Scott's Shift

Judge, Jury, and 'Jamas

I listen to the calming whirl of fan blades going round and round, as I lay on my bed counting my tips from Friday night.

Almost six hundred dollars for a few hours of casually prying into Gracie's personal life in-between waiting tables and meeting various community members.

Scott was right. The weekend-welcoming, rowdy-crowd Friday regulars sure do tip well, even for the town new girl that no one knows.

It was already Monday morning, which meant I have my first classes of the new semester today.

My first course is an online forum where we explore, analyze, and discuss world languages, musics, and arts. I sat and stared at my computer screen for almost twenty minutes before finally jumping into the topic at hand.

The professor posed a query about the similarities and differences found along bordering nations, and my fellow students were debating various examples from around the world.

Someone pointed out the difference in Latin music while someone else compared speech in the Middle East. A few people contrasted the technologies in Asia and the weaponry in Europe.

When the class closed out, I decided to take the Fastback and head into town. I needed to put my tip money into my savings account at the bank and do a little shopping before my class on campus.

History: Then and Now

Ancient through Modern

I was sitting in the back row of the lecture hall, staring blankly at the professor as she droned on about the syllabus when my phone vibrated.

Gracie: Hey! What are you doing?

Evie: Bored in lecture hall

Gracie: Oof! What class? Want to hang out later and talk about it?

Evie: History! The most boring of all boring lectures.

Evie: I'm stuck on campus until 3:00. What are you doing until then?

Gracie: I'll be waiting in my 'jamas on the couch, listening for the Fastback.

Evie: It's a date, I'll bring popcorn.

The lecture actually wasn't too bad. But by the time 3:00 came around, I was ready to run.

I pulled into Gracie's driveway and she rushed out the front door onto her steps to greet me.

"I love the llama pajamas!" I laugh at her.

From where I'm standing in the driveway, the doorway two steps behind and above her, frames her short, curvy body. The sunlight almost glows off of her skin, but it's hard to tell with the shadow of the front lawn's oak trees covering most of her appearance. Gracie's long, blonde hair was drying loosely around her waist, forming soft, bouncy ringlets.

We go inside and I head straight for her kitchen. She sits down at the floating island parked in the middle of the open floor.

"So what did the professor talk about for two whole hours?" she asks as I place a bag of kernals in the microwave and a warm butter smell starts to fill the air.

"Oh," I smirk at her, "I think the more interesting discussion of the day was in World Arts when we were debating regional dialects and slangs.

You know, for example," I grin.

"How some parts of the world pronounce the word 'puh-jam-ahs' and some places pronounce it 'puh-jah-mas'.

Multiple people pointed out the abbreviation 'PJs' but no one provided evidence of the abbreviation ever being documented as 'jamas'." I couldn't contain my laughter.

Gracie's cheeks deepened red as she defended her child-like vocabulary, "If you must know, when I was younger, I spent some time in Australia and dated an Aussi woman who used the word 'jamas. I guess it stuck with me all these years."

"Well, I think it's cute. Did I hear you correctly? You dated a woman?" I ask, obviously thrown off guard by the nonchalant way she mentioned it.

"Yes, what's the big deal about that?" she grew slightly more defensive.

"Nothing, actually, I just never knew that was possible. I mean, a woman and a woman, together. Where I come from, I was taught that a man and a woman go together, or no one goes at all. I saw a woman kiss another woman in a movie, once, but the adults told me it was Hollywood acting." I confess and her expression softens.

"Well, if that's the case, did you have a boyfriend back home that you ever drove crazy with a shirt?" she asks, obviously doing her own prying.

"No, actually. Never." I blurt out and Gracie laughs instantly.

"So you never had a boyfriend, and you never knew lesbians were a real thing?" Confusion and hysteria dripping from her lips, Gracie asked, "Were you ever even a little curious?"

"Honestly? No. I always focused on school and my parents. I never thought about relationships and romance until very recently."

"How recently is "recently"?" Gracie quirks an eyebrow at me.

"Um, somewhere between following you into Sammy's and meeting Scott for the first time."