Things were a little light in the funds department for Blake. Sure she worked full time, but half of her pay went to rent, half of what was left went into savings, and the majority of what was left went towards food. She was okay with this for a while because she had amassed a large list of books she owned and hadn't read, though at this point she had managed to work all the way through it.
Blake gently closed her book and let out a satisfied sigh, she had finished a book she picked up a couple days ago, third in a series that a friend had suggested. After a big stretch, she stood up and walked the book over to the bookcase quickly searching for the next book in the series. Her search became more and more frantic as time went on eventually causing her to sprint over to her roommate's room.
"Yang! Bookstore! Now!" She said practically yelling.
There was a low grumble came from underneath a mess of sheets on the bed. The form rolled around until a head poked out of the top, "Blake it's-" She cut herself off as soon as she got a glimpse of the girl in front of her, "Put some damn clothes on!" she exclaimed quickly looking at the wall.
In Blake's rush over to Yang's room her robes had come loose, and at the moment she was practically flashing her. When this was brought to her attention she simply pulled one side over just enough to cover herself and went back to what she found to be the more important subject, "Yang we need to go to the bookstore!"
Yang let out a sigh knowing full well Blake would hound her all day if she said no, "Fine. Put on some clothes, and you're gonna buy me a cup of coffee when we get there." This was the standard trade the two of them agreed to just about once a week.
"THANK YOU!" Blake exclaimed before letting go of her robes and sprinting back into her room.
As soon as Blake was gone Yang rolled out of bed landing firmly on the floor, laying there for a bit before finally deciding to stand up again. Before she even made her way to her dresser Blake had already gotten dressed and swung her door open again.
"What's taking you so long? We gotta go!" Blake exclaimed.
"Blake," Yang growled shooting her a death glare.
Eventually, the two of them got dressed and set out on Yang's motorcycle for the trip to the bookstore. It was about a fifteen-minute drive to the closest store, but it beat waiting two days for a book to be shipped to their apartment. Once they arrived Blake gave Yang a five lien card and ran over to the romance section.
"Morning," Yang told the barista with as much of a smile as she could muster before having her coffee.
"Morning, Blake dragging you to the bookstore again?" The barista asked, very familiar with the two of them.
"Yup, I'm guessing she finished her book and needs to grab the new one as soon as possible" Yang replied rolling her eyes.
"I mean I get like that sometimes, but I'm walking distance from here. Anyways you want the usual?"
"Do you still refuse to serve me my coffee by the bucket?" Yang asked.
"The usual it is." She replied smiling.
Yang had a seat in the empty café section of the bookstore and continued chatting with the friendly barista.
Blake on the other hand immediately found the book she was looking for as well as three other books that caught her eye. She was nestled in the corner, back pressed against the shelves, reading the first couple pages of one of the books she was thinking of getting. There had been times where she sat in that corner for hours trying several books before buying them, much to Yang's dismay.
"One extra large black coffee for a Ms. Chow Bong!" The barista exclaimed knowing full well that it was the wrong name.
Yang sighed, the barista did this every single week, she stood up, grabbed her coffee, and put the change from the five into the tip jar. Before even turning around Yang took a long swig of coffee, "I still say you guys don't heat up your coffee enough." She said before walking back to her table.
"And I still am not allowed to serve it any hotter." She replied.
Eventually, Yang managed to find the bottom of her coffee, so she walked over to Blake's usual spot, "Come on, coffee's done we're leaving."
Blake sighed before standing up and bringing her armful of books to the counter.
"Good morning Blake! I swear you're here every week without fail!" The man said at the counter.
"Yeah, I end up powering through these books pretty quickly..."
"So, just these four books then?"
Blake gave him a simple nod.
"Okay, the total comes to $82.95"
Blake pulled out her debit card held it up against the machine and waited for the beep, but for some reason, it wasn't working.
"Try using chip and pin." The cashier suggested.
Blake did as she was told, but her card was denied. Her eyes opened and she started to panic, "I thought I just got paid! Do I have enough for food for the week? How the hell did I lose track of my spending?" She thought to herself.
"Would you like to try a different payment method?"
"No, I guess I'll just leave, sorry," Blake said awkwardly, still trying to figure out where all her money went.
Yang quickly drove Blake home, where Blake immediately grabbed her laptop and had a look at her account, all she had was $40.
"Blake, is everything okay?" Yang asked nervously poking her head through Blake's doorway.
"Uh yeah, I think... I just don't know how much I'll be able to help you with groceries this week..." She replied honestly very disappointed in herself.
"I can cover you this week I guess, but you're going to need to stay away from that bookstore. Since you finished all those books you've been spending a lot of money there."
"I know... Thank you though. I promise I'll pay you back as soon as I get my next paycheque."
"Don't worry about it Blake, you'd do the same for me," Yang replied.
Even though things looked tough for Blake, she did have a bit of a plan. It was something that she had read a while ago, a quick way to earn some cash, but some would argue it wasn't exactly the most ethical thing to do...