Come Closer

5.

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   "That was you?" I ask in shock with raised eyebrows.

   "Yes!" She says happily. "It was fun right?"

   "No."

   "Oh," She says, her smile fading into another pout. "Well, next time we could go to karaoke or-"

   "No, listen, we are not friends nor or we ever gonna' be. So, get somebody else to do it. Bye." I quickly tell her before turning my attention back to the alcohol.

   I lean down to get a better look at the dark liquor, contemplating on how many bottles I can afford.

   "But..." She starts up again and I sigh heavily as I stand upright. "I've never really been out on my own before. I don't know how to make friends-"

   "That's not my problem!" I shout, causing her to jump. "I'm just not the kinda' friend you want, so go away!"

   I turn and push my cart out of the aisle altogether. I will have to take a rain check on that liquor.

   Who does she think I am? Do I have an 'I'm friendly' sticker stuck to my forehead or some shit?

   I am not in the mental space to have lovers and friends.

   I get to the register and begin to lay my items on the conveyor belt. I watch as the bagger places the checked products into the cart. Occasionally, I look at the total and start to pray that I have enough in my account to cover it. I definitely should have checked before coming in here, but I was sure I had a few hundred bucks left. Come to think of it, those late nights at the bar have really been digging into those funds.

   The total comes out to over 200 dollars. My palms sweat as I proceed to swipe my debit card and type in my pin.

   Declined.

   I then try my credit card.

   Declined, too.

   Shit...

   "Fuck it. I don't want any of it." I snap in frustration as I snatch out my credit card and turn to leave the store.

   I curse under my breath as I pull out a cigarette and stomp heavily through the parking lot.

   My life is so ass...

   "Heyyy- hey, wait!" I hear a voice shout from behind me.

   Pulling a drag from my cigarette, I look over my shoulder expecting to see the cashier who rang up my groceries. Instead, I see the clumsy girl from the liquor aisle.

   "Woahhh-" She shouts as her cart begins to run away from her. It hurdles toward me at full speed and I put out a foot, bringing it to a stop with one step.

   "Aye. Didn't I tell you to go away?" I grumble before breathing out a puff of smoke.

   "I brought you your cart!" She says in a huff as she bends down to catch her breath.

   "Did you steal these?"

   "Of course not, dummy." She says, sitting up and placing her hands on her hips. "I bought them."

   My neck cinches forward as my eyebrows shoot up.

   "What? Why would you do that!?" I question, looking into the cart to verify that this is, in fact, the cart I left at the register.

   "Because you seemed like you needed a little help with it." She admits.

   "Well, I didn't. Take it back." I tell her, pushing it toward her with my foot causing it to ram into her stomach as she tries to grab it.