Walking to the small fresh-meat section, Sora picked out a mineral water bottle along the way to wash away the bitter taste in her mouth.
She selected two decently sized tenderloin cuts, debated for a second, then got another before making her way to the front to check out.
Of the three registers, two were backed up with four people waiting, with the center only having one, and it seemed for good reason: the foreign girls she’d seen before were attempting to check out—at least, it looked like they were trying.
Sora got behind them, a curious smile playing at the corner of her lips as she studied the long horde of miscellaneous goods the pair had placed for purchase; the selection ranged from snacks and sodas to cereals and various types of meat.
Zack, one of the employees Sora had spoken with earlier, had his arms crossed and a matching expression on his face as he glared at the two.
“As I said, it’ll be five-hundred, thirty-three, seventy-two.
Do I need to take off a few items?” Sora believed she caught their names amid the odd language the two spoke; Jin—the Korean girl—appeared frustrated with Eyia—the tall, confused blonde—as she attempted to explain something to her.
After a few cryptic phrases, Jin turned back to Zack, and to Sora’s amazement, spoke perfect English; it was so casual that her accent even carried a Miami cadence, utterly deviating from her previous tempo.
“Ugh… Sorry, we’re new to this place.
Is it possible to barter?” Zack’s face blanked.
“Is… this a social media video?
You’re joking, right—there’s no hidden camera?” Jin blinked in bewilderment.
“An online video for amusement?
No… Is bartering not something done here?
I was sure bottle caps were a thing here,” she mumbled to herself.
“What… bottlecaps?
Uh, yeah… we only accept cash or credit.” “What… type of credit?” Jin pressed, left eyebrow narrowing fishily.
Zack sighed and rubbed between his eyes, repeating, “What type of credit… Mmmgm… Mastercard.” “Ah… those plastic currencies,” she mumbled with a somber nod before turning to the blonde and flipping to the sing-song language on a dime to explain the problem.
Eyia’s eyes brightened with her smile as she held up her left hand, where a golden ring that hadn’t been there previously—Sora was sure—was promptly pulled off and offered to the grinning Korean.
Flipping around to offer it, she presented the item.
“I am afraid we do not have such plastic credit, but might gold be an option?
We have a ring…” Sora couldn’t help but giggle at the girl’s attempted payment.
“R-Really?
You are t-trying to barter with jewelry!” Unfortunately, the comment brought everyone’s gaze, eliciting instant regret as Jin’s cheeks reddened, her cold, golden irises darting to her.
“Is that a problem, Little Fox?
I’m not in the mood for tricks.” Sora’s cheeks flushed as she stepped back, unsure what to say with the questioning stares aimed at her.
Fingers tightening against her purse, Sora hastily shook her head.
“N-No, I’m sorry.
Ugh, that was pretty rude of me.” I can’t believe I just came out and did that… Yeah, they’re definitely not from the US, and I made fun of them… Not cool.
The ‘Little Fox,’ though… Does she think I’m Native American?
Hot air shot through Jin’s nose as she haughtily tilted her head.
“It was rude, but at least you have the guts to admit it; we are not used to this Miami, so naturally, we’d have trouble.” Sora took a deep breath to calm her racing heart as a sudden thought drew her away from the conversation.
Wait, is that the inside joke Kari’s group always uses against me?
These girls definitely aren’t with Kari, though… Is it that I look Native American?
Feeling bad now, she cleared her throat, attempting not to stutter, not that it typically helped.
“Umm… Here, I’ll pay for your stuff as an a-apology.” Dammit!
It had to be the last word!
Jin’s tight jaw slackened, a suspicious edge narrowing her eyes and bypassing the stutter as if she hadn’t even heard it.
“What… is your game?” “Heh.
To say sorry and g-get out of here faster,” she laughed, internally cursing again; it always got worse when she was nervous.
“Zack, umm… if you c-could add these to the order…” Knowing she was good for it, Zack happily snatched her items and scanned them, placing them in a separate bag as Sora scooted past the pair to tap her card on the machine.
“And… there.
We good, Z-Zack?” “Yup.
Receipt, right?” Sora puffed out a long stream of air.
“You know I n-need it to track my purchases for my dad.” “Just had to ask,” he said, with a wry grin, handing it to her to place in her receipt pocket.
“Alright, uh… Want some help carrying some of this out?
Do you have a taxi or car nearby?” Jin and Eyia looked at each other uncertainly, the Korean mumbling something that the blonde nodded to.
“Eh… Sure.
I wanted to ask you something anyway.” “Okay,” Sora shrugged, moving to load the items in the cart, but the super-tall amazon of a girl somehow snatched up most of the plastic straps herself and effortlessly hoisted them over the side.
The Korean rolled her slit golden eyes with a short huff as the blonde shot a victorious smirk in her direction.
“This doesn’t count as a victory,” she grumbled.
“Damn…” Zack whispered, lifting an eyebrow at the somewhat unreasonable number of items Eyia seemed to effortlessly balance and leave with.
Of course, she was smashing a lot of goods, but it was still more than a little impressive.
“We’re gonna stop off at a sitting area at the nearby park.
You good with that, Little Fox?” Jin queried with a lifted eyebrow.
“Sure… and, heh, can we drop the L-Little Fox stuff?
My name is S-Sora.” “Mmmgh…” A bit put off by the girl’s disinterested grunt, Sora kept her silence as she followed behind them.