Knights & Rejects | ongoing

01| the truck incident

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER HAS NOT BEEN COMPLETED. I AM WORKING ON IT RIGHT NOW. IF YOU ARE DOING THIS FOR BOOK CLUB, FEEL FREE TO CRITIQUE WHAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN. DO NOT READ THE SECOND CHAPTER. IF YOU ARE READING THIS FOR FREE, PLEASE SAVE THIS IN YOUR LIBRARY FOR LATER. THANK YOU SO MUCH. :)

"Cash or credit?"

"Cash."

"That'll be fifteen seventy-six, sir."

He fumbled with my wallet and pulled out a few five dollar bills and quarters. He smiled at her uncertainly before pushing the pile towards the cashier. "Is this enough?"

She took one glance under her pale blond bangs at his crumpled up money and said dully, "No. You need one more cent."

"I-I'm sorry, this all my mom gave me for grocery shopping, I-I didn't realize that I might need more. Can I take the food and come back with a penny?"

The cashier looked at him, her gray eyes boring into his bright hazel ones. "No."

He flushed red and looked at the plastic bags bunched up together on the conveyor belt. "I guess Ma doesn't really need milk—"

He was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. When he turned to look, he saw a rather tall girl with a penny in her palm. She looked younger than college age, but a little older than he was. "Here."

"I—Thanks," he said politely, still red in the face. He added the penny to the bills and coins.

The cashier took the money and placed it in the drawer below the computer. Still embarrassed, he took the bags with him towards the exit.

Before he got much farther than the road between the grocery store and the parking lot, however, he was again tapped on the shoulder. "Weren't you the chap who needed a cent for his groceries?"

He turned to look at the girl who had given him a penny. He didn't want to talk about the incident, so he simply nodded.

"My name is Wendy. Like the restaurant, except I'm a person."

Wendy clearly expected his name in return, so he just said, "Toddy."

"Toddy?"

"Yeah, Toddy."

"Glad I'm not the only one with a childish name," Wendy said bluntly.

"Childish?" Toddy said incredulously. "Wendy isn't a childish name at all. Not compared to mine, it's not."

"Wendy doesn't have any mature nicknames. Toddy can easily be substituted with Todd. I bet Todd's your real name anyways, so what are you complaining about?"

"No," Toddy said gravely, "Toddy is my birth name."

"Hm. Hey, I've never really seen you around here. Strict parents?"

She's so talkative. "I moved here a month ago, and I guess you could say that." Toddy looked around the parking lot. He tried remembering where he had put his bike, but he kept drawing blanks.

"Oh, wow! Not a whole lot of people move here. I guess that's why the cashier was colder than usual with you. She's pretty distant, definitely not a people person—"