Chapter Text
I clutched my phone tightly, hoping my pure will would make my screen anything else than what it'd been saying for over half an hour now: Message Delivered 11:41.
I mean, come on! Why can't Astrid just answer her phone? It doesn't take a whole lot of time to respond when I'm only trying to find out where she is. I closed out of the app to find my homescreen, Astrid and I bowling during the night of Homecoming this past fall. I grimaced, the picture silently mocking me. Look at us! It teased. Where's Astrid now when you need her?
I shoved my phone in my pocket and began to fidget with my keys. I was getting very uncomfortable in this place. Named The Meade Hall, Astrid had been working here all summer. She told me she enjoyed the atmosphere and how different it was, and she was right. The doors entering were made of a heavy wood, as was everything else I could see. I could hear faint bagpipes and woodwinds in the distance, making me feel like I was at a Renaissance fair. I was definitely taken aback with how much effort was in the designs and ambiance, but I was still annoyed that I couldn't spot Astrid anywhere.
Astrid and I were planning on going out to a brunch - at this point in time it'll just be a lunch - and I offered to pick her up from her work, since Astrid wouldn't get her license until July and I had my beautiful darling Windshear to take us places. I had gotten her in January when I turned 16 and fell in love instantly. She's gorgeous and sleek, I haven't had to give her any repairs yet. She was my soulmate, and nothing would ever -
"Table for one?" a voice interrupted my fawning and I took notice of a blonde figure in my peripheral vision. I sighed in relief, Astrid was here, and opened my mouth before halting again. She was blonde alright, but was a different height than Astrid. She had beautiful eyes too, but slightly darker, almost with a glint of play in them. Her freckles were defined with some light makeup and her lips were tilted in a kind smile, still giving me that hint of knowing something that I don't.
"Er... sorry," I finally exhaled. "What did you say?"
"Table for one, miss?" she repeated, her smile almost turning into a smirk. "Or are you waiting for your party?"
"Oh, Oh!" I exclaimed, blush creeping to my cheeks. "No, no. Sorry, I'm just waiting to pick someone up. But she's not responding to my texts. D-do you know if Astrid is here?"
The hostess's eyebrows perked up, "Astrid? I haven't seen her all day. I don't think she called to tell Mulch she wouldn't be here."
"I'm sorry - Mulch?" Berk was home to many peculiar and uncommon names for sure - just take a look at my high school! - but this was a new one. Mulch, as in the stuff you put in gardens to help the plants? Was this a first name or last name?
"Mulch runs this place," the girl explained, "With his best friend, Bucket. Mulch does more of the managing stuff and Bucket gets to work in the kitchen."
I nodded in acknowledgement, slightly disappointed. "Okay, well thanks. I'll just send another message and see if she responds. I'm just going to go-"
"Nonsense!" the hostess exclaimed, grabbing a menu. "The least I can do is get you a nice meal for your travels. And tomorrow, I'll kick Astrid's ass-"
"Please don't," I interrupted, realizing this girl wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"I'm just teasing," she winked and I felt a pit in my stomach. "But she shouldn't leave her boo waiting for her either." Once she led me to a table and I got settled down, I cleared my throat, "Erm, we-we aren't dating. She's just my friend."
The girl's eyes shined, making me blush again. "My bad," she chuckled. "Astrid doesn't talk about her social life a lot, so when you show up looking for her around lunch time-"
"No, it's okay. It's a plausible theory," I smiled, trying to gently inform her that I wasn't offended. I reached out my hand, "I'm Heather, Astrid's platonic soul mate."
Giving a quick laugh, she clasped my hand, her dark purple nails giving me a slight tickle. "I'm Cami. Astrid's over-eccentric and nosy co-worker." She handed me the menu, "Get yourself something to eat, hun. I'll bring you a water," then disappeared.
I rubbed my hands over my face and placed them on my neck. All I wanted to do was meet up with Ast, and she's not even here. So now I'm having lunch by myself while the waitress is making my head ache. Gods, pull yourself together, Heather! You just met this chic not even 5 minutes ago and you're already getting worked up. This isn't okay! Just get through the lunch and then you can go yell at Astrid for ditching you.
I hardly noticed Cami returning with a glass of water, giving her a quick smile before returning to my self-induced crisis. This day was just going splendidly.
Cami eventually returned to get my order, and I somehow managed to give her a straight answer before she winked at me, "You're in for one hel of a treat." Later a very friendly man, introducing himself as Mulch, came and talked to me. "We don't get a lot of folks your age around here," he said after shaking my hand. "It's usually your parents or folks very interested in the glory days."
"Glory days?" I asked, unsure how this restaurant made people relive their primes. "You know, when Vikings roamed this place. Have the schools not been teaching you this stuff?"
I let out a silent "Oh". You couldn't call yourself a Berkian if you didn't know the history of the city. The Viking culture was still going strong around here, with basically everything being based on ancient times, from our school to the continuous use of the Norse mythology. I, of course, was well informed of the Norwegian ancestry, but I wasn't keen on calling it the 'Glory Days'.
"Don't scare the poor thing with your Viking obsession," Cami waltzed over. I frowned at her calling me 'poor thing', as she looked to be about my age. "Why don't you tell her how we welcome first-timers?"
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As I was led to the stage, Mulch gave me a very lengthy explanation as to why I just had to sing right now so I didn't stop the tradition that had been going on since he first opened this place. I glared at Cami and she merely shrugged in response, connecting the mic then handing me a piece of paper.
"What's this?" I asked when Mulch left to talk to Bucket. Cami smirked, "It's a list of songs. Tell me which one you want to sing, and I'll get the music for it."
I paled. Glancing at the list, there weren't very many. But the ones on here gave me some anxiety, all of them requiring some sort of god-like vocal range. And yeah, I was in choir last year so it's not like I can't sing, but that doesn't mean I want to sing now. As in in front of these people. No thanks.
"Don't overthink it," Cami added gently, earning a glare from me. "All've these people had to do the exact same thing. It's just meant to be silly and fun. Here, I'll pick for you if you can't."
Giving an exaggerated sigh, I nodded and Cami took the sheet from me. After a moment, she handed me the mic and softly whispered into my ear what song she had chosen. I blushed and turned to her, "That wasn't on the sheet!" I hissed.
"Yeah, well, I felt like you should sing it," she grinned. "Best of luck."
"I hate you," I whisper-shouted before turning to the audience. "Um, hi. I-I'm Heather, and I guess that I'm supposed to sing a song or something."
A few people applauded while the others continued their meal. I glanced at Cami, who was on the other side of the room, arms crossed casually and smirking. I narrowed my eyes at her before inhaling, "Let's just get this over with."
I saw Cami hit play on her phone, and I started the words, "I don't know, it's just something about ya, got me feeling like I can't live without ya."
I could not stand this song. At all. One, it was about a boy, so barf. And two, it was just another 2010s pop song about some impossible love. I was over it. But my radio had blasted this song too many times for my brain to forget the words.
Nevertheless, I kept singing since the crowd was decently enjoying it, and Mulch probably wouldn't let me leave the stage anyway. I was used to warming up beforehand, like my choir shows, and the chorus did not sit well with me. Feeling my voice get near my falsetto, I could imagine Cami laughing at me, taking pride in choosing such a ridiculous song. When I glanced over...
Cami was frozen. She was staring at me, unblinking, with her mouth slightly ajar. All perkiness had disappeared from her demeanor, the mischief in her eyes gone. My cheeks heated up as I recognized what replaced the confident and fireball of a hostess.
It was awe.
As the bridge neared, I kept eye contact with her, adding a small smile as I sang.
"There ain't no guarantee,
But I'll take a chance on 'we'"
This was a big mistake. Terrible. HUGE. Why was I doing this?
Because my heart was taking the reigns. Strange, I thought it would've frozen if not for Astrid.
"Don't care what others say,
If I got you, I'm straight"
I let out a quick laugh at the irony of that last line. Cami seemed to pick up on it too, breaking from her trance and giving a smile, sending butterflies everywhere. As the music ended, the audience clapped and I practically shoved the mic into Mulch's hands as he made some announcement. I raced to my table and grabbed my phone, ready to leave before I was made a fool of again.
"You're a really good singer, hun," I whipped around to see Cami standing proud, the confident smirk back on and her weight comfortably on her hip. "I didn't know you had it in you."
"Uh, thanks," I said quickly, grabbing a twenty dollar bill to place on the table. After a moment, Cami cleared her throat, "I, I don't know if I was imagining it-"
"You weren't," I interrupted. Her façade disappeared to reveal an awe-struck smile, eyes wide and eyebrows raised, requiting an amused smile from me.
Gaining her composure, Cami shrugged, "Well, in that case, I'll be here tomorrow working again if you want to say hi and grab a drink or something."
"Non-alcoholic, right?" I teased, knowing that I was still 16 and Cami certainly wasn't 21. "Sure," Cami answered, the twinkle in her eye telling me that wasn't her original thought.
Grabbing a napkin and the pen left from the bill, I scribbled down my information before handing it to her, "It's a date."