ORIGINAL: SnowFire - 2

[batsutousai]

What? Two updates one on top of another?!
Alternately, I'm almost done with day 4's count. XD

2

Maris Spellman came home to a pounding bass from her eldest daughter's room and loud laughter from the living room. Since Ally wouldn't hear her over the music, Maris went to the living room, where her youngest immediately called, "Hey, Mom! How was work?"

"Oh, same old. Delilah was being difficult, as usual. Hello, there, Seth. How long are you here for?" Maris said, taking an open chair.

"Mom get's back on Wednesday, so two nights. As long as it's okay with you, Mz S," Seth added cheerfully.

Maris smiled. "Not at all. Edana told you what's for dinner?"

Seth grimaced. "With all due respect, Mz S, I think you'd better let me cook."

Maris laughed lightly and reached over to ruffle Seth's hair. "Ah, to have a son like you. I suppose you can cook."

Edana hopped up and hugged her mom. "Thanks, Mom!" She paused for a second at the amused look on Maris' face and reddened. "Erm, not that we don't love your cooking..."

Maris laughed and drew her youngest down on the seat next to her for a playful hug, which had the girl squirming desperately to get away. When she finally let Edana go, Seth was laughing madly and the white-haired girl had turned an impressive shade of red. "I know my cooking's horrible, sweetie," Maris said lightly. "But, you know you could learn how to cook for me."

"Don't know why Ally hasn't picked it up, yet," Edana grumbled, punching Seth's arm. "She's the genius."

"Because she got your mom's cooking genes," Seth teased. "Come on, Yuki, cheer up."

Edana huffed.

"Want to help me see what I can make?" Seth offered hopefully.

Edana gave him a considering look, then nodded and stood, grabbing his arm. "Come on, then!"

The two dashed off to the kitchen and Maris chuckled after them. Then she got up and traversed the stairs to her eldest's room. She banged on the door loudly and called, "Alfreda!"

The music turned down and Ally poked her head out of her room, looking disgusted. "Mom, do you mind?"

Maris smiled and quickly kissed Ally's cheek before the girl could duck. "How was your day?"

Ally wiped at her cheek. "Fine. Boring, but fine. Oh! Did Edana tell you about the new kid?"

"New kid? No, I don't think so."

Ally nodded. "Right. His name's Phoenix. He's just moved in at the end of the block. Remember the house grumpy old Mr Jordan was in?"

"The guy with the hideous fence?"

"Mmmm... Dunno. I never thought it was that bad." Ally smiled teasingly, earning her a smile in return. "Yeah, there. Anyway, he's moving in with his dad. His mom's coming this weekend, his dad said. Cute kid. Edana's age."

"Should we invite them for dinner?"

Ally looked horrified. "Uhm, Mom..."

Maris covered a smile. "Seth is cooking."

Relief colored Ally's face and she shrugged. "Dunno. Sounds like his dad's no master in the kitchen, not like Dad, but I figure they'll probably figure something out. I mean, one of us could go down if you want..."

Maris looked thoughtfully up at the hallway light. "Well, it would be nice to meet the neighbors, but I don't want them to feel like they need to come over..."

Ally sighed. "Well, I can go over and ask. Give them the option, at least. Do you know when Seth's planning to start?"

"You'd have to ask him. I'm not even sure what he's making." Maris blushed faintly at that comment.

Ally snickered and reached down to grab her shoes, which she'd toed off just inside her room. "Right. I'll go ask him and then go over to Phoenix's place and ask him and John. His dad, by the way."

"Would you?" Maris said, smiling happily. "You're such a good kid, Alfreda."

Ally grumbled good-naturedly and ducked her mother's attempt to kiss her cheek again. "I'll be back. Don't try to help Seth in the kitchen. Got it?"

Maris tried looking innocent, but Ally was already down the stairs, leaving Maris to mourn the speed of youth.

Ally popped her head into the kitchen and paused to stare at the pile of food that had been spread out over the counters. "Hm. Maybe I don't need wonder if there will be enough food for Phoenix and his dad if they come over."

Seth and Edana looked up in surprise. "You're inviting Phoenix?" Edana asked.

"Yeah. Mentioned him to Mom, and she thinks it would be nice to invite him and his dad over, so they have something nice to eat for their first day in town. You know what she's like," Ally said, rolling her eyes.

Edana grinned. "Yeah."

"We'll wait to actually start until you let us know if they're coming, then," Seth decided. "But don't take too long. I'm a growing boy." He waggled his eyebrows with a mad grin.

Ally mimed pulling off a shoe and throwing it at him, then disappeared around the corner. The two sophomores heard the door slamming closed behind her and went back to observing their supplies.

"Will we have enough if Phoenix and his dad come?" Edana asked.

Seth hummed and did some quick math in his head. "Should be, yeah. Might need to pull out some more broccoli, from the freezer, but it's not like we'll have to have someone run to the grocery."

"Well, that's good." Edana glanced towards the doorway briefly, then back at the pile of food. She hurriedly looked back at the door, where Maris was standing and snapped, "Out! Shoo!"

Maris smiled and waved her hand, then wandered to her bedroom to change.

Seth snickered. "You know, now that I know to watch for her, I'm not going to let her mess up a meal that bad again."

"I'm not taking any chances," Edana replied grumpily. "Last time she turned the heat up so high all the water bubbled over and she almost burnt down the kitchen. I know she enjoys having light around, but some of us rather not."

Seth tugged on a lock of Edana's hair and said, "Okay. Then I'll leave the protecting of the stove to you."

"Are you making fun of my paranoia?"

"Never," Seth swore with a smile.

Edana rolled her eyes. "Right. So, we're just going to stand here until Ally gets back?"

Seth nodded. "That's the plan."

"Pretty shitty plan."

"Well, yeah. But we didn't have much choice, so–"

"What are you making?" Maris asked, pointedly standing about half a foot on the other side of the doorway to the kitchen.

Seth glanced back at his medley of veggies and meat. "Stew," he replied. "Nice and warm and perfect."

Maris looked over the pile of food and nodded. "Looks like it'll taste all right."

"Thank you, Mz S, for your belief in my cooking skills," Seth offered drily.

Maris laughed and turned to go into the living room. "Have fun!"

"Oh, yeah. Loads," Edana muttered.

Before Seth could come up with a snappy enough response, the front door opened and they could hear three people talking in the entrance. Ally poked her head around the corner and said, "They came. In case you didn't hear."

"Yeah. Thanks, Ally," Seth replied, then turned to the giant pot he'd pulled out earlier.

"Oh, wait," Edana said, then poked her head out into the hallway. "No one's a vegetarian, are they?"

"Nope. We're clean. Why?" John asked curiously.

Ally smiled evilly. "Edana saw a dead squirrel when she was a little thing and went through a phase we she couldn't eat meat or she'd be sick. So she actually thinks to ask."

"Thanks, Alfreda," Edana replied with a grumpy look. "You're job is keeping Mom distracted enough that she doesn't come near the kitchen. Understood?"

"Yes'm!" Ally replied, saluting.

Edana left her sister to explain their mother's kitchen ineptitude to their guests and helped Seth cut up the vegetables. He had to cut up the meat, though, since looking at it raw still made her queasy.

Once they were able to let the pot sit, the two teens pulled out some dishes and took them to the large dining room table that the Spellmans only ever used for holidays and when guests were over. (Seth was over often enough that he wasn't considered a guest, so they ate in the living room when he was there.)

When dinner was ready, they brought the pot out to the table and Edana called, "Grub's out!"

"How appetizing," Ally complained, leading their guests into the dining room.

"And yet, you somehow came anyway," Edana replied.

"Stew's serve yourself," Seth said, ignoring the sisters completely and pointing to where the pot sat at an open seat. "Have at and sit down."

Once everyone had gotten their stew, there was a round of, "This is good, Seth," to which the boy in question simply nodded humbly, then winked at Edana, who rolled her eyes.

"It's not often you see a kid with white hair," John said seemingly out of nowhere, eyeing Edana. "Or red eyes, for that matter."

Edana blushed. "I'm an albino, no pigment. And, my eyes aren't really red, they just appear that way because too much light's going into my eyes. Kinda like red-eye in pictures."

"Yeah," Ally added. "Her eyes are actually blue, but you can only see it when she's in a really dark room."

"Interesting. I've heard of albino animals before, but never an albino person."

"We're rare," Edana explained. "The trait is hereditary, but it's recessive. I just got lucky." She grimaced slightly.

"There's two different degrees of albinism in humans," Ally offered. "There's the severe case, which Edana has, and then there's the lesser case, where only your skin is bleached out. Our grandma and her grandma had the lesser kind, so we knew there was a chance Edana or myself would be albino, since it's always skipped generations in Dad's side."

"I think it's cool," Phoenix offered. "You really stand out."

Edana shrugged. "Yeah, but it got me bullied a lot in elementary school. Ally finally set them right, but it took a couple years. And when Thunder, an old neighbor of ours, got back from Germany, the bullies stopped completely, because Thunder's like, the bully of all bullies. He's the leader of a gang at school."

"Those idiots only want to think it's a gang," Ally grumbled.

Phoenix smiled in understanding. "I got bullied a lot at my old elementary school," he admitted, eyeing his dad nervously. "Because of my accent, and my not having a dad at the time. It got better, after Mum remarried and I went on to middle school, but it was really hard for a while there."

"I'm surprised you kept your accent, if it was part of the problem," Ally commented, leaning forward curiously. She wanted to be a psychologist when she grew up, so she was always curious about how people adapted to situations.

Phoenix shrugged. "I didn't realize it was a problem back then. Not really. Just thought it was me not having a dad. Wasn't until Mum married Dad at the end of my third grade year that they found that reason to bully me. And I liked my accent too much; reminds me of home."

"Don't you ever go back?" Edana asked.

Phoenix shook his head. "No. Lot, my birth dad, says he'll pay for the airfare and everything, but after the way he treated Mum before we left, I'd ruther not have to deal with him. I mean, I still have to keep his name and he calls all the time, but I really don't want to have anything more to do with him."

"I'm sorry," Edana whispered.

Phoenix shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. "S'ok. I got Dad, now. And already a bunch of new friends. What's not to like?" He smiled at her.

"He as a point," Seth offered brightly. "I mean, I am pretty amazing."

"Yeah? Says who?" Ally shot back at him.

"Children," Maris said with an amused look. "If you're going to fight, do it from your rooms."

"Uh, Mz S?" Seth said.

"Yes, Seth."

"Do you mean my room at home, or the guest room? 'Cause I don't think Ally and I can hear each other if I went home."

"Exactly."

Edana giggled. "You could always call, you know."

"Yeah, but that defeats the purpose."

"Anyway," Maris said. "Alfreda, you and I get clean-up."

Ally looked at Edana suspiciously. "How much work did you do for dinner? Watched it boil, maybe?"

"Alfreda."

"She cut most of the vegetables, stirred the pot, helped set the table, and kept an eye out for your mom," Seth reported. "Now shoo." He waved her off and promptly got knocked on the head by his own bowl when she picked it up.

"So, you have your own guest room?" Phoenix asked Seth as they retired to the living room.

"My dad's a bit of a prick," Seth said, then covered his mouth and looked up at John in horror.

John just smiled and pretended to clean out his ear. "What was that? I'm afraid there was something in my ear. Didn't quite catch it."

"Ooh, I like him. Why couldn't you have been my teacher, John?"

"Wrong state?" Edana offered.

"Wrong year," Phoenix replied. "He was still getting his teaching license. Why's your dad a jerk, then?"

"He gets drunk and takes stupid stuff out on Seth," Edana said angrily. "Like, if Seth cracks a joke, he gets a bottle to the head. So he stays here a lot."

"Why don't you just see if you can find a new family?" Phoenix inquired.

Seth shook his head. "Likely have to go out of state, or at least transfer to the city. Ally looked it up a couple years ago; no one in this area is looking to adopt or foster, and there isn't an orphanage or even anything like it in this state."

"Oh. Sorry about that," Phoenix said with a grimace. "Edana, your family can't?"

"We probably could," Edana admitted. "We certainly watch him often enough." She smiled good-naturedly at Seth, who grinned back. "But Dad's always out of the country on digs, and Mom has to work late all the time. We're not sure child services would be okay with putting him with us, even if it is a better place, and we've proven we can manage fine."

"Sucks," Phoenix decided.

"Yup."

John hummed and tapped his watch. "Well, I hate to cut the party short, kids, but Red and I should get home if he wants to be ready for his new school tomorrow." He winked at the disgusted look the three teens sported.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you," Seth said. "Why is your nickname 'Red'?"

Phoenix grimaced. "Both my first name and my middle name mean something to do with red," he explained. "When Dad found out, he decided to call me 'Red'. He's the only one, though. Mum and Lot both call me Phoenix, and I never really made friends at school before, so it's not like it could have ever caught on."

"So do you care if we call you Red?" Edana asked.

Phoenix shrugged. "Not really. It'd be weird, but I don't mind." He smiled and stood. to follow John, who was already saying their farewells to Maris and Ally. "I'll see you two at school tomorrow, yeah?"

"Definitely," Seth agreed.

"Of course," Edana said happily.

Phoenix nodded and followed his dad, waving at his two new friends.

Chapters:
One ||| Two ||| Three
Four ||| Five ||| Six
Summary & Character Info
Incomplete
.