Chapter 6 (post two)

Pre-note: This section is me trying to solve the problem of arriving in a place with absolutely no belongings. I think it's really cheesy, but I don't know how else to do it.

Also, I went to work on my story today, then my mom's friend came over with a tabby kitten, so I got nothing done. But it was SO CUTE! lmao. :D

PS -- please leave feedback! Thanks :)

Chapter six, section two:

I was surprised there weren’t large blue letters above the sliding doors spelling “Wal-Mart,” or people in blue smocks greeting us as we walked into the large department store, since it looked like we’d just walked into America’s largest chain store back on earth. The lights were the same florescent colour that gave you headaches if you shopped for too long, the tilling changed from 80s to 90s patterns as you walked through and the greeters at the door seemed to have their smiles painted on.

“This way,” Jake said, grabbing a cart from a pile up by the door and leading me through aisles.

They sold everything at this store, just like Wal-Mart, from food to electronics to clothes to toasters. Jake led me past pretty stainless steel refrigerators to an aisle labelled “Stationary.” There were rows of note books, paper, pens, pencils and every other school supply you could possibly need. Yet, as Jake announced, “Get everything you need and absolutely everything you want,” I realized I didn’t get much to pick from. There were only two brands that seemed to make everything in this section, and the difference between the two was noticeable. The one brand, called simply “Back to Basics,” made products that were less fancy, colourful or pricey as “Sunrise,” although even this company had limited products.

“Why are all the notebooks only red, blue, green, yellow or black?” I asked Jake as I picked up and compared products.

“Those are the school colours of each of the schools in Soleres, and black is just a basic of course. You should get blue notebooks, as a sign of school spirit. Oh, and get the Sunrise ones, they’re much better quality.”

I grabbed six blue notebooks and put them in the cart, then did the same for the rest of the school supplies I needed. If the product wasn’t offered in the school colours, it was offered in black, and I quickly found that back to school shopping here was not as fun or colourful as back on earth.

“You aren’t looking too impressed, New Wings,” Jake commented, “Come with me, this should cheer you up.”

I don’t know how Jake knew I was bored by the school supplies, nor how he knew that the next section would cheer me up as much as it did. The electronics section.

I had never owned a laptop before, and had desperately wanted one back on earth, but they had been so expensive I’d only drooled over my friend’s. Now Jake led me down the aisle with laptops, saying, “You need one for school. I was thinking a 15 inch? A Sunrise one, of course, with full features and a DVD player...” but I wasn’t listening. I’d already found it. It was white, the only white one in the row of black computers, a 15 inch with a whole list of features and a price tag that I could never afford on earth.

“This one?” I asked.

“Sure, that one looks good, pop it in the cart.” Jake replied. I was ecstatic as I found a boxed one on a shelf under the display and placed it in the plastic shopping cart.

 Jake laughed quietly at me as I bounced along behind him, agreeing to a shiny white MP3 player to match my laptop, a mouse, a bunch of programs, a phone, an alarm clock MP3 player, a laptop case and some old-fashion looking  suitcases to pack it all in. When we finally ended up at the cash register with a cart loaded with electronics, school supplies, basic clothes (he’d went to look at sports magazines as I picked out bras and underwear, and some cute outfits) as well as some other random items, it finally occurred to me that it would all add up.

“Um, Jake?” I asked.

“Uh huh?”

“Do you, like, have enough money for this?”

“Yeah, the government gives me money for you, for anything you need. All I have to do is use their credit card and it all gets paid for by them. Don’t worry about it, here I have you covered. I’m sure they’ll even be enough left over for some allowance each weekend.”

“Oh my god!” I almost screamed. It was like a dream come true, a shopping spree where money didn’t matter. I wrapped my arms spontaneously around Jake. “Thanks so much!”