After making a quick call to Callie, Gavin and I head to the cafe, where we made plans to eat lunch with her and Brennan before their shifts begin. We arrive fashionably late and spot Brennan and Callie waiting for us at the front of the observatory.
“Hey, the band’s back together,” Brennan says in a familiar way that I find oddly comforting—surprising because, one, I’ve only known them for a short time, and, two, Gavin is part ofthe band.
“How was LA?” I ask.
Brennan gushes about how magical Disneyland was and how exciting it was to see the familiar backdrops of the LA landscape he’d only seen in movies.
“It’s good to be back, though,” he says, surprising me. I would’ve thought he’d be dying to stay there now that he’s had a taste of LA, not to mention real civilization with cell service and Wi-Fi. But if it means Brennan is happy to be here with us, then I’m not going to argue with him.
We head into the cafe and spot an open booth. Instead of sitting next to Callie, Gavin sits next to Brennan, so I take the seat next to Callie. We share two menus since they are trifold and open up to the size of a small poster. While Callie and I hover over a menu, huddledclose together, all I can think of is what a missed opportunity this is for Gavin. If he wants to get to know Callie, he better step up his game.
The menu is, as they said, extensive. In addition to the usual diner foods, such as hamburgers, sandwiches, and salads, the cafe also has a variety of not-usual diner offerings, such as chicken Milanese, döner kebab, and steak au poivre—dishes I’d order even if I weren’t in Blaire. If I had known how appetizing the food was, I wouldn’t have helped myself to a second serving of Gavin’s egg soufflé this morning. Who am I kidding? I’d have eaten seconds even if I’d known about the menu at the cafe. The eggs were so light and fluffy, it was as if I were eating a cloud. I’m too full now to order a meal, but I can go for something sweet.
Brennan and Callie both order sandwiches from the deli, and Gavin gets the steak while I get an ice cream sundae.
“Why does your shift start so late today?” I ask after the waitress leaves with our orders.
“Every once in a while, we have to work the night shift,” Brennan says.
“The night shift?” I wrinkle my nose. “How do you keep yourselves from sleeping on the job?” Working at a lab during the day already sounds like a snoozefest. I wonder how they manage it at night.
“Sleep is the last thing I’m thinking of when I’m at the lab,” Callie says dreamily. “So much activity happens at all hours of the day and night, and it’s exciting to think that we might be the ones to first notice it happening.”
“Right?” Brennan nudges Callie. “Every night I come to work wondering,Is today the day we discover a new star? Or find signs of water in a place we didn’t know existed?” The nerd-off happeningbetween them is something I can’t seem to understand. Science has never been my thing.
Soon, the food arrives, and the presentation is even more impressive than the extensive menu options. Gavin’s plate has chopped parsley sprinkled along the edge, with pearl onions in a red-wine reduction.
“This is a perfect medium rare.” Gavin marvels at the pop of pink when he slices into his steak. “Oh my God,” he mutters with his mouth full. “So tender. You should try it.”
Brennan and Callie take a bite, but I decline. “Maybe next time. I’m not hungry.” Instead I grab a fry off Gavin’s plate.
Gavin eyes me skeptically. “Not hungry, huh?” he teases.
“Everyone knows there’s a separate stomach for dessert.” I dip the fry in my ice cream before eating it. At first the three of them stare at me with unreadable expressions. Ordinarily I wouldn’t be self-conscious about my quirks and habits. But their reactions remind me that I’m not the trendsetter here that I was known to be in LA. Fries with ice cream isn’t that weird, is it? Maybe it’s not a universally enjoyed combination like peanut butter and jelly, but I’m pretty sure it’s a thing.
“You do that too?” Callie says.
“It’s the only way to eat ice cream,” Brennan says.
“Right?” I say, relieved that this is something we can agree on. “The sweet and salty combination always hits.”
“Actually, I eat it that way too,” Gavin says with an expression as surprised as I feel. Considering our different tastes in fashion, hair, and almost everything else, I wouldn’t have thought we’d have the same taste in food combinations.
“Great. You can help me eat the rest, since there’s no way I can finish it.” I shove my bowl toward the middle of the table.
“Same.” Gavin pushes his plate next to my sundae.
We take turns dipping fries into the ice cream for dessert. This simple yet distinct common ground releases a tightness in my muscles, like letting out a breath I didn’t know I was holding in. Somewhere in the transition from LA to Blaire, I lost track of who I was. I guess it’s been a while since I’ve been able to just be me without worrying about anything else.
“I wonder who even came up with this combo in the first place,” Callie says, thinking aloud.
“It had to have been an accident, right? Like some fries fell into a bowl of ice cream or something?” Brennan grabs another fry and sweeps it across the melting ice cream.
“Seems plausible. More so than if someone just came up with the idea out of the blue. I mean, fries with ketchup make sense, but fries with ice cream?” Gavin shakes his head. “I don’t see it.”
“Sometimes accidents make the best inventions. Like, did you know the radio telescope was discovered by accident?” When Gavin and I stare at Callie with blank expressions, she continues. “It’s true. When an engineer working at a phone company noticed static interference on the phone calls, he discovered it was radio waves coming from movement in the solar system. That’s how we got the radio telescope.”
Gavin and I share a look that saysnerd alert.
