#olderthreads

Sophie clutched at her arms through the rather thin fabric of her suit.  Shivers went down her spine and through her body, causing her teeth to chatter.  Gently she pulled her hands away from her arms and, after a while, had herself a little fire cupped inside of them, warming her up ever so slightly and protecting her from the icy cold, sorta.

The Northern Water Tribe was a good place, wasn't it?  She had to have more luck here than Ba Sing Se, where she'd almost gotten killed because she was from the Fire Nation.  Sophie gave a bit of a sigh, almost causing the fire to go out.  Her home had given her a bad name, although she haws part of the secret group of fire benders - there were only six of them - who were trying to stop the others from their attempted genocide.

Sophie looked up at the clock in the classroom, watching the hands of the clock slowly move.  She rested her head in the palm f her hand, willing the minute hand to inch farther down the the three.  Come on, just a little bit more...hurry up, would you?

Finally, the minute hand rested on the three.  As soon as it did the bell rang.  Excitedly the Bennett jumped up, grabbing her backpack and racing past the other kids.  She was ready to get out of the classroom, and not see the place until January the 3rd.  With a wild laugh and whoop she zipped past the other students and out the door.

Finally!  It was now Christmas break, which meant a good two weeks of sleeping in late, and waking up to snow, which wasn't unusual.  Burgess always got snow, even during the spring.  And now, they'd get visited by Santa Claus, too!

Sophie eventually slowed her pace after getting a good few yards away from the schoolhouse.  She grinned to herself and shouldered her backpack, making her way back home.  Jamie had to stay back and help clean up, apparently, which meant she was walking home by herself.  That didn't seem to bother her too much, if at all.  In fact, she liked to walk home on her own.  It meant she could look around for whatever she wanted.

With a soft hum, Sophie turned to walk into the forest that was just beside her house.  She made her way through, pulling out a bag of candy given to her by a friend.  Just as she pulled out a Snickers bar, her green eyes fell on someone she thought she'd never see again.

Sophie stopped walking, her mouth slightly ajar as she looked at the figure of Jack Frost.  He looked so familiar, but it had been so long since she had last seen him.  She couldn't even remember his name!  Of course, she had never known it, but that was beside the case.  She remembered him from the same time she had painted eggs with the Easter Bunny...

Sophie opened the front door, looking around.  "I'm home," she called to the kitchen, and let her bag drop to the ground beside the front door.  She couldn't come home with her brother today, which wasn't her fault.  Mr. Pitchiner's history class was boring enough as is.  Why should she be chastised for drawing, even given a detention for it?  Sometimes she never understood her teachers.

With a bit of a sigh the girl walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer.  She pulled out the carton of cookies and cream ice cream.  Happily she took out a bowl and scoop.  She was halfway through filling up her bowl with the food when she noticed the brunette standing in the living room.

Sophie twirled her scepter about in her hand, smiling.  She stepped onto the stairs, humming softly.  Things were going rather well for her, which by default launched her into a bright mood.  So bright, in fact, that it was almost scary.  The only reason she got this happy was if everything - everything - was going the way she wanted.

The Red Queen sat down on her throne, kicking her legs up over the side of one of the armrests.  She let her head fall onto the other arm rest, looking up at the ceiling.  Hmm, now she was bored.  That wouldn't do.

Sophie set her bag down, pausing for a stretch.  She looked up at the bare wall and smiled a bit.  Being a student with an art degree had its perks, one of them being able to do "volunteer" work as it were for Burgess and help them paint their bare walls.  The best part was that she could paint anything she wanted.

The girl took out a handful of paintbrushes, putting them in her hoodie pocket before digging around for the paint.  She looked up when she heard footsteps and grinned, pushing her hair out of her eyes.