#and im changing the tag bc i dont want to clog up the lc! content with my cringefail girl

[sunstream7]

Bite Mark in the Shape of the Sunflower State- 2

>1000 words

Alternative title- dialogue beats me with a hammer for a thousand words. and stars too ig?

Stars, stars, stars.

Who would've thought that in the modern era, no store sold glow in the dark stars?  Bookstores, department stores, even the local hobby shop. Absolutely nothing. Maybe the weird little fortune shop? If nothing else, a grifter might be selling knick knacks. 

The storefront was surprisingly bright and open, a far cry from the usual snake oil shops. And surprisingly few rocks. But most importantly, fully unattended. Wandering the aisles, Chiara took in the various Tchotchkes, trinkets, and occasional self help book (50% off, nice! Not that she’d buy it)

“Do you wanna change your luck?”

What.

The.

Fuck.

Chiara whipped around, and scanned the store, her eyes landed on the front counter, and on the, no longer empty, chair. Instead, there sat a child. For a few seconds, she thought it could be Del. They had the same pigtails and vaguely remembered yellow hair ties. Not enough freckles though. 

“Excuse me?”

“Do you wanna change your luck?”

The grin on the kid’s face was slightly endearing. Where were her parents though. Or any adult supervision? Chiara recalled spending many an afternoon when she and Cy would sit behind the counter of that bookstore, working on homework or people watching through the front windows. Cypress’ mom was always in a back room or somewhere in the aisles. That was probably the case here.

She had never been a spiritual type of gal. It just never really attracted her. She could understand the novelty of a palm reading or the allure of fate, but nothing ever seemed worth putting any thought into.

Then again, It had been a pretty shitty two months. And maybe a little stroke of luck would get her those glow in the dark stars. 

“Mm- Sure, kid. I would.”

The girl shot up in her seat, beaming as she leaned over the counter.

“Okay, five dollars please.”

Ah. About what she expected. It’s whatever. Rummaging through her wallet, Chiara finally asked the question that every storefront in a three block radius had heard that day.

“Do you guys have the little plastic glow stars?”

The girl pointed towards a shelf near the front- stickers, decals, and various other stationary. Not to imply that correlation equals causation, but that was pretty lucky. Leaving the five dollar bill on the counter, Chiara crossed the store and grabbed a pack. Perfect. 150 pieces! Even better!

As the kid finished ringing her up, Chiara turned to leave, only to be stopped by another question.

“You go to Saint Sara Belle.”

Was she about to get murdered? She wasn't in uniform, and had been in this city for eight whole days! How did this kid know who she was?!

“I do?”

“Cool! My name’s Cala”

If she answered, would her soul be bound in a pact with an archfey? Eh. Whatever. 

“Chiara. Nice to meet you”

A second attempt at leaving, once again thwarted.

“You’re nicer than the other girl that came in here, in your group. She’s mean.”

What, And she could not stress this enough, the fuck. That didn't narrow it down at all! There's two others! And they both seemed… alright. Well, as alright as someone in the problem child club could be, but still! How did she know about her?! Which of those cretins has been going around talking about her?!

“...Thanks? I think?”

And no reply. Slowly turning around, Chiara wasn’t interrupted again, and did her best to wave off the ‘see you again soon!’ as she slipped out the door, stars in hand.

What a weird kid. She knew of normal kid weirdness, having spent the greater part of a decade wrestling things out of Del’s mouth and hosing her off after tumbles in mud or dirt or any other thing she could get into, and she herself had been an awfully weird kid, but, to her knowledge, there were no psychic abilities in her family.

Yknow. If Cala could actually play with the strings of fate, more power to her. And if she couldn't, that was a REMARKABLY impressive grift.

Chiara opted to finish her little loop, exploring a whole new row of shops. The usual corner stores, an accessory shop, and most notably, a bakery. Pausing outside for a moment, she settled on heading inside. It had been the first school week of the year, at a brand new school in a brand new city. Del deserved a treat. She’d been taking this whole thing remarkably well- much better than expected. But a chocolate chip cookie wouldn't hurt.

What would hurt though, is seeing the bastard standing at the front counter, glaring like the painting he was looking at had personally killed his dog. 

Maybe she had changed her luck! and used it all up on some stars! Because how the fuck else was she supposed to explain being face to face with Pran?! Of all people?! You weren't even supposed to HAVE a job!! Can a bitch not just buy a chocolate chip cookie in peace?! 

No greeting, no customer service smile- which arguably would have been worse. The only reason she could tell her presence had been acknowledged was that his scowl wasn’t towards the painting, but her.

“Hi- uh… can i get a chocolate chip cookie?”

Nothing. At least he was consistent.

If the group meeting was bad, this was awful. Absolutely shooting daggers at her for an uncomfortably long time until someone else stepped in, and Pran all but sprinted into the back.

At least she got that godforsaken cookie. 

And she also got a request for another, because apparently, these were some of the best cookies Delilah had ever had. And could Chiara please take her to the bakery some time so they could try something else. 

Her luck definitely had changed. But somehow, in some near impossible way, it had gotten worse. 

At least the stars were up now, and she could have some nice scenery as she stewed on how much she hated this.