a wizard unearthed

[cry_me_a]

Alli did not take her older sister's departure well. Jess bolted right for the door as soon as she turned eighteen, and Alli misses her and wants her to come back. She wrote, for a while, then even that petered out. It doesn't feel like home without her sister, in Alli's opinion. She's bitter and sulky at her mother for weeks (okay, months) and her mother just wrings her hands helplessly and gives her space. Jess was always the one who knew how to calm her down.

But now Alli is older. It's been a whole three years since Jess left and Alli is fine. Really. She's just going through boxes of Jess' old stuff again to see if she can use any of it. There's got to be a jacket that will fit her in here somewhere, it's starting to get cold out.

She's going through a box that's part clothes, part books and part mostly-unrecognizable hair care products when one of the book titles catches her eye. So You Want To Be a Wizard? That sounds awfully fantastic for Jess' usual style, and it doesn't even have a half naked couple on the cover. Curious what convinced her sister to branch out, Alli opens up the book.

Two hours later, she's still there reading it, and she's torn between skepticism and cackling with glee. She hears her mother calling her down for dinner, so she quickly reads the section at the beginning marked Wizard's Oath, tucks the book into her nightstand and goes downstairs to grab food.

What's she got to lose?

Comments

[intricate_engineer]

<They're insane. I'd have to pretend I was going to a study session or something.>

[cry_me_a]

<Easy enough. We'll do a single math problem or something, so it's not a lie.>

[intricate_engineer]

<Will your parents mind?>

[cry_me_a]

<I haven't the first clue where my father is this month. My mother will not mind and possibly will not notice.>

[intricate_engineer]

Glen reaches over to squeeze her hand, <I'm sorry.>

[cry_me_a]

Alli shrugs, accepts the squeezed hand, but then pats Glen's hand comfortingly in response. <Thanks, but it's not really a thing. Mom cares, don't get me wrong. She's just a space cadet. And hey, then I get to drive the car!>

[intricate_engineer]

Glen gives a soft smile and says, <That's true. Do you think I could come over tomorrow? I could say I was studying for Friday's test.>

[cry_me_a]

<Tomorrow's what, Wednesday? Yeah, sure, soccer's not till Thursday, I've got time. Meet you out front after class?>

[intricate_engineer]

<See you there.>

[cry_me_a]

That settled, Alli has to rush off to make History in time, but it's not a huge deal. It's not like the history's going to change if she's a few minutes late.

The next day she finishes up early in Chem lab and the teacher lets her out early. When classes are officially over, she can be found hanging on the front steps, chatting with her lab partners and waiting for Glen.

[intricate_engineer]

Glen rushes over a few minutes later, "Let's hurry before my Mom calls and says she's changed her mind."

[cry_me_a]

Alli glances at Glen and nods briefly. To her friends, she says, "'Kay, so you guys know what you're doing?"

"Spreadsheet," one replies promptly. The other frowns. "Hypothesis and methods...?"

"Yup! And I've got discussion and conclusion."

"Again?" laughs the spreadsheet girl.

"Next best thing to actually blowing things up," Alli declares.

"Alli, if you blow up another of my phones..." spreadsheet girl says threateningly.

"Hey! Dani's the one who forgot to use the hood!" Alli snaps indignantly, but cuts off hypothesis girl (Dani, apparently) when she starts to object. "Okay, never mind, gotta go. Email me the lab report, 'kay?"

Dani calls after her grumpily about the phone thing, but Alli ignores her and grins at Glen. "Come on, Mom's probably here by now. Let's go hunt her down? Silver beamer with a dent in the bumper."

[intricate_engineer]

"Sure," Glen takes a few steps then, "How did you blow up a phone?"

[cry_me_a]

"It didn't really blow up," Alli says exasperatedly. "You know that one lab we did last month in Chem? With those damp paper towels that they put in a stack and then when they dried Mr. Levine poked it with a ruler and they all went BOOM? Yeah, Dani was supposed to put the extra in the hood, and Helen wasn't supposed to have her phone at all. When I put my binder down, it shoved Helen's stuff over and phone met towels. Boom, shit explodes. The phone wouldn't even have been damaged if Helen hadn't freaked out and knocked it off the counter, ugh."

[intricate_engineer]

Glen snickers, "I wish I was in your class. I feel bad for the phone though."

[cry_me_a]

"It's in a better place," Alli smirks. "Far, far away from chemistry shit. It- oh hey, there's Mom." She spots her car in the parking lot and heads towards it. "Mom! Moooom!"

The car pulls into a parking spot and Alli's mom sticks her arm out the window to wave.

[intricate_engineer]

Glen follows her.
"What do I call your mom?"

[cry_me_a]

"If you're feeling polite it's technically Mrs. Kowalski, she never changed it back. She won't care if you use Debbie though."

Alli hops in and gives her mom a side hug. "Hi Mom. This is Glen, new homework buddy, 'k?"

"Hello Glen," Deborah says cheerfully. "Nice to meet you, I'm Debbie."

Alli looks smugly at Glen. Called it, she mouths.

[intricate_engineer]

"It's nice to meet you too."

[cry_me_a]

Alli's mom chatters away as they drive. Mostly she just gossips about the neighbors and sighs about her most recent date, but once or twice she asks the girls about school. She inquires about algebra, which Alli reminds her was last year, and gets the chemistry and history teachers mixed up, but Alli just corrects her and answers the actual question with the ease of much practice.

At the house, Debbie tells them she'll be in the living room watching Real Housewives if they need anything, and leaves them to it.

Alli leads Glen upstairs to her room, which contains her manual and a small pile of random supplies she's collected. "Anything you want to try?" She asks, waving at the pile. Been trying to pick up shit when I can."

[intricate_engineer]

"I want to make a robot."

[cry_me_a]

Alli blinks at her supplies and laughs. "Not sure there's a spell for that, but go for it." She flips through the pile. "I need a break from that gum spell. Think I'll try the person finding shit, see if I can spot Mom."

[intricate_engineer]

"I was thinking I'd build a robot, and try to convince it to come alive. Maybe I'll try to wake up your microwave."

[cry_me_a]

"Go for it. If it rebels or some shit I'm blaming you," she warns Glen jokingly.

[intricate_engineer]

"Would your mom notice if I went and grabbed it?"