Atomic: Rebooted

40. Saturday Night

CLAIRE

I looked myself over one more time in the mirror. The buzz of my phone next to me told me that Tristan was here—I could tell without even looking.

This was all new and exciting. I never went on dates, despite being a senior in high school. So this was a brand new experience. I wondered if Tristan had gone out with any girls, when I hadn't been paying as much attention to him. Would he have certain expectations, of what I was supposed to be like?

You're getting ahead of yourself, Claire. You don't even know that there were other girls.

I adjusted my jacket and examined my reflection. I knew it was just Tristan, a guy that was so low-key that he'd taken me on what was supposed to be a date last weekend and I'd thought we were just hanging out.

Still, I spent nearly two hours just trying to figure out what to wear.

What had happened to me?

A lot had changed in the last three weeks. I wasn't the same girl who got on the tram on that Thursday night.

That said, it's hard to describe, but I felt more like myself than I ever had.

Standing in front of me was a confident girl, in her black platform sneakers, and a black wrap dress with a golden star pattern that emphasized my hips. I looked more put together, with the matching of all of my accessories, down to my nose ring. My hair was tied away from my eyes in a half-up hairstyle with a black scrunchie, and it only made me look more determined and focused.

I smiled at the me in the mirror. I liked her, I decided.

I picked up my phone.

i'm here sweetheart

I grinned and held my phone to my heart for a minute. Then I put it in my jacket pocket and headed downstairs.

Dad smirked as I joined him and Tristan in the foyer.

"So when did you two become a thing?" His tone was faintly curious, but there was definitely a teasing there.

"Yeah, yeah, you were right all along, we get it, Dad." I rolled my eyes, even though I didn't really mind. That much. "And it's—"

"Complicated," Tristan finished, meeting my eyes. His flicked down for a moment. "You look great."

"Thanks, there's a boy I want to impress."

"Oh, you impressed him a long time ago."

Dad interrupted us with a loud cough. "Excuse me. Sorry. What time will you two be back?"

"Nine, ten at the latest, sir." It was endearing, watching Tristan change from his usual devil-may-care attitude to an ordinary boy who was scared of his girlfriend's dad. Never mind that he knew my dad nearly all his life.

"Good, I expect you'll let me know if you're running late?" Dad turned to me.

"Yeah, I've got my cellphone on me." I pulled it out, giving it a little wave.

Dad nodded his approval. "You kids have fun, then—but not too much fun."

"I wouldn't dare, sir," Tristan said solemnly. He looked to me. "Ready to go then?"

"Yep, bye Dad!" I waved and pushed Tristan out the door before anyone got any ideas to take pictures or anything else.

"So, where are we going?" I asked as we walked out to the car.

"There's that pizza place with the fifties-space gimmick." Tristan opened the door to his car for me. "Unless you wanna go somewhere else?"

"No, that sounds great."

I grinned as he got in the driver's seat.

"Can't believe it took us this long to get here, you know. Seems like we should've done this a long time ago."

"I know what you mean." He glanced back as he reversed the car out of the driveway. "But I'm just glad, well, y'know."

"Me too." I reached for his free hand, and watched his smile only grow.

It had been such a long time since I'd been uptown, I hadn't realized that Out-of-This-World Pizza had been put in right around Stephens Park.

Still, it was a novelty of a place. The waitresses were dressed in 1950s-style holographic dresses and bomber jackets with little alien motifs. The decor of the table and booths screamed the 1950s and there were star charts, sculptures of rockets, and all sorts of stuff giving it this retro futuristic feel.

We were making small talk, waiting for a pizza and sipping on milkshakes when I looked out the window, just for a second.

That's when I saw the explosion, the distance on the night skyline.

We looked at each other, and Tristan reached for my hand.

"I gotta go, bathroom," I said, turning red.

There was, for some weird reason, relief on his face.

"Uh, yeah, me too."

Both of us bolted for the back of the establishment. It was time for Psyche to jump into action.