They go alone

Kyle paces the room and rubs the back of his neck. He's clearly stressed about the idea of going to the other side of town and lying to his Mom. "I'm sorry, I can go to the costume shop and the mall, but that's as far as I can go. I can't lie to my mom."

Maggie blows her bangs out of her eyes. "Well, I guess I'll be stuck all alone with Tanya while she tries on various bikinis. Please feel terrible for me, Kyle."

The two girls laugh and Kyle feels a spark of jealousy at his friend. He can't help but feel slightly manipulated by her decision to choose a place she knew his mom wouldn't let him go. "Whatever, let's just get going."

The trio has a great deal of luck locating wigs that match up perfectly with the cartoon styles. Finding a Karuru outfit for Maggie was a bit more difficult. While they were able to locate the perfect bra and panty set it was more difficult to find the right doll collar pale blue dress. After a couple hours of searching, they decide to instead acquire various pieces of dresses, skirts, and material and Maggie will work on sewing it all together before the convention. By the time they're ready to leave the mall it's dark outside.

Kyle looks at his female companions with concern. "Are you sure we can't find Tanya's bikini in the mall? It's late for the two of you to go to Superstar."

Tanya smiles, "that's what I went off to do while Maggie was in the dressing room and you were looking at shows. No dice. On one hand, it's fall, and on the other, well, according to the clerk I spoke to what I described isn't really in-style." She hooks Maggie's arm in hers. "Now go on home to Mommy while we go to the big bad scary part of town."

It was only the second time since they discovered Tanya's susceptibility to commands that he felt the sting of bullying words from her. He knew he could command her to stop but he was worried about what might happen if he challenged Maggie's orders - not only to Tanya but also to his friendship with the emo girl. Still, he was worried Maggie was getting a little drunk with power, so he made a note to keep an eye on her.

"Okay, but will you please text me when you get there and when you leave? I care about the two of you."

Maggie and Tanya both promise to text Kyle. Maggie doesn't worry too much about it because she knows Tanya will do so simply because Kyle asked.

The drive to Superstar gets increasingly sketchy as soon as the girls literally cross to the other side of the tracks. Maggie and Jesika had been to this side of town a handful of times to visit some punk clubs but that was basically the extent of their exploration. In for the show and out as soon as it was over. Tanya never crossed the tracks. Like Kyle, her parents would ground her for months if they ever found out, but she was feeling a need to impress her new best friend, so she was willing to go along with the idea.

"I've never been over here," she admits.

Maggie smiles as they turn down the road toward Superstar. "I've only driven by Superstar a couple of times when Jesika and I went to some punk shows. Maybe you can come with us next time?"

"Oh my gosh, I'd love to!"

As the car pulls into the Superstar parking lot Tanya's eyes widen noting the businesses next door. Across the street is Classifieds Gentleman's Club with a sign lit up announcing the "Sunday Night Full Nude Amateur Challenge." Sharing a parking lot with Superstar was the town's famous sex toy/video store Dan's Adult World. Tanya knew it was practically a rite of passage for the boys in her class to visit the store but this was her first time seeing it in person. As soon as her eyes fall on the sign declaring a discount on all vibrators she hears Kyle's command in her head: "You should buy some dildoes like they have on the show!" She wonders if Maggie would be up for going there after buying the bikini.

"Have you ever been to the sex shop?" Tanya asks.

Maggie nods. "Only once. It was, uh, interesting. And before you ask, no, I haven't been to the strip club. Did you know Ashley Forrester is rumored to have stripped there on an amateur night when her Dad was in the audience?"

"Ew! No f'n Way! I mean, I shouldn't be surprised, considering..."

Ashley Forrester was a notorious student who was supposed to graduate from her brother Drew's class. Ashley and her father disappeared before she could graduate. Rumors around town were that they became lovers and he fled with millions in embezzled money. The story of their disappearance was foggy and seemed to be different depending on who was asked, like a choose your own adventure book.

"Well," Maggie says as the two girls stare at Superstar's entrance, "that's a story for another time. Now I think we're just procrastinating. Are you ready to do this?"

They take a mutual deep breath and head into the store.

Maggie had been in the store looking for cosplay pieces on a handful of occasions, however, the shop still made her uncomfortable. There was always a worry in the back of her head that someone she knew would see her and think she was stripping. A quick glance around the shop confirmed only two other shoppers and no one she immediately recognized.

Tanya is shocked by the clothes she sees hanging from the racks. They're definitely what she'd expect to see in a stripper store based on the limited exposure she's had in movies and tv shows. And there's so much more dedicated to multiple fetishes. She feels incredibly uncomfortable passing the "Teen Dream" section. Finally, they find the strip club swimwear and after pushing through the blacklight-friendly neon-colored bikinis they locate a series of black two pieces.

"Hm," Tanya says holding up a string bikini with two triangle breast covers "this is my size and surprisingly similar to what Rei wears," Maggie tells her to try it on, so she heads into the dressing rooms. Tanya slips out of her clothes and into the small bikini. She has several bikinis in her collection but they all have a reasonable amount of coverage. This one leaves little to the imagination. Still, she can't help but feel like it isn't quite right.

"Well," Maggie calls out, "let's have a look."

Tanya, feeling embarrassed by how much is showing, steps into the store. She can see the clerk lingering nearby watching her as she comes out.

Maggie's pulse races. She's never seen so much of Tanya's skin.

"What do you think?" Tanya asks. "It still feels a little wrong to me but I can't put my finger on why."

Maggie has an a-ha moment and grabs the next bikini on the rack. "It needs to be a size down."

"That will be too tight!"

"Just go put it on."

Tanya huffs and does what her friend says. As she squeezes into the bikini and looks at herself she blushes an even deeper shade of red. The edges of her pink areolas peek out from behind the small triangles, exactly like Rei's costume. Maggie was right but it was also exposing. There's no way she could wear this in public!

"Come on, let's see!"

Tanya feels her feet carrying her out of the dressing room and into the store. She stands in front of her friend feeling like she's naked.

Maggie bites her lip. "Wow. Once you have the wig on you're going to be perfect, Tanya. That's, uh, that's...so accurate. You're happy to have found such a great bikini." Maggie tells the little voice in her head saying it was wrong for her to expose Tanya like this to shut up.

"Yes," Tanya agrees, "it really is perfect, isn't it?"

Maggie nods. Then she holds up a miniskirt with little skulls and crossbones all over it. "Before we go I want to try this on, it's so adorable." The emo girl heads into the other dressing room. As Tanya starts to head back into her dressing room she's gently pushed aside by another girl.

"Sorry," the girl says, "I'm in a super hurry. I'll only be a sec." She locks the door behind herself with Tanya's regular clothes locked inside. Tanya stands uncomfortably in the middle of the stripper store waiting.

Suddenly, the store's phone rings. The clerk answers and mumbles something into it. Then he yells across the store in Tanya's direction. "Hey! Hey you! It's Tony at Classifieds. He says it's almost time for you to go on stage so you better get that sweet ass across the street. You can pay me for the outfit later."

Tanya doesn't know who Tony is, but if he needs her across the street she better get going.