"I'm not sure why you felt it necessary to submit a resume. Your reputation is impeccable."
Cress could feel herself starting to blush.
"The problem, of course, is your age. There are certain laws in place to protect workers who are under the age of 18. Now, I know that you're emancipated and take care of yourself, but I can't get you working full time until you turn 18."
She nodded. "Oh yes. Trust me, I've done all the research."
María Fuentes was the CEO of a high-profile Net Security company in the heart of Los Angeles. Cress had done plenty of research on the woman. She launched the business when she was only 22, a rising star in the field of Info Tech. Cress had all but idolized her when she was younger, stuck on that cursed satellite, and now, here she was, in a job interview with her.
She had a job already, but it was very low-profile and though her bosses were nice, she wanted something better, and working for María Fuentes sounded more like a dream.
When she smiled, María's brown eyes crinkled at the corners. "I'm happy to hear it. I want you to work for me, Crescent. Someone your age in such a high position–that's exactly what I wanted when I was young. You're so dedicated to your work! I remember back when the war first ended and they were doing interviews with Captain Thorne and the new Empress. My stars, what you were able to do fascinated me. I would be really proud to have you work for me. What do you think?"
She almost didn't know how to reply. If she hadn't been so in love with the idea of working for the company, she probably wouldn't have said anything at all.
"Yes! Stars above, I would love to work for you–for this company!"
María nodded only once. "Well, then it's done. Come in tomorrow at 10:00 for paperwork. I know you likely won't have a birth certificate, but I'll be doing the paperwork with you, so H.R. won't say a thing, and I think the government will understand."
Cress could've cartwheeled out of pure joy. "I'll be there."
"Let me walk you out."
Her first day of training, which fell the day after her orientation, felt more like preschool. Though she lost quite a bit of her memory, Cress had learned how to code a long time ago. Unfortunately, though they believed that she could do everything, it was standard procedure to make sure she knew the basics, since they had only hired her on part-time.
At least she had something, though.
Cress stepped into the elevator, ending her work day by blowing a tuft of hair out of her eyes and leaning against the handrail.
The Human Resources department was on the 10th floor, right beneath the first floor of the main IT department where she had started her training. The elevator was painstakingly slow.
It was the first stop on her trip down.
The woman that stepped in was gorgeous. She wore a well-tailored suit with a sky blue blouse beneath the jacket. The first thing Cress noticed was her unnaturally golden eyes set against her light brown skin, and the left part of her short black hair looked as though it had grown out from previously being shaved, as it was far shorter than the right side. When the woman noticed Cress, she gave her a dazzling smile.
"Good evening," she said.'
"Hello," Cress replied, shy.
"I don't think I've seen you around before."
Cress wet her lips. "It's my first day."
The stranger nodded. "Right, we've had some new hires recently. I'm Rani, I work in HR."
"Cress," she replied.
"Darnel?"
"Yeah."
"I remember getting your paperwork." Rani's eyes fell away from Cress. "So did you just finish training for today?"
She nodded, but said, "Yes," when she realized that the woman wasn't looking at her and wouldn't know she had nodded.
Rani hummed. "I just got off, too. Are you doing anything after you leave?"
"I don't have plans, no."
"Would you like to grab a drink? There's a nice bar across the street, the drinks aren't too watered down and the food is amazing. It's pretty reasonably priced, too."
Cress swallowed hard, and she realized that she was nervous. Had she just been asked out? By a woman? Was she flattered? "I can't," she muttered. "I'm not 18 yet."
Rani looked at her again. "Good stars. I'm so sorry, I hope you don't feel uncomfortab-"
"I don't," Cress interjected. That was a lie. She was always uncomfortable, but that wasn't what Rani meant.
Rani laughed. "I thought you looked a bit young, but I'm only 20, so sometimes 16- and 17-year olds look more my age. But hey, if you need some friends around here, we can meet up for lunch sometime. I'll even introduce you to a few of my friends." The elevator was one floor from the lobby, and no one else had gotten on with them. "My sister is your age, so I can bring her, too."
Cress smiled kindly. "That would be really nice."
As the elevator opened to the lobby, Rani offered to walk her out. "I hope you don't mind me asking, and you don't have to reply if you don't feel comfortable with it, but do you still talk to everyone from the war?"
Cress shrugged. "Sometimes. The girls and I have a monthly video chat. I mostly catch up with the guys vicariously through the girls. And Thorne, well, I haven't talked to him in a while, but Cinder lets me know how he's doing every now and then."
"Well, it's good that you're staying in contact with them. Is the memory loss hard?"
Now they were getting into much-uncharted territory, and she was suddenly very, very anxious. Fortunately, she could see her small hover coming into view. "That's me."
Before parting, they had made lunch plans for that Saturday. Rani hadn't seemed bothered at all by Cress ignoring her question, which she was endlessly thankful for.
On the way to the restaurant, Cress was nervous as every fiery comet. Stars above, friends that she didn't already have a history with. It was amazing, really.
There were about five people, including Rani, at the restaurant when she arrived. She walked over to the table and beamed as best as she could. "Am I late?"
"Not at all! We're just always early," said Rani. "Everyone, this is Cress. Cress, this is my sister I was telling you about, Radha." Her sister was a spitting image of Rani, sitting just to her left, an almost-exact copy, right down to the short hair and golden eyes. Maybe the color was natural. "This is Anya," she said, pointing across the table. "She's just a year older than you, that's Julio, a friend from high school, and that's Madison, my best friend!"
"It's nice to meet all of you," said Cress, taking the empty seat next to Rani.
They all agreed and picked up their menus.
Cress was uncomfortable, as usual, but she already knew that she liked these people.
She and Radha had immediately hit it off. After lunch, they decided to continue hanging out, whereas everyone else had other engagements.
The two decided to head to the mall, because Cress needed more business casual attire and Radha just really enjoyed shopping.
Radha was continuously impressed with Cress. She had followed the post-revolution news closely and had heard every single story they'd told about her. Cress was impressed back, too. Radha was her age but was already preparing to graduate high school and start med school. She had always wanted to be a pediatrician, apparently.
"Here, this is my favorite store," Radha said, grabbing her hand and pulling her into a boutique-style shop with dresses on every wall and shelves and shelves of jeans and shorts and graphic tops.
She kind of already loved it. Within ten minutes, she already had a full load hanging off of her arm for the dressing room, and was still searching.
"Hello," chirped the front room employee to whoever had just entered, "if you need any help, just ask!"
Cress looked over, and her eyes snug on a familiar form. She froze, her fingers brushing over a floral fabric she'd been admiring. He was there, and he wasn't alone.
The woman he was with was facing her, and she was giggling and holding something up, her body language swearing that she was into him, and that he had no reason not to feel the same way.
The woman was beautiful, and she hated her.
She wanted to move, to get away and out of sight, but she couldn't.
Then, she heard Radha call for her. "Hey, Cress! Come here!"
Her eyes widened as his head snapped to her, and their eyes locked.
He mouthed her name, and the other woman glared at her, scowling at the sudden loss of his attention.
His jaw fell open and he quickly looked at the woman before glancing back at her, his head shaking ever so slightly.
Needing to escape, needing to get away, she turned on her heel and ran back toward Radha.
"Hey, uh, I saw a hoodie I liked at the store across the way," she heard Thorne tell the woman he was with. "I'll be back in a minute, all right?"
She found her friend quickly, trying to calm herself.
"Are you okay?" asked Radha.
"Oh, yeah! I'm just-I think I'm good here. What's up?"
"I just thought that you'd really like this."
She was gesturing to a striped dress, one just modest enough for her to be able to wear to work without a sweater thrown over it. It was in a pastel pink, the stripes thin and white, and the fabric soft under her fingertips. "It's gorgeous," she mused, running her hand over it and trying to forget the event that'd just transpired.
She could feel Radha's eyes on her. "That's why it made me think of you."
Cress's stomach burned. "I have to buy it, then," she said, grinning at Radha. "Thanks, it's really nice."
Her friend checked her port. "We should get going. Can you give me a ride home so I don't have to call for a hover?"
"No problem," she said. With the money Cress had been awarded following the revolution, she didn't even need to work, so she bought a hover instead–though she had plenty left in savings.
They talked about mundane things on the way back, about Cress's life in the satellite and how much she'd had to adjust to Earth's atmosphere. She had a series of bad colds for the first month she lived in LA due to the weather and air quality change.
Radha and Rani's family lived in a very nice, very posh neighborhood. Cress was glad that this fact wasn't reflected in either of their personalities.
When they arrived at the end of her driveway, Cress got out with her to walk her to the door.
"Thanks for the ride," said Radha. "And thanks for hanging out with me. I may not have to go shopping for another year!"
Cress giggled, and it didn't feel forced at all. "It was really fun. We should hang out again soon."
"We should."
Radha smiled at her, tucked her hands into her pockets. "Comm me when you get home, so I know you made it safe."
This, because it was starting to get dark out.
"I will," said Cress.
And just before she walked away, Radha leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Cress suddenly had a tumultuous feeling in her–not only because of the gesture, but because of what it elicited from her.
A memory, perhaps. A certain sort of something. She felt dizzy and as though she might pass out, but those feelings were more something that had happened to her at another time, that weren't happening to her now.
She wet her lips, trying to form words. "B-bye, Radha. I'll talk to you later."
"Goodnight, Cress," was the response, as if she hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary.
When she got to her hover, she immediately commed Scarlet.
"I think I have a crush on my friend."
The reply was just as immediate.
"Tell me about him."
"No, it's a girl."
Cress felt heat radiate through her entire body. She did like Radha. Good stars, this was a new and interesting emotion.
Scarlet took a bit longer to reply. "Stars, that's wonderful. If you need advice, just comm me. It's ok if you're nervous!"
It was nice having someone on her side.
Still, Cress wasn't sure if Radha had meant the kiss in a romantic way. And she couldn't quite understand how she had felt afterwards, as if she had that experience before. More than that, though, she couldn't get Thorne's face out of her head. How he had looked at her when he saw her at the mall.
How she had hated that woman, who she hadn't even known! She had no reason to hate her other than that she was with Thorne, and what did Cress care about that?
She didn't care. She wasn't supposed to.
Author's Note: If you're happy about this update, go ahead and thank LLC. She all but broke my arm twisting it to get me to write it. ;) (Just kidding, she knows I appreciate her.)