The two girls browsed about the modestly-sized store while Cal used his peripheral vision to spy on the few customers in the place. Calvin brushed his thick fingers against his pale fuzzy arm as he browsed internet forums on his old grey laptop. The laptop and his elbow was firmly propped on the glass display case. Jackie was lured in by the new issue of "Gradient Fish-Man Nine!", a strange comic combining surrealism, urban themes, and extreme action. Jackie yearned to get this new issue, but she had insufficient funds. She grabbed the comic and walked over to Haley and asked, "Hey, do you think you could spot me on this comic? I'll totally pay you back soon." Haley turned to Jackie slowly with a cold stare on her face. Haley's index finger touched her chin in a pondering motion. She swished her head back and forth, changing facial expressions rapidly. Jackie became anxious, "Will you do it or not?!" she asked impatiently. Haley stopped and said, "Yeah, okay."

Haley bought the comic and the two left the store. "Here." Haley said as she handed Jackie the comic. "Thanks!" Jackie said with an intense smile. They started to walk down the sidewalk again. Jackie was focused on her comic, so she wasn't really paying attention as to what was happening in front of her. Haley gathered some air in her chest and said, "Okay, now that we've taken that little detour, let's go see what I brought you out for." Jackie snapped with, "You mean you actually had a real reason for bringing me out?" Apparently dumbfounded, Haley shot back with, "Uh, yeah."

A bit later they got on a bus and headed to a location that Jackie was unaware of. The bus was populated by various kinds of city people. Its air-conditioning made the bus a bit too chilly for Jackie's taste, but Haley didn't seem to mind. "Where are we going?" Jackie inquired. Haley responded, "If I told you, that'd ruin the surprise." Jackie continued to read her comic, and without realizing it, was putting a lot of trust in her friend.

Finally, the bus stopped in the middle of downtown. Haley started to get off the bus without letting Jackie know, so Jackie nearly panicked when she just noticed Haley walking down the isle and hurriedly followed her friend. Without saying anything Haley walked down a piece of sidewalk and Jackie followed. The town itself wasn't that big, so while there were large-ish buildings, there weren't any skyscrapers. The city planners had tried to give a healthy balance of cement and  greenery. Trees and patches of grass were strewn about this area in-between the buildings, but Jackie always thought this place looked fairly artificial.

At this point Jackie was nearly done with her 17 page comic (not counting ads), and noticed that they were heading toward Vermont Park, a popular park downtown. Jackie asked, "You brought me here so we could go to the park?" Haley tightened her lips and replied, "Close. It's what's in the park."