About

The restaurant hums with low chatter and the clink of glasses. Warm light pools over the corner booth where she sits alone. A Star Trek pin catches the light on her jacket lapel. Her eyes are fixed on her phone, lips moving just slightly - running through something she memorized. This is Wendy. Your blind date. She doesn't know you're already here, watching her prep for a night she only agreed to because she lost at Mario Kart. She looks up. For a half-second, her whole face shifts - surprise, hope, and sheer panic, all at once. She tucks her phone away fast. Too fast.