5 - Reika of Oklahoma City

“Why do I get put in the back all the time?” Ivy moaned as she reclined, and laid the back of her head on Alicia’s breasts.

“Aw, poor baby, can’t say cuddle fast enough,” Alicia teased. Ivy had Ranger and Mr Lion in her hands and was flying them around making barking and roaring noises at each other.

Casey turned from shotgun and smiled. “Because how else would Ranger get his exercise if you weren’t there to play with him?”

Dakota ignored the other girls, enjoying cuddle. She had learned to sleep through the near constant talking of the other girls and she drooled slightly on Hale’s neck.

“Casey!” Hale hissed. “Casey!”

“What?” she asked.

He rolled his hand over and showed off the ring in his palm. “Oh!” Casey said, picking it from his and putting it in her bag.

“Blonde time!” Ivy said.

“Where did ... How did ... No. Nope!” Alicia said, pushing Ivy off of her as Betty glided down the interstate.

“So it’s OK that it changed your brain to make you one of us--”

“One of us! One of us! One of us!” Ivy’s chanting shook Dakota awake.

“--but that they just show up bothers you?” Casey finished.

“New ring?” Dakota yawned. She embarrassedly wiped up Hale’s neck. “Blonde time?”

“Oh my god! Keep it away from me!” Alicia crowded Ivy into the driver side back door as Casey held up the ring. Ivy waved her ringed finger in front of Alicia’s face.

“You’re OK with this one,” Ivy said.

“Do you need us to pull over and sit down and talk?” Hale said.

“Now? Just go the next little bit into Oklahoma,” Ivy said. She pushed Alicia onto her back across the back bench. “I’ll wrangle this stallion for you, boss.”

“Stallions are boys,” Dakota said. Alicia squealed as Ivy yanked down her skirt. “Stallions have dicks.”

“I’ll lend them mine when we pull over,” Hale promised. “Go back to sleep, cuddle bunny.”

Reika Akane sat in the back of her friend’s mother’s van. She had her tablet and was going through the itinerary of the con.

“How about this one: writing and OC creation featuring--”

“Dude, if the panels are old school creators, but just nobodies with a couple of shit-ass High Republic Star Wars books under their belt they’ll just be cesspools of ‘Thank you for my pronouns’ shit.” Jake turned around from the front seat. The four high school graduates were heading to Tokyo OK in Tulsa before their lives and college careers took them apart.

Reika didn’t care much for Jake, he was a bit too aggressive when he flirted, but the rest of the guys: Nina, Joe, and Marco were all super chill. Plus, it was Jake’s car, even if Joe was the only one around to drive.

“So, what are you gonna do? Just walk around and check out the cosplayers?” Reika asked.

“That’s reason number 2,” Jake said.

“What’s number 1?”

“To see you in that Ryuko cosplay.”

“I’m not cutting my hair,” Reika said. “I’m obviously going as Satsuki.”

“I can’t believe you’re going so slutty!” Nina said, the chubby Latina girl had a decent Nico Robin cosplay, but not really the body for it.

“I’m wearing her school uniform and sword, not going full--”

“You’ve told us a dozen times,” Marco, Nina’s twin brother, said. “Though, it would be honestly awesome to see you in full-on ... god fibres.”

Reika went into a thirty minute explanation of Kill la Kill costumes, just to hide the fact that she was blushing incredibly hard that Joe, Jake, and Marco had turned their attention full on her.

Nina was pissed.

Reika didn’t get it. Obviously, Nina’s sluttiness made her way more interesting to Joe and Jake. Marco was going to wander off as soon as he saw a girl who had what Reika didn’t:

Tits.

“We’re really going to keep piling bodies into Betty?” Alicia asked as they found the third hotel booked up. The whole of downtown Tulsa was impossible to drive through with Tokyo OK in the swing of things.

“What else are we gonna do?” Dakota said.

“We need somewhere to sleep,” Casey said.

“I’ve got an idea,” Ivy said.

“I’m all ears,” Hale said. “I’m with Casey. I need you in a bed. Interstate road head is terrifying.”

“I didn’t hear you complain when you came in my mouth,” Casey said.

“That’s the number one time guys are known to have any complaints,” Alicia scoffed. “Ivy. Idea.”

“Tow-trailer.”

“What?”

“Seriously, we got the tent in the back, camping supplies for just Hale and Casey. But we get a tow trailer, we can drive more bitches and always have a bed.”

“Think you can find one?” Alicia asked. “Like right now?”

“What’s your price range?”

Hale looked for his phone for the first time in three states. He found it in the hidden cubby under the cuddle seat. “Fuck.”

“I don’t know how you didn’t have a panic attack,” Dakota said.

“I was too busy getting laid,” he said. “Uh ... Think we can get something for, uh, less than 30K?”

“Cash?”

“Well, it’s a Visa.”

“I’ll find something.”

“I’ll find us somewhere to park Betty,” Hale said. “I wanna check out the anime convention.”

“Why?” Alicia said. “You’re not a nerd, are you?”

Reika turned in the mirror. Her hairclip wasn’t perfect and it fucking bothered her. She wasn’t a competitive cosplayer, but fuck, she wasn’t some slob either.

“You look amazing,” Marco said.

Reika just glared at him.

The boys always just said that.

“Let’s go,” Nina said, not saying anything. She never did. She never said anything mean to someone’s face and Reika felt like her silence was proof she had a lot of negative to say behind her back.

“Your skirt’s too long,” Jake said.

“No, that’s not an issue,” Reika said. “It’s technically shorter, but that’s because Satsuki’s 176cm and I’m--”

“I’m not listening to another lecture,” Joe said, slinging his badge over his decent Deku cosplay. It was like Joe was the only one who put effort in like Reika. He didn’t have the build for it but--

“Ugh!” Ivy turned up the volume from cuddle as Dakota drove. “Why am I here?! I wanted to see the cute anime tiddies!”

“So did I!” Dakota said.

“You’re here because you’re the only one who has a license,” Ivy said. She leaned over and ran her hands over Dakota’s thigh.

“Not while I’m driving!” Dakota half-panicked. “And besides Hale’s not here to watch.”

“You know, I like girls even when it’s not a show?” Ivy said.

“I like the show,” Dakota said.

“Bullshit,” Ivy laughed. “You just don’t want to get Betty fucked up while you’re driving. Alicia has a license.”

“And maybe I’d have been driving here with her if you hadn’t gotten on her about being so prejudiced. You basically forced her to be the playmate of the day by calling her out.”

“Well Casey--”

“Is trusted with the rings,” Dakota said. “Stop bitching. I can’t hear the GPS over your whining.”

“You’re eating my pussy in this camper as soon as we get it,” Ivy crossed her arms.

“You really want to baptize it without Hale?”

Ivy screamed in frustration.

It was easy enough to get three day passes. There were more people in just casual summer clothes than in costumes, so it wasn’t like they didn’t fit in.

“Who’s your favorite redhead?” Casey asked, clinging to Hale’s arm, head on a swivel.

“You are,” he said with a kiss.

“Brunette?” Alicia asked.

“That would get me in trouble,” Hale said, kissing her.

“I meant ... if we had done costumes ... Spider-Man and MJ?”

“Isn’t MJ a black girl?” Alicia asked. “Zendaya, right?”

“I’d rather we did Kamina and Yoko Littner,” Hale said, ignoring Alicia.

“Oh! I’d look so hot with a big rifle,” Casey said. “We’re definitely doing a con somewhere next summer.”

“It’s a date,” Hale said.

“So we’re looking for a blonde?” Alicia said, pushing herself back into the conversation.

“Nina?” Reika came out of the stall and frowned to see her girlfriend had already left. Reika went to the sinks and washed her hands. She scowled at her hair clip once again. It had looked so perfect from the Etsy shop she had ordered. She picked up her sword, firmly in its scabbard with red security tape.

Nina wasn’t waiting for her outside of the restrooms either. Reika frowned.

“Oh my god! I love your costume! Can I get a picture?!”

Reika put on her most serious face and stood with her hands on her sword pommel as she took several pictures with the excited geeks.

“Thanks!”

“No trouble,” Reika said. “My hair looks OK, right? I can’t get this clip to--”

“You look perfect,” he said, with a look down at her small breasts.

She frowned. “I gotta find my friends.”

“Nina! Where are you?!” she texted quickly.

“Oh my god! What a gorgeous Satsuki! May I?”

“Of course,” Reika said. It had been like this all morning.

Alicia had to admit, she was having fun. She had felt like a third wheel, but Casey’s pull was infectious. They had been ambushing cute cosplayers for pictures all morning.

“Her?” Alicia said. “Why is her hair up like that?”

“That’s a rule 63 Goku,” Casey said. “You’ve at least heard of Dragonball Z, I hope.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of it,” Alicia said, defensively.

“She’s got a cute Super Saiyan costume, but...”

“Right,” Alicia agreed. “Let’s go say hi. I don’t like staring and then rejecting them without a picture.”

“I guess,” Casey said.

“Who should we be looking for?” Alicia asked.

“Hot? Preferably blonde so we can rub it in Ivy’s face,” Casey said.

“I meant ... What’s Hale’s favorite anime?”

“He likes all the shounen staples: Dragonball, Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, My Hero Academia, Black Clover, Jujutsu Kai--”

“None of those mean anything to me,” Alicia said. “Well maybe Dragonball, Naruto, and My Hero Academia. Hi! I love your costume can we get a picture?”

“Sure,” the girl-Goku said. She posed for a kamehameha, with some prodding Alicia matched the pose and Casey snapped a bunch of pictures with her and Alicia’s phones.

“Thanks, you’re sweet,” Alicia said.

“You’re not a real blonde, are you?” Casey asked.

“Is Goku?” the cosplayer laughed. “Have fun!”

“You too.”

“What did that mean?” Alicia asked.

“Goku has black hair until he goes Super Saiyan and gets that up hairstyle. Apparently, Akira Toriyama changed the color because inking black hair every panel took too much time.”

“Right,” Alicia said, frowning. “But her hair’s yellow. That would be have to colored anyways, right?”

“Not by the inker,” Casey said. “And not in a black and white manga.”

“Manga’s the word for comics and anime is the cartoons?” Alicia said.

“How are you so out of this culture?”

“I had boys, parties, and cheerleading,” Alicia said.

“You’re lucky you’re pretty. Where did Hale get off to?”

“We lost him in the vendors,” Alicia said. “I texted him to meet us at auditorium 3.”

“Cool,” Casey.

Ivy tossed Hale’s phone down.

“They lost him,” she said.

“We’re here,” Dakota said. “Let’s get this done. I want to go play hide and seek at the con.”

“I’m going to be so pissed when they get us a super hot Sailor Moon to fuck and I didn’t get a vote,” Ivy said, climbing out of Betty.

“Hi!” Dakota said, walking over to the salesman. “We called about a tow trailer?”

“You’ve come to the right place!” he said.

“Ease up Donnie,” a tall black guy in a flashy suit came out of the main building. “I already got these girls covered.”

Donnie scowled at his partner. Not just because he was stealing the commission from a pair of young dumb girls. They were hot young dumb girls!

“Hey, where are you guys?”

“We’re down at auditorium 3,” Jake shouted back through his phone. “Nina says you ditched her. Not cool, Reika!”

“Fuck you!” Reika snapped. “She ditched me. Put that bitch on and--”

She blinked to have Jake hang up on her. Why would he do that ... She needed to find Marco. He couldn’t fuck his sister so he’d not be such a prick to--

“That is an incredible Satsuki costume! Makes me so pissed I lost my phone.” She looked up and saw a cute tall boy with shaggy brown hair. “You, OK?”

“Lost my friends,” she said.

“Me too,” he said, with a smile. “I’m Hale.”

“Reika,” she said.

“It’s near perfect, I think the hair clip’s a little off, but I’d say it’s a good 9.5 out of 10. You even did the bangs right. That’s not a wig, is it?”

“I could’ve stuffed my bra too,” she said, smiling. She touched her clip. “But yeah, this didn’t match the picture on the website.”

Hale offered his hand and pulled Reika to her feet.

“Don’t care, you did great. Do you get paid for this?”

“No, this is all fun,” she said.

“Oh my god! What a great Satsuki-sama? I’m not interrupting, can I get a picture with your girlfriend?”

“You need her permission, not mine,” Hale said. Stepping back as the big thirty-something in a pretty awesome Wilson Fisk cosplay stepped in to get a picture with Reika.

“Wow,” Reika said. “Thanks.”

“Want some company?” Hale asked. “At least until we find my friends or yours?”

“Can we look for yours first?” Reika said, grumpily.

“Sure,” he said.

She was happy he didn’t press her. They started talking Kill la Kill, her costume was their icebreaker after all. It was only after they had moved onto the fifth anime, did Reika realize he hadn’t been pitching in at all, just content to let her run her mouth. She blushed and covered her face.

“Oh my god! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to monopolize everything,” she said.

“What? No, I just had never watched Akame ga Kill, I didn’t much to add,” he said. “Want to go through the vendors.”

“Akame ga Kill was the third anime ... Oh god,” she said. “I’m not really much like this, I’ve just been--”

“All coiled up and in need of release,” he said. “Like a spring under pressure.”

“You can tell?”

“It got the sourness out of your eyes,” he said. “Fight with your friends?”

“I don’t know why, but there’s this one girl we’re with. She’s ... She’s jealous. I don’t even want the boys she’s after ... Because I know they’ll give up on me and settle for her straight after. I wanted fun, not drama,” she said.

“Fun drama’s not so bad,” Hale said. “So long as your friends aren’t being passive aggressive. But if they are ... You’re free to hang out with me and mine. I always like having a beautiful girl to show off to them.”

“What are your buddies like?” she blushed furiously at being called beautiful. She couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

“There’s just two around here somewhere, I lost them when they caught sight of a sexy ... You know, I don’t know who they were following. Some blonde out of Fairy Tail. Lucy? I remember Ezra Scarlet. I can’t even remember the fire breather’s name.”

“Erza Scarlet. And you’re thinking of Natsu--”

“Dragneel, right.”

“Right, anyway if you’re talking about the Lucy cosplayers, do you mean the really cute Lucy? Or the tall gangly one with big boobs?”

“Big boobs,” he said. “I think.”

“The other girl’s on the committee like me,” Reika said, looking down at her small breasts. “If you remember boobs, there’s definitely a prettier Lucy around.”

“I never forget boobs,” he said. “Even committee members.”

She blushed again. They wandered into the artists, jewelers, toy-sellers, and authors. The crowds were packed tightly.

“Anything you were looking for?” Hale asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Most of my spending money’s got clipped by the gas, hotel room, and my food budget. Nothing big.”

“Anything you special you would be looking for?” he asked. “If you weren’t buying.”

“Not really,” Reika said. “I don’t know ... I...” It felt really cruel to impose a shopping list on a boy she just meant. And if he did start spending money on her, was she going to be his prostitute?

She blushed harder.

“What about a plushie?” he asked, grabbing her elbow and weaving her up to a table. A tall middle-aged woman with a bright smile and a cardigan was standing in a cage of hanging plushies. He pointed, “What do you think?”

He was pointing at a cute sewn version of Ryuko, the hero of Kill La Kill to the antagonist that Reika was cosplaying as, in her Senketsu, the living uniform that turned more slutty and revealing as her combat prowess grew.

“That’s cute,” she said.

“Cool, we’ll take it,” Hale said, pulling out his wallet.

“You don’t have to...” she said.

“Oh?” he asked. “How old are you?”

“Eighteen, why?”

“No, you’re wrong. I definitely have to,” he said, grinning.

The vendor put the plushie in Reika’s hand before typing the price into the card machine and sliding it over to Hale. “You two have fun and be safe now.”

“We’ll do our best,” Hale said.

Reika hugged the Ryuko to her chest, almost forgetting her katana leaning on the table. She snatched it up. “You wanted to find your friends.”

“Eventually,” he said, then hummed and flexed his hand into a fist in front of him. “Though I guess sooner is better.”

“Oh,” she said, struck by a little disappointed.

“Hey, what do you think of this?” he gestured with his hand to show off a steel looking ring with Viking letters on it.

“That’s really cool,” she said.

“Yeah, we’ve got an extra one we were gonna give away to our favorite cosplayer,” he said. “I say we found her.”

Reika blushed. “Really? It’s not expensive is it?”

“However expensive it is, you’re worth it,” he said and poked the plushie in her splash of red hair. “Besides, you’ve got everything you need.”

“OK,” she said, laughing. She leaned on him, unable to get the smile off of her face. She’d never clicked so quickly with someone before. Or even clicked after a lot of time and effort.

“So, let’s go find the girls,” he said.

“Girls?” she said, struggling to find her smile again.

“Bust!” Alicia had to admit she was having the time of her life. She and Casey, ambushing and flirting with pretty girls in absurd costumes. Except the girls often quickly got overwhelmed and ran off, turned out to be Only Fans whores, or were just too vapid to flirt back. Still, she never knew there was so much to do and see at a convention.

And it wasn’t all just total nerd stuff. There were representations of her favorite cartoons and books as kids. Celebrities, but with lines too long and she had nothing to get signed, from shows she liked even if they were being celebrated for stuff she’d never have touched.

“Yeah, that girl was dumber than a bag of hammers,” Casey agreed. “Dakota just texted. They got the camper.”

“Yay! We have somewhere to sleep tonight!” Alicia laughed. “Let’s go find Hale.”

“Right, he’s wearing that blue shirt of his.” Casey pushed her way through the people, a touch aggressively, but Alicia followed happily. They wandered and caught Hale coming out of the vendors area with a cute girl at his side.

Casey grabbed Alicia and pushed her back.

“What?” Alicia whispered, she turned towards the man Casey had pushed Alicia into. “Sorry.”

“No worries,” he said.

“Hale’s got a chick!”

“Blonde?” Alicia asked.

“Skinny, petite, Asian,” Casey said. “Cosplaying out of his favorite anime.”

“Really?”

“No. Shit. No it’s not Gurenn Lagann, but Kill La Kill’s Top 5 maybe. Top 20 at worst.”

Alicia glared at Casey.

“He’s watched close to a hundred, OK?” Casey said. “At least. That seems low.”

“So why are we hiding?” Alicia asked.

“Don’t we want to take her measure?” Casey said. “We’ll follow a ways behind him and see if we can’t do better.”

Alicia ducked her head out. She smiled to see the girl with him, she leaned back and smacked Casey upside the head.

“What?”

“She’s already got a teddy,” Alicia said.

“Huh?” Casey leaned out. Hale waved.

“Those are your friends?” Reika asked, her heart sank as she saw Alicia and Casey coming over. These girls were total knockouts. Alicia was tall, had huge tits, and a face that could pull your eyes away from her huge tits. Casey was more of a girl next door ginger type, but fuck, what kind of guy got to live next door to her?!

Reika dropped Ryuuko to her side.

Then she saw the rings on their fingers, matching Hale’s.

“I think I should go meet up with my friends,” Reika said.

“Oh, we’ll walk you down in a minute,” Hale said. “Alicia, Casey. This Reika, Reika, Alicia and Casey. Be kind to Alicia, she’s a cheerleader prom queen in a nerd’s world right now.”

Alicia gave Hale the middle finger followed by a hug. Reika got hugged by Alicia too, and then was overwhelmed by Casey’s hug.

“Holy shit! Look at this cosplay! Are you getting paid for this?” Casey said.

“No,” Reika said, smiling a little.

“10 out of 10, no notes,” Casey said. Reika looked up at Hale and smiled. At least he had been honest.

“Uh, who is she?” Alicia asked.

“Satsuki,” Reika answered. “From Kill La Kill.”

“It’s an action series about taking your clothes off to get more powerful,” Casey explained.

“Like our road trip?” Alicia said.

Reika saw the looks and smiles bounce around between everyone. She sighed. All the good ones were taken. Taken by multiple supermodels. Fucking universe...

“I was telling her we were looking for the best cosplayer to give our extra Draupnir too,” Hale said, toe-tapping Casey and nodding to her bag.

“So long as she’s cool and fun,” Alicia said. “Are you fun?”

“Not your kinda fun, I don’t think,” Reika said, quickly and defensively.

Casey laughed. “Oh, you definitely could be. You just need to shake off the worries.” Casey took out the ring.

“I don’t want to join your cult,” she said, stepping back from it. “Oh my god, that was so mean. Sorry!” She put her hand on her chest. She looked to Hale: “Can we go to the auditoriums now? I had a lot of fun.”

Hale looked her up and down. “You sure? You weren’t eager to get back.” He put his palm over the ring and snatched it from Casey’s hand. “I’m kinda hungry. You want to grab a burger across the street?”

“Uh...” Reika looked at the other two. She really wasn’t good at saying no.

“We’ll catch up,” Casey said, grabbing Alicia’s elbow. “We’ve got to draw out some pentagrams and talk to Baphomet anyways. Cult stuff.”

“I really didn’t mean--”

“I love Baphomet, he is so sweet, isn’t he?” Alicia giggled.

“Totally,” Casey said, laughing as they left.

“Burger?”

“OK,” Reika said. “Are they ... your girlfriends?”

“You’re about 50% right,” he said. “It’s not like you’re thinking though.”

“OK,” Reika said.

They stepped out of the convention center and crossed the street to the busy McDonald’s. Hale reached for the door when the yip made Reika jump. Despite the tons of foot traffic and cars. A coyote was sitting there, grinning. Or at least showing his teeth.

Reika looked on in surprise as Hale crossed the parking lot towards the coyote.

“What are you doing?”

“Coyotes are my spirit animal, come over,” he said.

Reika stayed a good pace behind Hale, but she did approach. “Don’t get rabies.”

“He’s not frothing or acting mad,” Hale said. “He’s here to help.”

“Help?”

Hale took out the ring and spun in on his hand before clasping his hand closed. “Shit!” he chased the ring down to the pavement. The coyote stepped on it. It growled at Hale and looked at Reika.

“Well?” Hale asked.

“What?”

“It’s not my ring to pick up anymore,” he said. “Best get it.”

“Is this your weird cult thing?” Reika said.

“It’s not a cult,” he laughed. “It’s a bunch of beautiful women, exploring America, and having a blast with magic rings.”

“Magic?”

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s like Konosuba. You met Darkness and Aqua, come be my Megumin.”

“That’s still a wild animal,” Reika said.

Hale got up and stepped two paces back. Reika retreated with him. The coyote took his paw off the ring. Reika squealed when Hale pushed her forward by the butt.

“Hey!” she said, holding her skirt down.

“If my friends had been dudes, you would’ve let me,” he said, smirking.

“Maybe,” she agreed. She looked at the coyote who took a step back. “I really thing we should just scare it off.”

“You’re much bigger than it, be scary,” Hale said. “Here, give me Ryuko and use your sword.”

“I don’t want to hurt it,” Reika said, but she did hand over the plushie to Hale. She pointed her sword out towards the coyote who retreated two more steps. Reika moved forward in tiny steps, barely the length of her feet. It took seven to get close enough to squat down. She pulled the back of her skirt down and made sure the coyote was a full sword’s length away. “This is so weird.”

Reika picked it up.

“Put it on so you don’t drop it,” Hale said.

The tip of her right index finger was already through the ring as she was lifting it in a pinch. She rested her sword on her knee as she pulled it tight to the bottom knuckle.

“Now I’m owed a favor,” the coyote said.

Reika screamed and fell back on her ass.

“I hate driving this!” Dakota said, as she found somewhere she could park the truck and trailer. “Oh my god, I’m not going downtown with it. I can’t!”

“They’ll have to cab or Uber out to us then,” Ivy said, putting her feet up on Dakota’s lap and turning up the music.

“You want to go back there and try out one those beds. Don’t you?” Dakota said.

“Obviously yes,” Ivy said. “But let’s hit a laundromat and like a Walmart or something. We need blankets and shit.

“What are you doing?” Linda demanded.

“Renting a car,” Terry said.

“For fuck’s sake,” Linda said. “It’s going to take just as long driving across the state, let alone all the paperwork renting the car and shit. Let’s just go to the airport and get the plane to Tulsa tonight.”

“This is important, Linda,” Terry said. “My father--”

“Knew you, your sisters, and your brothers could be total pricks and wanted his Betty in the hands of someone who would appreciate it, let alone enjoy it. I want to sit down for dinner with Hale and Casey ... And his other girlfriends too. But we can’t make time go faster. We’ve been fighting for weeks. Can’t we at least pretend to be civil through a proper dinner and drinks?”

“No,” he said, dragging his suitcase to the car rental lot.

Linda didn’t follow him. She pulled out her phone and messaged Casey again. She wasn’t going to sit in a car with Terry for hours today. She’d get that later flight.

Hale waved Reika over when she stepped out of the restroom. Reika stopped. She was about to skip over, he had their food. When she saw Nina, Joe, and Jake come in.

They saw her.

“Hey! Reika!” Jake said, stopping right in front of Hale and assuming she had smiled for him.

“Oh, you’re Reika’s friends,” Hale stood up. “We were going to go looking for you after we ate. Grab your food and join us.”

Jake sized Hale up in a heartbeat. Joe nodded and pulled Nina along before she said what was on her mind. Reika walked up. “Better get to the order box.” She directed Jake towards the screen.

“Right,” he said. “You missed the--”

Reika strode by him and stood over Hale. “You didn’t need to ask them to join us.”

“You’re gonna want to grab your stuff from your room, aren’t you?” he asked. “Better than sneaking in like thieves.”

“What?”

“Sit down.”

She dropped onto the bench. He slid over making room.

“The ring gives me control over you,” he said. “There are rules, to protect you, and you’ll enjoy it.”

“That’s messed up,” Reika said.

“Kinda,” Hale said. “Depending on what the coyote asks for.”

“I have so many questions,” she said.

“Save them for after we ditch the friends who ditched you,” he said.

She nodded.

Joe carried over a tray with his and Nina’s food. Jake had a bag.

“So who are you?” Jake asked, dipping his chicken mcnugget with a glare in his eyes.

“I’m Hale, we ran into each other after Reika got ditched by her girlfriend in the bathroom,” Hale said.

Joe looked at Nina who at least blushed. Reika gave her a look.

“And we’ve been helping each other find our friends ever since,” Hale said.

“We told you where we were,” Jake said.

“We didn’t look very hard,” Reika said. “We’ve been having fun.”

She reached down and grabbed Hale’s hand. She didn’t want Nina asking about their now-matching rings.

“Fun?”

“Kinda like a date,” Hale said, swiping the legs out from under Jake. “Right?”

“Oh yeah,” Reika said. “I’m going to grab my shit from the room. I’ll get my own way home.”

“Home? Back to OK?” Joe asked.