Top hats and tails

1

Rayne watched the man behind the counter as he served an elderly lady.  He was attractive, sure. He seemed to go to the gym, not too muscular though, just the right amount. He had dark hair and chocolate, brown eyes, with the cutest nose and freckles. Despite this, she hadn't been too focused on his appearance as she was more interested in the bird perched on his shoulder.

For the life of her, she could not figure out if it was real.

She could have sworn she had seen it's eyes move when she had first walked into the store. Being completely honest, she may have screamed a tiny bit when it did, causing every single customer to look at her as if she were crazy. Playing this off like it was normal completely failed when she panicked after someone tapped on her shoulder, throwing almost every item in her bag at the poor woman. It only made her feel worse when it was revealed the lady was asking for a bag of frozen peas from the fridge Rayne was standing in front of.

The bird hadn't moved it's body at all. Not even when the man bent down into the cupboard under the cash register. It had followed his movements, standing at an awkward angle that she should have been positive it could not do if it were real. That's what made Rayne question whether the animal was, in fact, breathing or not. And she was deeply ashamed, that even after filling her trolley with all the necessary groceries, she kept in her little spot, staring at the feathered thing.

She wanted to ask the man, but she wouldn't allow herself to look stupid. Her pride just couldn't take that big of a hit. It was the one thing that her friends - and other times, boys - constantly used against her. She always had embarrassing dares thrown at her because she never was able to back down from them. Every morning, a new set of clever comebacks were scribbled down on her wrists, in case she became lost during an argument. Rayne never admitted to being afraid or unable to do something and somehow always managed to find a way around those things that she didn't want to do, without admitting as much. Sometimes, protecting her pride did have some bad outcomes. A few times, she broke things.

Even that morning, she would not let herself, or her friend, ask for directions from a stranger. Therefore, she could only find a way to help herself. Resorting to driving incredibly slow, sticking her head out of the car window every few minutes to check if there was sand on the road, a sign she was getting closer to the beach. All because Rayne couldn't bring herself to ask someone for the directions.

She wouldn't have found the beach, if it weren't for the pole she had driven into while distracting herself with sticking her head outside the window once more. Sitting, propped up on the pole, a sign proudly showing off the beach's name in large, bold letters. Rayne's best friend,  Jacqueline, laughed, telling her it was Karma after driving refusing to swallow her pride.

Rayne could only scoff at her comment, replying with a quiet mutter: "Bitch."

Because Jacqueline was right.

But her pride could not admit that either.

So, because of the same, exact reasons, Rayne continued to stand in the middle of the frozen foods isle, staring at the cashier's bird with questions in her eyes until after a few moments, she had realised he had caught her gaze. He let a cheeky grin cover his lips as he waved at her, and her eyes widened, not knowing what to do for a few moments before she collected her thoughts, cleared her throat and looked away. She was about to walk in the opposite direction, to go look mindlessly at yogurt or something, then paused. The thought was still nagging at her, pulling her towards the man to demand an answer.