Stel was nervously quiet throughout the car ride to the restaurant. She wasn’t expeg to do much more than say hello to Dr. Evy Diast, but she couldn’t turn down dinner with her. When she daydreamed about a simir sario, she imagined herself in a glitzy red dress that showed off her back whewirl in front of Evy. But it was te fall, and it was super cold, and they were cautiously driving through a blizzard. Dr. Diast was unusually unchatty as well, her focus mainly on keeping the car steady as the road ditions got worse.
Evy pulled over at a cozy looking bar that had almost a log aesthetiow covered the big woodeers of the sign above it, but "LIKE A SKI LODGE BAR & GRILL" was still readable. It retty on the nose name, but Evy sounded so excited about this pce, Stel didn't want to be rude.
“Here we go,” Evy said. “I’m starving. Winter driving really takes it out of you, you know?”
“Definitely.” Stel said. “You just uscles harder subsciously driving in a blizzard.”
“Exactly!” Evy said.
After getting out of the car, Stel opened her phoo find she’d already gotten a ton of texts from Zeta already.
“Did you find a ride?”
“Stel?”
“Pleas message mabck uqickly”
“*me back”
“*quickly”
“Im really worried about you driving etting a ride”
“in the blizzard I mean”
“Please write back soon especially if yetting a ride and please tell me when youre home”
“Stel?”
"Please do a ride froma stranger"
"*from a"
"i know stuba is always a stranger"
"but i mean like a stranger like some random person"
"like dont hitchhike in a blizzard"
"please text me back im just thinking about
"the snow"
"and you driving etting a ride"
"in the snow"
"and I dont like it"
Those tinued oing more and more frantic with each message. Stel texted back quickly.
“I’m just getting some food, I have it figured out. It’s all OK, Zeta. I’ll keep you posted. Call if you get really worried ao talk, OK? :)”
“ok”
Stel didn’t tell Zeta she was grabbing dinner with anyone, because Zeta didn’t o know her big sister was getting dinner with Zeta’s i doctor/teacher/advisor. It might make her more anxious to hear that.
Stel found herself walking ahead of Evy as they headed towards the restaurant. Part of her felt a bit wary about it, but another part of her told her to show off a bit. I did my interview good, I calmed Zeta down, I’ve been w out enough to actually look good in these, I get to show off my yoga pants in front of Evy, I earhis.
Stel didn’t even know if Evy was looking her way, but she hoped she was.
She also hoped Zeta didn’t somehow randomly show up ael trying to get her teacher to check her out. She did have a friend with telep powers so it ossible.
The Like a Ski Lodge Bar and Grill lived up to its name, with a ski lodge vibe on the inside as well, with a big stone firep one end and every employee in woodsman fnnel. Evy brought Stel to a spot of booth seats and the two sat across from each other. Stel ughed nervously, but was uo e up with a good excuse as to why so she just let it hang there.
“So the interview went well?” Evy asked after they ordered.
“Well, I went to the right pce, so that was good,” Stel said.
“I have definitely goo the wrong pce for a job interview before.” Evy said.
“Me too! I’m extra careful about it now.” Stel said. “I’ve been to the entire wrong building before. Luckily I know the school a bit better.”
“That’s good,” Evy said. “The whole celebrity thing, was that weird? It was super weird for my interview.”
“Oh my god, totally,” Stel said. “I know the Kinders a bit through Zeta and Oka, but I’d never actually met them.”
“It only gets weirder, trust me,” Evy said. “I do really hope you get this job, though. I…have a very good feeling.”
“Wait, did you hear anything?” Stel asked. “Er, you probably wouldn’t have heard anything, I only just had the interview.”
Evy slyly smiled back at her.
“No way, did you actually hear something?”
“Maybe,” Evy said. “It might be a bit secret though. you keep a secret? Only for a ferobably.”
“ait,” Stel said. “You seriously heard? OK, if you really did you have to tell me. Or wait, if you heard that I probably won’t get it, don’t tell me. But you wouldn’t say that like that if you heard I didn’t. Right? I hope? Because if you did…that’d be really ing. Like, taking joy in the idea that I didn’t get a job—”
“Stel. Breathe, girl.” Evy said. “Unless your interview was a like ‘knee Peam in the balls’ tier disaster, based ohing I’m hearing, I’m y-seven pert sure you got it.”
Stel squealed. When others in the restaurant turo her, she blushed and slumped in her seat.
“Sorry. That’s just. Really really good news,” Stel said. “What stuff are you hearing? What’s everything? I mean, not everything as in everything—”
“Remember how I just said to breathe?” Evy said. “I just heard your resume was a lot more impressive thaher didates. When it was just Peam in charge I’d worry about a curveball pick, but I think Berin Kinder is gonna py it safe.”
“Wow,” Stel said. “Oh my god, I have to put my two weeks in at the college. I o find a pce here too! Sorry. I’m just…wow. Thank you so much for letting me know about this job in the first pce.”
“It’s fine! I’m really happy too.” Evy said. “The librarian you’d be repg well. They uh. Diplomatically speaking, I did not see eye to eye with them on a ‘argue so bad about a te fee they threateo put a thousand dolr fine on my at’ level.”
“Wow.” Stel said. “Well, I’ll let you hold books as te as you want for helping me so much.”
“I like the sound of that,” Evy said.
Their food was brought to them, greasy, fried and salty, and Evy was clearly very hungry with how she devoured her fries right away. Stel o herself when they ordered that both had just gotten soda instead of anything heavier.
“Probably good we’re just getting soda,” Stel said, feeling a wine on as she made her desperate bid for small talk. “Don’t want to be tipsy or anything with the roads already…er, tipsy feeling. With the snow.”
“Mmh,” Evy said after her first bite of her burger. “Yeah, good point. I have some stuff at home if I really have to drink tonight, anyways."
Stel took a sip of her soda, and noticed her hands were slightly shaking.
“I probably shouldn’t be drinking this,” Stel said. “It’s past four, I’m gonna be up all night,”
“That wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing,” Evy said.
“I, er.” Stel ughed. She couldn’t tell if Evy was flirting there, which would be amazing, or just some odd take about all-nighters. “Are all-nighters good for i?”
“I don’t know if we get any specifiefit for them, but they’re kinda fun sometimes,” Evy said. “Really fun if you have the right person with you.”
She’s flirting. I think. Oh my god. Don’t panid slow down on the caffeiel answered Evy’s likely flirting by letting out a horrible gut ugh that she oed when being flirted with, theing her food quietly in embarrassment.