When Tyler finally entered the building, the door slamming shut painfully behind him to announce his arrival, he just awkwardly stood there watching the few people play out mundane scenes around him.

Kora and Shiloh were standing at the counter, talking and pointing at the menu. Josh was just heading into the men's restroom and Orchid was in that direction as well, rubbing her sneaker toe into the ground as she waited next to an empty table for her companions to return. A rough looking man was huddled over a warm meal towards the left of the building, an elderly couple was enjoying a small breakfast next to the door, and a single frizzy-haired teenager wearing a McDonald's uniform was sweeping the mostly clean floor in random spots.

"Tinker Bell!" Kora called from the counter. Tyler cringed at the nickname and warily eyed the other customers as they looked up from their meals unhappily at the sudden call. He shuffled quickly towards the counter and folded his arms uncomfortably.

"C'mon," he mumbled quietly to Kora, shaking his head slightly. "Don't draw attention to us by yelling. We're supposed to be low profile, remember?"

Kora cocked an eyebrow at him and pointed to the menu, "Pick something."

Tyler shifted his weight and kept his arms folded tight. A quick survey of the menu brought up nothing helpful.

"I don't care," he shrugged. "Get me some kind of biscuit and a drink."

"You people just might be the death of me," Kora muttered, shaking her head before turning to the amused cashier and placing an order for Tyler.

Soon, everyone was packed into a booth near the restrooms, sipping on their drinks as they awaited their food.

Tyler took a long drink of his crisp Dr. Pepper as he absentmindedly watched Shiloh sitting across from him as the kid stared out of the window he was snuggled up against.

Kora spoke first, her voice low and secretive, "So far none of you have asked what the plan is. I'm assuming you've all heard my destination through others?"

Everyone glanced at each other and nodded.

"Well then, let me inform you that you three are free to stay at any of our stops between Arizona. Today, after we finish here, we're going a little bit out of our way. I know a guy, a friend of a friend. He's gonna get me, and one or two others, a new ID. Josh, you're sixteen, can you drive?"

Josh just shrugged and stared at his plastic cup, "Not really. I've only driven twice before." He kind of looked ashamed.

"That's okay," Kora replied, smiling a bit. "I can teach you! We need another driver anyway and you're the prime candidate. I can get both of us a new driver's licenses. Before that, we need to get a makeover, so to speak. I've got an appointment through my aunt with a couple of guys who do that kind of stuff. I arranged a low key meeting with these gentlemen for this afternoon. Ever thought of getting a dye job, Josh?"

"Actually, yeah!" Josh's face lit up.

"Perfect," Kora said. "They've got all kinds of colors. What about the rest of you? Up for a haircut or maybe a tattoo, Tinker Bell?"

Tyler perked up at his nickname, "Uh, maybe."

"I think it will help us to look different, fewer people will recognize us." Kora nodded.

"Diane!" the lady at the counter called. "You're order is ready!"

"That's us," Kora said. She lowered her voice and winked, "I gave 'em a fake name. Josh, could you grab that for us?"

"Sure," Josh replied, lifting himself off his normal chair at the end of the table. But he stopped in the middle of getting up and glanced back at the booth, "Hey, uh, Kora?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you call Tyler 'Tinker Bell'?"

"Because," she sent a glance to Tyler, a smile crossing her face. "I didn't know his name yesterday. He didn't really talk, like the OG Tinker Bell, so I decided to assign him that nickname."

Tyler non-verbally acknowledged her explanation before taking another draw of his soda. Josh sent an amused glance to Tyler and gave a quiet laugh.

"I kinda like that," Josh said with a half smile before trotting off to get their food.

Tyler stared after him in surprise for a moment. Then he angrily rolled his eyes at the stupid nickname.

After a moment, Josh returned with their food and Kora started passing out biscuits.

"So, Josh," Kora began. "I've never seen you around Jackson High before. You're wearing the Jaguar's logo, though. Do you go to Jackson?"

"I take a few classes there. I moved into the area towards the middle of Summer and my. . .f-foster. . ." Josh stumbled over his words like he didn't want to say it. He took a simple breath before restarting the sentence in a different way, "I didn't get signed up for school until late so I ended up having to be mostly home-schooled."

"Okay, that makes sense. What about you, Orchid? I feel like I've seen you a few times." Kora asked.

"Yeah, I go to Jackson." the small girl quietly replied, shifting in her seat beside Tyler. "I hate it, though."

"Don't we all," Kora muttered, a tiny smirk dancing across her lips.

"Uh, I don't!" Josh interjected, sitting straighter in his chair.

"Of course you don't, you wear that shirt with so much pride." Kora nodded at his vibrant blue shirt sporting Jackson High's team mascot. The shirt was still crisp and bright like it was fairly new. She continued to muse out loud, "Speaking of, we're gonna have to get you guys some different clothes."

Tyler ignored them and slowly unwrapped his meal, feeling the warmth emitting from the fresh food. He felt the scent of the hot biscuit tickle his nose as he stared down at it blankly, not really feeling like taking a bite.

"What about you, Tyler? Where do--er--did you go to school?" Kora wondered. She tore her attention off of her food for a moment to give him a curious glance.

"North Wood High," he muttered in reply, keeping his head down.

"Oh, that's a small school," Kora commented.

Josh shook his head, "I don't like most of the kids I know from there. They're not usually very nice."

Small talk about anything and everything that had to do with school went on until everyone insisted they were finished with their food. Kora made everyone throw their stuff away and wash their hands before they all piled back into the SUV, this time with Josh at the wheel.

Tyler watched Josh situate himself in the driver's seat. He ran his hands over the leather steering wheel and shifted around nervously in the chair as Kora encouraged him.

"Don't worry, kid, we're already past most of Indiana and heading into Illinois, where our appointments are. We don't have too far to go and I'll guide you the whole way, okay?" Kora assured him, resting a hand on his shoulder. 

"Alright," Josh sighed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. 

"This is a great idea," Tyler commented sarcastically from his middle seat as Josh eased the SUV out of the parking lot and onto the empty street. "After all, I did do all this work finding a runaway group just to die before we did anything interesting."

"Shut up, Tyler," Kora snapped from the front seat while she looked all around for any oncoming cars. "You're doing fantastic, Josh."

"Thanks," Josh absentmindedly muttered back.

Tyler rolled his eyes and hoped Josh at least knew something about driving. With a last wary glance towards shaky Josh, Tyler planted his earbuds back into his ears and clicked on some good music to distract him from the current danger he was facing.

Then they were on their way to Illinois. 

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