Hated to Loved

Chapter 8: A Stolen Dollar

Chase's POV

"Hey, I recognize you, uh, Chase, right? Remember me? I'm Martha from Pompeii!" The brat said. Of course I remembered her! I hated her!

"Oh right! The little brat in our way! The bratty rat!"

"Hey! You were trying to steal our food and resources, and you took bread from a poor little beggar child! You could have at least let him have his bread! The poor boy had nothing else..."

"Bread is more important than your existence, and it's not like he lived much longer anyway, seeing how lava flooded your town, killing everyone, everyone except you apparently."

The girl with Martha had been silently watching and I looked at her now. She looked confused and I could tell she didn't like me. I smirked at her and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm gonna go pay for this stuff, okay?" She said, looking at Martha who nodded. As the girl walked past me I took a dollar from her pocket and quickly put it into my own. It would maybe buy me some thing to eat later.

"Why would you bring up how I lost my family? Don't you know I miss them?" Martha asked when the girl was out of the isle.

"Pfft. Caesar was annoying anyway. Good thing he's dead, another person, down in history."

"Dad was more important than you!"

"Yes. So is bread. Bread is also more important than him, bread is more important than everyone!"

"Bread is just a food! It's not more important than a life!"

I scoffed. It was more important than me, or her. It was more important than anyone I knew.

"Hey! Did you take my dollar?"

I turned around to see the girl. Ha, she noticed.

Ember's POV

I walked up to the cashier and gave her the supplies. She scanned them and put them in bags. "Did you find everything okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. Okay, thats $67.9" she said and I looked in my wallet. I handed her three twenties and a ten and noticed a dollar was missing.

I wouldn't notice, or care, other then the fact that that dollar had been given to me on my 4th birthday, one of the only birthdays my dad had been able to be there for. Who took it? I knew it was right there!

I realized that Chase must have taken it.

I felt angered. The cashier gave me $2.91 in change and I thanked her, before grabbing the two plastic bags our supplies were in and going back to the isle.

Martha and Chase were still arguing, but I didn't stop as I called out, "Hey! Did you take my dollar?" Marching up to Chase.

He tried to hide a smirk and said, "Hhm? I didn't take anything,"

I dropped the bags to the ground and shoved him against the shelf. "Give me back my dollar! I know you took it!"

Martha started to look uncomfortable. "I'm gonna go.. Take the supplies to the cave," she said picking up the bags and walking away. "Okay, meet you there soon," I said. Chase watched her walk away before looking back at me. He didn't seem to be taking me seriously, as said by his little half smile.

"Look, I don't have your dollar, see," he said emptying his pockets and smirking at me. Small, strange coins fell to the ground and the pockets were turned out, but I was certain he had taken my dollar. I tightened my grip, causing him to tense.

"Where else would it have gone? I know you took it, so, Give. It. Now."

"Yeah, uh, hey, I know you're older than me, doesn't give you the right to rob me." He said, escaping my grasp and twisting my arm behind my back, causing a cry of pain and dismay.

"Gah! I'm not robbing you though! You robbed me!" I said, struggling against him.

He twisted my arm further and I cried out again as tears sprang to my eyes. "You're robbing me of my space coins!" He shouted. I saw a old lady look down the aisle we were in and look at us weirdly before continuing to shop. As if she couldn't help me.

"I only want my dollar," I said, trying not to cry.

He swung his right leg at mine with enough force it knocked me to the ground, and now his foot was on my back to keep me from getting up. "I don't have it."

"Y-yes you do," I said with quivering lips.

He lifted his foot off my back, but immediately I felt him kick my face and screamed in pain before starting to cry. "Ow! Just stop! Please," I cried between sobs.

"You're the one robbing me, so you stop! Now scram before you get turned into space coins." He said, stepping back and I immediately pushed myself up and practically ran out of the store, crouching down and crying under a tree.

I hated Chase. If I ever saw him again, he'd be crying for days. I still didn't have my dollar!

After about thirty minutes I heard Thayne and Martha calling for me and wiped my tears, hoping there wasn't a mark on my face nor a trace of the tears I had just been crying and ran over to them, feigning a smile and we started to explore the cave.