The War With Fate

Lea 1: Soup for the Soul

When school got out, I had to talk to Erin.

"Erin," I called out to her.

"Yeah, Lea?"

"I'm going to ask you to stay quiet. Are you running the strip this weekend?"

"No, we gotta switch locations soon, the track is going bad. I'll text you when I learn where we're going."

I nodded. That was fine by me. "When are you starting the circuit back up? I could probably get a bike from someone."

"The circuit's opening up in the spring. And let me guess, you're  getting Zander's old bike, right?"

"You know it! The engine 'blew out' on him so I can get it from him for nothing."

Erin laughed a bit. "Blew out you say? And you, you little saint, did nothing to make the engine blow out?"

"Never," I grinned.

"This is why you're my favorite cousin."

I heard heel clicks down the hall and Athena came in, blabbering about how Aria was sick and her stuffed animal was in Erin's bag.

They walked off and I did as well. I went back to my locker and grabbed my wallet, knowing I needed to get something for Zander.

---

" You are a lifesaver," Zander smiled as I handed him a bag of groceries I got for soup.

"No big deal, really!" I replied, "I was making it tonight for my family an way." I grinned at him while he looked at me gratefully.

"Youhave to stay out of the kitchen,Zandy,"I scolded," No one else wants to get sick."

"But Lea," he whined,"how am I supposed to stay away from food that's actually edible?"

I laughed. It was true at least. His mom couldn'tcook to save her life, and his dad was always too tired after work to cook. Before I was smart enough to bring leftovers over, he probably lived off of literal junk food and ramen. Scratch that, I know he was, I'd seen the pantry a couple of times.

I placed the bowl of soup in front if him along with a sleeve of crackers. "I'll save you some more, but I'm going to take the rest over to my house, I'll be right back."

He nodded and I separated out the soup, putting some in a smaller container and the rest in a few large ones for at home.

"Eli!" I yelled as walked in the house. My little brother came running down the steps when he heard me.

"Lea! Where were you? Is that soup? Did you make soup? Can I have some?" Elliot's  flurry of questions started so I threatened him with no soup if he didn't hush up.

"I was at Zander's, yes it soup, yes i made it, and maybe if you're nice." It shut him right up, obviously. I set it on the counter, putting two of the containers into the fridge with a note on them saying,
Hey mom!
When you get home, this is dinner! Just heat it up in the container and grab a spoon.
Love, Lea.

And the other one was currently being eaten by Elliot. "Don't eat it all, it's also dinner for tomorrow," I chided, "and make sure you do your homework, alright? I've got work in the morning and I'll probably see if the Drews are okay with you coming over." He nodded in response, much like Zander.

~~~~
K. So I kinda remembered, Lea is a main character of this story and she's kinda forgotten I guess? She's kind of the opposite of Athena, in a sense. Athena comes from a rich family with a careless father and nonexistent mother and also has a very... pessimistic outlook on things. Lea is from a not so well off family with a single mother that loves and cares for her children. But both of them have challenges. Athena has to learn to live on her own and maybe rely more on friends, while Lea has to provide for a whole family and a half, if you count Zander and whenever his parents are around.