Album
Marie sat down on her bed, pillows propped up behind her, as she flipped through her photo album. Inside was a collection of photos from when they were children until now when they were all about to leave their teen. Most of her photos were just of her and Fu, and the rare one had Shao, who adamantly refused photos. The mattress to her left sunk as another weight joined her on the bed.
"I didn't know you kept an album" Shao said as he peered over her arm at the book. Marie cautiously flipped another page.
"That's because you were always so camera shy" the Chinese boy grunted as he browsed through the first years of their lives together at Elmore Wood.
"I remember that" Shao said as he pointed at a picture of them outside building snowmen. Marie smiled at the memory.
"Yeah Fu burnt my snowman to the ground" the girl recalled fondly, earning a snort from the older boy.
"She was just jealous that yours was better"
"I know" the girl said, her smile never leaving her face. Marie was shook out of her reverie when Shao bumped her with his side. She looked up at him, noticing an odd twinkle in his eye.
"I seem to remember that you had quite an arm on you" Shao said. Marie laughed, a sound so musical that Shao wished the two could spend all day together looking at this album, if only to hear her laugh again.
"Well I wouldn't quite use the word arm" she said, her voice devious. In companionable silence the two continued to lose themselves to the memories.
"I miss this" Marie commented offhandedly as she looked at a picture of the five of them, young, happy, impressionable...and baking cookies. Shao glanced over at her quickly before the girl's door burst open and Van's blonde head poked in.
"Hey, Kyle and Fu are back from the grocery store, we're making cookies!" he said exuberantly before ducking back out. Shao got up off the bed and extended a hand back to her. Marie gladly grabbed it and the two descended to the massive kitchen where flour had already begun to flutter in the air. Before Shao could react an egg had cracked on the side of his face, leaving Frederica and Kyle howling with laughter. The two didn't have long before they were also covered in the gooey substance, Marie smiling lightly at the door next to Shao, a camera floating to her left and a dozen eggs to her right.
"I have a good arm" she boasted, winking at him.