Deadly Secrets

Chapter 36: Groceries

Zara cruised the aisle of Joe's grocery store, a food basket hanging off her arm. After dropping off their bags in Zara's rat-hole, the two had decided to go and buy some groceries.

"For the last time, will you tell me what's going on with you? And please, don't say 'nothing' again, or I'm going to kill someone!" She sighed exasperatingly at Aurora's irrational behaviour. Here she was, trying to be a good friend, and Aurora was being difficult.

Zara stopped in front of the "Asian cuisine" rack; after Orion had mentioned buying ramen noodles, Zara couldn't help but feel like that particular food was desperately needed in her life. She hadn't eaten since lunch time at school today, but it had been so nasty that she practically had to force it down her throat. She was in a perpetual state of hunger, and had probably lost a couple of pounds because of it, but had been so focused on other things that food was the last thing on her mind.

Aurora didn't answer her question, instead pointing to a red package with unreadable characters on it. There was even a strange cartoon of a chicken slurping noodles. "If spicy stuff doesn't bother you, then you should try that one. Otherwise that one over there is more mild."

Zara gave her a strange look—this girl had the privilege to eat a full course meal three times a day, and yet here she was talking about cheap Korean noodles. She grabbed a couple of each and dumped them in her basket.

"Thanks, but I know you're just trying to avoid my questions. Don't think I didn't notice," Zara's voice sounded patronising even to herself, but that didn't stop her from nagging.

"Can we not talk about it here..." Aurora's voice trailed off when an old lady wobbled by, her pencil-drawn eyebrows knitting together at the two girls. She probably thought they were stealing or something, and Zara didn't blame her; it was what she usually did when she was hungry and poor. Which was most of the time.

"Fine." Zara stood on her tip-toes to reach a can of beans. After several failed attempts, she managed to grab it. She continued towards the stacks of fruits and vegetables at the back of the store. They all looked mouldy and of bad quality so Zara made her way towards the cash register.

"Is that it?" Aurora asked hesitantly, her thin fingers wrapping themselves around her friend's wrist. Zara looked down at her sorry assortment of noodles and beans, and nodded.

"That probably adds up to like...ten dollars." The concept seemed alien to Aurora.

Yeah, I know that! You know I can't afford more than that, I'm sorry I'm such a crappy host! Zara wanted to shout, but both her and Aurora were in a fragile state of mind, and it was best that she remained calm. If Zara started to yell at her, then Aurora would probably clam up and it would take years to pry her open again.

"I know," Zara stated, her head hanging in shame.

"Give it to me," Aurora grabbed the basket from Zara and disappeared into a different aisle, her hair swinging behind her. Zara just stood awkwardly in her place, watching her friend dump massive amounts of food into the tiny basket with a horrified look on her face.

"Stop! I can't afford all this shit!" Once her legs decided that they wanted to move again, Zara ran over to Aurora, her arms flailing about.

"Don't worry about it, it's on me."

"But—"

"No. I'm super grateful that you're letting me stay over, so this is the least I can do. Let's hope that we have enough arms to carry it all home though." Aurora wholeheartedly smiled at Zara, who just blinked in response. After a lag, Zara wrapped her arms around her friend's neck, almost making her topple over, basket and everything.