A Blank Page: Shopping

"That top looked totally cute on you, Zoey. You should definitely wear it to school tomorrow."

Frieda and Zoey were walking back to Frieda's after they had gone shopping at the Dakota mall. It had been a spur of the moment kind of thing after journalism club had been cancelled after school. Of course Frieda was disappointed about it, but she figured since everyone else was so busy and she didn't have anything better to do, she should invite Zoey to come to the mall with her. It would be the perfect opportunity for her to bond with her new friend.

Zoey had gladly accepted the offer, considering how much she enjoyed the mall as well. It was a busy, crowded place but at the same time it allowed her to take a break from her own life for a couple of hours. And Frieda was a fun person to hang out with. She always brightened the room she was in, wherever she went.

As expected, Frieda had to take a peek in almost every single store like her life depended on it. For an uptight person, she had no problem standing in a Charlotte Russe for an hour or so. In fact, she had convinced Zoey to buy a blouse from there.

"Thanks, Frieda," Zoey said, flattered by the compliment. "But I think you'd pull it off better than I could." Frieda waved her comment aside.

"Don't be silly, Zoe, you're gorgeous. Did you see that guy checking you out at the food court?"

Zoey vaguely remembered a guy with shaggy brown hair making eye contact with her when she and Frieda had grabbed a bite to eat at the food court. He was cute and all, but he wasn't what she was looking for.

"No...well, kinda. He wasn't my type." It was an honest answer. Frieda narrowed her eyes.

"Come on, you have to admit he was hot."

Zoey did remember that the guy had had a slightly rugged appearance. She had taken note of his outfit, which consisted of a black knit cap and a leather jacket. And she was familiar with the smoldering look he had given her. A bad boy.

"Yeah, he was." And she meant it; he was very attractive. Frieda smiled; she knew her friend couldn't deny what was obviously fact.

"I thought so. You should've given him your number." Zoey shrugged. Not that bad boys weren't alluring nor exciting, but they usually didn't have a lot of depth to them. And she wanted more out of a relationship than what they could offer.

"Like I said before, he wasn't my type."

"What is your type then? I can see you with a tall, dark, tan, gorgeous guy..." Frieda stared off into space, fantasizing about her ideal boyfriend.

Zoey smiled and shook her head, amused by Frieda's antics. She didn't know exactly what she wanted, but the guy Frieda was describing definitely wasn't it.

"...Unfortunately there aren't really any guys at our school that are like that," Frieda rambled on. "Can you think of anyone?"

Zoey ran through the list of guys in her classes in her head. No one really fit that description that she knew of. None of them were drop dead gorgeous-they were all just average dudes. And then there was Virgil and Richie. Talk about average.

"Nope, can't think of any."

"There is that one guy, though," Frieda said. "Drake Thomas. He's cute. I had a crush on him last year."

Zoey recognized the name. Drake was in McGill's class with Richie, Virgil, and her.

"Yeah, I know him," she said.

"Do you like anyone, Zoey?" Frieda asked.

Zoey thought for a moment. Since she had been in Dakota, not many of the guys at her school had interested her all that much. She guessed Richie was the only guy she could say she kind of liked, but she wasn't about to admit that to Frieda.

"No, not really."

"You know who is cute, though?" Frieda said. "Static and Gear. Of all the guys in Dakota, it's the two that don't even go to our school."

Now the conversation had become interesting.

"What do you know about Static and Gear?" Zoey asked, her curiosity steadily increasing.

"Not that much. I remember Static helped me put up decorations for the dance freshman year. He was very sweet," Frieda said. "He's saved me from Hotstreak a few times."

"What about Gear?" Zoey asked. "Have you ever talked to him?"

"No. He teamed up with Static a few months ago but I don't know exactly when. He kind of just appeared out of nowhere."

"Wow," Zoey said. There were a lot of strange things going on in Dakota. The Big Bang, a giant chemical explosion, meta humans, superheroes popping out of the blue-it was all so bizarre. She thought these types of things only happened in comic books, but it was happening for real. With real superheroes. Static and Gear certainly had their work cut out for them.

What she wouldn't give just to see them in person, to talk to them, to learn about them. She had so many questions she wanted to ask them. She hadn't been this excited about anything since before her parent's divorce.

"Why do ask?" Frieda's voice broke through her thoughts. Zoey shrugged.

"Just wondering."

But now there was only one thing on her mind: it was time to do a little investigating.