Watching the teen jump into the air made Sarah's wicked smile grow. Hearing the swear words leaving his mouth made her eyes glint with a slight rage. One thing she hated was a teen who cursed so freely it was automatic. Hearing Carragail's laughter made the smile grow even more, though it was less of a wicked smile. She could see the teenaged girl struggle for breath as she laughed. She was trying to say something, but Carragail just kept laughing.

>>"Yeah, yeah, ha ha, very funny. Now leave me alone. I've had enough crap t' deal with without you two gettin' all up in my grill."

Sarah's wicked grin was back in place. The teen didn't seem to care much for the fact they were paying customers.

"It's not our fault you were sleeping. I need you to ring me up, but if you want me to take my business elsewhere, I can," Sarah warned. "That's the company number on the door isn't it? We should be able to file a complaint with it. That is, unless you want to apologize for your actions right now."

The boy, because that's all Sarah could think of him as, sputtered. He tried to form words but he didn't seem to be able to. She wasn't sure if it was the fact she had threatened him or him just not knowing how to respond.

"If you don't know what you did wrong, let me help you. First, you were asleep when we both came in today. Now I can understand that it's early and you probably had a long night, but I tried to wake you up earlier. Second, you just a little bit ago swore at me. I believe I heard a few threats in there too. Third, you are upset because I wanted to buy a CD," the brunette listed off on her fingers. "Am I missing anything else, Hun?" she asked Carragail over her shoulder.

Carragail didn't really like dissing people. She always wound up feeling really guilty and self-conscious afterwards, when half of her brain said "I'm sorry for hurting your feelings," and the other half said, "You're not so perfect your self, little Miss Mitchell. Let me count the ways..." But she had to admit, watching Sarah calling this kid on everything he was so blantantly doing wrong was making her feel...impressed.

So when Sarah asked her, "Am I missing anything else, Hun?", Kara couldn't help but join in on the apparent badassery that was being displayed.

"B--Bad organization?" she offered, a little half-smirk on her face.

'#1: You look like you were blended with a mule in your sleep.'

As the aforementioned guilt-and-self-consciousness reflex kicked in, and she nervously returned to checking shelves, blushing slightly with emberrasment.

The boy grunted, adding, "Don't blame me fer the terrible org'nization. Blame the kids who come through 'ere. Assholes run in, throw sh't errewhere, then take what they want w'th a five-finger discount." He turned to Sarah. "And as for errethin' else, I am so very deeply sorry. By all means, feel free to take o'er this job for me if y' think yer so good at it." With a loud huff, rather akin to a toddler during his off-day, he flopped back into his chair with his arms crossed in front of him and a smug grimace painted on his face.

>>"B--Bad organization?"

Inwardly, Sarah was grinning as Carragail joined in. She hadn't really expected the girl to speak, but it was always fun to be surprised.

>>"Don't blame me fer the terrible org'nization. Blame the kids who come through 'ere. Assholes run in, throw sh't errewhere, then take what they want w'th a five-finger discount."

The brunette rolled her eyes at that. The detectors at the door were working just fine. She could tell due to the time she spent with her brother at his work, which at the time was a store similar to this.

>>"And as for errethin' else, I am so very deeply sorry. By all means, feel free to take o'er this job for me if y' think yer so good at it."

'Oh, you poor little thing,'[/color] she thought. Even her mind was dripping in sarcasm.

"First off, if you want to treat paying customer's like this, I think you should be fired." The boy tried to interrupt, but Sarah gave him the same look her mother gave when she started a lecture. The boy was quiet for the moment. "Second, you should never use that language, and you know what I mean, when speaking to a female. I don't care if it's a prostitute. Show some respect. Now, for the last part, I would gladly take your job, but if I did, you wouldn't learn a thing.

With her piece said, the twenty-three year old headed back to the last shelf she was looking through. Carragail was already back to searching and she felt bad for making her do it alone.

Kara glanced back as she heard Sarah calmly (but noisily) made her way back to the shelving. The teen behind the counter muttered a quick little, "Whatever", pulled a book from a backpack behind the counter, and began reading. As much as she strained to get a glimpse of the cover, though, she couldn't get a clear view of the title.

Nervously, she turned back to the shelving, quickly muttering to Sarah, "Th--That was pretty cool...back there." She kept her voice at a level that she figured the young woman could hear without the teen eavesdropping, though it still felt a little too quiet.

>>"Th--That was pretty cool...back there."

Sarah smiled. "Just blowing off some steam. I think everything was building up until today." Her voice was just as quiet as Carragail's.

She was a little upset with herself. She had really blown up at the kid, but the side of her brain that was more like her mother was telling her she had been justified. The split in her mind was upsetting. She went back to searching to keep her mind off of her internal debate.

She flipped a case out of the way and smiled in triumph. She spun around quickly to face the girl she had been spending so much time with. She kept her find behind her back so she wouldn't see it yet.

"Guess what?" she teased with a wide smile.

"Guess what?" Kara glanced up from her search, to see Sarah standing there, hands behind her back, with that same half-smile on her face.

Naturally, her mind jumped to the worst possible conclusions. 'You're secretly an evil mutant psychopath? You're a trained assasin who's hired to get to my parents through me? You're about to forcibly give me face-paint!?

Then she remembered what they'd been after here for. And her face lit up (figuratively and literally) with joy.

"You found it?" she asked axcitedly.

>>"You found it?"

Sarah grinned as the teen guessed correctly. It had taken them awhile after all. They deserved to have some excitement when the task was accomplished.

”Yup!” the brunette grinned as she handed the CD to Carragail. ”Now we cane get out of this store and away from rude personel.”

Her voice was just loud enough to be heard by the teen at the counter and she knew it. The twenty-three year old did not like the boy who had spoken rudely to them.

"Now we can get out of this store and away from rude personnel."

Kara chuckled at Sarah's comment, before catching herself and realizing that the implied teenager was very much within earshot. She glanced back at him, to see him shooting a quick little death glare at her. Not her as in Kara, her as in Sarah (this was already getting confusing for Kara, and she'd known this girl for less than an hour).

She was about to say something in response, but the teenager interrupted her. "Who, me? How could you slander what others have worshiped?"

'What a perfect dickhead.'

Kara would never dare to say that thought out loud ever, but it was written in bold text all over her face.

"W--We should check out," Kara squeaked, gesturing between her, Sarah, and the teenager. "Also, c--can I...have my CD?"

>> "Who, me? How could you slander what others have worshiped?"

Before Sarah could retort back to the annoying kid, Carragail was talking. The woman nodded at the first suggestion. She really did want out of the store, no matter how much fun she was having getting a rise out of the cashier.

>>"Also, c--can I...have my CD?"

”Oh! I’m sorry! I spaced,” Sarah explained as she handed the CD to the teen. ”Alright then, let’s get this horror show over with.”

She was teasing again. Luckily, she got another heated glare –if you could call it that – from the teen. Sarah smiled widely before walking over to the register.

Kara blushed softly and silently chuckled. Watching Sarah and the bitchy cashier was like watching a Three Stooges show: probably not healthy, but you just can't stop laughing.

She slotted herself behind Sarah as the two got into line for the cash register. She didn't originally plan to, but curiosity finally forced her to crane her neck around Sarah and see what the teenage boy had been reading, clutching the CD close to her chest to protect it. Once she saw the title, she almost fell over.

Dostoyevsky?

This idiotic ass was reading the greatest piece of classic Russian literature ever?

He shot a glance at Kara as he held out his hand for Sarah's CD. "Just what're you lookin at?" he growled.

The small asian teen shrank smaller. "J--Just...your book."

He held his glare for a few more seconds, before muttering, "Yeah. Picked't up, can't put it down. Betcha didn't see that comin', didja?" The question was aimed directly at Sarah, and spoken with a rather smug grin.

Sarah had just about handed the teen her disk when he spoke to Carragail. Her instincts took over at the harsh words and she shifted to try to hide the teen. When a book was meantioned, the brunette looked at the counter and found the piece of literature.

>>"Yeah. Picked't up, can't put it down. Betcha didn't see that comin', didja?"

An easy shrug came to her before she spoke. "I've seen different people read it before. Just because you read big words doesn't mean you've been any less rude to us. I really should call in a complaint, but, hey, I'm a nice enough person to consider that you're having a bad day," she stated.

Though she was rather short compared to the teen, she stood her ground. Her feet had moved to be shoulder width apart while she had been speaking. Her hands were placed on her hips in fists. Sarah felt very much like her mother at that moment.

"Just do your job and we'll be on our way. Oh, and don't take your anger at me out on her. She didn't do anything to you. I did." When she was done, she placed the CD case on the counter and waited.

In all honestly, she had been surprised to see that he was reading one of Dosroyevsky's works. She herself had read a few. He was one of the reasons she got into people watching. However, one of her college courses required the students to read a piece. Several of the people she had in the class weren't the brightest or nicest people either. She would have commented on the book, but she couldn't see the title well enough to know which one it was.

"So, which one are you reading?" she asked, trying to be polite.

As Sarah made her speech, Kara watched in some version of stunned awe as Sarah began to metaphorically fill the room. This girl was incredible! It was like watching a conductor quietly enforcing the band to obey his every whim, or that look a cop gives a criminal when they get handcuffs on him: Fiery, powerful, and full of that 'I told you so' attitude.

At the same time, while it had been clear that he liked confronting, it was equally clear now that he didn't like being confronted. He shrank in his chair, hiding behind his book as much as he possibly could. He wasn't reacting as badly as Kara herself probably would have, but he was definitely close.

But wait...if he didn't like being confronted, but liked confronting, that didn't bode very well for Kara...

"Oh, and don't take your anger at me out on her. She didn't do anything to you. I did."

Kara breathed a silent "Thanks" into the girl's ear, hoping she could hear it.

When he sensed that Sarah was done burning him into the ground with her words, he quickly reached out for the CD and began ringing it up. After a few brisk motions and one or two silent swears at the computer, he muttered, "Seven-fif'y," holding out his hand for the payment, thinly-guised fear replaced with acute disinterest.

"So, which one are you reading?"

"Crime and Punishment," he grumbled softly, wagging his fingers lightly, obviously more interested in getting the scary lady out of the store than engaging in conversation.

Kara smiled softly, hidden behind Sarah, thinking, 'Reason #87 why Sarah would be great to hang out with.'

When Sarah heard which book the teen was reading, she nodded. Silently she pulled out the money for her CD.

"Not a bad choice. What do you think of it so far?" she asked.

When the teen handed her the correct amount of change, and her new CD, she moved aside to let Carragail pay for hers. The twenty-three year old had already decided to wait for the girl. It wouldn't do for the teen to harm her when Sarah's back was turned.

Beside that, Carragail seemed like one of the few teens that were fun to be around. She quietly hoped that the girl would grow out of her more shy tendencies, but only if the girl wanted to spend more time with her. Sarah knew she wouldn't force her company on anyone.

It took a second or two for Kara to register the fact that Sarah had moved aside for her to pass. Even worse was the fact that the teen behind the counter was giving her a look, which almost growled at her, "Honestly, why are you taking so damn long?" Nervously, she skittered forward and almost slapped the CD on the table.

The teen began ringing it up as he replied to Sarah. "It's good. Dry, confusing, and annoying as hell to read for it, but definitely good."

When he'd finished ringing up her CD, Kara slapped eight bucks onto the counter before he had time to say anther word. He snatched a couple quarters from the register, plonked them onto the CD, and sorted the fives and ones into the appropriate slots. The entire exchange from start to finish took less than ten seconds.

As Kara grabbed her CD, he leaned towards her, even though he seemed to be speaking to both of them, and said with more force in his voice as Kara could have possibly mustered in her lifetime, "Now why don't the two of you leave so I can get back to it? Capiche?"

>>"It's good. Dry, confusing, and annoying as hell to read for it, but definitely good."

Sarah rolled her eyes. Sure the book was hard to get into, but she found the ideas interesting. Actually, several of her college friends had agreed with her.

Instead of answering with the sarcastic comment lying on her tongue, the brunette stayed silent as the transaction happen in front of her. When it was done, and it was quite quick, she was ready to get out of the dim music store.

"Now why don't the two of you leave so I can get back to it? Capiche?"

Sarah's muscles tensed as she fought against herself to keep from biting the kid's head off. She slowly worked at loosening her legs, though her upper body stayed tense.

"It's more likely that you'll go back to sleep once we leave your sight. I really should call your manager. Or better yet, the store owner." She noticed the teen's shocked expression and elaborated. "Did you know he comes into my work every day for lunch? Sometimes even breakfast. How else would I hear about such a small store."

Sarah knew she was pushing. She knew she needed to get away from the ignorant teen and his attitude, but she felt that someone had to teach him manners.