it was already Friday night, and Connie could feel the cold sweat trickling down her forehead. Several minutes had passed since dinner was supposed to begin, but her parents beside her were starting to get impatient. Neither Nora's family nor Adrian were in sight. The formal atmosphere, combined with the picturesque decorations and jazz music of the restaurant, did little to calm her nerves.
Her mother glanced at the clock, just about to launch into a tirade about the guests' tardiness when they were interrupted by the sudden arrival of a quite diverse group of people.
A tall, somewhat burly man with greying hair stood at the far left, dressed in a simple yet elegant beach shirt paired with gray pants and matching shoes.
Next to him stood a young woman who was tall for her age, with supernaturally pink hair and vividly colored eyes. She wore an upper dress in a pastel pink adorned with small stars, along with heels of the same color. She resembled a birthday cake, and the slight joy emanating from her face with a small smile might have made Connie think so, or perhaps it was the positive aura around her seeming to reassure the world that "everything would be fine."
Beside the pink-haired girl was a tall woman with garnet-colored skin, firm hair, and prominent glasses that covered most of her face, leaving her real expression unseen. She wore a muted red dress with golden lines that intersected the fabric. Following her was a petite woman with violet-colored skin and snow-white hair, her expression curious yet apathetic in equal parts, which did not diminish her charm. She wore pants combining gray and black unevenly, white shoes matching her hair, and a completely black top. She was followed by a slim, tall woman with pale cyan skin and hair resembling the pale pink of a grapefruit. She wore a short pink dress that faded into a darker shade as it descended, topped with a light sky blue vest. Her expression was refined, but her discomfort and slight displeasure were noticeable.
Lastly, there was a tall, muscular young man who seemed like a mountain in human form, with hair as dark as the night sky, skin resembling that of a statue, eyes as deep as the cosmos, and an impassive face that revealed nothing of his thoughts. He wore a long-sleeved shirt as white as could be, pants, and shoes the color of tar. Despite his simplicity, he stood out with a noble bearing, resembling some sort of supernatural being exuding charisma—a figure that could offer you a deal you would gladly accept, even if it led to your demise.
Connie sighed with relief and frustration at the lateness. At least she could calm down now.
"We apologize for the delay," spoke the man with a thick, weathered voice that had seen better days, but that didn't seem to hinder him at all.
Connie's parents glanced at them briefly and nodded. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. ..."
"Universe, Greg Universe. The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Maheswaran," he replied as he shook hands firmly.
"Ladies..." began Connie's mother, addressing the Gems and Nora.
"Nora Universe, ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you," Nora said with a delicacy and tone not typical of her.
"Garnet Crystal," said the tallest woman in the group robotically, her expression indecipherable.
"Amethyst Crystal," said the small purple girl with a barely perceptible tone of indifference in her voice.
"Pearl Crystal, it's a pleasure to finally meet you too, Mrs. Maheswaran," my mother nodded briefly at Pearl's words, and unexpectedly, my parents' gazes turned to Adrian.
"It's a pleasure to see you again, Dr. Maheswaran, and nice to meet you, sir," Adrian said in a casual yet respectful tone, very characteristic of him.
"Wait, you know my mom?" I said quietly, bewildered.
"I see you've fully recovered," my mother said as if it were the most normal thing in the world, and Nora's and my gaze turned to Adrian, a clear sign of questioning that was ignored.
"It's good to finally meet the boy my daughter talks so much about," my father said, and damn, I wish the earth would swallow me up right now.
"I hope only good things," he said as he shook hands with my father and sat down, now more than ever I wanted the earth to swallow me up.
...
Dinner progressed very slowly, you know, mostly normal things between dishes, my parents asked questions, like what Mr. Universe and the Gems did for a living.
"I've had a question for some time, what do you do, Mr. Universe?" my mother asked, and Mr. Universe slowly set the plate of food in front of him to focus his gaze on my mother.
"Mainly, I take care of my little one," he said, referring to Nora, who blushed a little. "But as for work, I own the city's chain of car washes, I'm also Mr. Smiles' business partner, and I have a record label as a hobby," he said quite naturally. My parents just nodded, and then their gazes turned to Nora's "aunts."
"Miss Pearl, what do you do?" my father asked this time.
"Protec– ugh I'm a fashion designer," she muttered first and glared at Adrian, but he just made a gesture that went very unnoticed.
Nora also gave Pearl an uncomfortable smile as if she were about to give herself away.
Then attention turned to Garnet and Amethyst, who answered with little expression.
"Painter and sculptor," Amethyst said as she moved her food with her fork.
"Lawyer," Garnet said stoically, and I heard my father say next to me, "It's very noticeable."
The conversation paused for a moment, but then my mother asked Nora a question she didn't expect her to answer.
"Nora dear, I assume you're in the same high school grade as my daughter, right?" my mother said.
Nora sighed and took a moment to answer the question.
"Connie is in her penultimate year, isn't she?" she said, and both my mother and I said "yes."
"I'm actually in my last year, although I'm homeschooled due to family reasons," Nora said, and this information briefly surprised me. Well, that explains a lot.
Then my father turned to Adrian with an implicit question, almost the same question my mother had asked Nora, but what he answered left both Nora and me very puzzled, as well as drew the attention of the other adults present, because although we are friends, we don't know much about Adrian if I'm honest.
"So Adrian, I assume you're already in your last year of high school or have you finished it already?" my father said. My mother gave my father an inexplicable look.
Adrian set aside his food for a moment and adjusted to answer.
"I assume so? I think I was already in college, really, I don't know," he took a moment for us to digest his words and continued, "The truth is, I had an accident, and most of my memory is fuzzy," he concluded as some of us processed what he had said, I could hear a "WHAT" from Nora and maybe from me too.
"They found me outside City Beach Hospital, and well, here I am. That's also how I met Dr. Maheswaran; she was the one who treated me," he said, making the connection.
"I'm sorry for asking that question in your difficult situation," my father said with a hint of regret in his voice.
"Don't worry, how could you have known if you didn't ask?" Adrian said in a neutral tone, making a slight gesture of denial with his hand.
"I guess it's a difficult situation to face in the family," Mr. Universe spoke this time, and for a brief moment, I could see Adrian's face reflecting an emotion I couldn't describe.
"Yes, it's a somewhat difficult situation. I don't know if I really have a family or if I'm an orphan. It's not something I can remember," Adrian said uncomfortably, and the questions quickly stopped coming to him.
Dinner proceeded quickly after that. Nora couldn't stop looking at Adrian now with something akin to sympathy, and I couldn't really believe that the person who was indifferent to almost everything and gave the impression that he always knew what would happen had that background. Although maybe his indifference was just the result of that, of having nothing.