What was she supposed to get out of? Before a few weeks ago, she hadn’t seen Spencer in months. They meet up once in a parking lot, and suddenly they’re in a relationship? With him having enough authority to issue an ultimatum to her? Where did the Tattler get this crap?

“Ma’am?”

“Huh?” Chase ripped her gaze from the gossip rag.

The cashier looked at her, penciled-on eyebrows raised in question. She tapped the moving conveyor belt. “Your groceries?”

“Oh, sorry,” Chase said, unloading her cart. The cashier grunted and started scanning, little beeps making Chase feel satisfied at mastering grocery shopping, even if she was annoyed by the stupid headline on the stupid magazine. Why wouldn’t they leave her alone?

“Do you have any coupons?” the cashier asked.

“Oh, one. For the pizza bites,” Chase said, handing it over, not sure why she got the pizza bites when she hadn’t liked the nacho ones. Probably because she’d had that coupon and felt obligated.

The cashier scanned it and said, “Okay, that will be two eighty-three seventy-nine.”

Chase pulled out the prepaid card Olivia had given her and then paused, glancing back at the total on the register screen. “Will you check this card to see how much is on it?”

The cashier rolled her eyes but took the card. Three seconds later, she said, “Two hundred and fifty dollars.”

Glancing at the line behind her, Chase bit her lip. “Um, so what do I do?”

The man in line behind her gave an elaborate sigh and muttered, “Oh brother.”

“Well, you either have to pay the remainder with cash or another card, or you have to put some of your groceries back,” the cashier said. None too politely, either.

Chase pulled out the list. Okay, she’d sneaked in some extra items. “Um, so let’s put back the ice cream, the OREOs, the pizza bites, the popcorn, and, um, maybe some of those onions? What onion is the most basic? The list says ‘onion’ but not what kind.”

The man moved his cart up. “Is this chick for real?”

The cashier whose name tag read LISA shrugged.

Now the man looked at Chase. “I’m in a hurry. I have to be somewhere, and you’re preventing that because you obviously don’t know how to live within your means.”

Chase looked at him, trying to figure out what he wanted her to do or say.

“Are you retarded or something?” he asked after she didn’t respond.

Chase felt tears spring to her eyes. Why did this guy have to be such an asshole? She was trying to figure out the situation. “You know, it’s not nice to use that word, sir.”

“It’s also not nice to waste people’s time, blondie.” He raked her with a glance, taking in her wrinkled clothes. “I guess I shouldn’t expect people like you to know how to add.”