{94}✔️

A/N: SO BITCH BC IM SLOW ND STUPID I DIDNT EXACTLY KNOW WHAT AN E BOY WAS UNTIL I GOOGLED IT AFTER NOTICING PPL CALLING ORB THAT

AND U KNOW WHAT IDK IF ITS A BAD OR GOOD THING TO BE AN E BOY BUT IDCCC HE IS !! CHARACTER DESCRIPTION TIME. HES GOT HIS FINGERS PAINTED BLACK ALWAYSSS (maybe sometimes red or perhaps checkered hmm?) HE WEARS HELLA RINGS!! HES GOT A LIP RING AND ONE EARRING MHMMM. HES GOT THE E BOY FASHION!!! HE WEARS CHAINS ON HIS PANTS!!!

I SAID WHAT I SAID. I STAN WHAT I STAN. I STAN ORI EVEN THO IM THE ONE WHO CREATED HIM SO MAYBE I SHOULDNT BE STANNING ???! THIS IS STILL ALL CAPS IDK WHY.

anywhom enjoy this chapter.

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Dahlia's POV

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"Okay everyone, remember, nobody leaves this damn yard until they buy at least one thing." Cadence paced in front of all of us, holding the pink, diamond-encrusted whistle she loves so much between her teeth as she spoke. She honestly looks ridiculous. We all do.

Cadence said we needed to have 'uniforms' to show that we're all working the garage sale in case somebody wants to come up to us and ask us a question or buy something. We all agreed, but we shouldn't have let her pick out the uniforms.

Hot pink shirts, white shorts, hot pink socks, white shoes. And let's not forget the pink fanny packs, headbands, and wristbands she forced us to wear along with it. We look like sporty assholes from the eighties or something.

"Okay, lets go over our jobs again—"

"We all already know what to do." Caden whined. Cadence slapped the shit out of his head and walked away quickly, beginning to go over all our 'duties'.

"Mr. and future Mrs. Doe, you two are on advertising duty," She started, looking at my dad and Josephine. "You two drive around and make sure everyone in this town knows there's a garage sale happening here."

They nodded.

"Cora, Liza, and Matthew. I hope it's not too awkward that you three are working together...But, frankly, I don't give a damn if it is! We've got work to do! You three are in charge of directing people to this house! And make sure to hype up the sale! 'You better hurry, I hear we're almost sold out of everything!' You know, that type of stuff."

"Got it." They nodded.

"Gigi, my handsome, sweet, adorable little Italian sausage," She sighed, smiling at him as he waved excitedly at her. "You're the prettiest person here. Make sure you're the first person other than Cora, Liza, and Matthew that people see. Persuade them to buy things with your handsomeness."

"Yes! I be handsome and people buy things!"

"Prettiest person here?" Caden questioned. "Please. I guess I'm invisible."

"Oh, how I wish you were," Cadence grumbled. "Dahlia, Ken, Caden, and Hudson. You guys are in charge of selling to people and checking them out. Bea, you and I are in charge of suckering these fools into buying all the bull crap that nobody actually wants. Find the ugliest things you possibly can and sell them to whatever idiot seems even a little interested in them."

"Oh, I've got this," Bea grinned. "I'm pretty persuasive."

"Good. Now, you all know the drill. Make sure not to mention any prices until somebody asks. Ask how much they'd be willing to pay for it first, then raise the price a bit."

"Well, what if somebody wants to spend $20 on something that only cost us $10?" Dad asked.

Cadence chuckled and walked over to him slowly, bending down so that she was face to face with him as he sat down. "Is that a joke? Is this a joke to you? What do you mean by that question?! If somebody wants to pay $20 for something that was only $10 then you make them pay $25! What else would you do?!"

"Isn't that a little...Morally...Wrong?" Josephine questioned.

"This is a business! We don't have morals when we're trying to get a bag! Jeez, it's a good thing you two aren't actually in charge of selling things." She shook her head. "Gone are the days of being good, honest people! Gone are the days of being fair and having good intentions! It's no longer about that, people! It's about getting some money for Julia and Denver, and if you can't put your morals to the side for that, then you can scram!" She yelled.

"Amen." I nodded.

She continued her speech. "We don't care about anything or anyone today besides our racks. Our stacks. Our cheese! Our guap! We see it, we like it, we want it, we got it! Yuh! 'It' is the money! We want the money!"

"Yeah!" We yelled with her.

"Now, listen. You do whatever you have to do to get people to buy things! Do what you have to to make a sale, and ask God to forgive you for it later! I strongly suggest mentioning that we're having this sale to prevent a baby from starving to death—"

"Alright, now wait a minute—" I cut in.

"Say what you have to say to get that bag! Don't take no for an answer! Real hot girl shit! Yeah, we're in our bag, but we're in everyone else's too! That's why every time we see Julia and Denny's baby it's gone have some new shoes!"

"Yeah!" We cheered.

"Okay then! Now, we all know what to do if we see cops right?" She asked. "We don't actually have a permit to be doing this little sale, so if you hear sirens, you gotta dip. Don't worry about everyone else, it's every man for himself. I'm not going to jail for y'all, so imma run to my house and act like I don't know nothing if I see a singular cop."

"Wait, what do you mean we don't have a permit—"

She cut dad off again and clapped her hands together. "Alright, now everyone take out your phones and post on all your social media platforms about this sale! Then hand your devices over to Finneas and Claudia. They're gonna make sure to patrol all your social media and make sure to answer any questions about how to get here and all that."

"Thanks for doing this." I smiled at them.

"Happy to be here." Fin shrugged.

"I would've been bored at home if I didn't do this. It's no problem!" Claudia grinned.

I grabbed my phone and posted about the sale on all my social media before checking my texts.

Ori: On our way rn!

Jessica: pls don't sell orbi any clown shit today 💋👋🏻

Bilboa: Denny and I are taking a little road trip. We're visiting a football stadium three hours away 😏😏

Bilboa: why does he literally think I'm gonna try to kill him tho? He's freaking out and he keeps checking my car for chloroform

Bilboa: and he brought pepper spray just in case

Bilboa: don't worry I chucked the spray out the window and he's chill now. I got him some Taco Bell.

I shook my head and let out a small laugh as I texted her back and then gave my phone to Finneas.

"I can't wait to snoop through your phone and get all the tea!" He grinned as he snatched my phone eagerly. I shot him a look. "You gone end up seeing something you don't wanna see." I joked.

"I'll make sure to try and steer clear of my sister's nudes. Other than that, I should be fine."

"I am...Disgusted." I mumbled before pushing his head to the side and then standing up.

"Alright, we're heading out. Don't sell anything that isn't out in this yard!" Dad warned us, hugging Cora and me.

"But my friend said her parents were looking for a new furniture suit!" Cora whined. "And I think ours would totally look good in their living room!"

"And I think that if you sell my furniture you can totally go live with them instead because you won't remain in my house!" He mocked her.

***

"Well, isn't this a...cute...look," Ori smirked as he looked me up and down. I glared up at him and crossed my arms over my chest. "You're literally wearing, like, three different patterns right now. I don't think you need to be coming for me because of my outfit."

"At least I'm actually making mine work." He chuckled.

"Did you come here to buy something or to insult me?" I grumbled.

"Well, it's not like I can't multitask."

We bickered playfully for a while as he browsed through all the stuff. He picked up about six items and I grew more and more excited with every one. I'm hoping we make a lot of money today, and it seems like we're off to a good start.

"Holy fuck is that a painting of King Kong?!" He yelled. He scurried across the yard and I followed closely behind. "How much?"

"How much are you willing to pay?" I asked, smirking.

"$30."

"Seriously?!" I think that thing was $5 bucks from a dollar general. I don't know for sure, though because this was Hudson's.

"It's art." He shrugged.

"It's ugly," I laughed. "Just give me $5.50 for it."

Cadence said to charge more than it's worth, but Ori's my friend.

"You're not really good at this whole selling thing, are you?" He shook his head as he pulled out his wallet. "I was willing to pay thirty whole bucks for that."

"You're my first customer so you get a discount." I shrugged.

Cadence ran over from halfway across the yard. "Did I hear discount?!" She hissed.

"Um...No." I shook my head.

"Good! There is no such thing as a discount in this yard! We don't even know what that means!" She held two fingers up and made the 'I'm watching you' gesture before running past us, blowing her whistle. "Hey! Gigi, baby, if somebody wants a sip of water they have to pay $2 for it! Rules are rules!"

"Now, that girl gets it!" He nodded. "Alright, how much is all this stuff gonna be?"

I grabbed the calculator out of my fanny pack and did some adding. "$56.96."

"Cool garbanzo beans."

"Garbanzo—" I cut myself off and shook my head. "Cash or credit?"

"You guys are taking cards?" He asked. I nodded. "We bought these little things online so people can swipe their cards. We're returning them and getting our money back once we're finished with them, though." I grinned.

"Cash," he pulled out three twenties. "Keep the change."

"Thanks!"

"No problem. So, I know I don't have the official uniform, but I can help out if you want? Kai and Jessica said they'd be willing to help out as well after they finish browsing."

"That'd be dope! Thanks." I smiled.

***

"You've gotta be kidding me. I can't believe you actually sold a pair of socks for $20." I shook my head as I stared in awe at Bea. She shrugged her shoulders and sent me a smug look. "They looked like they were from the 90s, so I said they were vintage. Plus, I stapled a little tag on them so they looked like they were from an actual brand."

"You're doing some good work, Bea." Cadence patted her shoulder proudly.

"And here I was feeling guilty for selling an old pillow for $15." Caden shook his head.

"Guilt is for the weaklings. We don't have time for it." Cadence told him. "Ori, Kai, and Jessica are good sellers too! I'm glad they decided to help."

They're all good at sweet talking people into buying shit too. I'm impressed.

"Guys!" Cora came running up to us from down the road. "There's a big van full of, like, twelve dumb jocks! They're gonna be up here really soon!" She grinned excitedly.

"Dumb is good! We're gonna make hella money!" Bea cheered.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure most of them are rich pricks. Flirt with them and I bet they'll buy. Oh, and Matthew said his grandma and some people from her church are gonna be stopping by any minute. Old people are gullible, so do your thing!"

"Yeah, okay, this is totally wrong—"

"Screw. Morals. Get. Money. I won't say it again!" Cadence cut me off. I held my hands up in defense.

Cora ran out of the yard again and took off down the street. Next time she comes up here I'm gonna have to give her one of the Spongebob walkie talkies Caden brought, and maybe an old scooter.

She was right, though. Just a few minutes after she left the yard was filled with annoying jocks. It wasn't hard to convince them to buy stuff as long as we complimented their muscles or ran our fingers through their greasy hair and pretended to be interested in them.

We probably made five hundred bucks off of them alone. Then when the old people came, they bought hella.

"Oh, we've had these coloring books for ages. They mean a lot to me. I didn't color many pages in them, and of course, I ripped the ones I did color out, but I loved these books when I was younger." I lied, smiling brightly at a mom and her little girl.

"How much for the whole stack?" The mom asked.

There are about twenty books here. This is the one time I'm not gonna ask what they're willing to pay first.

"$35."

"Oh, I don't know about—"

"Mommy, I want them!" The little girl pouted, stomping her little foot.

"But we can find some at the dollar store for—"

"I don't want the ones from the dollar store, I want these!" She whined. She bounced around her mom, screaming 'please' at the top of her lungs until her mom caved in and handed me the money.

"You handed me forty. Would you like your change?" I asked. The little girl was still screaming as she grabbed the books, most of them falling to the ground after she did. The mom sighed and shook her head as she bent down to pick them up. "Keep it." She muttered.

I practically skipped off after putting the money in my fanny pack.

***

Four hours later and we'd made a huge dent in the stuff we were selling. We'd done really good so far, and we were only just starting.

"Jane Doe, come in. Black Dahlia, come in. Over."

I sighed as I reached down to grab my walkie talkie. Giving Cora one was totally a bad idea. The scooter too. Earlier, she was riding up and down the street like a mall cop. She looked ridiculous.

"What is it this time, Cora?"

Silence.

"Cora? What did you need?"

Silence.

"Yo—"

"How many times am I going to have to tell you that I can't hear you if you don't say 'over'? Over."

I rolled my eyes and threw my head back. "How many times am I going to have to tell you that I'm not saying that shit every fucking time—"

"Yeah, yeah, shut the fuck up. You've got two sets of parents, and a total of seven kids coming up soon. The kids are absolute brats. Make sure to get all the pretty toys in their view. It won't take much work to make a sell this time around. Over."

"Boys and girls?" I questioned.

Silence."

"Cora?"

Silence.

"Cora, I swear to fucking God—"

"Six boys and a girl! They seem to like big trucks because they were playing with one when they got out of the car. Maybe they'll like action figures too. The little girl mentioned wanting a dollhouse really bad, and it just so happens we've got three to choose from. Seems like she'll throw a tantrum if she doesn't get what she wants. Don't sell one of those houses for a penny less than $300. Over."

"Big trucks. Dollhouse. Got it."

I put my walkie talkie back in my pocket loop and walked over to Caden, Hudson, and Ori. "You guys are gonna have some bratty little kids to deal with soon. Get all the nice toys out and sit them front and center. Dollhouses especially." I smirked as I patted their shoulders and walked away. No way I'm dealing with that shit.

"Thanks a lot!" Hudson called.

"Jane Doe, come in. Black Dahlia, come in. Over."

"It hasn't even been a full thirty seconds, Cora. What do you need? And stop calling me that shit!"

Silence.

"I'm not doing this with your ass, Coraline."

"Fine! You've got six teenaged girls heading your way. They look like a bunch of bitches. Set out the perfumes, makeup...And if we've got some better attitudes just laying around maybe you can give those to them for free. Over." She grumbled.

"Right. Do you need to tell me about everybody that shows up?" I thought this would be just a once in a while type of thing.

"Well, it helps you prepare better, doesn't it? Over." She spat. She's not wrong.

"Can't you talk to Cadence sometimes? She's got the other walkie talkie."

"Believe me, I'm sick of hearing your voice, but her walkie died a while ago. Over."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Yeah, mines about to die too." I turned it off and put it back on my belt loop.

The sound of screaming filled the yard and I walked farther away from it. I watched as the boys dealt with the badass kids that were jumping around, begging their parents to buy them everything they saw.

Oh, yeah. We're gonna make some good cash off of them.

Ken and Kai came over to me and watched them as well. "Glad I'm not dealing with them." Ken smirked.

"Ditto," Kai sighed. "I'm already scarred from the six-year-old child trapped in a fourteen-year-old's body that I had to deal with earlier. That bitch almost cried because her mom wouldn't let her buy a nail polish set."

"Damn," I shook my head. I noticed the group of teenage girls Cora was talking about walking into the yard and sighed. "Guess we've gotta deal with them, though. Gigi definitely can't handle them all on his own."

We watched as they all immediately began flirting with Gigi and competing for his attention. I glanced over at Cadence and saw that she was giving him a thumbs up. Any other time she would've been freaking out but, in her own words, business is business.

"Aw shit." Ken shook her head. "Isn't that Luna?"

I looked toward where she was pointing and sighed as I realized that it was. She seemed to be the head of the bitches.

"I love this for me," I mumbled sarcastically. "And I spy with my little eye...Yet another bitch we don't fuck with." I looked at Kai and saw her already looking at Jaylen.

"If she sees me she's gonna make a scene." Kai warned.

"You go inside and take a water break. We'll deal with them." I told her. She nodded and began to head inside. "And make sure to check up on Finneas and make sure he's not going through my shit!" She gave me a thumbs up.

"Bea, we need backup!" Ken called as we headed toward the girls. Bea was by our side in seconds. "Hello, ladies, how can we help you today?" She asked cheerfully once we got to Gigi.

"Gigi's helping us just fine." One of the girls said as she rubbed his muscle.

"Really? I don't see y'all looking at anything but Gigi and he isn't for sale." She stated sharply. "Follow me! We've got lots of stuff that'll interest you."

She practically yanked the girls away from him and they all begrudgingly followed her. Except for Jaylen and Luna, of course.

"Is your bestie, Kai, around?" Jaylen questioned rudely, crossing her arms.

"She wouldn't wanna see you if she was," Ken smiled fakely before letting out a loud laugh. "Oh, why the long face? I'm kidding! We don't have her here, but what we do have is great deals on everything you could need! Follow me. You look like you could really use some new makeup..."

Ken pulled her away and then it was just Luna and I. I stared at her and she stared at me. It was awkward for a few moments before I put on a smile. "So, what are you looking for today?"

"Billie. While I was at her house last night she mentioned this little sale and I figured she'd be here." She smirked.

Bitch, what the fuck?

Why the hell was Luna at Billie's house last night?

You know what, I don't care. I do not care. I'm not gonna jump to conclusions and I'm not gonna think about it because it's none of my business.

"She's not here, sorry. But we've got plenty of jewelry, cool posters, vintage clothes—"

"There's nothing I'm really interested in buying. I don't buy things that aren't from...legitimate stores, you know? But I'll give you some money anyway! I hear this is for your brother?" She pulled out a wad of cash and I tried not to look at it, not wanting to seem greedy.

"Um...Yeah." I nodded.

"I haven't donated to the needy in a long time. I guess now is as good a time as any. I love charity!" She grinned.

I tried to keep my facial expression neutral, but I could feel my jaw clenching and my eyes narrowing as I looked at her. "Yeah. Nice. Thanks." I gritted out.

"No problem. Ugh...Will a couple hundred do?"

I'd turn it down if anyone else was offering, but fuck this bitch. My brother needs money, and although she's only doing this to be petty, I'll take it.

"It sure will. What a sweetheart you are." I muttered, trying to sound happy.

"Yeah, it's no problem. If I got knocked up I'm sure I wouldn't have to worry too much because I'm pretty rich, but I totally feel bad for the poor people who don't have it as easy as me." She shrugged.

"Yeah," I chuckled. "When you get knocked up I'm sure you'll know just how to deal with it."

"Here you go." She spat, still trying to sound sweet but failing miserably. I looked down as she shoved the money toward me and gasped as I saw the ring.

The ring that Billie gave me and then took back from me.

On her finger.

Luna, her ex-girlfriends finger.

Wow. I did not think she'd do that but wow. Wow.

I took the money and then looked back into Luna's eyes. Her facial expression was even smugger than before.

"Oh, do you like it? Billie gave it to me." She said as she held her hand up to show me again. "She's a total sweetheart. I'm not much of a jewelry person, but she wouldn't stop begging me to wear it."

"It's nice."

"Yeah, it's big though. She must've thought I had man hands or something," She cackled. "Our next date we'll have to get it fitted."

"Yeah, guess so."

She sighed as she looked around and put her hands behind her back. "Dahlia, you are such a doll, you know that? I was really worried that you'd hate me or something because I know you guys were together before and I know how it is when someone breaks up with you just to get with someone else...She told me you wouldn't be mad at me because of that, though. I totally didn't believe her until now!"

I let out a bitter chuckle and shook my head. "Cut the crap, Luna. You expect me to believe that she broke up with me just to get back with you? No, that wasn't what it was about at all. We broke up because of a fight we had."

"Oh...This is awkward," She mumbled, letting out a small laugh. "That's how we broke up the first time too. Every time, actually. Whenever she wants to break up with someone she starts a bunch of arguments and then she asks if they want to break up. She always makes sure that they're the one who says it's over, though. So she won't have to feel guilty later."

"Yeah, and despite all that you decided to get back with her?" I crossed my arms over my chest and raised a brow.

"Well, yeah. I love her and she loves me."

"Mhm." I rolled my eyes. "Girl, why the fuck you lying?"

"Dahlia, I'm not lying. I hate to say this about my own girlfriend, but you probably dodged a bullet. Believe me, I've been through the same thing you're going through with her countless times."

"Do I look like boo boo the fool to you?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I can't make you believe me and I don't want to. But I think—"

She cut herself off as her phone began to ring. She smiled as she lifted it up and showed me that it was Billie calling.

"Hey, baby!" She answered, walking away.

I rolled my eyes. And flipped her off when she wasn't looking. I don't know how much of that was a lie and how much was true, but what I do know is that she's wearing the ring that Billie got for me and she thinks I have man hands.

I wanna know what the fuck is going on.

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A/N: it's six in the morning. I'm up just to update 💀 Nd now I'm sleeping again. See u in two hours.