1 week later
Tess went to the canyon with Jim after school for umpteenth time in a row. A combination of hating to go home and loving to be with Jim meant that she inevitably spent more of her time outside or at his house than she did in her own.
Jim didn't fully understand the reason why Tess was like this, but he accepted it as a fact. And so this day found both Jim and Tess, riding double on their new Solar Surfer, making their way throughout the canyon's twists and turns. Being careful to stay clear of the restricted building site, they kept to flying in the more secure, if rather more dull, disused areas. Finally, stomaches rumbling, they started to head back home to Jim's house for lunch.
"Have you two finished your homework for school?" Sarah asked as the two kids entered the kitchen.
"Yes Mrs. Hawkins."
"Mum…" Jim put on his best puppy dog face "Can we have fried pandries for lunch?"
Putting down the dough that she was kneading, Sarah turned to her son with a mock-stern expression. "We've had fried pandries for lunch every day this week." Sarah scolded, her expression twitching into a smile despite her best efforts.
"But…You see Mum…" Jim put a hand around Tess's shoulders, "They are Tess's very favourite foods. And she is a guest, soo…" he trailed off with another wide grin.
Tess snorted and elbowed him "If I'm a guest, then why did you make me help you take out the garbage. Wash the dishes…Feed the animals… Build that-" she cut herself off abruptly and coughed, hoping that Mrs. Hawkins hadn't noticed her reference to Jim's latest secret invention. Jim stomped on her foot, continuing to grin at his mother, who had an eyebrow raised and was looking at them suspiciously.
"So, can we Mum…Please?"
Sarah laughed and waved the two kids out of the kitchen. "How about we make a deal. You clean up your room, and I'll make fried pandries again today."
Tess and Jim squealed with excitement and bounded out of the room and up the stairs towards Jim's bedroom.
Laughing to herself, Sarah placed the dough to one side to rise and turned back to the stove. Where 8 large pink pandries were already sizzling away. … …
It took about three minutes before an explosion and two sets of screams had Sarah hurriedly turn off the stove and run upstairs to her son's bedroom.
She flung open the door and stared inside, one hand waving away the black smoke that seeped out of the room, the other covering her mouth to cough. "Jim" *cough* "Tess…Are you two, Okay?"
"We're, Okay!" both voices called out at once. It took Sarah a moment to figure out that they were emitting from underneath the bed.
"What on earth happened in here?" as the smoke began to clear, Sarah got a better look at the room. Just about everything inside was either burnt or singed. A single, plate sized red disk, lay in the middle of the floor.
"I told him not to do it." Tess scolded. There was a shuffling sound, and a cry of "Oww!" as Jim elbowed her.
"It was your fault anyway!" Jim rebuked.
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Was not!"
"Was to-"
"Okay, okay" Sarah cut the fight off. She sighed and bent to peer under the bed at the two ash covered children. They both turned their faces towards her at once, each fixing their best innocent smile at her. Sarah rolled her eyes. "Just come out and tell me what happened."
"Well…" Jim was cut off with an "Ooff" and pulled down sideways as Tess used him as a frame to help herself stand up. "
"Jim was…" Tess began.
Jim elbowed her again, and she retaliated by stamping on his foot. Both of them kept the phony smiles plastered to their faces.
"It was just a new invention! I only wanted to see if it worked or not!" Both children said defensively at the same time.
With a groan, Sarah started walking out of the room. "Never mind. I don't want to know."