Dakota had never been to a pier before.
Well, she had been, but when she was really little. In fact, living in Texas, the closest body of water had always been the Gulf of Mexico. She'd never been to the Pacific Ocean, let alone the Atlantic. It struck her as somewhat odd that all these cool shops had sprung up just by virtue of being near the ocean; everything was so bright and colorful, even during the day!
"Oh man, the Pier?" Zack whined, "Why don't you just put a Hawaiian t-shirt on her and call her a tourist?"
"Hey, this is an important part of living in any Port town!" Piper said in a sagely sort of voice as she sipped on her Coke, "Learning that these people—"
Here she pointed to the large crowd of people clammoring about the area, going in and out of shops, and wearing bright colorful clothes. They were a mixed bag, but looked mostly well-kept and at least moderatley wealthy. Dakota spotted a few people in Navy uniforms, and some familiar faces that she recognized even with her limited knowledge of the town.
"—Are not who you want to hang around with. Because they're all just so... so terrible."
"What makes them so bad?" Dakota asked, stealing a sip of soda from Piper's straw, "I mean... other than the obvious. Which I totally get. Because, y'know, obvious."
"They're not Locals." Piper strode ahead confidently, leading the other two into the bustling crowd of people, "They're not... y'know, they're loud, they're tacky, and they treat this place like it's their personal dumping ground because hey, it's not like they need to pick it up."
"Piper, I'm not from here." Dakota said flatly
"Yeah, but you live here. So that makes you a local." Zack reassured her, "Kinda."
"Nah, you're good in my book." Piper said with a hearty pat on Dakota's back, "You're like an... honorary local."
"Gee, thanks." Dakota rolled her eyes, "So if you hate this place so much, why even bring me here?"
"Because..." Piper said dramatically...