Despite what people thought, Brooklyn usually knew what she was doing, and how far she was going when she made inappropriate comments. She wasn't dumb, and she definitely wasn't oblivious to people's reactions to her. She continued to make her comments though, usually for the simple fact that she could. She could say whatever she wanted to say, and if someone had a problem with that, they could tell her. She wasn't going to change the way she acted and she certainly wasn't going to be offering them any tissues for their overly-sensitive feelings, but they had just as much of a right to tell her as she did to say them. It wasn't that Brooklyn really thought of herself as some invincible person who could push and push others and expect nothing to happen in return. She didn't think that she had superhuman strength and could take on Kiara and Lateefah if they decided to jump her one day, but she had power in other ways. Just being able to push people to where they reacted reminded her of that. She liked being able to get under people's skin, and when someone did challenge her, her response was usually as simple as "leave if you don't like it here". If she bothered them so much, that they couldn't stand existing in her presence, then they could leave the basement.She had been there before anyone, even Nick, and she didn't intend on being run out by someone who was lucky enough to be allowed to stay there. It wasn't true, or at least proven, but she felt like if anyone had the authority to kill someone out besides Finn, it would be her.
Holly was a little bit of a different story. Brooklyn didn't like upsetting her, but it also wasn't her fault if Holly held some unrealistic idolized view of her disgusting sister. She could make up whatever lies she wanted to, but Brooklyn was sure that Lateefah's "call girl" job, or whatever she wanted to call it, was prostitution. So why should she feel guilty for describing her job accurately to Holly? Was that really that much worse than lying to her? She sensed that her comment bothered the younger girl when she didn't feel her hanging on her arm as she walked to the registers, but it didn't bother her. Not at all. Holly would get over it, like she always did, and if she didn't, oh well. It wasn't Brooklyn's problem. She sometimes had to remind herself of that. That Holly wasn't her sister, or her responsibility, even to an extent where she had to care about her feelings. That wasn't her job to do, and that was just another reason for why it was hard for her to be warm towards Holly a lot of the time. She didn't want to get attached, because it would only remind her of her own loss, of how she was deprived of sisterhood and how unfair it was.
She paid for her things and didn't wait for the pair who were at the register beside her. Instead, she headed outside of the store and waited for them there. She had purchased a Sprite from one of the coolers by the register while she paid, and she now spent her minutes waiting by mixing one of her mini vodkas into it. It wouldn't do much, but a shot's worth of alcohol already seemed necessary. It was more her fault than Holly's or Cara's, but Brooklyn wouldn't acknowledge that as she took a sip.
The girls emerged a couple of minutes later, and Brooklyn allowed her eyes to rove over Holly. See? She's fine. I could tell that girl her sister died and all it would take would be some candy for her to be normal again. She hated that inner part of herself that did care, and did need to reassure herself that she wasn't really that mean. It only had her craving her alcohol, as if its bitterness would silence that voice in her head. "Do you want to take a cab or the subway to Bed Bath & Beyond? It's like a twenty minute walk from here." It was probably only a fifteen minute one, and one that Brooklyn normally wouldn't mind walking on a nice evening like today's, but if Cara had the money to pay for a cab, why not?
She was on the curb, hailing a cab before either of the two even had a chance to object, and as one pulled over for them, Brooklyn slid into the back row, giving him the address of the store they were heading to next. "I think your mattress is up in Finn's apartment, or maybe Nick gave it to the new kid, Oliver. Either way, don't buy a new one. It's not like we can even carry that thing all the way back by ourselves, and even a princess like you shouldn't be paying a million dollars for them to deliver it."