"Hey, how was the last day of school?" Charlie greeted her as he walked in, shaking the water out of his brown curls that were still soaking wet from his shower. 
Turning to face him, Collins was less than cordial. "I thought you said you were gonna get some ice for the fridge after you worked a couple shifts for Heyward? Everything's gone spoiled now."
Furrowing his brows, Charlie moved past her to see for himself. "Ice is expensive in this heat, I thought we'd be fine without it." He opened the door and picked up the jug of milk before unscrewing the cap. Almost immediately did his face twist in disgust at the putrid smell of curdled milk that wafted out of the bottle. "Holy fuck, that's rancid." 
Crossing her arms over her chest while she watched her brother close the jug before tossing it into the trash, Collins shook her head at him in dismay. "That fridge is older than the Cold War, you should know better by now that it's no match for an Outer Banks heat wave." 
"Well, lucky for us, I'm working a shift at the yacht club tonight so I'm sure I can score us some leftovers for dinner. How would the lady of the house like her lobster cooked? Grilled or boiled?" He smiled his shiny, sparkling, white-toothed smile that when flashed to girls at the bar, led to him leaving work with his pockets full of cash tips and a couple phone numbers alongside them. 
Rolling her eyes, Collins retreated the three steps away to their living room coffee table, where the newspaper Charlie always snatched out of the convenience store trash can lay. She flipped through the pages until she found the coupon section, and with a pair of scissors, began clipping away. 
"It's only gonna get worse, Charlie. The sun is killer out there and at this rate, our fridge is gonna be hotter than our shower water, which by the way, is seriously chipping into our savings."
"Don't even worry about it, Colls. Leave it to me. You just focus on what you need to do to prep for your ACTs." Moving to open the top cabinet door, Charlie plucked the tin can that they called a piggy bank down and began sifting through its contents. "Here, we'll take this and go grocery shopping before I head to work."
He thrusted a wad of cash at her and as if he knew she would bug him about it, started to leave to finish up getting ready. 
"Charlie, this is way too much." Collins sighed before standing up from the futon to put back some of the money he'd given her. "Thirty-bucks worth of groceries, that's all we get."
"I know, I just thought that since I'm working at the club tonight we could spend a little more since I'm getting a little more? Maybe you can finally get something you like for once?"
"I like the usual milk, cheese, and bread." Collins replied pointedly before stowing the jar back into its hiding place.
Charlie pursed his lips at her then dug into his back pocket to hand her a 5 dollar bill. "One thing. If the roof comes crashing down, all the pipes back up, and we're up to our chins in bills, then you can yell at me about saving."
He stood there unmoving with that stubborn look on his face that Collins despised because she knew she couldn't win when he pulled a low move like that. Begrudgingly, she took the crumpled bill from Charlie's expecting hand and tucked it away with the rest of the money, all while fighting a smile at Charlie's obvious satisfaction.
"Just this once, but you better charm your ass off for the housewives tonight."
"They've got three bachelorette parties booked tonight. Why else do you think I'm working?" Exchanging amused chuckles, Charlie shrugged on his leather jacket that he'd picked up at a thrift store and nodded for her to follow him. "Come on, let's go. I don't want to be late."