"The Shooting Star Jubilee." Hana read aloud from the purple and blue neon sign perched above the door to the building in question, the name acompanied by a blinking yellow star with a purple and blue tail following it. Neon light pulsed gently from inside, washing the sidewalk in different colors. It could have been any straight bar, except it was entirely filled with women, a lot of them dressed like Lena beside her, her hands in the pockets of a red flannel shirt over a men's tank top, bouncing on the balls of her feet while Hana looked the building over. She fiddled with the clasp of her purse and considered going back to campus and locking herself in her room.
As if she could tell what Hana was thinking, Lena clucked her tongue and stopped bouncing to look at her. "You're making a face like you want to go home, Hana. I promise, it'll be fun! Most people aren't super drunk at-" Lena pulled out her phone. "-10:16 pm." Lena turned back to her and smiled encouragingly, and Hana smiled back. She was genuinely excited, but her excitement was tempered by a growing anxiety that she didn't belong here and everyone in the bar would know it.
Lena squeezed Hana's shoulder with surprising strength for someone with such thin arms. "If you aren't having a good time and it's been long enough that you feel like you should be, text me and we can go home, okay? But I really think you'll like it."
Hana nodded. "Okay. I'm ready."
"Atta girl!" Lena thumped her on the back, also with surprising strength, and pushed open the door. The sound of chatter and people eating and drinking immediately flooded out, and Hana stepped in before she could lose her nerve. She took a deep breath and managed to smile winningly at everyone who waved to Lena and her. The amount of waving and greetings seemed to be a combination of Lena being a regular and the women in this bar being exceptionally friendly. Hana began to relax. She was used to large groups of people being neutral if not vaguely hostile. This was a nice change of pace.
They both sat down at the bar, and when Hana had asked for a Coke and Lena a beer, Lena leaned in and whispered conspiratorily. "Do you mind if I slide down a few seats? I saw some of my bar friends. Or would you rather I sit here until your drink gets here?"
"No, you can do that." Hana felt her face redden under her makeup. Sure, this was her first lesbian bar - her first bar period - but she was still an adult! She didn't need any cute girls to hear Lena fussing over her like she was years younger than she was.
Tracer nodded and went further down the bar, and Hana was sitting alone. She saw out of the corner of her eye an incredibly tall, sharp-dressed black woman that Lena was flirting with. The woman was borderline statuesque, if Hana was being honest, and seemed to be nodding along to whatever Lena was saying. She heard Lena ask if she came here often and rolled her eyes. But wasn't that why women who loved women went to these bars - to meet people like them, to maybe date?
"Hello there."
Hana startled and looked to her left, and there was a girl who looked to be about her age sitting on the stool next to her. She had a purple undercut and her makeup matched down to the color on her lips. She had tawny beige skin, darker than Lena or Hana. She was dressed casually, except for a trench coat that brushed the floor and looked far too big for her. The stranger still managed to look incredibly cool, and Hana envied her a little for looking so at ease.
"H-hi." Hana wanted to slap herself for stuttering, and wanted to slap herself even more when the hot stranger chuckled.
"You looked nervous, and I wondered what kind of asshole would leave you by yourself when it's obviously your first time here." The stranger cut a glance at Lena, who looked ecstatic that the woman she was flirting with had laughed at something she said. Hana blushed deeper.
"I asked her to, actually." Hana mumbled to her lap. The stranger tilted her head, mouth parted slightly in curiosity. "I can take care of myself."
The stranger barked out a laugh. "How old are you?"
"Nineteen." Hana felt a surge of defensiveness. "How old are you?"
"Thirty." The stranger said sarcastically, then smirked when Hana turned to look at her in astonishment. "No, I'm actually a little older than you. Not much, though."
Hana arched an eyebrow. "Why don't you want to tell me how much older?"
"I like keeping an air of mystery." The stranger said casually. "Your drink's here, by the way. And mine." The stranger threw back a shot of something Hana didn't get the chance to see, then watched as Hana sipped her slightly room-temperature Coke.
"Do you go to school around here?" The stranger asked. "I go to Overwatch U. Programming major."
"I thought you liked an air of mystery." Hana remarked. The stranger burst into laughter. Hana felt a bloom of warmth in her chest.
"You're snarky! I like that." The stranger giggled. "So do you go to school around here? You in school?"
"No, I go to Overwatch too." Hana said modestly. "I'm a graphic design major."
"That's a lot of work."
"So is programming."
"True."
They fell silent for a little while, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Each girl was smiling softly to herself, and hoping they would see the other on the way to their technology-oriented classes. Hana thought the stranger was interesting as well as incredibly beautiful, and the stranger wanted to learn more about her and hear more of her little quips.
"What's your name?" Hana asked. "I'm Hana Song."
"You can call me Sombra." The stranger, Sombra, responded with a small smile.
"Sombra." Hana tested the name in her mouth. "That's a nice name."
"Who said it was my name?" Sombra teased but also genuinely asked. "But I like Hana too. It suits you. Pretty girls with plain names always intrigue me."
Hana blushed. "Oh, stop."
"Make me." Sombra dared, invited.
If this was a movie, I would give her a kiss to show her how cool and daring I am. But that only occured to Hana after she had darted forward and gave Sombra a quick, teasing pinch.
"Ow!" Sombra yelped, then chuckled. "That's one way to go about it."
Hana smirked, then turned around when Lena tapped her on the shoulder, face a bit flushed from drink. "Hey, I never thought I would say this, but are you okay with maybe heading out early? I just remembered there's rugby practice tomorrow."
"Oh, sure." Hana looked at Sombra apologetically. "See you at school?"
"Absolutely." Sombra gave a little two-fingered wave, then tapped Hana on the nose. "Boop."
Hana brought her fingers to her nose and waved back as she and Lena walked away.
"So are you going to tell me who that was?" Lena asked as Hana started the car.
"Her name is Sombra, and she goes to Overwatch and she's a programming major." Hana said slowly. "I kind of really like her." She confessed.
Lena wiggled her eyebrows, and Hana gave her a playful shove before they drove back to school.
Later that night, when Hana opened her purse looking for her phone, she found a purple sticky note sitting on top. It had a phone number scribbled on it, followed by a message.
That's me. Call me whenever. I love new friends.
Xoxo, Sombra