Nocens High

An Afternoon at the Chase Houshold

Max was walking down the street with multiple grocery bags hanging off him like coats on a coat hanger. He had a look of agitation on his face. "Why couldn't she do her own shopping. Stupid sister makes me do everything," complained Max to no one in particular. Although he was complaining now, he would never in a million years risk complaining in front of his sister. She had the Chase genes too and could be scary if she wanted to be. In fact, she was always scary. One gesture. That's all it took for Max to do the shopping. She had called him, given him the list and he immediately went to get them.

"Don't cry, I'll help you find your mummy."

Max recognised that voice. It was Aurelia. He saw, a few metres in front of him, Aurelia bent down comforting a crying little kid. The kid seemed to be around 6 and was crying heavily into his hands. Max approached them. "Hey Aury, what's up," greeted Max. Aurelia looked up in surprise. "Max! Good thing your here! Can you please help me look for this kid's mum?" requested Aurelia. With her pleading eyes and the weeping child, he couldn't have possibly said no, so he helped. After the little boy calmed down, they found out the he was called Ben. He told them he was at the park with his mum, he saw a dog and followed it and then he got lost. After scolding the kid a little bit for leaving his mum's side, they went back to the park hoping the she was still there. "Whenever you're lost, always stay where you are so it's easier for people to find you," informed Aurelia. Ben nodded back. "It's a scary world out here, you don't want any bad people to find you," she said.

"But you're not a bad person," said Ben. Max scoffed a little at that. The amount of people Aurelia has beaten and used for her amusement could be considered bad. A person who could defeat anyone at anytime with a single flick of their wrist could potentially be a bad person and in this case, when Aurelia was serious, she could be scary. Aurelia beamed, "That's why you're lucky you bumped into me." She affectionately ruffled the little kid's hair.

In a few minutes, they arrived at the park. It was a very cute little park. A little swing set, a slide, a seesaw and a sand box. Max remembered his family used to come here and play. Him and his sister would be on the swings and his mum and dad would push them high into the sky.

"Ben!" cried a lady as she saw her little boy.

"Mummy!" Ben let go of Aurelia's hand and sprinted to his mother.

Aurelia smiled at the scene. She saw how the mum's eyes filled with joy and how her face relaxed with relief when she saw her son. The tears that had left her eyes. The way Ben had ran so fast to his mother's warm embrace and the way that he had clutched onto her so tightly, never letting go. The happiness in little Ben's eyes. Her smile faltered until it was gone.

"Thank you for helping my son," said the lady still holding onto Ben.

Aurelia smiled, "You're welcome. He's a very lovely boy." Max walked up to her.

"You guys are a cute couple," said the lady. Max spluttered and held back a blush.

"N-no we're not a couple or anything," he stammered. Aurelia chuckled.

"Oh really? I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions," she said.

"It's fine," replied Max, a light pink still dusting his cheeks. They waved bye to the retreating forms of mother and son. Max turned to Aurelia. He paused. Aurelia's eyes were locked onto them. She looked almost wistful.

"Oh I forgot about the groceries! She's going to kill me!" yelled Max in realisation.

"I have free time. Do you need help with those bags?" asked Aurelia.

***

The first thing Aurelia saw when Max opened up the door to his house was a foot flying towards them. It connected to Max's face and blew him away. Aurelia stood there, unable to comprehend what happened. Standing there with her legs out was what Aurelia thought was his older sister.

"Who told you to come home so late idiot?" she said sarcastically. She cracked her knuckles, "Maybe I should punish you again so you won't forge-" she stopped mid-sentence and stared, eyes fixed on Aurelia in astonishment as if she was the queen of England visiting. Max's sister rushed back into the house. Max and Aurelia could hear her yell from the outside. "Mom! Dad! Max brought a girl home!" she yelled.

"What! Who? Are you sure it's a girl?"

"A girl!"

2 more pairs of footsteps could be heard rushing back to the entrance of the home. 3 heads popped out of the door.

"Aaaaw, looked at her she's so pretty," said what Aurelia assumed was the mum, holding Aurelia's hand in her palm.

The dad patted the recovered Max on the back and said, "Who knew you had it in you son."

"Hey what's your name?" asked his sister. Max awkwardly looked back at Aurelia and to put it in simple words, she looked overwhelmed. "I'm sorry about my family," he said. To his surprise, Aurelia burst out laughing. His family stopped. Max looked at her, seeing and hearing her laugh this loudly for the first time. It brought a smile to his lips. "Hey what are smiling at?" said his sister poking his face.

"Stop!" whined Max.

Aurelia's laughing died down a little. She smiled at his family. "My name is Aurelia Bennet, I'm a friend of Max from school. I'm sorry to disappoint you," she said, "oh and I have your groceries." Her family stared at the rustling bags in Aurelia's hand, appalled. Aurelia tilted her head.

"Max! How could you let a girl carry your things!" said his sister pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Shame on you son, I thought you knew better," said his mother. His father stood at the door, shaking his head. Max ruffled his hair in frustration. "Anyway, Aurelia was it? Would you like to have dinner with us?" asked his mother.

"No it's fine, I don't want to be a bother," she replied.

"Nah we insist," said his sister.

"Thank you for having me," said Aurelia.

***

Aurelia laughed. She laughed so hard that her stomach was about to burst. In front of her was a naked 2 year old Max. He had soap bubbles in his hair and was leaving a trail of water in his path. Aurelia laughed again at the photo. There was a whole album.

"Mum. Seriously." dead panned Max.

His mum chuckled, "She was interested." He looked at the dying Aurelia. She was clutching her stomach, laughing. This was once again the first time Max had seen her laugh so much. He smiled.

***

"Sorry if my family overwhelmed you," said Max. Aurelia shook her head. They were walking down the street back to Aurelia's house. "Go take Aurelia home," his mum had said whilst pushing him out, "act like a gentlemen." She had slammed the door shut.

"Your family was really lively," chuckled Aurelia, "but I feel that's what a family should be like. I liked it." She smiled, a genuine smile.

"What's your family like? I've always wondered what the head of the Light Reapers Gang would be like," said Max. Aurelia stopped walking. She looked up at the stars.

"My family was a little like yours. I had a beautiful mum. She was hot tempered and a little impatient, but she was kind and caring. She would always teach me about everything she saw and answer all my little questions. My dad was always calm and collected. He would always ruffle my hair and smile at me. He smiled a lot, he always had a kind warm smile on his face. He was easily flustered. My mum would always tease him. They were loving parents. In fact, I had the greatest parents in the whole world," said Aurelia, eyes still staring at the twinkling lights.

Max never pushed on further. They just walked through the dead night, enjoying the silence. Aurelia looked up at the stars for the last time that day. She really did love her parents. She really did. She loved them, until she couldn't love them at all.