Chapter 48 - Bickering At The Bookstore

"I'm telling you, you have to pay the late fees!" Selina yells.

"And I'm telling you that I don't want to!" Hunter yells back.

The two are arguing at The Starlight City Bookstore, a place where despite the disheveled exterior, it's often a cozy environment for people to relax, buy books, and have a quaint time. But today, it's a warzone between the ever-so-stubborn cashier Selina Gulvonac and even more stubborn Hunter Huntingson.

Fortunately, though, Elizabeth & Cameron, two members of The Miracle Clinic, have arrived to help the group out.

"Do you want to talk to them?" Elizabeth asks Cameron.

"I thought you were," Cameron whispers.

Elizabeth sighs as she steps forward and clears her throat, "So what seems to be the problem?"

Selina looks at Elizabeth and explains, "So this living nuisance rented a book from us, which is totally fine, but he was supposed to return it 3 weeks ago! Now he's refusing to pay any of his late fees."

"Well, how was I supposed to know there were late fees!" Hunter yells.

"IT WAS ON THE RECEIPT!"

"YOU THINK I READ THOSE!"

Selina groans as she tells Elizabeth, "You see what I mean?"

"Yeah I do," Elizabeth says as she turns to Hunter, "What's your side."

"Wait, you actually want to know?" Hunter asks confused, "I thought you hated me."

"Yeah I do but I want to get this done ASAP," Elizabeth explains.

"Oh well in that case I wanted to rent the book and once I finished reading it, I came here," Hunter explains.

"When did you first rent this book?"

"It isn't just a book but a piece of art. It's called The Great Gatsby, you might have heard of it," Hunter explains, "And I first rented it at the start of December…I'm a slow reader okay."

"Okay, but why didn't you just buy the book then?" Elizabeth asks.

"Because," Hunter begins as he clears his throat, "I'm broke."

Selina face palms as she groans, "Just pay the late fee."

"NO! I'M NOT GETTING SWINDLED OUT OF MY HARD-EARNED CASH!" Hunter yells.

"IT'S ONLY 75 CENTS!" Selina yells back.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST SAY THAT!" Hunter screams as he slams 6 dimes, 2 nickels, and 6 pennies onto the counter and storms off.

Silence fills the air only for Hunter to return, grab the extra penny he accidentally left, and heads out once more.

"So, I guess all's well that ends well," Cameron awkwardly stutters.

REQUEST COMPLETE!

"Thanks for your help," Selina replies, "Both of my bosses are on vacation until tomorrow so I've been the only one running this place."

"Don't mention it, let us know if you need any help," Elizabeth says as she and Cameron leave.

As the two exit out into the streets, the two suddenly feel two arms wrap around their shoulders. The two look up to see the manic Crunch Backson standing over them.

"About time you guys got done with that!" Crunch says, "I was itchin' for you guys to help me with my request!"

"H-hey C-Crunch, s-sorry for wh-what ha-happened with the pencil thing," Cameron stutters.

"Oh, you mean that black market?" Crunch asks before he laughs, "That crap was last year, water over the bridge my man!"

"It's under the bridge," Elizabeth replies.

"Who cares? You two are gonna help with the request I put in, right?" Crunch asks.

"What was that?" Elizabeth says as she looks at the other piece of paper she has.

The piece of paper reads 'Have fun with me'. Elizabeth suddenly feels a pit in her stomach as Crunch giggles to himself.

"I've been trying to get Suzy to go with me to this bumper car place but she always chickens out! So instead you guys will go with me! Oh, and we'll be playing my rules," Crunch states.

"Your rules?" Cameron explains.

"Oh y'know, no seatbelts, you can switch carts, you can force people out of their carts, first one out has to pay for everyone's medical bills, all that fun stuff! Ooh, I'm so excited," Crunch says.

However, out of those three, he was the only one excited as both Elizabeth & Cameron began to ponder if they could write out a will before participating in this request.

___________________________________________

On the border of Starlight City's North & East Sides resides a corner shop known as 'The Deck's Bodega'. It's a small store but it makes up for it with just the amount of unique food products they have on their shelves, as well as selling several hot-&-ready dishes. It's in this store that Alex, Hamster, and Bennet enter through the glass doors and start walking on the brown tiles. The walls of the bodega are made from stained wood and the lights in the bodega give the whole area a yellowish hue.

"So what do you need here, Hamster?" Alex says as he glances around the shelves.

"Well ever since you guys liked my muffins I've gotten really inspired to try all kinds of cooking," Hamster says, "and I wanted to try making some Risotto alla Milanese. But the only problem is all of our local grocery stores barely have any ingredients, just prepackaged stuff."

"Okay but what exactly do you need me to grab?" Alex asks.

"Oh, the only things I still need are some extra virgin olive oil, arborio rice, some saffron threads, and dry white wine."

"First off, that's a rude thing to call the olive oil and second, how am I going to get wine?" 

"It's what the olive oil is called and- yeah I figured you would have a fake or something."

"Why would I have a fake ID?"

"I heard all the popular kids had them."

"Well I don't, hopefully, we can trick the shopkeep," Alex smirks.

"How are we gonna do that?" Hamster asks.

"Do you trust me?" Alex asks.

"With my life," Hamster replies.

"That's… a bit too enthusiastic but alright we got this!" Alex states

The two start to shop, unaware of several people in the store all watching them and specifically Alex. As they grab their ingredients including the dry white wine, Alex approaches the counter to see that the cashier isn't there but there is a silver bell. Alex taps the bell.

"Excuse me Mr. Cashier, I, a very real, very old adult, would like to buy your finest wine!" Alex yells.

"I don't think that's going to work," Hamster whispers.

"Dude shut up and play along, it will totally work," Alex whispers back.

The doors to the employee's only section open as the cashier walks out. As Alex lays his eyes on the cashier his face goes immediately from smug to defeated.

"Nice try you chump, but you aren't going to buy this wine." the cashier, Blanko Deck, explains.

Blanko is wearing a green apron over his white & black striped hoodie, blue jeans, and brown cleats.

"Hey Blanko, can't you help a friend out?" Alex asks.

"Can we at least buy the extra virgin olive oil?" Hamster questions.

"That's a rude thing to call the olive oil," Blanko says.

"That's what I'm saying!" Alex states.

"And," Blanko begins to say, "if I sell alcohol to you chumps then my parents would kill me."

"Your parents run this place?" Alex asks.

"Yeah, the store's named after my family. I'm covering for them since they took a vacation to Vegas," Blanko explains.

"Neat, though bub, weren't you working at that thrift store?"

"The East Side Express? Yeah, that place is closed since Vanessa & Graham still have to complete their community service. I got off easy since I wasn't being a public nuisance nor an adult," Blanko states.

"Yo that's cool bro," Hamster says which causes Blanko to get a smile on his face.

"Thank you," Blanko replies, "For calling me bro."

"No problemo bro," Hamster replies.

"We'll keep calling you bro if you give us the wine," Alex states.

"Hm let me think about- No," Blanko states.

As the trio try to argue if they could get wine, they begin to hear several footsteps approaching them. Alex turns around to see several high school kids all looking at him with a menacing look. Except they aren't from Starlight High, they're from Seastar High. And at the center of the group is Draco Malite, a freshman from Seastar High that almost got into a fight with The Miracle Clinic. 

"Well well well, long time no see," Draco Malite says, "Looks like none of your friends are around."

"Hamster & Blanko are here," Alex states calmly.

"You get what I mean, and since that annoying junior Ivory isn't here, we actually get to teach you a lesson, oh, and tell your friends that we'll be beating them up too," Draco replies with a smirk.

"Oh, so you want to beat me up because I'm from the North? But I grew up in the East so let's just be pals," Alex replies.

Draco laughs before he and the rest of his friends flip Alex off. He yells, "That just makes you a traitor! You're dead!"

Draco goes to swing at Alex however someone catches his fist, that person being Blanko Deck, who managed to jump over the counter.

"What the-," Draco says as he takes a few steps back.

"Hey, at least get the hell out of my store if you wanna fight," Blanko says as he gets in a kickboxing stance, "if not then you'll be kicked out with plenty of force!"

Alex chuckles, "That's a corny line, but I like it."

"You're all dead," Draco says as he rolls up his sleeves.

As the Seastar High kids surround Alex, Blanko, & Hamster, Blanko states, "Hey Alex, since we've been working out for the whole break, I think it's time we see which one of us is stronger."

"Fine by me bub, whoever defeats more of these guys is the strongest," Alex says as he makes a fist, "and hey I guess now's a perfect time to complete my other request."

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Blanko asks.

"Mop the floor," Alex replies.

See You Next Chapter!~