Aisle Nine: Chapters 6—10

by Ian X. Cho
The apocalypse is coming for Here For You discount mart, and Jasper, the teenage checkout clerk with no family and no memories, must join up with his crush, Kyle, to figure out the truth behind the mysterious portal in aisle nine before all hell breaks loose.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–15, Chapters 16–19, Chapters 20–25
15 words 13 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. vinyl
    shiny, tough, and flexible plastic
    The vinyl floor between us might as well be an ocean of black and white squares.
  2. self-conscious
    excessively aware of your appearance or behavior
    I feel self-conscious that my breathing is way too loud.
  3. scrutiny
    a prolonged intense look
    Her scrutiny makes me feel like a freak.
  4. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    Stenciled in bright red letters are the words: BLOODY BIG DISCOUNTS.
    I cock a brow at Kyle. “Ominous much?”
  5. demographic
    a statistic characterizing human populations
    “So. Something tells me we’re not the target demographic of this place.”
  6. waiver
    a formal written statement of relinquishment
    He clicks a confidentiality waiver, then gets to a long list of items for sale—antiques, cars, artwork, along with bulk lots of cheaper items.
  7. next of kin
    the person who is most closely related to a given person
    Vanguard tries to relocate stuff to a deceased’s next of kin, but when there’s no one to claim anything, Vanguard stores the stuff in secret warehouses.
  8. directive
    a pronouncement encouraging or banning some activity
    Kyle hops down and calls out, “Under directive eighty-nine of Vanguard’s city regulation rules, I hereby dock all your VC accounts of two thousand points each for disorderly conduct.”
  9. adrenaline
    hormone secreted by the adrenal gland in response to stress
    My racing heart slows, and my adrenaline starts to fade.
  10. coalesce
    fuse or cause to come together
    Kyle is gazing at an empty corner of the store, where brimstone particles are coalescing into gray snowflakes.
  11. conspiracy theory
    a belief that a secret group plotted to cause an event
    “No. He was so disillusioned that he started getting obsessed with the Suckerpunch hackers and all their conspiracy theories.”
  12. anomalous
    deviating from the general or common order or type
    I proceed to explain how I came across Lara and that she’s an anomalous, pacifist demon.
  13. metaphysical
    without material form or substance
    “Well, okay—the place beyond the portals isn’t actually hell. It’s a metaphysical abyss that contains humankind’s darkest of thoughts, nightmares, and emotions.”
  14. finito
    done; completed
    “Once an abyssal is fully incarnated in a physical body and the physical body dies, they die with it. It’s finito for them.”
  15. hijack
    seize control of
    Something hijacks Lara’s vision, and suddenly, I see an entirely different scene: the mart on Black Friday, the portal glowing red as abyssals rush out in a parade of shimmering silhouettes, their bodies flanked by streams of demons . . .
Created on Tue Sep 23 07:17:28 EDT 2025 (updated Tue Dec 09 15:38:16 EST 2025)

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