Meet Corey, an Air buddy...

The man is black and probably a couple inches taller than Carter, so obviously he is like a tower compared to my height. After doing a bro greeting followed by a chest bump, the black man glances towards me and asks, “She another one of your girlfriends?”

“Nope, just a friend. Closer to my sister actually,” he says, addressing me with a female version of my name. “Brianna, this is one of my friends from the Air ****, Corey Heather.”

A bit caught off guard after hearing him addressing me as such, I reach my hand to shake his and greet him, “Nice to meet you.”

Corey simply says, “Likewise.”

I lean against the fender of his car, which due to it being recently on, provides some warmth for my legs. At least, with the car next to us, I'm more or less shielded from the wind. Carter takes the spot next to me, though it's closer to the front end of the car. “You racing tonight or are you setting times?” Carter asks.

“Just here for the scene, man. You know I don't need any bragging rights, any trophy on my belt, or any cash for that matter,” Corey says. “You and I both know my ride is funded by the government and I work hard for my country.”

“Amen, brother,” Carter agrees with a fist bump. “How long is your leave?”

“I go back after New Year's. You?” Corey replies and shoots the question at Carter.

“Just got back today. Here for a month,” Carter says.

“Cool. Now Manny and Dale are still on tours, so they'd be missing out on our get-togethers. When do you think I'll see some more of Carrie next?” Corey says.

“Why wait for Carrie, when there's Bri?” Carter says wrapping an arm around me. I look at him annoyed and confused.

With a shocked face, Corey asks, “Wait, so your friend here is not just a friend of your sister's, but she's also someone on a Pink?”

“Total noob and kinda not her choice,” Carter says, but I get what they are saying. I glance around to see that no one around in earshot has any idea of what the conversation is really about, since the two of them are being very vague in their use of terms, which I'm actually grateful for. Just to correct him, I jab Carter in the arm, changing his answer. “Alright, alright, totally not her choice and totally my bad. Happy?”

“Shit, bro. And she's okay with this?” Corey asks.

To prevent Carter from answering that question, I grab a handful of his hair, yank on it, causing him to howl in pain. While he's preoccupied, I give my answer. “I'm totally not okay with it, but so far, do you see me freaking out about it?”

Corey shakes his head and actually looks impressed. When Carter frees himself from my grip, he looks like he could retaliate, but he doesn't have a chance as Corey steps in between Carter and I.

“Hey man, you can't hit a girl, dude,” Corey says, defusing his friend and calming him down. “Brianna, was it? How long until you change back?”

“Twenty plus hours, probably an hour before midnight, I think,” I tell him. “Carter already has explained why he did it and the stuff you and your friends do. I'm just lost on what to do to pass the time.”

Corey suddenly has a big smile on his face, a mischievous smile actually. “I actually I have an idea for that. But you'll have to come to my place to do it,” he says, wrapping an arm around me. When Corey does it, I don't yank his hair back mainly because he has little hair to grab. Is this me welcome this gesture? And with him this close, it is very apparent how tall he is, with his gaze down at me and my gaze up at him.

“Does Carter have to come?” I ask.

“He has to. He got you into this mess. Least he could do is squirm with what I have planned to pass the time. If you want, you can ride with me so you don't have to sit next to him any longer,” Corey suggests.

I make a gesture to show him I'm deciding whether to climb back into Carter's car or ride in his. When I walk over to the passenger seat of Carter's ride, Carter calls out, “See dude. Guess she likes me better.”

But all I do is open the door and pull out my dog plushie. I close the door and return to Corey. “I just had to get this. Are you going?” I ask.

“Here, allow me,” Corey says and opens the passenger to his 2-door. I climb inside and seeing Carter's annoyed face, I giggle. We waste no time in getting out of the lot. Corey asks me questions about what happened between me and Carter and I explain everything that has happened up until this point. “Shit. So how are you seeing it so far?”

“I don't know really. I guess at this hour, no one has seen me in this body. I thought I'd be awkward with people seeing me, but I don't know,” I explain.

“You don't want people you know seeing you, but really, are they seeing you or are they seeing a girl named Brianna,” Corey points out. “And only me and Carter really knows you are, so who could even guess, just by looking at you?”