise. I’ll ask him to prepare a nice pepper steak for you. We will talk about your living arrangements tomorrow.”
“Okay, mother. Bye.”
Ava hangs up. She’s actually glad she doesn’t have to talk to her parents until tomorrow, it buys her some time to come up with a valid excuse as to why she wants to move into the dorms.
‘Making female friends’ isn’t exactly going to cut it. Her parents have expressed their suspicions about Ava’s sexuality before, and she’s been working very hard to deny them any possibility to doubt her even more.
No, she’s going to have to come up with an academic reason for this. She can’t concentrate during the hour long car ride, which means two hours of productivity lost each day. That’s ten hours a week. And next semester is going to be very busy with projects. It’ll be easier to just live in the dorms when she has to meet up with classmates every day, instead of making Rip wait for her. And it’ll teach her to be independent to prepare for her Master’s degree at an Ivy League University, which her parents still think she’s going to apply for.
After working this out in her head, Ava realizes her spaghetti has cooled down to a lukewarm temperature. She eats as quickly as possible without staining her button up and reads the text Alex sent her.
Unknown Number // Howdy, partner.
There’s a cowboy emoji attached to the text.
Ava Sharpe // Are you from Texas?
Alex Danvers // I’m not. I saw you scrolling through your playlist the other day. Didn’t peg you for a country fan, but don’t judge a book by its cover, I suppose.
And then:
Alex Danvers // I promise I won’t be Mean (Taylor Swift - Speak Now [2010]) about it.
Ava actually smiles. Apparently Alex is kind of a dork.
Ava Sharpe // Alright, you got me. Let me know when you’re free to work on the project. I’m moving to the dorms during Christmas break, so I’ll be busy the first day, but I’m free every day after that except for actual Christmas Eve and Christmas itself.
Alex Danvers // Kara and I are taking a trip to the mountains during Christmas so that’s fine. I’ll be here the rest of the break. Do you need help moving in? Which dorm are you going to be in?
Ava Sharpe // It’s alright, my overweening mother will probably hire a bunch of professional movers to get all my stuff here within a day and then I just have to organize it the way I want it. I haven’t actually completed the procedure yet so I don’t know which dorm it’ll be, but I’ll let you know.
Alex Danvers // Alright. Let’s meet up on Monday so you have the weekend to get settled and we’ll discuss what we’re gonna do for the project!
Ava Sharpe // Sounds good. See you soon!
After her last class of the day, Ava grabs her riding gear out of the trunk and gets into the car. Rip says hi to her before closing the partition and driving off towards the stables while she changes in the back of the car. Getting into her breeches while in a moving car is always a bit of a struggle, so she ends up awkwardly hopping around the parking lot while pulling on the waistband to straighten them out when they arrive.
She politely greets everyone she encounters on her way to the stables, even the people she’s not familiar with. They all know who she is. When you’ve won four consecutive national championships, every horse girl in your area knows your name.
She notices that some of the little riders must have snuck into the stall when the horse was being saddled and tacked, because Beebo’s tail has been braided, tied with a bright blue ribbon. She grins. She doesn’t mind the kids braiding his mane and tail, as long as they don’t overfeed him with treats.
Two hours later, she hops off his back and stretches out. Her body feels sore, more so than usual. She really shouldn’t make a habit out of going to bed late.
She slowly walks Beebo back to his stable and gets one of the stable girls to unsaddle him. Usually, Ava spends less time with him on weekdays, since her days are already crammed full, but today, she doesn’t feel like rushing home. It’s not like anyone’s going to be there anyway. She takes off his bridle, looping it around her shoulder, and gives him a treat.
“Hey big man.”
He snorts and bumps his nose against Ava’s shoulder. Smiling, she reaches up to scratch behind one of his ears.
“When I move to campus we’re gonna see each other a lot more, I hope. I won’t have to drive all the way home after practice. I should tell mother that, too.”
Beebo blinks at her. Ava knows it’s preposterous, but it really does feel like he understands.
“Alright, I have to go now, Bennett is probably waiting to start dinner so he can go home. Goodnight sweetheart.”
She kisses his nose and leaves.
The drive home, as always, is slow. 6pm is not a great time to travel anywhere by car. Ava pulls out one of the hidden tables and gets most of her classwork done in the hour and a half it takes them to get to the front gates of the manor. She’s greeted by Bennett when she opens the door and immediately feels guilty. He really didn’t have to stay for her, she’d told him numerous times, but he always obeys mother’s requests.
“Ms. Sharpe, dinner is almost ready, would you prefer to wait or shower in the meantime?”
“How many times have I asked you to call me Ava?” They smile at each other. “I’ll take a quick shower. How long until you’re done?”
“As long as the shower takes, Ms. Ava.”
She playfully rolls her eyes. “I’ll be down in 20 minutes.”
She’s starving by the time she goes down the stairs and finishes her plate off in less than fifteen minutes. Bennett seems impressed.
“I’ll take care of the kitchen, you go home. You’ve been waiting for me long enough.”
“It’s not a problem Ms. Ava.”
“Go see your wife! I am ordering you to leave!” She grabs his arm and pretends to drag him to the front door.
“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?”
“Yes! I’m 22 years old! I can take care of myself for three hours!”
He kisses the top of her head and grabs his coat.
“See you tomorrow, Ms. Sharpe. Goodnight.”
By the time her parents get home, Ava is upstairs in her bedroom. She’s checking whether she’s done all her homework for tomorrow and getting a head start on the homework for the day after. She’s probably going to be busy after practice, convincing her parents to let her move out. She hears them open the front door and call her name.
“I’m upstairs!”
She hears her mother’s heels click on the steps. God, why must she suffer like this. The door to her room opens. Ava wonders when her mother will be introduced to the concept of “knocking” as she turns around to face her.
“What are you up to?”
“Taking care of uni stuff.”
“How was practice?”
“Pretty good. They braided Beebo’s tail. It looked cute.”
“We’ll get a professional to do it for the next competition. I don’t want those stable girls messing up your chances with their uneven braids.”
Ava turns back and rolls her eyes so her mother doesn’t see, deciding not to engage any further.
“Goodnight, mother.”
“Goodnight.”
The conversation about moving to campus the next day goes both worse and better than Ava expected. Her parents were more upset about it than she’d thought they would be; her mother even appeared to be genuinely emotional. However, after she explained her reasoning, they ended up somewhat agreeing with her, specifically on the topics of time management and preparation for her Master’s.
There is one big problem, unfortunately. Her mother insisted she won’t have a roommate. Ava knows it’s because of her, charitably phrased, homophobic tendencies, but her mother made up an excuse about her not needing any more distractions from her busy life. Knowing when to compromise, she agreed and didn’t press the matter.
*
So on the first day of her winter break, Ava is standing outside her parents’ house. She only ended up packing a couple of boxes of clothes, because her mother insisted on buying her a completely new set of furniture for her dorm. Ava had tried to explain that she could just take the furniture from her room, but her mother seemed to be under the impression that Ava would still be spending a significant amount of time at home. Oh well, at least she didn’t immediately turn it into another guest bedroom.
Her dad helps her pack all the boxes into her brand new car. She wanted a Jeep, but her request was met with a scoff and several comments about not having a daughter driving around in a lesbian car. She’s going to miss Rip, but it really is more convenient for her to drive herself to practice and back to campus every day. Her parents even offered to pay for gas, which just means they’d add another $150 to her monthly ‘allowance’.
When everything is packed, her parents both hug her.
“Bye mom, bye dad. I’m gonna miss you.” It’s not even a complete lie.
“We’re gonna miss you too, baby. Good luck. Don’t do anything stupid that ruins your career and you can always call us if you need us.”
“Or just move back home.”
“I know. I gotta go now.”
They let go. There’s a single tear on her dad’s cheek. Ava fights the urge to raise a questioning eyebrow.
“We’re proud of you.” How ironic.
She gets in the car and waves to her parents before driving off. It only takes her half an hour to get to campus without rush hour traffic, but it takes her another fifteen minutes to find the parking spot for the dorm buildings. Rip always just dropped her off at the main entrance, so she hadn’t actually explored most of the grounds and had no idea where everything was. It doesn’t help that most of the signs on campus have been vandalized in some way or another. Luckily, she’s a good navigator.
She decides to find her actual dorm first, before unloading the boxes. It seems impractical to carry around a bunch of stuff while trying to find out where she has to go. She checks her map and locks her car before heading off in the direction of B Dorms, section B, the floor she’d been assigned to. She’s pretty sure buildings A and B house the girls, C and D are for the boys and E is co-ed.
The building is a good 5 minute walk away from the parking lot, which is very inconvenient. Also, she’s on the fourth floor, all the way at the end of the hallway. She’s going to have to make at least 10 trips to the car to get all the boxes. Yikes. She has a thought, and decides to go with it before she has time to question herself.
Ava Sharpe // Hey, does the offer to help me move still stand?
Alex Danvers // Of course! When do you need my help?
Ava Sharpe // Well, I just arrived at campus and found my dorm. I’m in BB-409, but the parking lot is all the way behind the building. It’s gonna take me like ten trips to get all my stuff upstairs.
Alex Danvers // Hold on.
Ava is confused until she hears the door next to her open and Alex appears.
“Hey Ava! We’re neighbors!”
“Alex!” That sounded too enthusiastic. “I had no idea you were on this floor. I asked for a list of all the people in this hallway, but I guess they don’t just give those out.”
“Let me text Kara, she’s on the third floor. She can help us too, it’ll be done in half an hour.”
“I appreciate that!”
Alex types something on her phone really quickly and jams it back into the pocket of her torn black jeans. There’s a rose on the back pocket, Ava notices. By accident. Not like she was staring.
“So they put you in a single, huh. Guess you’re one of the lucky ones.” Ava doesn’t miss the Taylor Swift pun.
“My mom actually demanded it. She’s concerned I’d get... distracted by my roommate.”
She doesn’t quite yet feel the need to tell Alex the real reason.
“That seems dramatic. You’re an excellent student, I’ve never seen anyone with your ability to concentrate.”
“My mother is extremely dramatic, so you’re spot on.”
They meet Kara on the third floor. She’s with a brown-skinned girl in a crop top and extremely tight jeans. She has full cheeks and the bridge of her nose is dusted with freckles. Ava’s seen her around campus before, but she doesn’t know who she is. She has kind eyes, though.
“Hey Kara, thanks for helping out!”
“No problem. This is Kendra, by the way. She’s my roommate and she offered to help as well.”
Ava sticks out her hand. Kendra looks at it and smirks before taking it.
“I’m Ava Sharpe, nice to meet you. Thank you for helping as well, you didn’t have to.”
“Kendra Saunders, likewise. It’s alright, it’s Butt Day and I’m too lazy to hit the gym today. The stairs will have to do. Welcome to Babe Dorm.”
Alex chimes in. “We could let you carry everything upstairs by yourself if you really need the workout. And nobody calls it Babe Dorm except you and Sara.”
“You saying my ass needs work, Danvers?”
Ava catches the blush creeping up before it hits Alex’ cheeks and looks away. Oh.
“That’s not- I didn’t mean…”
Kara chimes in, interrupting the somewhat tense moment. “Ava, where are you parked?”
“In the dorm lot, it seemed closest to the actual dorms.”
“Well, that’s a fucking hoax. The faculty lot is actually closer, but you’re not supposed to park there during class hours. It's the weekend though, and also winter break, so I’ll hop into the passenger seat and show you how to get there. Save us all the extra walk.”
“Kendra is just exaggerating because she’s lazy. The faculty lot is closer though, but Alex and I don’t mind walking for a bit, and since Kendra is skipping the gym today she’s coming too. Alex can show you the faculty lot later.” Kara skips ahead down the hall and Alex nods her head in agreement.
“You guys suck.” Kendra sulks.
It only takes the four of them twenty minutes to carry everything upstairs. They’re slightly out of breath, but Ava is surprised they kept up with her stamina.
“Are you guys athletes?”
“Kendra and Kara are on the cheerleading squad. I play softball and soccer. You?” Alex gives her an appreciative once over, probably to guess what sport she plays. “Your arms and legs are insane, are you a triathlete or something?”
“I’m a dressage rider.” It takes a lot in her to not add ‘national champion’ to that sentence.
“Hey wait, I’ve heard about you!” Kara looks excited. “Didn’t you win like, ten titles in a row or something? I’m a reporter for the school paper, I’m pretty sure I heard the sports guy rave about you!”
“I won the last four national championships, yeah. And some regionals in between.”
Kendra whistles. “Impressive.” Alex just raises both of her eyebrows.
“Anyway, I feel like I should invite you guys in to have a drink, but my dorm is still full of boxes and unassembled Ikea furniture. How about you show me the best coffee place on campus and I’ll treat you? I’ll unpack later.”
The other girls make excited noises of agreement. Alex dashes into her dorm to grab her hat, scarf, gloves and coat while Kara and Kendra run downstairs to get theirs. Ava peeled off her layers as they were moving stuff upstairs, but she left everything on a single pile, so it doesn’t take her long to put it back on.
They run into a couple of girls while making their way outside, half of whom seem to stare, smile or smirk at Kendra. Ava’s not sure if the staring is out of jealousy or something else, but she discards the thought. It doesn’t matter. One girl tries to wink, but fails miserably. Kendra winks back like a practiced flirt though, and loudly smacks the girl’s ass. Ava hides her surprise, probably terribly so. She can almost hear Kara rolling her eyes.
Alex falls in line with her. “You’ll get to know everyone over winter break. We have a big lounge where we watch movies or binge tv a lot. Most of the girls hang out there in sweatpants every night after dinner. We do our homework there sometimes too. Our friends from the other buildings also hang out there. It’s fun, there’s a microwave for popcorn and a big fridge for snacks and drinks.”
Ava smiles. She made the right decision moving here.
The warmth of the coffee shop makes Kara’s glasses steam up, and she runs into a table almost immediately after they enter. Ava giggles. For someone who is apparently well-coordinated enough to do cheerleading, she’s kind of clumsy. She dropped a box full of shirts when they were walking up the stairs and kept apologizing, even though the box didn’t open and no one was hurt. Ava likes her a lot.
Kendra, meanwhile, hasn’t stopped asking Ava questions with wide eyes and a curious smile.
“Hey Ava, what’s your zodiac sign?”
“I’m a Capricorn.”
“Cool! Where were you born?”
“In Fresno, I’m afraid. We moved here when I was about 6.”
“What are you majoring in?”
“Applied Sciences. After that, my parents want me to go to an Ivy League University to get my Master’s Degree.”
Kendra frowns. “And what do you want?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“Fair enough.”
“How about you guys?” Ava opens the conversation to Alex and Kara, who’ve been discussing their trip to the mountains. Kara seems excited about their bungalow, which has a hot tub.
Alex stops in the middle of a sentence about bacterial infections and turns her head.
“I’m a Cancer, I was born and grew up on a farm in Midvale and I’m studying Biomedicine.”
Kara goes kind of quiet. “I’m a Virgo. And I wanna be a journalist, obviously.”
Ava immediately notices she skipped a question, but it seems like a sensitive subject, so she doesn’t ask about it.
“I’m a Leo, as you already might have guessed, I was born in Qantir, which is in Egypt, and I’m studying to be a Psychologist, as you also might have guessed. Sorry for prying.”
“I don’t mind. It’s good to get to know new people. I never really socialized before I moved, so I only know a handful of people here. By the way, Alex is right about the hot tub, Kara. They’re full of germs.” Alex looks at Kara pointedly, as if Ava’s addition is the final word on the matter.
They spend the rest of the time it takes to finish their drinks talking about hot tubs and ski resorts. Kendra recalls a time where she got locked out in her bikini, and recommends them to bring their coats with them when going to the hot tub, just in case.
When they head back, they run into the girl whose ass Kendra slapped earlier on the second floor. Her outfit is… strange. She’s wearing nothing but a sports bra and rolled up sweatpants, with big cozy looking socks, talking to a boy with messy bleached hair and a red tie that’s tied so loose it makes Ava’s hands itch to tighten it, forcefully. The girl’s striking blue eyes, which Ava can’t help but notice, widen when she notices Kendra and she reaches out to grab her hand. Kendra lets herself be pulled back and uses her other hand to wave.
“I’ll see you guys later, I have to catch up with Sara. Bye!” When Ava turns around at the end of the hallway, the girl’s hand is around Kendra’s waist. They seem to be good friends.
Kara separates from them on the third floor, saying she has to finish an article about someone trying to start a nudist group on campus by tomorrow.
Ava looks forward to collapsing on top of her bed, until she realizes she doesn’t actually have an assembled bed yet and groans loudly.
“What’s wrong?” Alex sounds a bit concerned.
“I forgot I don’t have a bed yet.”
“I’ll help you build it so you can sleep somewhere, and we’ll take care of the rest of your stuff tomorrow.”
“You don’t mind?” Alex is really nice.
“Not at all, I’d mind you sleeping on the floor more than I mind helping you build a bed.”
“Fair enough.”
They take quick care of the bed. Ava thanks her past self for having the bright idea to unpack her mattress before they left, which means it’s already taken its natural shape and she doesn’t have to wait until she can make the bed. Alex helps her with that as well. When they’re done, Ava thanks her again and promises to make it up to her by buying her a drink sometime. She falls asleep almost immediately after Alex leaves.
Her and Alex end up spending a lot more time together than Ava had expected. Not just because of the project, but also because they’re neighbors and they get along very well. Alex ends up helping her with setting up all of her stuff. Her jokes about lesbians being great at assembling furniture make Ava extremely nervous, until she realizes Alex is just talking about herself and doesn’t seem to have any suspicions about her.
When Kara and Alex leave to go skiing the weekend before Christmas, Ava has trouble socializing. She’s met Kendra, so far, who has indirectly introduced her to Sara, but Ava doesn’t think she’d love hanging out with them. They’re very close, too close, and Sara seems much too forward for her liking. Her clothes look like they’re either three sizes too small or ten years too old, and they show off large parts of Sara’s toned body. Ava dislikes her attitude. The girl walks around like she owns the place.
Her roommates are a bit more tolerable. So far she’s met Zari, who seems nice if a little antisocial, and Amaya. She’s polite, but gives off kind of an intense vibe. Ava hasn’t gotten to know them well enough to ask them to just hang out yet, so she decides against it. It’d be weird to invite Zari or Amaya to hang out but not Sara, since they’re all friends, and she really doesn’t want to spend more time with her than she has to. She’ll probably see them all at the movie nights sometime soon, where it will be easier to avoid her.
She ends up texting Gary and asks him if he wants to chill a bit before they both go home. Their parents are close friends and they pretty much grew up together, so it’s not weird at all for her to hang around his dorm. That is, until his roommate comes in.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know you had, er, female company. I’ll go.”
“No!! Nate, stay. This is Ava, my dearest companion and she’s very g-.”
Ava immediately interrupts him and sticks out her hand. “I’m his best friend, but he’s not the best at speaking.”
The guy shakes her hand. “Nate Heywood, History major. Nice to finally meet the person who has kept Gary alive all these years.”
“I’d say it’s been my pleasure, but it really did take a lot of effort.”
“Tell me about it. He’s a health hazard.”
“Nate, out of the two of us, you’re the one who ground caffeine pills into his coffee and stayed awake for 78 hours. Who’s the real health hazard?” Gary asks pointedly.
Nate defends himself. “I’m a History major!” He waves his hands around. “Do you know how much studying I have to procrastinate and then get done in a very small timespan? A LOT!”
Ava wonders why he doesn’t just study in advance. She supposes not everybody has her superior ability to actually follow what’s written down in their planners.
Gary decides to suddenly drop the subject and dive into a very sensitive topic without any warning whatsoever. “So Ava, are you bringing a date to Christmas dinner?”
A group of rich families from the general area, which both of their parents are part of, organize a dinner on Christmas Eve every year. It’s all very pompous and exaggerated, sparkling crystal glasses being refilled by waiters in white gloves, professional chefs cooking enough food to feed an army. Even valet parking. Every year, someone else foots the bill, and it’s become kind of a spending contest amongst the men. Ava is not looking forward to having to wear a dress and talk to a bunch of Republicans after last election season, and Gary thinks it’s ridiculous that his parents even agree to partake in this tradition, considering they don’t even celebrate Christmas and the celebration never includes any Hanukkah traditions.
She groans out loud. “No, and I really don’t want to. I don’t want to have to sit next to some boring guy brag about how rich his parents are and make passes at me all night. I’d rather be alone and deal with all the snide comments from the daughters about ‘being undateable’ or whatever.”
Gary nods. “I agree. Though the pressure is a bit higher for me. See, the guys told me last year that if I didn’t bring a date this year, they’d, eh, spread a rumor about me being gay.”
Fuck. They can’t out him. Nobody but Ava knows that Gary is bisexual. Just like nobody but Gary knows that Ava is… well.
“Why don’t we go together?” She’s been considering this for a while, but wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. If it helps Gary, though, that’s a serious point in favor of asking him.
“What? You mean… as dates? To the dinner? Together?”
“Yeah. It’d take the pressure off and we wouldn’t have to die of boredom. I’d love to have someone to actually talk to sit next to me.”
“But you’re a- I mean you’re-”
“That doesn’t matter, we can pretend, right?” Ava interrupts him before he reaches the end of that terrifying sentence. “It’ll at least stop my parents from… finding out anytime soon.”
“Alright, let’s do it.”
Nate has been looking back and forth at them for the duration of their conversation, with a dumbstruck expression on his face.
“I’m high as hell, so I have no clue what you guys are talking about, but I’m hungry. Do you want burgers?”
“Sure, let’s have dinner together.”
The closest burger joint, Big Belly Burger, is actually on campus, and behind the counter is a guy with olive skin and dark hair. Nate yells “B”, half-runs up to him and they do some sort of complicated handshake ritual that ends with a tight hug. His face seems extremely familiar, but Ava can’t place why exactly until he introduces himself to Ava and Gary as Behrad Tomaz, which makes her realize he’s Zari’s brother. He offers them a slightly greasy hand, but then thinks better of it and just waves before going back to his grill while taking their orders.
Ava can’t recall the last time she had fast food, but it turns out to be delicious in kind of a dirty way. Nate devours two entire meal combos in the time it takes her to work through a single burger with fries, and Gary just has fries and a milkshake since the menu didn’t have a kosher burger.
She has a great time discussing the history of serial killers with Nate, a topic he genuinely seems to be interested in, and he goes on a tangent about how most serial killers were not actually brilliant but mostly just got away with their crimes because of abysmal police work. It’s refreshing to meet someone who doesn’t think she’s weird for being interested in the topic. It’s the perfect antithesis to the dinner that’s happening in two days, and Ava’s spirit is lifted considerably by the time Nate bids them goodbye to help Behrad clean up and hang out with him after his shift ends.
*
The Christmas dinner with Gary ends up being really fun after all. Her parents are pleasantly surprised that she’s dating him, and his parents seem satisfied as well. The past election provides all the parents with enough material to completely forget about their children in favor of having a passionate discussion about the nuances of American politics and Gary and Ava sneak away after dessert, managing to steal two expensive bottles of wine to get drunk on in a broom closet. As it turns out, the dress is good for something.
“So I take it you’re not going to tell them anytime soon?” Gary is sitting on an upside down bucket with a loose tie and his shirt untucked.
“That I’m a les- that I’m gay? Absolutely not.” Ava shakes her head. “No chance in hell, my friend,” she states before tipping her bottle back.
“Good choice. They wouldn’t take it very well, going by their incredibly excited response to you showing up with a male date.”
“Spot on. How about you?”
“Well, since dating you does not rule out me being bisexual, I think I’m going to tell them soon. I feel the blow will be less heavy when they think there’s still hope for me because I’m dating a girl.”
“Smart move.”
They spend the rest of the evening occasionally sipping on the bottles. When they emerge, Ava realizes what it must look like, her carrying a half-clothed Gary to his parents’ limo. She doesn’t care. These people want her to be straight, so she’ll give them straight. Even if it’s just pretend. She can’t wait to get back to campus. At least no one there will be watching her as closely.