Jake Seresin: Pretty Privilege

𝕠𝕟𝕖

It had been months since she last stepped into a bar. Just because she was in her mid-twenties did not mean she enjoyed the party life. Sure, she enjoyed a casual night out every so often, but she was never a drinker. She chalked it up to her constantly having schoolwork to do, but everyone who knew her on a personal level knew that wasn't the case. But she liked it that way, always having something to keep her going. For the past half-decade, it had been her dad's lifelong friend Penny and her amazing daughter Amelia. And to add onto that, school for the last three. 

She got a late start in college, but she had been making up for the three years she spent in a spiral after high school by taking nearly 20 credit hours a semester. Upon moving in with Penny and her seven-year-old daughter in San Diego after her dad passed away, her life took a complete 180. It took a few years for her mental health to recuperate and for her to feel like herself again, but with the help of Penny, she was able to make it into a great online college program. With the time she had leftover, she would help Penny with Amelia. Take her to and from school, help her with homework, drive her to friends' houses... Mom duties that Penny couldn't do at the same time she worked at The Hard Deck. And Jolie loved it. Amelia was like the little sister she never had, and Penny was like the mom she always wanted.

Now that Amelia was old enough to stay home alone for hours at a time without having adult supervision, Penny encouraged Jolie to get a job somewhere local. She offered a bartending job with her at The Hard Deck, but she knew Jolie would turn it down. Not only would Jolie feel like she worked there because her boss was pitiful of her, but she wasn't a drinker, didn't like loud crowds, and had substance abuse issues in her family her entire life; however, that didn't stop her from coming to the bar every so often to scope out the floor for cute boys. She hadn't been getting lucky like she had hoped, and she entirely planned on staying in tonight with Amelia and watching some heartthrob, but Penny convinced her to come. Said she had a feeling.

And as time went on, Jolie started losing hope and giving Penny her best disappointed look to make her feel guilty. It wasn't dark yet, and the deal the two made was she would be able to go back home once the sun set. She still had at least 40 minutes before that would happen. So, she asked Penny for a water and walked over to the pool table where a few men and a woman in uniform stood talking with beers.

Jolie was quite extroverted and made conversation easy. Upon walking up to the small group of what seemed to be pilots based on their wing patches, she flashed a smile to the closest to her, a woman with dark brown hair and tan skin.

"Jolie, thought I'd come say hello to some people who look my age," Jolie gestured to the elders around her. Not necessarily old, but older than her. The woman stretched her hand out to Jolie and offered a smile.

"Natasha, but please, call me Phoenix." Jolie met her hand and shook it with a tight grip. Something her father drilled into her head. Never give a limb handshake.

"So you are pilots. I didn't want to assume, but you guys do look the part with your uniforms and wings," Jolie retracted her hand back to her side and looked to the other pilots standing nearby.

"Yes, naval aviators." A man who looked to be Columbian spoke and stuck his hand out as Phoenix had done moments before. "Fanboy," He offered a slight smile as he shook Jolie's hand.

"Naval aviators, oh that's awesome! One of my best friends is a naval aviator. I think she's stationed somewhere in Italy right now," Jolie began, looking off into the distance, trying to recall the last time they were able to talk.

Alyssa Burke. A fiery little thing. That's where Jolie got her spunk and spark. She met Alyssa a few months after moving to Fightertown. She's one of the biggest reasons Jolie made it out of her depressive stage. She was called to a program called Top Gun after being a pilot for the navy for a few years. Jolie didn't know much about Top Gun other than it was basically the biggest compliment any pilot could ever receive. They only wanted the best of the best, and Alyssa was one of them at the time.