A/N: As a reminder, this weird version of Star Trek is based on my life, so there's no telling what will happen because life is unpredictable.
Ode to A Starship by Lina Shay
Chapter Fifteen: Future Imperfect
I was walking to the mess hall during my lunch break when Jala ran up to me.
"Do you know someone named Manda?" She asked randomly.
"Manda who?" I asked.
"Van Manda," Jala told me.
"Yes!" I exclaimed. "She's from my hometown. How do you know her?"
"She served with me aboard the Cheney," Jala informed. "Her ship is in orbit with us, you know."
"That's cool! I don't get to see her very often."
"We still keep in contact," Jala began "She's having some boy issues. She thinks there's no guys her age who are interested."
"She's not that old," I muttered.
Jala and I entered the mess hall together. We spotted Darren sitting by himself, so we decided to go sit with him. As we walked over, Jala whispered, "He looks like there may be something wrong."
It was then that I noticed how sad he looked. We asked if we could join him. He said we could. Before we had the chance to even ask him, he told us, "I've been thinking a lot, and I've decided that I need to date more."
Jala and I didn't know what to say.
Darren went on, "My problem is that I don't know anyone who would go on a date with me."
"We could set you up with someone," Jala offered.
"Like Manda," I said, feeling inspired.
"Manda-" Jala began thoughtfully.
"Manda?" Darren asked. "What's she look like?"
"She's Bajoran," I shrugged.
"She's cute. She is," Jala insisted.
"Well, I guess I could let you set me up with her," he said reluctantly.
When Jala and I had left the mess hall, Jala said, "I don't think he and Manda will get along. But at least he'll be on a date."
"I don't know," I muttered. "I think they could hit it off."
Jala shook her head at me.
"Should one of us double with them," I asked, "or we could triple?"
"We should!" Jala said with excitement. "I'll probably ask Colban. Who are you going to ask?"
I walked silently for a moment. There were a couple of guys I could think of. Hitchcock was one idea. I had been running into him a lot lately, but I didn't really want to date him. Ston was my other idea. It was in my mind to go slow with Ston, wait for him to make the move. There was no one else I really wanted to date though, so I figured I would ask him- Eventually.
It seemed like, for a while, everytime I saw Jala or Darren, they would ask if I had found a date yet. I was feeling a little edgey about it. What if he said no? What if he thought of us just as friends? What if he didn't approve of forward girls? I went into a mild depression- thinking that he couldn't possibly like me. But when anyone would ask about it, I would get irritable and snap at them. I wasn't feeling ready to get into this again.
Finally, one day, Jala told me that if I didn't ask him soon, he may get plans. I went back to my quarters to do as she told me, when I felt suddenly that my quarters were a mess. I cleaned everything, did a couple reports for Andrannon, and found myself with nothing else to do to avoid asking him. Instead of just hailing him, I decided to send a message.
"Hey, Ston," I began nervously. "I've been doing pretty good lately. Busy. I was hoping you had fun talking the other day. I did. Speaking of dates- not that I was actually talking about dates, but it leads into what I was going to say. See, my friends, Darren and Jala, wanted to go on a triple date. Uh, I thought I would ask you if you weren't busy Saturday. If you are, that's fine. It would be cool if you could come. Hope to hear from you soon."
I ended the recording and sent it. Then I collapsed on my bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"He's going to think I'm such an idiot!"