Well here's the story I've been planning for awhile.
"Looks like it."
"Alright," The cashier looked back down at the register for a moment before looking back up to him. "That'll be 21.42 sir," the woman spoke with an upbeat attitude which contradicted his own.
He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out what he assumed was enough. He loosely opened it up to find just enough to cover the costs. It may have seemed like he didn't have much, which wasn't wrong entirely, but he still had some change left from working for the Shridens over the last weekend. He handed the money over to the woman, who in turn then ran the money through with no comments to him.
In a way, he felt bad for not saying anything to her, but he was just in one of those moods. It mostly had stemmed from none other than his father, who had been more aggressive these last few days. It was like an on and off switch, some moments he seemed fine and somewhat normal, and the next he would snap at you faster than lighting. He could handle it most days, but when he saw his father start to attack his sisters or his mother, that's when Jaune starts to reach a breaking point.
"Alright, here's your change." She spoke, giving him some lien. "Have a nice day!" She said turning away to another customer.
He moved his bags to the side and started bundling up into his new gloves, hat, and scarf. The scarf being one that he held onto the most, due to it being made by Emily, one of his younger sisters. With that all out of the way, he picked up his bags ready for the harsh breeze he knew would hit him. Opening up the door he noticed how the air felt. It was cold and crisp, just the way he'd always liked it. He didn't really know what it was, he didn't even know if people even had preferences for that type of thing, but he knew he did.
He started down the sidewalk, bags in hand. He didn't really know what home would bring him today, but he just hoped that if his father was in one of those moods, that he'd just direct it on him instead. Everyone should be getting off from work or school anyway around now, so maybe he can try to rush home to greet them. He knew some of the fast ways home anyway, it wouldn't be that hard but the snow might get into his boots. With a shrug, he turned ready to walk straight into the snow.
"Wait! Sir!" He heard the same voice speak from before. He didn't know if it was 'he' she was referring to, but it wouldn't hurt to turn around anyway. He turned and came face to face with some of the bread he had thought he gotten. "You forgot this," He grabbed the bag from her hands and spoke up.
"O-Oh, thanks. I didn't realize..."
"Oh its no problem, don't want you to go home and turn back in this weather to come get it," She spoke in a joking manner.
A smile dawned on his lips, of one which he couldn't help. He knew her jovialness could have just been put on, but he smiled regardless. The people who went out of their way to do nice things were good people in his book. He was too used to hearing negative things spoken by strangers or from his father. Well, besides his sisters of course. They were the best and most bright people he knew, despite the circumstances.
"No. I mean yeah, your right. Thank You."
"Alright well, have a good day again sir," She spoke one last time before leaving.
"Right. Welp, time for some trecking," he said to himself before stepping foot into snow.
That had taken a lot longer than he expected. He thought he was quick about getting home, this route he took always brought him home in about twenty minutes tops. But it seems like this time the snow had blocked certain parts, which of course made it quite difficult to get across, especially with the bags he was carrying. He grabbed the bags off the ground and looked back up to the house in front of him. It was an older house secluded from the trees that surrounded the place. The house had a deck, but its condition was questionable. Maybe it could be from the four feet of snow piling onto it? But that was something he would deal with later on after all this house is his. He started off to the front of the house, peaking into the house where he could see two, maybe three figures inside. Well, looks like he wasn't the first one home. Having made his way to the front, he reached into his coat pocket, pulled out his keys, unlocked the door, and stepped in.
Immediately warmth and the sound of voices greeted him. He couldn't quite make out what they were saying or who it was, but he knew it wasn't his father, which was a good sign. He slugged off his scarf, hat, and gloves and put them into a small basket in the closet. It was kind of a necessity after the twenty pair of gloves was lost they finally had the idea to get a basket to put them. The rest came off easily and he put them into a pile to dry. Grabbing the bags again he moved his way to the kitchen.
"-right? I mean how come I go out on the first run, but she doesn't?!"
"Well, maybe the teacher just thought you knew better," Jojo reasoned.
"Whats this about going out?" Jaune came into the kitchen, dropping his bags lightly on the countertop.
"uuhgh...I was playing kickball right?" Emily started to explain, head drooping slightly.
"Wait, you went outside and played kickball? In this weather?"
"N-No, we were inside. Anyway that's beside the point, so I was going up to kick the ball right, and she rolled the ball towards me and when I kicked it, it went flying straight up and hit one of the lights." She told the tale, making gestures here and there to give the better picture.
"Did you break them?"
"No! But get this, I go out and sit near the sidelines, and this other girl goes up, does the exact same thing I did, and she was fine! She went through and everything!" Emily stated flabbergasted. "You know, I think my teachers out to get me."
"Well, I doubt that I mean-"
"It happened when I was playing hockey and basketball just in the past few weeks," Emily stated in a monotone voice.
"Uh...well...maybe your teacher is out to get you."
"See! I knew it!" She got up, arms in the air. "Look Jojo, even Jaune thinks he's out to get me."
"Em, no ones out to get you. And Jaune don't encourage her!" Jojo pointed a finger accusingly at Jaune while saying that.
Jaune, in turn, held his hands up in a defensive manner.
"Alright, Alright, I'm just messing around. No one's out to get you Em, and even if they were, they'd have to go through me first." Jaune pointed his thumbs back to himself.
"Wouldn't be too hard," Emily mumbled.
"Hey! You know I can fight, you've seen me train," He continued on arguing.
"Eating cereal while watching tv isn't what I would call training." She retorted back.
"W-W-What?! That was only because I had already done training the day before that!"
"Jaune," Jojo said, shaking Jaune slightly. When he didn't budge she shook again "Jaune...JAUNE!" This time his head snapped over to her, "she's just joking with you, sheesh."
He looked back over to Emily to see her body shaking slightly from laughter. "O-Oh...yeah...I knew that" he then said sheepishly.
"Anyway, Jaune what'd you pick up at the store?" Jojo said walking around the counter.
He glanced over to where Emily sat, luckily he remembered exactly what Emily had asked for at the store. But it wouldn't hurt to just tease her a bit first, right?
"Oh you know...some food to get us through the week, nothing too special," He watched as Emily's eyes looked downcasted to the floor. "Buuuut, I did get a box of fruit snacks for a special someone," Jaune said in a singsong voice, presenting the box to her. Emily's head snapped back up.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Emily said, snatching away the box.
"No problem, Em."
"That was sweet of you, did you get me anything?" Jojo spoke teasingly
"Nah, only my favorite sister gets gifts," he replied back dismissively.
"Ow, harsh," she held a hand up to her heart in fake agony.
"Sooo, where's Jade at?" Jaune questioned.
"Oh, she's just downstairs, practicing her piano as usual." Jojo
"I think I might go check up on her, you guys have fun."
"Will do!" Jojo said turning back over to Emily.
He was halfway down the hallway when he could hear her starting up again. She had been working on this piece for weeks for the holiday concert. It was honestly a beautiful piece, and she couldn't have done a better job playing it too. But She didn't seem to think so if the way she slammed her hand down on the keys meant anything.
"Tough part?" Jaune questioned.
"Eeep!" she shrieked. "Jauuune don't scare me like that!" Jade talked back pleadingly.
"Well I didn't want to disturb you, you seemed quite into it."
"Ugh, yeah I was, but I just can't get past this one part," she spoke frustratingly.
"Could I help in some way?" he offered. "You know I do play a little guitar."
"Yeah, cause with a guitar you pull strings and I hit keys. They're like the same thing."
"Heeey!" he spoke ruffling up her hair.
"S-Stop that, I'm not a child!" Jade spoke while knocking his hand away.
"I know. But I'm serious I could help out." Jaune said taking a seat next to her.
"Well," She spoke hesitantly. "Alright, well for starters do you know how to play this rhythm?"
He looked down at the sheet of paper in front of him. Even though he said he could play, it had been quite a while since he's even bothered looking at sheet music. He didn't really bother with that stuff, instead, he just went by ear for most things. It didn't help on all occasions, but if it was just a simple tune he could play it with ease. But despite being a little rusty, he was still able to get the rhythm.
"Alright, play it like this," He began tapping the rhythm on his knee. He watched as she thought to herself for a moment, obviously trying to memorize the rhythm he just played.
A loud banging sound came from upstairs.
"What was that?" Jade asked startled.
"Dad," He said angrily. "Stay down here and keep practicing. Oh, and try to be quiet with the piano though," Jaune spoke slipping out of the door.
He moved his way up the stairs quickly, feet tapping against the hardwood beneath it. Reaching the top of the stairs, he moved towards the kitchen where he heard his voice.
"W-Well, Well, Well, l-look who s-showed up."