Receipts // Beruani

"Which one is she?" The blonde boy asked, staring curiously through the Sina Supermarket and Grocer's store window.

You have to be subtle, Reiner. I don't want her to get freaked out.

"She's the one... working register 6." Bertoldt confessed, his face quickly turning pink as he turned away from the window.

"Register 6? She's... alright, I guess. Look at that nose!" Reiner exclaimed in fake shock, throwing his hands to his cheeks. Bertoldt slapped his arm and made a serious face.

"You promised you wouldn't do this! You promised!" The taller boy reminded him, his eyebrows furrowing. Of course, Reiner couldn't really be trusted to hold up his end of promises. You could ask anyone, and they'd all say similar things.

"He was supposed to help me set up some IKEA furniture last weekend if I helped him with the engine of his car."

"Reiner told me he'd babysit my little brother if I gave him $35 bucks for pizza."

"I made him promise he would help with a BBQ. The barbecue was two months ago, and he never showed up."

But, of course, this story isn't about Reiner. As unreliable as he is. That deserves a story on its own.

"Heh, whatever. Just go in there and talk to her." Reiner said, slapping some money into Bertoldt's palm.

"Where did you get this?" Bertoldt asked, diverting the conversation away from the cashier. The thought of even being around her was making him nervous. And sweaty.

"I promised Connie I'd babysit his brother for money. Now, go in there and talk to her!" The blonde boy responded, giving Bertoldt a hard push through the automatic doors. He braced himself for impact, but instead felt nothing but his feet skid along the newly polished linoleum. He looked behind him, only to see Reiner smiling and giving a thumbs up.

Bertoldt quickly made his way through the aisles of the small supermarket, picking up various junk foods and essentials. Which meant 'Whatever Reiner will eat that's not health food but still manages to pass as healthy to some degree, although being insisted by professionals that it is most certainly NOT healthy on ANY level.'

After gathering an assorted range of food, he slowly headed to the registers. There was a line-up for 6, a rather large one, too. He approached the line awkwardly, counting at least 5 groups before him, 4 out of them including full shopping carts.

"Hey! Register 7 is open!"

Bertoldt looked around and noticed a brown haired girl calling him over, her fingers pointing at the register. He quickly looked ahead of him, ignoring her constant pleas for him and some other customers to come over to her.

Some shoppers in front of him transferred check-outs, leaving a gap in the line. Bertoldt quickly stepped up to fill it in, feeling his face heat up as he got closer to the register.

What if she rejects me? If she does, it'd be in front of all these shoppers. Why am I even here? I shouldn't be bothering her during her work. Oh no, what if she gets in trouble because I held her up? She could lose her job because of me! I knew this was a horrible idea, I knew it! I should never have listened to Reiner, he only ever puts me in situations like this-

"Hey! Tall guy! You're next!"

Her voice broke him out of his thoughts, and his heart started racing.

Here goes nothing.

He handed the items to her, their hands brushing several times, causing his face to redden even further.

"You're a regular, aren't you?" She asked, making eye contact with him.

She has such nice, blue eyes...

"Huh? Oh, uh, yes."

"You're usually here early in the mornings, though. You got a party tonight or something?"

"No, my friend - he's outside - he's got some friends coming over tonight for the football game."

"Oh. My cousin's going to that one, I think. Is your face... okay?" She questioned, ringing up the price.

Oh no. It's happening. I've blown it. Oh my god-

"Yeah. It's pretty hot outside. I don't do too well in the heat," He recovered, mentally praising himself for coming up with an answer on such short notice. This emitted a chuckle from the short girl as she pulled out a marker and began writing on the receipt.

"Evidently." She commented, the marker moving quickly.

Huh, her nametag says 'Annie'. That's a pretty name.

She held her hand out, and he passed her his credit card, watching intently as she swiped it. After he finished up paying, she stuffed the receipt into one of the plastic bags and handed them to him.

"Thank you, Annie."

She looked a little shocked, possibly because someone had used her first name. It might have been the first time someone had done something so personal.

"You're welcome, Ber-" The blonde girl paused, squinting as she attempted to read out the name on his credit card before passing it back to him.

"It's pronounced Ber-toll-t. I'm sorry."

"Sorry? What for?"

He stopped dead in his tracks. Did I just apologise for pronouncing my name?

"Whatever, don't worry about it. You're welcome, Bertoldt." The cashier continued, eyeing the plastic bag and then his face before beginning to scan out the next customer.

Relief flooded him as he walked out of the automatic doors in which he entered. Reiner was waiting for him, eyes expectant. Bertoldt simply smiled, remembering the money Reiner lent him. He reached into his pocket and pulled the money out, and back into Reiner's palm.

"How'd it go?" His friend asked, falling in step with Bertoldt as they walked back to Reiner's pathetic-excuse-of-a-minivan.

"I... I'm not really sure. We had a conversation, so that was a start." He answered, getting into the passenger's seat. Becoming curious of what was written on the receipt, he pulled it out of one of the plastic bags and smoothed it out on his leg. Once it was legible, he turned it over and his eyes widened. On the back of the receipt, written in cursive, was;

Call me sometime, alright? -Annie x

And a number that he couldn't quite make out, but maybe if he straightened it out a little more. He smiled widely and shoved the receipt carelessly into his jean pocket.

"Well, whadd'ya know? Guess it went pretty well after all."