The rumour didn’t start loudly.
It slipped into town the way bad news always does — quietly, confidently, and already half-believed.
“Fern charges above MSRP.”
That was it.
No proof.
No spreadsheet.
Just vibes.
By mid-morning, it was everywhere.
At the post office.
At the corner.
At a stop sign where two people rolled down their windows just to say it out loud.
“Above MSRP,” someone whispered, like it was a crime and a lifestyle choice.
Fern heard about it before lunch.
She laughed.
Actually laughed.
Above MSRP? Please.
“That’s ridiculous,” she told the first person who brought it up. “I don’t even know what MSRP stands for.”
Someone said, “Manufacturer’s Suggested—”
Fern cut them off. “Exactly. Suggested.”
She denied it publicly, loudly, and repeatedly.
She denied it to customers.
She denied it to people who weren’t customers.
She denied it to someone who had only come in to use the bathroom.
Then she pivoted.
“If anyone’s charging extra,” she said, pointing across the street with a confidence that could peel paint, “it’s Nugs.”
Nugs, who had not been involved in anything yet, froze mid-sip.
“What?” he said. “I don’t even sell things.”
“Exactly,” Fern replied. “Suspicious.”
For a brief, beautiful moment, the rumour wobbled.
Maybe it was Nugs.
Maybe it was inflation.
Maybe prices were just… like that now.
Then someone posted a photo.
Same item.
Same day.
Same store.
Three different prices.
No caption.
No explanation.
Just numbers.
That’s when things escalated.
People started comparing receipts.
People who had never kept receipts suddenly had opinions.
Someone pulled out a crumpled slip from six months ago and said, “I knew it.”
Fern doubled down.
“I adjust for context,” she explained to a growing crowd.
“Energy.”
“Tone.”
“Facial expressions.”
Someone asked why they paid more than the person behind them.
Fern didn’t hesitate.
“You looked confident.”
The final blow came when a delivery guy — who had absolutely nothing to gain — casually mentioned,
“Yeah, she charges more than the sticker. Everyone knows that.”
Silence.
Fern opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Then said, “That’s not— okay, but sometimes the sticker is wrong.”
Word spread fast after that.
Faster than apologies.
Faster than logic.
Faster than Fern could change the prices again.
By dinner, it wasn’t a rumour anymore.
It was a fact with legs.
People still shopped there.
They just came prepared.
Exact change.
Witnesses.
And a new phrase, said quietly at the counter:
“Is this… the real price?”
Fern rang them in, sighed, and said,
“Fine. MSRP.”
Like it physically hurt.
Lucky Now moved on, as it always does.
But the damage was done.
Everyone knew.
Fern charged above MSRP.
And worse?
She’d absolutely do it again.