Javi pulled into a spot a few hundred feet from the shopping mall, rows of cars who managed to arrive earlier separating them from its premises. Rebecca opened her door before Javi could even put his car in park, and she took the time it took for her other friends to exit the vehicle to look at the space before her.
“My word!” she spat. “You just have one of these here?”
“I mean,” Javi guffawed, “pretty much every city with a population of at least 20,000 probably has one. Why? Do you not have malls in Equestria or something?”
“No, we most certainly do, just primarily in the metropolitan cities like Manehattan, or–”
“Hold up, Manehattan? You have to be shitting me!”
“Yeah?” Serena defended. “It’s a pretty famous city. What’s the big deal.”
“I mean, other than New York City being referred to as Manhattan, no deal at all.”
Serena found herself tickled by this new news. “Whoa, seriously? That is weird.”
“Oh, I get it!” Diane exclaimed. “It’s called Manehattan because ponies have manes, and it’s called Manhattan because it’s populated by men!”
With cars continuing to pull in and out of the parking lot around them, Javi began to briskly walk to the closest set of doors he could find. “Hey, how’s about we not talk about your origins in public?”
“Oops! Sorry, Javi. I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to this place.”
“Especially before the end of the summer,” Rebecca sighed.
As they continued to walk, Javi pulled out his phone, and with a few taps on his screen, he put it agains the side of his face, waiting for the person on the other end to answer. “Hey Ray, what up? …Nothing much, man. Are you almost done with breakfast? …Oh, sorry, no rush. I just brought some new friends from… out of town to join us and I thought we could help show them around. …Yeah, again, no big deal. Text me when you get here and I’ll let you know what store we’re in. …Cool, I’ll see you in a bit.”
Pressing the red button on his screen, he ended the call and kept his attention forward again.
“So, how long are we expected to wait for him?” Rebecca asked.
“He said he was getting the check now,” he responded, “so I’d say about ten, fifteen minutes? As a matter of fact, have any of you eaten recently?”
“I did!” Diane raised her hand and waggled it. “I had some delicious chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries on them, some tasty fruit salad, and a big glass of–”
“I meant how long ago? Would you say it’s getting close to lunchtime for you?”
Rebecca and Serena pondered the question. “I suppose if we’d otherwise have to wait until the party, I don’t suppose a light lunch would hurt…”
“Great, then maybe we’ll all rendezvous at the food court and go from there.”
“A food court!” Rebecca gasped. “My goodness, you humans have quite the knack for modernization!”
Javi shrugged. “For better or for worse, I suppose. Follow me, I’ll lead you there.”
Finally reaching the first set of doors leading to the gargantuan hallways of stores and stalls on all sides, Javi held the door open for the three Equestrians and let them breathe in the newest sights of his world upon their entrance.
Seated at their own table amongst a sea of other nearly-completely occupied tables, Rebecca, Serena, and Diane couldn’t help but keep their attention on anything but their food, simultaneously amazed and overwhelmed by the casual hustle-and-bustle exhibited by everyone around them. Javi stood and leaned against his pushed in chair, taking a bite out OŠQ
Diane held half of her cinnamon pretzel in her hand, the other half barely fitting in her mouth as she struggled to move her entire lower jaw up to chew. “VSSS IHHZZ…” She then managed to swallow everything down in a single gulp, the sight of which made Javi lower his next bite away from his mouth. “This is so good! Maybe we can open one of these Auntie Annes in Equestria!”
“First of all,” Javi listed, peeved, “ixnay on the Estriaequay. Second, don’t eat like that in front of these guys. This is the last place we’re going to want to raise any suspicions.”
“I second that second notion,” Rebecca added, “if not because it’s so uncouth.”
“…Right.” Javi finally felt digestively easy to resume eating his lunch. “In either case, just chill around them. They’re a good bunch, and–d” Ray’s eyes shot open at the sight of something, and he raised his hand up to signal the people he clearly found.
As the Equestrians turned to look in Javi’s chosen direction, they spotted a teenager with short blonde hair leading a group of two others cocking his head in acknowledgement of Javi’s location. He was wearing a pair of sharp-looking khaki shorts with a dark-blue t-shirt with the Notre Dame school logo emblazoned across the chest.
As the group got into a line to weave around the other shoppers, Serena, Diane, and Rebecca got up out of their seats and stood by Javi in preparation to introduce themselves. Eventually, the man reached Javi, and they greeted each other with a clasping of hands and a gentle clashing of chests.
“Javi,” the man cordially growled.
“Ray.” Javi moved back to give the Equestrians their spotlight. “So, these are those friends of mine I was talking about. I mean, they’re actually friends of Oli’s, I’m just showing them around the mall.”
A black teen with ponytailed dreadlocks behind Ray leaned around Ray, getting a better look at these new friends. “Yo, how did she dye her hair like that? That’s kinda badass.”
Serena chuckled, both out of admiration for what she could only assume was a compliment and out of embarrassment for being singled out so quickly. “I uh… It’s natural?”
The teen laughed in reply. “Heyo, man, no sweat. Your secret your secret. Damien. Nice to meet you.”
With the cordiality of his extended hand, Serena’s apprehensions suddenly melted as she clasped his with her own. “Serena. It’s… cool to meet you too.”
“Bruh, all your friends got crazy-ass hair. You gotta’ hook me yup with your stylist.”
“I actually do my own hair,” Rebecca chimed in. “I’d be more than happy to spiffy yours up if you’re at all interested. Rebecca, charmed.”
As Damien took Rebecca’s hand to shake, Ray began introducing himself to Serena and Diane. “Hey there, I’m Ray. So, Javi said you’re friends of Oli’s? How’d you all meet?”
“Groupies.” Javi’s sudden remark came with a small bout of awkward silence that Javi was quick to break before anyone else could. “Nah, kidding. They just caught one of Javi’s shows and decided to…” Javi’s explanation began to trail off as the obvious dawned on him.
Another young man with jet-black hair and thin-rimmed glasses spoke. “So, groupies… Damn, Oli.”
“Hey, Chris, it’s not like that. They just dig his shows and wanted to hang out this summer.”
“Okay, I see how it is. Anyways, I’m Chris.”
“I’m Diane!” The pink-haired girl shook Chris’s hand with both of hers. “Have you tried the pretzels at Auntie Anne’s before? So good,” she hissed.
“Yeah, they’re… pretty tasty.”
“You’ll have to forgive her,” Rebecca spoke in. “She has a bit of a sweet-tooth, so as you can imagine, it makes her… very hyper.” In response, Diane nodded once so quickly that the others around her might have mistaken it for them blinking.
“Well,” Serena said, “looks like the gang’s all here. So tell me, Ray, where’s the coolest place in this… place?”
The sudden responsibility of being these strange new girls’ mall guide tripped Ray up. “Ooh, it’s kinda’ hard to say. There’s a lot of neat places here, but you know what? As our new guests, I’ll let you decide where we go. How’s that sound?”
“Oh, sweet! Uh…” Serena bit her left, Ray’s volley suddenly entering her court. “You know where… sports stuff is?”
Ray chuckled, her unintended bashfulness amusing him. “Sports stuff, huh? Under Armor’s good for that. Sound good to you?”
“Uh, yeah! Totally.”
Her shift from indecision to decision to being smug and cool made Ray laugh again. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh. You… actually sound kinda cute when you want to sound cool.”
“Hey, I’m plenty cool! You just… have to get to know me longer.”
Damien chimed in with a giggle of his own. “Well, we’ve got the time! Javi, lead the way!
“Oh!” Javi jolted himself to walking. “Right, follow me ladies. Serena, Diane, Rebecca, you too.”
Ray and his friends shared a bassy, playfully-offended chortle amongst themselves as they followed Javi and the Equestrians to their first store of the day.
Serena balanced a colorful magenta jogging shoe on her fingers, looking at it from every conceivable angle, admiring the stitching, the lacing, the design of the sole underneath. As far as she was concerned, none of her friends or the other customers in the store existed; all that she cared about right now was–
“You like it?”
Serena gasped, causing her to fumble the shoe and clutch it with both hands to ensure it wouldn’t fall. Looking toward the source of the voice, she saw Ray leaning down to her level inquisitively.
“Sorry,” he chuckled, “didn’t mean to startle you. You like those?”
“Uh…” Serena quickly put the shoe back on the display, crossing her arms, in a last-ditch display of coolness. “They’re alright.”
“Hey now, you got good taste.” He glanced at the price markup, spotting a slash through its original price of $120 and showed $90 in unblemished numbers. “And good sense of deals too. You want them?”
“Are you joking, dude? 90 bits for shoes? Will they make me run as faster than any human alive has ever ran?”
“Depends. How fast do you run?”
“I… I’ve never checked.”
Ray huffed, crossing his arms. “Maybe I can put it to the test. You free next week?”
Serena’s eyes shot open, the sheer directness of his approach turning her face beet red. “For… you mean like a… date?”
Rebecca and Javi both glanced sideward in Serena’s direction, the trigger word and her apparent posture in front of Ray telling them much of what they needed to know.
Ray blurted a laugh, strangely not expecting that response. “I, no, I wasn’t suggesting a date… per se, but if it’s alright with you, I wanted to invite you to my gym. We can race on the treadmills and I can see if those shoes really are worth $90. Who knows, maybe they were worth the original price.”
The playful, taunting tone of his voice was making his offer far too difficult to resist. “Well… It doesn’t matter. I can’t afford those shoes anyway.”
“Don’t sweat it. I got you.” Ray began pulling a box from the shelves underneath the display, Rainbow Dash’s eyes growing wide with wonder at the unreserved act of generosity. He then looked at the shoe size printed on the box, suddenly realizing he didn’t think to ask. “Sorry, what’s your shoe size?”
Rebecca, Javi, and Diane stood at a comfortable distance away from Ray and Serena as he sized her socked foot on a flat scale. Upon determining the size he nodded with an impressed grimace. “9. Not bad.”
Serena watched as he walked around her back to the shelves, astounded that he wouldn’t even wait for her reaction. “Not bad what?”
“That’s a good size for a girl. I’ve got pretty big feet myself.” He pointed down to his shoes, flexing his toes against the inside of the tips. “Mom always told me that’s how I got so fast.”
Serena scoffed, standing up off the bench. “You’re really setting yourself up to win this race, aren’t you?”
Ray turned back to face her, the correct box his his grasp. “Hey now, my speed’s getting me a full ride to Notre Dame, if you didn’t know.”
“Actually,” she replied slyly, “I did. Oli told me about it.”
“Then I just want to let you know that I’m not going to take it easy on you just because I met you and just because you’re…” Serena’s hard stare stopped Ray’s next words in his tracks.
“And if you, didn’t know, pal, I’m the fastest human–” Serena’s eyes flashed with a pang of worry, realizing she was close to giving herself away, but she retained her glare, choosing to go with it. “…yes, human, boy or girl, in my hometown, so you got that to worry about.”
Ray relaxed, though his soul felt like soaring. “Then I guess we’re set to have a good race. Let me pay for these shoes real quick and we can get moving.”
Ray began to make his way to the registers, but Serena swung around him and blocked his path, “Hey, hey, come on, I feel like I’m getting off too easy here. Is there some sort of catch?”
Ray smirked, an idea immediately blooming. “Tell you what, if you can… somehow manage to beat me, consider the shoes a gift, no further questions asked. If I win… you have to go on a date with me.”
Javi, Diane, and Rebecca felt a slight tightness in their chests as they realized their powerlessness in stopping what was probably inevitable to happen. Serena herself felt the blood rush back to her face, but given the out she still had, she appeared more firm than earlier.
“Plus,” Ray added, “all my gym friends are going to be there and it’ll be really embarrassing if you lose.”
“Right…” Any lack of confidence Serena was feeling was quickly eradicated from her. “So it’ll be reallyembarrassing when I beat you in front of them.”
Ray smiled and pointed to her with a snap his finger. “I’m taking that as an acceptance.” To instill a further sense of understanding, he opened his hand back up to shake.
Serena had long since made up her mind, and she quickly took his hand to officially seal the deal. “You bet! Just me know when, and I’ll be there.”
“I’m ready whenever you are.”
With a last nod to each other, Ray went back around her to head to the back of the checkout line. With Serena now alone, Javi and the two Equestrians quickly approached her.
“Uh…” In the heat of the moment, Rebecca had forgotten Rainbow Dash’s other name. “Serena, darling, I’m very happy you’re making friends so quickly–”
“And that definitely goes double for me!” Diane hopped in.
“…Yes, we’re both very happy for you, but do you think it’s a good idea for you to be arranging a… date with another human so quickly?”
Serena blew a short raspberry through her lips. “Relax, Rarity.”
“Rain– Ugh! I mean, Serena!”
“Look, there’s no way I’m going to lose a race, even as a human. I mean, this is the Rainbow Dash we’re talking about here!”
“Who’s Rainbow Dash?” Damien approached the trio alongside Chris. “Is that like some cute nickname of yours or something?”
“Uh, yeah!” Javi blurted out. “Rainbow because… obviously, and Dash, because she’s actually really fast.”
Serena smugly smiled. “And rumor has it that she’s having herself a race with Ray next week.”
“No shit?” Damien breathed out, the confidence in Serena’s voice impressing him more than anything. “Dude, you know he’s one of the best athletes at our school, right?”
“So I’ve heard…”
“Right, so…” Chris needed to know himself. “You didn’t… bet on anything, did you?”
“…Why do you ask?”
Damien suddenly glowered. “What are you going to have to do when you lose?”
“If I lose,” Serena corrected, “I gotta’ go on a date with him, and he gets to embarrass me in front of his friends. Thing is, I don’t have to worry about that, because I’m not losing!”
Chris pursed his lips, pitying her naivete. “You’ve never seen that man run before, have you?”
“I’ve seen plenty of guys running before. I can’t imagine he’d be much different.”
Damien blew all the breath he was holding in just then. “Well, I’ll definitely be praying for you.”
“Where’s this even happening?” Chris asked.
“Guessing his gym, on the count of those ‘friends’ that she’s going to get embarrassed in front of.”
“Alright, when’s this happening?”
“Next week sometime,” Serena answered. “Why, you wanna see me beat him too?”
Damien breathed out a chuckle; perhaps she is the real deal. “Depends. I will say, though, you really know how to draw a crowd, even without your…” He spun his fingers over his head, referring to her technicolor hair.
“Hey yo!” Everyone turned to Ray, who stood near the store entrance and raising his fist up, a bag with a pair of shoes clenched in it.
Diane bounced up and quickly strode to the exit. “Looks like we’re movin’ on, boys!”
With her exuberance drawing attention to herself, the others quickly shuffled to follow her and join Ray to their next store.
The seven friends exited the mall to the warm outdoors, Javi, Rebecca, Serena, and Ray each holding at least one plastic bag, many of them a different color from each other.
“So what now?” Chris asked.
“Do you need to drop your stuff off?” Javi asked, burying the lede.
Ray took a moment to think. “…You don’t think our stuff will be safe in the car?”
“In all fairness,” Rebecca said, “I don’t remember discussing any further plans beside the mall. How’s about we all reconvene at Ray’s home, drop our merchandise off, and then discuss where to go from there!”
“Oooh!” Diane squealed, pulling her close by her waist. “I like the way you think, girl!”
Ray chuckled a bit uncomfortably, but the gentle nods and positive murmurings of his other friends was enough to convince him. “Alright, we’ll swing by for a few minutes and maybe look for someplace for dinner.”
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Serena commented.
“What do you mean, Serena?”
Realizing the secret she almost spilled, she nervously glanced to Diane and Rebecca, the former rapidly shaking her head to signal her to stop immediately.
“…I meant that… maybe we can stay in! Order some pizza, chill, you know!”
“Nah,” Ray rasped. “I already had pizza this week. Besides, there’s a killer Mexican place downtown that I think you and your friends would really dig… If that’s okay with you.”
With another glance to her friends, who looked more relaxed than before, Serena loosened herself as well, her crisis averted. “Sure, why not?”
“You tell me,” Damien jeered, “you were the one that wanted to stay in.”
“Hey.” Ray pushed Damien back. “Lay off, she’s new here, she didn’t know better.”
“Chill, bro,” Damien countered, pushing Ray’s arm off, “was just laying into her a little.”
“I think that’s why he asked you to lay off,” Diane responded matter-of-factly.
“Well,” Chris replied, “she’s got you there.”
“Alright, alright!” Damien quickly spun around and took a few steps towards the parking lot. “Come on, now I’m having a hankering for a Chunky Chimichanga.”
“Chunky Chimichanga?!” Diane blurted, walking toward Damien. “That’s one of the best things I’ve ever heard!”
“Wait until you taste it!”
As Damien escorted Diane in the direction of Ray and Javi’s cars, the others awkwardly took turns going to follow them.
Serena looked out the front passenger window of Ray’s car, the rows of houses they passed beginning to look monotonous. Damien and Chris both sat in the back patiently, knowing their brief journey would be over soon.
With the weight of the shoebox on her lap ever-present, Serena finally spoke up. “Hey, Ray…”
“Mmhm?” He kept his eyes on the road.
“I know we still have our deal and all, but I still wanted to say… thanks… for the shoes I mean.”
“Oh, yeah, don’t worry about it. You’ll earn them… one way or another.”
Damien and Chris gave a quickly sideways glance, unsure about the implications of what their friend just said.
As if he could sense their discomfort, Ray chuckled. “Guys, it’s okay. I said she can keep the shoes no strings attached if she wins and she has to date me if she doesn’t. No funny business… especially before college.”
Damien and Chris leaned back in their seats, his reasoning sound and his intentions immediately purer. Ray glanced into his rear-view mirror, seeing Javi’s car following dutifully behind.
Turning onto the next street, Ray and the others suddenly found a multitude of cars parked along nearly every curb going both ways. Serena blinked several times, worried at what she interpreted as a dead giveaway.
“Someone’s having a party,” Chris said with subtly canned forlornness.
“I’m sure there’s some party out there someone’s willing to let us crash tonight,” Ray casually responded.
Coming to his driveway, he spotted Oli’s van parked there, the front facing the garage. It took every ounce of Serena’s willpower to prevent herself from looking as worried as she felt.
“Huh,” Ray blithely responded. “What’s Oli doing here?”
Serena quietly groaned, the only noise she could think of to keep from sounding like she was coming up with a lie. “I think Javi called Oli and let him know what the plans were. I mean, he’s cool to come, right?”
Ray parked his car beside the van. “Yeah, I don’t see why not. We have space for one more.”
“Alright. Cool…”
As Javi pulled up behind Oli’s van, everyone in Ray’s car opened their doors to let themselves out. From the causual non-assuming way Ray made his way to the front door, Serena could breath another sigh of relief, her unintentional attempts to spoil the surprise no longer mattering. She then noticed as both Damien and Chris quietly and quickly snuck up behind their friend and just as silently followed him to the front door.
Realizing what was about to happen, Serena, along with Diane, Rebecca, and Javi just behind her, bunched themselves up with Damien and Chris as Ray put his hand on the doorknob. Pushing the door open, he could barely register the edge of the massive group of people off in the living room before he was blasted with noise both in front and behind him.
“SURPRISE!”
While not particularly rattled, Ray stood still in mild shock as dozens of people, among whom he recognized as both family and friends from school, formed a wall underneath a banner that read “CONGRATULATIONS, RAY!” between two Notre Dame logos.
Ray was suddenly groped by Javi, Damien, and Chris, who ushered themselves fully inside. Oli himself sprung from the crowd and joined Ray’s friend’s friends in embracing the man of the hour.
“Yes!” Diane screamed with a pump of her fists! “We nailed that!”
Finally, Tiffany, Jackie, and Shiloh joined Serena, Rebecca, and Diane by the front door.
“Good job girls,” Jackie complimented. “From the looks of it, he didn’t suspect a thing.”
Tiffany then noticed Serena’s bag and the box inside of it. “Hey, Serena! What do you have there?”
It just dawned on Serena that half of her friends weren’t even aware of her wager, but even she knew that now wasn’t the most opportune time. “Just… got some new shoes. Maybe I’ll show them to you later.”
“Sounds good! I hope you had a good time!”
Serena looked back in Ray’s direction, seeing as he moved away from his friends to shake the hands and hug the members of his family that approached him. “Yeah… I really think I did.”
In either case, no matter which way this race of hers was going to go, she had a really good feeling about getting to know Ray this summer.