Grounded Goddesses

Chapter Three: Into the Frying Pan

POV: Luna

We hadn’t been able to tell Star if either of us knew how to waitress, but it quickly became evident that Sola was more suited to the task then I was, but I wasn’t half bad at helping out in the kitchen. 

Actually, I was genuinely enjoying it.  Working with Star's grandfather, Abner, was almost more of an endless story telling session than cooking.  Her grandfather was clearly good at his job as cook, he never seemed to think about what his hands were doing, instead occupying his mind by telling me anything and everything he thought of.  And he remembered a lot.  Whether it was an exciting adventure he went on in his younger days or an interesting customer he had served.   

My favorite story though was of the girl driving through town who had stopped for no more than a bite to eat in the diner's early days when Abner was still learning the business and far more prone to making mistakes.  Or just more prone to letting pretty girls distract him into making mistakes.  According to Abner though, this was not a common trend for him, he had never been nearly so flustered around a woman.  But Astrid, who Abner referred to as his shooting star had shown in a whole new way.  Her hair was golden, her eyes a clear midnight blue, and every movement full of energy.  Full of life.  After messing up her order for the second time, she asked if she was distracting him.  Embarrassed he had denied it.  But when she left, never to return, he wished he had been brave.  He couldn’t get her out of his head.  Luckily for him, Astrid had enjoyed his cooking so much even with the slow service that she decided to stop by again on her way back through. 

“She always told me a shooting star wouldn’t have given me a second chance, but my greatest wish that whole week after she left was for a second chance, and no one can convince me a shooting star wouldn’t defy the odds and appear again if that was your greatest wish,” Abner winked, “she burned brightly that one…. I should’ve known.”

I didn’t dare ask what he should have known.  I hadn’t failed to notice that Star hadn’t mentioned a grandmother, and Abner hadn’t offered to introduce me. 

He was quiet for only a moment, and then he declared it was time for me to learn his secret to baking the best muffins around.

“Hey, grandpa, mind if I borrow Luna for lunch?” Star asked, leaning halfway through the window between the kitchen and the rest of the diner.

“Are you not the one who brought her in the first place?  Go ahead, your friend has me further ahead of schedule than I have been in a long time.  If you want a real job honey, I would hire you in a heartbeat!”

“We’ll discuss it over lunch,” she promised, “leave the apron Luna, come on!”

Star grabbed a bag of to go meals I hadn’t even noticed Abner put together, then led us out to her truck.  While we squeezed in, Star explained that she preferred to take her lunch at a quiet spot she knew along the lake less than five minutes away.  It allowed her to get some fresh air and, more importantly, privacy. 

Her spot wasn’t anything special, but it was quiet and surprisingly calm after the chaos of the diner.

“How are you feeling Luna?  You’ve been so quiet,” Star noticed.

“Oh, sorry, I was just thinking,” I explained before taking the bag she held out to me.

“This looks amazing!” Sola grinned at Star as she pulled out the carefully packed food and examined the mini feast.

“It tastes even better,” Star winked, and I realized that while her complexion was somewhat lighter, her facial features came from her grandfather.  “Luna, Sola and I were talking in between customers, and well unfortunately I wasn’t able to find either of you on social media or in a quick google search, but there’s a library not too far from the building my internship is in.  We were thinking that could be a good place for you to start doing some research!”

“That’s a great idea…”

“You don’t sound very excited,” Sola accused, barely taking a break from her sandwich. 

“Well no, not really.  What do we even research?  If you couldn’t find us, what if those are fake ids?  We need our memories back, Sola.  I know I was concerned earlier, but Star and Abner haven’t seemed to think we belong in a mental hospital, so maybe we should find a doctor to check our heads, see if he can do anything.”

Sola made a face, “some doctor looking at us like a science experiment? No thank you.  It’s common knowledge that most people get their memories back when they are triggered by something familiar.  In other words, we need to figure out where we’re from so we can be triggered!”

“But what if we don’t find anything?  Where do we-“

Star was frowning, “Luna, I know this can’t be easy, but whichever route you take it may take a long time for you to get to the bottom of this.  Especially if those IDs turn out to be fake.”

“Yes, but-“

“You are welcome to do whatever you choose, but Sola has agreed to stay with me and work at the diner until she gets herself sorted, you are welcome to do the same.”

I looked between them, noticing for the first time how close they were sitting and how comfortably they had been speaking.  While I had been listening to Abner’s stories, they had been getting to know each other. 

“That’s a…really nice offer, but I’m afraid I can’t accept.  You've been extremely kind, but I have only known you for a few hours.”

“Who else do you know?” Sola argued, “where else are you going to go with no money and no memories?  Unless you've decided you’re willing to risk going to the police?”

“Well, people haven’t seemed to see us as insane yet, maybe it’s not as risky as I initially feared…” but my instincts were still telling me to stay away from any type of official.  “You know what, fine.  Let’s try the library tonight, but if it’s a dead end and we can’t figure out anything else-“

“We’ll figure it out together,” Sola smiled.

“And Luna,” Star jumped in, “I swear it’s really no problem for you to stay with me for a little while.  It’s just my mom and I living there right now and she’s on tour.”

“Shouldn’t you at least ask her?”

“Already did, she thinks it’s a great idea, she doesn’t love leaving me on my own for such long stretches of time.”

I wasn’t sure I could argue with Star, she had somehow turned a huge favor into us actually being some type of blessing.  It still felt a little strange to accept such a huge offer from a stranger who had already helped us so much, I had to agree with my sister too.  Where else could we go?

“Alright, but you have to let us help with your chores, you need to get something out of this too.”

Star laughed, “you’re a sweetheart Luna, but you might want to see the place before you make such a bold offer.  Now eat up, or you’ll run out of time for the pie slices my grandpa let me steal from the diner!”

Sola leaned over Star to peek in the bag, “please tell me it’s the lemon one, that one looked so good!”

Star shut the bag, “uh uh!  Lunch first!” But she winked at me over Sola’s back and I had the feeling she had noticed Sola salivating over the lemon meringue ever since she first saw it in the glass case. 

“Wow,” Sola pouted, sitting back upright, “so rude!”

“I’m rude for bringing you pie?” Star raised an eyebrow at Sola, “Luna, you can have Sola’s piece too.”

“No, wait, I take it back, I’ll eat my lunch now!” Sola promised, immediately shoving her sandwich into her mouth.

Star smirked, “that’s what I thought.”