Drew slowly walked to the stairs, uncertain she was going to be able to get down them in the boots. As she was about to take her first step, her phone vibrated again. She stopped and pulled it out of her pocket, struggling a bit against the tight pants, and read the text from Kate.
"You coming? Hurry - big news! -K"
Drew stopped and thought for a second what she could be talking about. She tried to hurry, but the boots kept her from walking too fast. She finally made it to the bottom of the stairs and managed to walk quicker on the flat floor, getting a bit more comfortable in the heels.
As she approached the office, to her shock she heard voices. Male voices. Drew swallowed nervously and walked into the lobby area where three young men were talking - none of them looked familiar. They glanced to her and all looked surprised.
After a second, one spoke. "Hey guys, let me just check it over, OK?"
Another nodded. "Go for it. We... understand if you two want to just stay here."
Drew blushed as one of the others snickered while she was led into the office by a tall young man with black hair and a trim beard. He locked the door and turned in surprise.
"Drew?"
Drew sighed in relief. "Kate? You're a guy?"
Kate shrugged. "I wanted to see what it would be like. And I figured I would win the best change. Of course, I didn't figure you'd jump the gender fence too, Miss Drew."
Drew shook her head. "Not my choice - I grabbed the wrong thing. Listen, what's going on out there?"
Kate smiled. "They just showed up. Don't worry - I didn't tell them anything. They think we were just stranded here because of the flooding, and they offered to let us stay with them! They saw our cars and got worried."
Drew motioned to her body. "Um, Kate... there are certain reasons I'd rather stay away from people right now!"
Kate nodded. "I agree, but... this is such a great opportunity to really have some fun! They don't know we're not ourselves. Plus, we can lock up here, and come back tomorrow - no one will bother our stuff. It will be better than eating from the snack bar and sleeping in easy chairs. Come on, Drew - think about it!"
Drew hesitated. Kate had a point - the two guys in the lobby had no idea about the Medallion, and they were trapped for 12 hours anyway...
"Fine," Drew said. "Might as well get a good night's sleep."
"Great!" Kate said. "By the way, I introduced myself as Kevin. I didn't give your name - just said you were a friend."
Drew nodded and followed Kate out, introducing herself to the two guys as Denise. They led Kate and Drew outside to where a pair of ATVs were parked. Drew saw that there was a lot of standing water in the streets, ans aside from a pair of trucks from a power company working on a transformer, there was no one out. She got on the back of one of the ATVs, awkwardly wrapped her arms around the driver, and they sped off.
