6 Ruby District (5)

I wander around some more and end up at a small local grocery store. There's no air-conditioning, and the door is kept open so there's always a slight breeze, and in every corner of the store hangs a small mini fan spinning incredibly fast. I look around, my stomach growling and my mouth watering as I pass a large assortment of fruit, vegetables, snacks, drinks, and a small stand offering barbecue and grilled chicken on skewers.

Oh, right, I don't have any money.

I approach the old man sitting behind the counter. He's reading a book, and raises his eyebrows at me without moving his eyes off the pages. "Yes?" he drawls, like a sleepy dragon.

"Do you happen to be hiring today? Like… I can work for you. Sort the food and clean the place and do anything you need help in."

"You want a job?" He sits up slowly and sets down his book. He stretches and then fixes his gaze on me. His eyes are a really pale brown, almost golden colored. "How many hours are you willing to work?"

"Umm…" I think furiously. When does school end? "I'm starting school soon, and I'll come right after school. Till nighttime and I can work weekends. I work very hard, too." I smile brightly, trying to cheer up this old guy that looks like he'd want to do anything rather than sit there.

The man scratches his jaw. "Well, sure. Not much to do around here, though. But my joints are hurting these days, you know. Can't move around as much. How 'bout I pay you five an hour?"

"Five… five what?"

"I dunno, five mangoes?" When he sees the desperation on my face, he laughs loudly. "Ay, I'm just kidding. Don't worry, I'll pay you five silvers an hour and at the end of the day, you'll pick five items from the store for yourself."

I grin. That seems okay. "Deal! Should I start working now?"

He shrugs. "Well, sure! What's your name, though?"

"I'm Aloysia Rosaline."

"I'm Eddie. Aloysia is kinda hard to say, huh. Do you have a nickname?"

I think back to what Liam called me back when I used to live in the city. "Losi is fine."

"Mmm, can I just call you Ah?"

I stare at him.

"Ay, just kidding! Don't be so tense. Well, Losi it is! Why don't you start by replacing the ice for the poor vegetables. The replacement ice is outside in a big blue cooler."

I spend the first hour hauling ice back and forth and organizing the produce so they don't spoil in the heat. I arrange ice around crates full of vegetables and fruits. Then I mop the floor. Then Eddie tells me to stand by the stand of barbecue and grilled chicken skewers and wait for somebody to come. He says it's fine if I eat a little.

In the following hour, one woman comes into the store and buys some drinks and some barbecue. According to Eddie, she comes every day at precisely 12:45.

I drag my arm across my forehead. It's so hot by the stand. So boring. At least I've made ten silvers in the past two hours.

Eddie gets up slowly and comes over to me, wobbling with his cane. He teaches me how to make new barbecue and how to make it just right. He snaps at me a lot when I mess up, which is a lot, but thirty minutes later, I've got it. I can make decent food. Eddie pats me on the back, and returns to his seat when suddenly the place is flowing with customers. They look like students.

They strip the snacks aisle. There's a huge line for the barbecue stand. So I'm handing out skewers and boxes and plates of barbecue quickly, glad I made a lot earlier. Eddie must've known they would come, so that's why he taught me how to handle the stand and insisted that I make more.

Two friends come to the stand and blink in surprise at me. "Oh, you're new!" one girl with black hair says. "Eddie hired somebody!"

"Yep," I say cheerfully. "What would you like?"

"Mmm," the second girl with a blond ponytail says, looking at the assortment of meat. "How about some chicken skewers."

"I'll take the same," the other friend says.

"Okay." I give them each two skewers. They're at the end of the line, so they hang around some more.

"What's your name?" The black-haired girl asks.

"I'm Aloysia."

"You're not from here, are you?"

"Huh? Is it my skin again?" I glance at my arm, and it's not red anymore. My skin is a natural light brown. Can people really tell if you're from somewhere else just by their skin tone?

The blondie laughs. "No, hah, not everyone from Rubys is tan anyway. I mean, look at Addie." She gestures to her friend, the black-haired girl, whose skin is close to my tone. "We're not that stereotypical. Did someone tell you that?"

I blush, embarrassed and awkward all over. "Yeah, um, some boy I met earlier. Jonas?"

"Ahh, that kiddo." Addie takes a fierce bite of chicken. "He's no good. Rude and confusing."

"That's him." I smile, glad to know I'm not the only one that doesn't like him.

"We just know about everyone in Rubys," Addie explains. "Small district. And a lot of sixteen year olds like to move to Rubys for a year or two."

"Oh?" I take a bite of a beef strip.

"Yeah. So, are you gonna go to school here? Or just work here?"

"Umm…" I take another bite of the beef strip. "I was thinking about the arts school. I like acting, dancing, and singing, so I thought it would be cool to go to an arts school…"

"Well we go there too!" Addie grins at me. "I'm in theatre and orchestra. Maeve here likes to paint and dance."

"Cool." I smile. With them at the school, it wouldn't be so bad there. I've only met one rude kid from there, anyway.

"Hey Losi," Eddie calls from his seat by the counter, "you're good to go. You can go hang out with Maeve and Addie."

"Really? Thanks, Eddie!" Maeve and Addie help me pick out five snacks.

"Hey, this one's good, since you said you like spicy and salty…"

"That one's gross, actually." I spin around at the familiar voice, and Jonas's face is just inches from mine. He grins.

I scowl. "Mind your own business, dummy." I grab five small bags of the snack Maeve and Addie suggested and Jonas said was gross and march out the store with Maeve and Addie by my side. "What's with him?" I mutter, handing Maeve and Addie each a bag.

"I dunno," Addie murmurs. "He usually keeps to himself. And if somebody approaches him, he snaps at them until they leave. So it's weird that he talked to us, even for a minute."

Maeve sighs. "If only he were nicer, I would have totally fallen for him. He's so cute."

Addie whacks Maeve's arm. "Are you crazy?" she hisses. "That selfish weirdo? Remember, he's the one that barely bothered to glance at you, or at least help you up, when you fell and twisted your ankle."

Maeve turns to me. She grins at me, her gray eyes twinkling. "What do you think, Aloysia?"

I purse my lips, thinking. "I think… he's just lonely."

"Mm, that's what you think?"

Addie gasps. We spin around and find Jonas standing there, hands in pockets, raising his eyebrows at me and smirking. "Aloysia, I need to talk to you."