Miguel.
"So you're telling me that you ended up here because you agreed to help your best friend impress a girl?" Patrol Officer Saffron Fitzpatrick giggled. "Do you want to take a wild guess at what exactly it was that you did?"
Miguel frowned, not finding any amusement in his lack of memory about prior events. Frankly, he had no idea why Saffron was even still talking to him, her melodic voice ringing in his ears every time she laughed. Saffron had parked a plastic chair in front of the holding cells, attempting to keep Miguel company while he ate his pitiful McDonald's breakfast. The holding cell smelled like mold and sweat, and a little bit of vomit if Miguel paid too much attention.
"It's not funny, Officer Fitzpatrick. I really don't know what it is that I did. I remember the auditorium, and I remember the picketers walking through the hall, that's when Eli began to get really interested."
"Do you remember what they were picketing about?" Saffron prodded, grateful for the company. When she had joined the force, she didn't realize that her job would mainly be taking drunk casino goers off the streets in the casino district. The holding cells were practically empty, the only other patron fast asleep in a drunken haze.
And it helped that Mgiuel Diaz was cute.
"I think it had something to do with the circus, animal rights, I think." He remembered the people with signs and neon green shirts, the angry glare of the ostrich. "Oh god." He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Don't tell me that it had anything to do with the ostrich?"
Saffron snorted, the ungraceful sound blending with her harmonic laugh as she cackled, almost falling off the chair. "Miguel, mate, it has everything to do with the ostrich. You and your buddy let it loose on the casino floor."
Eighteen Hours Earlier
Lennon and Robby were still outside the casino, perched on sunbeds next to the pool, Lennon's book long forgotten as she talked with Robby, laughing so hard that she feared apple juice might spray from her nostrils.
"Your friends seem like quite the characters." Lennon giggled, messing with the imitation Pandora bracelet on her wrist.
Robby rolled his eyes with a grin. "Let's just say that I'm the sane one, which doesn't mean too much." Given Robby's past as a juvenile delinquent, he was shocked to find that Miguel and Eli were sometimes crazier than he was, but Robby liked to think that his time as a student of Daniel LaRusso had changed his ways, and made him a better person. His days of petty theft and running from the police were long gone.
Lennon reached for her phone, tapping the screen so she could check the notification that had pinged while they were talking. The purple calendar lit up her screen, a reminder of somewhere she needed to be in an hour.
She cursed under her breath, gathering her things. "I hate to cut this short, but I actually need to go. The Guns N Roses residency starts in an hour, and I have to go and get ready. Axl Rose awaits." She smiled, a small action that lit up her entire face at the thought of screaming 'Paradise City' at the top of her lungs.
Robby broke out into a grin. "No way. I'm heading there, too. It was the only reason I agreed to come!"
There was a spark in Robby's heart as he realized he'd be seeing more of Lennon Marks. Lennon fascinated him with the way her mind worked, the way that she thinks, the way that talks.
"So, I'll see you in an hour?" Lennon smiled shyly, slinging her tote bag over her shoulder.
"Definitely!" Robby answered, a little bit too quickly. "Meet me in the lobby in an hour?"
Lennon nodded, her dark hair gently swaying around her shoulders. "Yeah, I'll see you then."
Lennon and Robby both headed back into the hotel, and Lennon practically floated through the casino floor back to the lobby. She felt like she was walking on air at the prospect of seeing Robby Keene again.
Robby was lovestruck, watching Lennon walk away. He grabbed a glass of something off the tray carried by a waiter who walked past, a sly and playful smile on his face.
Of course, all of that was wiped away when Eli and Miguel came dashing towards them, very tall glasses of beer in their hands. Miguel's was already over half empty. Whatever their brilliant idea was this time, it was created in a drunken haze.
"Robby, we have an idea!" Miguel cried, words slightly slurred. He needed to calm down on the drinking, this wasn't just a house party anymore.
"We need your help." Eli added. "So there's this girl-"
Robby shook his head "This is already a horrible idea."
"You haven't even heard it yet!" Eli protested. "Come on, she's an animal activist. All we need to do is free this ostrich from the circus."
Robby raised his eyebrows, taking another sip of the waiter's mystery drink. "Do you hear yourself right now?"
"Come on!" Miguel encouraged. "This is the kind of thing that one does when they're in Vegas!"
"No, it's not." Robby insisted. "But I'll help as long as you get me to the hotel lobby in time to meet Lennon."
Miguel raised his eyebrows. "Who's Lennon?"
"Is she Parking Lot Girl?" Eli shouted
"Shut up!" Robby shot back. "Let's just get this over with."
Robby Keene would forever regret going along with that horrible plan, as it was the catalyst to every bad thing to happen that evening. Every terrible decision. Every life-changing event. But he did it anyway. The boys were slick and silent, slipping through the partially open loading door at the back of the hotel. They crept through the nondescript concrete halls, drunken giddiness in the air. At least, it was for Miguel and Eli. The echoing sounds of the animal rights protestors echoed through the concrete walls, two or three voices louder than the others.
"Alright, Keene, you watch the doors." Eli delegated. "Diaz, you're with me. We're getting that cage open, one way or another."
"Don't you think that I, the one who has actually picked a lock before, should be the one to get that cage open?"
Miguel shook his head. "You're sober, so we need you to keep watch."
As long as I'm not the one to end up in jail, Robby thought harshly, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the cold, concrete wall.
Eli and Miguel worked fast, ducking behind the heavy, fire resistant blue curtains and dashing over the stage. Miraculously, Eli only fell once as they made their way over the animal carriers. The picketers had now weaseled their way into the auditorium, Eli's crush standing smack-dab in the middle of the group, her voice shouting the loudest.
Miguel and Eli ducked low, underneath the heavy metal bottoms of the massive rolling carriers, past the braying of the three goats and towards the ostrich. If you asked Eli and Miguel, months after the fact, what exactly was going on in their heads that night, they definitely wouldn't be able to tell you.
Because they were certain that what happens in Vegas was supposed to stay in Vegas. Something that doesn't count for the activities that the fraternity brothers got up to.
Eli and Miguel slowly poked their heads around the corner of the ostrich cage, and the ostrich made a mad dive for Eli's bright blue hair.
"Watch it." The boy hissed at the large bird. "We're setting you free, so you'd better be nice about it."
"Don't be mean to the bird!" Miguel hissed. "He's getting you a date!"
"Shut up!" Eli shot back. "Now's our chance, nobody is looking in this direction!"
The two boys moved away from the backside of the cage, the ostrich's beady eyes following them at every move as they circled around to where the padlock was. Miguel held it in his hands, staring down at it in dismay.
"Yeah, short of smashing it, there is no way that we can get this thing open."
Back in the hallway, Robby Keene was primping. Two of the buttons on his button down shirt were popped open, and he was very busy fluffing his hair using his phone camera as a mirror.
He needed to make sure he looked his best when he saw Lennon again. First impressions, or in his case third, were very important. He painstakingly checked the gaps between his teeth, making sure his lunch wasn't stuck between them, and that his hair wasn't detectably greasy; he didn't have enough time to run back to his hotel room and wash it.
Robby was running out of time to meet his date in the lobby.
He was going to have to jump ship, leave Eli and Miguel to fend for themselves.
Back inside the amphitheater, Miguel and Eli had finally forced the lock open using Eli's pocket knife, with the irritated ostrich attempting to peck at their heads the entire time. When the cage door swung open, both boys looked at each other in disbelief before high-fiving each other.
"They let the ostrich loose!" A voice carried over the theater, echoing around the cavernous space as the animal rights activists began to cheer the boys on.
The irate bird wasted no time at all, flapping its wings with a squawk and leaping out of its confines, much to the cheers of the picketers.
Cocky and pleased with the attention, Eli and Miguel cheered with them, flexing the muscles they had earned through years of karate.
But all hell was about to break loose as the ostrich ran, squawked and flapped its way out of the auditorium doors, ready to wreak havoc on the rest of the casino.
"Hey, what happened to the bird?" An angry woman with a clipboard yelled
One of the picketers, a lanky guy with a dazed look in his eyes and the ugliest beanie Miguel Diaz had ever seen perched on a human head pointed towards the two frat brothers. "They did it, ma'am!"
Miguel and Eli froze, panic spreading across their faces.
"On the count of three, run."