Rynx

Chapter 1 - Conjure

Conjure looked around her new home doubtfully. She was supposed to live here...? The walls were brown and old, the paint flaking in old age. The old tile was brown and dusty, cracking. The bathrooms were old and dirty, cramped.

The rooms were so tiny, and the bedrooms were the size of her little sister's room. Max was 13, and her room was tiny because their old apartment wasn't very big. They had to make do with what they had; how was this house better?

Conjure grumbled under her breath, wondering why she had to deal with this house. Surely, this is the wrong house...? No way her dads' dad lived here (Conjure refused to call them grandparents after seeing this atrocious house).

"Daaaad," Conjure called, walking back to the kitchen. There was no table, dishwasher, microwave, or anything she was used to. Only a stove, a sink, and countertops, and a few pantry cabinets. The smell was disgusting, but Conjure was very sure that her father, Qiwei, wouldn't let that be the case for very long. He hated stuff like that.

Her dad, Ken, was iffy about it but didn't care all that much.

Ken walked up to her and patted her on the back. "What's up, girly?" he grinned.

Conjure scowled. "I'm not 'girly,' I'm Conjure, or Con if you absolutely must call me by a nickname..."

Ken laughed. "Yeah, yeah, Miss Teenager. Anyways, what's up?" He turned in a circle, smiling, blowing on the countertop by the sink, causing a cloud of dust to blow up in Conjure's face. She sneezed, annoyed.

"Are you...absolutely sure...that this is the right place..." she said quietly, trying not to upset her dad.

Max walked in, grinning. "You're so uptight! It's so pretty here!!" She twirled around and ran upstairs. "I even get my own room!!"

Conjure scowled. "But they're so...old...and...smelly... and tiny..."

Ken smiled. "No, this is the right place for sure. Wow...this place brings back a lot of memories. Once we clean up a bit, and get some stuff in here, and unpack, I'm sure it'll be in tip-top shape. Just give it time, I'm sure it'll grow on you. I grew up here, after all, my entire childhood."

Conjure wrinkled her nose. "Mmmn..."

Ken rolled his eyes, and grabbed a paper towel, running it under the sink and wringing it out, starting to wipe the dust from the countertops. "Go start unpacking your room, all the boxes are already up there, and you already started last night, so it shouldn't be too difficult. Max can help you out. I'll be cleaning up the kitchen."

Conjure scowled, but did as Ken said, climbing up the stairs grumpily. Max waved Conjure into Max's room, showing her the messy box-filled area. She had already started unpacking and setting up a space for her to sit. She grinned, making a second one for Conjure to sit next to her.

"Guess what! There's something cool in your room that I saw, and I want to check it out after I'm done unpacking. Can you help? I can help you with your room, too..."

Conjure sighed. "Fine, but if you shatter my snow globes like last time..."

"I was 9!! I'm 13 now, trust me a bit, grumpy 15-year-old..."

Conjure rolled her eyes, grumbling. "Let's just get this over with."

***

Conjure and Max had been laughing for a while. Conjure had found an old painting that Max had made; it was supposed to be a dog but looked like a puddle of cow diarrhea. They had been giggling immaturely, setting the painting to the side.