I DON'T NEED A COLLEGE DROPOUT CAR MECHANIC TO TELL ME ABOUT MY EQUIPMENT.

Javi pulled the truck into a gas station in the middle of nowhere, which was surprisingly full of people. Dakota frowned and peered out the window as they passed lots of cars that seemed to be decked out in storm chasing equipment. She didn't know why she figured Storm PAR would be the only ones out there. Among the amature storm chasers were other cars with the same logo painted on the side of their cars, letting her know that they were part of the Storm PAR team.

As soon as she got out of the car, Dakota could feel the strong wind and taste the moisture in the aair. Though she didn't know quite as much about storms as Kate, she could tell that two were brewing — one to the west and the other to the east. But first, they had introductions to make.

Javi led the girls to a small group of all men, all dressed in blue collared shirts — except for one in white with a ball cap on and sunglasses on his face. Dakota raised an eyebrow and silently appraised him, thinking he was sort of handsome. But he also looked like a total nerd with all the equipment he was loaded down with.

"Bring it in, team," Javi said, getting their attention. Then he smiled at Kate and Dakota. "Alright, you guys have all heard me talk about Kate and Dakota. How no one has better instincts than Kate. Dakota's the smartest person I know. They're the best."

Kate looked down bashfully while Dakota just crossed her arms and met the curious gazes of all the men. God, why couldn't Javi hire some women on his team?

Then Javi addressed them. "And you will never work with a more talented team than this one. Look, we got PhDs from NASA, PHEMA, NOLA, and WS."

"Hm, got the whole alphabet," Kate joked dryly, making Dakota snicker.

"Only the best. Except for Scott, my partner here," Javi said, going to the other man. He pat him on the shoulder, not getting a reaction out of Scott. "He went to MIT instead of Muskogee State. He makes up for it with his beautiful, amazing personality."

Scott forced a sarcastic smile and then immediately dropped in, making Dakota smirk at him.

"Well, Kate and Kota have only given us a week. While we have them, whoo. It's gonna be the wildest tornado week you've ever seen, fellas," Javi promised.

"Yeah, and everybody with a ten dollar weather app knows it," Scott said, rolling his eyes. "We've gotta stay ahead of this circus."

Dakota peered at him. "You paid ten dollars for your weather app? There's a hundred free ones out there, my man."

Scott opened his mouth to say something, but Javi cut him off. "Scott, why don't you show Dakota the PARs? Let her check them out."

Begrudgingly, Scott led her to the back of one of the trucks. She eyed the machine hooked to the back, taking in the panels that would be scanning the tornado. Then she began feeling the metal that it was built of with a frown.

"This aluminum?" she asked Scott, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I guess," he shrugged. "Might be steel."

"This is gonna fly off in a tornado. Even an EF 1," she told him. "There's not enough weight here."

"I don't need a college dropout car mechanic to tell me about my equipment. It's been tested in a wind tunnel."

"Well, last I checked, a field in Oklahoma wasn't a wind tunnel," she said snarkily. "But if you wanna lose a million dollar hunk of junk, be my guest."

Scott stared down his nose at her, and Dakota just rolled her eyes. Then she shoved past him, bumping her shoulder with his as she rejoined Javi and Kate.

"You got a real ball of sunshine on your team, Javi," she said sarcastically as Scott came up behind her.

Javi just grinned. "I knew you two would hit it off."

Before she could tell him to get fucked, loud honking hit her ears. And it was followed by obnoxiously loud music. Sure, she liked the song, but she didn't want to damage her hearing.

She turned and looked as a huge red truck pulled into the lot, the other people around them hollering and cheering for them. And even Dakota was a little impressed by the vehicle. It had lights all over it, all terrain wheels, and what looked like some kind of launcher on the side of it, as well as the standard storm chasing equipment strapped to the top of it.

As the truck passed, a man with round sunglasses on poked his head out of the window with a huge camera in his hands. "Hey, Storm PAR, we're live on YouTube. Say somethin'."

"Blow me, Boone!" one of the team members shouted, making Dakota laugh.

The so-called Boone was unbothered as he grinned. "Hey, smile, man! Science is fun, right? Whoo!"

"Who are they?" Kate asked as the truck pulled past them, followed by a beat up camper that was just as decked out in equipment.

"Chasers out of Arkansas," Javi said, clearly not impressed.

"Hillbillies with a YouTube channel," Scott muttered.

"They look like a hell of a time," Dakota couldn't help but say with a smirk. They looked like the kind of crew she'd have run with if the responsible ones like Jeb and Praveen hadn't kept her in check. The type to drive right into a tornado just for kicks.

Maybe five years ago, she'd have been one of the ones clamoring after their truck.

She watched with interest as the driver of the truck stepped out, flocked by fans. He had on sunglasses and a huge white cowboy hat — and a handsome, dimpled grin on his face. Then Boone got in his face with the camera.

"Hey, T. Tell the folks how ya feelin'."

"I'm feelin' pretty good, Boone. And if you feel it—"

Suddenly the crowd chimed in with what was clearly a catchphrase. "Chase it!"

"I said, if you feel it—"

"Chase it!"

Someone on the team cupped his hands around his mouth and joined in. "Chase it!" He ignored all the unimpressed looks he got.

Then Boone got in the frame with the man in the hat, who said, "Oh, it's a beautiful day."

"Beautiful day!"

Then the driver looked over at them, and though Dakota couldn't see his eyes through his glasses, she knew he was looking at her and Kate, the two unfamiliar faces.

"Who the hell is that?" Dakota asked.

"That's Tyler Owens. He calls himself a Tornado Wrangler."

"What does that even mean?" Kate asked, confusion washing over her.

"Hell if I know," Dakota said. "But they don't make 'em like that back home."

Kate scoffed, unimpressed. "You're from Alabama. Walk into any rodeo arena and you'll find twenty of those."

Dakota smirked at her and nudged her shoulder. "Feel like going to a rodeo later?"

It just earned an eye roll from Kate, who went back to watching them. The back of the camper opened up, and a woman came out, a hand full of t-shirts with her. "Hey, you tornado nerds. Who wants a t-shirt?"

People were already holding up money, clamoring to buy one.

"You can't be serious," Dakota said, unable to believe someone would buy that kind of merchandise.

"This means our world is going to shit," Javi said as another man got out of the camper with a box full of thermoses in hand.

"We've got mugs. Whatever you put in here, it's gonna taste better. You're gonna get thirsty. You look thirsty. You look sweaty. Gimme some cash."

Then Dakota got distracted by a girl with a huge drone getting out of the camper. Even from far away, it looked amazing — and better than the one that Storm PAR had. She took a few steps closer, wanting to check it out, but Javi and Scott held her back, not wanting her to interact with the so-called enemy.

Seeing that, Tyler smirked and tipped his hat to them.

"Alright, let's get out of this bunch. Can I see this?" Javi asked, gesturing to Scott's tablet.

"Yeah."

Once he had it, he passed it to Kate. "Alright, Kate, which storm should we chase?"

She took in a deep breath and received an encouraging look from Dakota.

"There's a nice looking cell over the east," Scott offered, thinking she needed a boost.

Kate nodded in thanks before walking off, Dakota at her side. Only to stop and look back when she realized the entire team was following her, which made her nervous. She looked to Javi and whispered so the others wouldn't hear.

"It's uh, it's been a while. I'll just watch on this first one."

"No, no, Kate. It's alright. You got this. It's why you're here," he comforted her. Then he looked back at the team. "Alright. Alright, guys, let's go. Everybody get their last bathroom break in."

"Be quick, fellas," Scott ordered. "We're on the clock. Five minutes, then we're loading up. Here we go!"

It gave Kate the space she needed, and she linked her arm with Dakota before walking over to a grassy area away from the noise. She passed the tablet to Dakota, not needing it. Instead, she opted to pluck a fuzzy dandelion from the grass.

Dakota watched in awe like she always did as Kate did her thing. Dakota was the type to rely on facts and physics, so it amazed her when Kate's instincts were so spot on. She was like a human Doppler.

Both girls watched as the dandelion fuzz floated from Kate's open palm, taken away by the wind. The nice moment, however, was interrupted by the Tyler Owens that Javi was so fond of.

"You know, I used to do that too. Compare the wind direction to cloud movement. Get you a feel for the shear," he said, taking his glasses off. "Yup, sometimes the old ways are better than the new."

Kate ignored him while Dakota just hummed.

"Where you two coming in from?" he asked.

"New York," Kate answered while Dakota now remained silent. She didn't think he really needed to know where she was from.

"Well, you're a long way from home, City Girls," he said with a smile. "So, you like working for Storm PAR?"

Kate remained silent while Dakota looked back at the fancy equipment that she didn't trust all that much. "We don't work for Storm PAR. Just doing a favor."

"Is that right?" Tyler asked, his attention now on her. His eyes scanned her form, taking in the unzipped coveralls tied around her waist and the tight, cropped, white tank top that she wore with it. She had a ball cap on her head, wearing it backward. "You some kind of mechanic?"

"Some kind, yeah. Came from California," she said, shifting her weight to one foot. "Kinda itchin' to look at that truck of yours."

"Oh, I don't let just anyone look at her," he smiled. "I'm at least gone need a name."

Now Dakota remained silent, which made his smile widen. Then they were joined by a nerdy looking, older man with glasses and thinning hair.

"Tyler, do you know which storm we're going after yet?" he asked.

"Why don't we ask..." When Tyler realized he didn't have Kate's name, he trailed off.

"Kate," she offered.

"Hi, Kate. I'm Tyler," he introduced. "And I didn't catch your friend's name."

Kate's lips quirked up. "Well, that's cause she didn't throw it."

"I'm Ben," the other man awkwardly introduced. "I'm a reporter doing a piece on American storm chasing. Tyler's letting me ride along."

"And Ben just had to promise to write nothing but good stuff about me," Tyler said, patting the reporter on the chest and chuckling.

"Good luck with that," Kate said before walking away, Dakota following her.

"Hang on," he said, stopping them. "You didn't say which way we're going yet. Now, from what I gather, west, we double our chances. East, well, it's high risk, high reward."

"Well, go for the reward," Kate told him. "You don't want Ben to think you're boring."

"Well, boring is not usually a problem for me, Kate," he bragged.

Then Kate lifted her chin, more certain of herself. "Two cells to the west are fighting each other for the same window. They'll choke each other out. This one to the east has the sky all to herself. Moisture, wind shear, instability, all the things you need to give Ben a good show."

Tyler raised an impressed eyebrow. "Well, City Girl knows her stuff, Ben," Tyler said as the girls walked away, not getting a reaction from them. "I said City Girl knows her stuff, Ben!"

"Thanks," Kate said, looking back at him. "Maybe if I work real hard, I could be a tornado wrangler, too."

Dakota snickered as Kate led her back to Javi and Scott, who were waiting. "Talk to us," Javi said.

"We want the cells to the west," Kate said, making Dakota's grin widen, realizing she'd lied to Tyler. It was what he deserved, she thought.

"Uh, the one to the east has much better numbers," Scott said with a frown.

"No. Conditions don't feel right. Cap is too strong. It'll never break," she explained.

"You heard her," Javi said, giving the tablet to Scott. "Let's move. Alright, let's move, fellas."

Kate and Javi walked off, leaving Dakota with an annoyed Scott. "Guess we're listening to the dandelions now."

"Look, man, you're gone learn real quick that the tablet don't see what Kate sees," Dakota said, reminded so much of Praveen and Addy. "Now, come on. And promise me I'm not in the same truck as you."