Dakota had never been in a relationship before. Not because of shyness or anything, it had just been a lack of interest. Sure she had a few crushes now and then, but ever since she started to realize how cute some boys and girls were, there wasn't really anyone that really struck a chord with her.
Until now.
Idly munching on some french fries while Piper rattled off fun facts about her new hometown and all the fun activities they could do, Dakota...couldn't stop thinking about her. Sure, Bertha hadn't made a good first impression, but there was something that made her different from the bullies she'd encountered before. Something that made her stomach ache just thinking about it.
"I-I think I'm gonna just get an extra order," Dakota said at last, barreling right over Piper's in-depth guide on how to score cheap movie tickets.
"Uh, sure, whatever you say," Piper replied a little awkwardly. "You feeling okay?"
"Hungry," Dakota stated bluntly before turning on her heel and jogging up to the counter again. "Hey, can I get another, uh, number eight."
"Already had it made, ma'am," the counter girl said, her smile still unfaltering as she pushed an identical tray towards her. "I saw you dropped it, so it's on the house."
"Thanks," Dakota replied, barely acknowledging the kindness from the worker as she cast her eyes around the room again. Picking up her tray, she turned around and stopped dead as she spotted Bertha in a corner booth of the restaurant.
A chill ran up her spine as she watched Bertha digging into one of two trays of food, clutching a double cheeseburger in each hand. She didn't look any smaller then when she towered over Dakota earlier; there was less then an inch of clearance between the swell of her stomach and the table, and the shirt she smeared food on the back of was stretched taut over her belly and love handles. Getting a second look at her, Dakota was surprised she missed her shaggy dirty-blonde undercut with the sides shaved, the array of piercings on her left ear, her cool amber eyes, the cute little smile...
"Eh? What the fuck do you want?"
Dakota's heart leaped into her throat as she found herself standing right in front of the girl she was practically drooling over. She'd walked right over to her by accident!
"Uh...haaaah...."
"Oh," Bertha said, glowering at her. "You're Piper's friend."
"Y-yeah...uh..." Dakota stammered out, wanting more then anything to turn invisible and run as fast as she can away from this situation. She was sure she was visibly sweating and shaking just being here. "I'm...sorry about that...thingy...with the tray...and the..."
Bertha blinked a few times, as though she was studying her before she shrugged her meaty shoulders. "Meh, it's fine. Sorry if I was kind of a bitch, I was sort of hangry, ya know?"
"Oh...y-yeah...totally!" Dakota squeaked. "I'm like...new here...I'm South Dakota...er... Dakota....Johnson."
Bertha chuckled, her prominent chest bouncing slightly. "Okay South Dakota Johnson, nice to meet you."
Dakota longed for the sweet release of death as she forced herself to laugh. God, she's cute AND funny, she thought to herself.
"So yeah, no hard feelings, right?" Bertha said, continuing to wolf down her third or fourth burger.
"Oh of course not!" Dakota said a little too quickly. "So uh...see you around?"
"Sure, see you around South Dakota," Bertha said with a little wave.
Dakota ran back to the table as fast as she could manage, nearly spilling her soda in the process and slamming her tray down so hard it made everyone in the vicinity jump.
"Jesus, you scared the crap outta me!" Piper laughed, balling up the small pile of trash that was left after her burger. "Trouble at the register?"
"Oh no no no, none at all," Dakota said. "It's just...well..."
"You didn't get harassed by Bertha again, did you?" Zach said.
"She better not have, she knows I'd knock her block off if she bothered my friends when I'm around," Piper said, emphasizing her point by cracking her knuckles.
"No, no threatening! She just...well, we apologized for what happened, and everything was fine okay?" Dakota said, not liking the suspicious look that Zach was fixing her with. Piper, on the other hand, was utterly aghast.
"She APOLOGIZED to you?" Piper repeated. "Like...actually apologized, not some backhanded non-apology bullshit?"
"...yeah." Dakota mumbled.
"Jesus, I've never seen her apologize to anyone before." Piper leaned back in her chair, looking like she'd just learned some archaic world-changing secret. "Wonder what her deal is today..."
"Okay come on, Bertha's kind of a jerk sometimes but she's not THAT bad," Zach insisted, coming to Dakota's rescue.
"She's nothing but a grade-A bitch in extra large sweatpants! You've seen her start shit all the time!" Piper snarled.
"It takes two to tango," Zach pointed out, nonchalantly taking a sip of his soda. "And I've seen you start shit plenty of times yourself."
Piper grumbled, crossing her arms and shooting daggers with her eyes where Bertha was presumably still digging into her meals.
"She did say she was feeling grumpy because she was hungry," Dakota pointed out.
"Well then she's probably hungry all the time then," Piper growled, getting to her feet. "Ladies room, be right back." Zach and Dakota watched her stomp off towards the back of the restaurant.
"Yeah, they've never really gotten along," Zach pointed out. "But hey if you want to be friends with Bertha, I won't hold it against you."
Maybe more then friends, Dakota pondered as she looked back towards Bertha getting up to leave, her chunky thighs squeezing through the thin doors at the entrance.
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