Cashier

Bonus 4: Celeste

"This party blows! There aren't even any drinks!"

"I'm getting bored. Where are the drinks?"

"No drinks? I'm out of here..."

Celeste's Sweet 16 party was bombing. Fast.

A familiar red-haired girl walked up to Celeste. She was wearing a simple white dress that was tailored to her petite frame. She had a disappointed look on her face, like a mom when she looks at her child's grades.

It was Claire, the most popular girl in school.

She shook her head at Celeste. Celeste gulped. That was it. Her ticket into popularity was destroyed.

"I expected more from you," said the red head. She walked away before Celeste could say anything back.

Celeste sighed and sat down on the grass. She didn't care that her purple dress was getting messy. She tried her hardest to be "cool"—she dressed like the populars, listened to the same music they did, acted like them, too—but no matter what she did, she could never please them.

She wasn't going to give up just yet. When everyone was distracted by the band that was playing a shoddy rock version of "Chandelier," Celeste snuck out of the party and to her car. She would be popular if it was the last thing she ever did. She opened up the glove compartment and got out some makeup and a fake ID. It was time to put them to good use...

—

Celeste didn't know how much alcohol to get, so she bought everything that she could.

She hoped that she didn't look suspicious. She painted herself a little older so that it didn't look like she was a minor. The cashier at the checkout gave her a questioning look, but she didn't say anything about her appearance.

The girl snorted "Going to a party," she asked sarcastically. Internally, she was obviously laughing at Celeste's appearance.

Celeste nodded, folding her hands behind her back to hide the fact that they were shaking. "My--I mean my sister's sweet sixteen." At that point, she could've just said 'I'm under 21; please arrest me!'

The cashier looked the Celeste up and down. She had to fight not to squirm under the blonde's glare. "...so is this a fancy party or..."

Celeste shook her head. "Not really. I'm just gonna drink wine and hang out."

"Oh...ID?" Celeste stiffly nodded and handed her the card. She was starting to sweat, but was too afraid to wipe it off of her brow. The cashier handed the card back to Celeste. Celeste wanted to sigh in relief, but hat would look suspicious. "That'll be $107.63. Cash or card?"

Celeste quickly paid and took her wine. She let out a sigh once she was out of earshot. "I'm doing the right thing...I'm doing the right thing," she chanted under her breath. She quickly walked out the door and into the night before she could change her mind.

—-

I'm not dead.

....but if you read the latest chapter of "Whatever" you already know this.

I got distracted with...stupid things...but I'm back fr this time. I haven't been slacking off per se—I've been coming up with characters and graphics for my next project—but I haven't been on schedule in a while...obviously.

Also, thank you so much for 1k! Idk how but I did it in less than a year so yay

-Fred