Dodge and Burn

Snap.

Kaiser pulled away from the viewfinder of his old Minolta camera, a small smile on his face. He didn't smile much, but when he had his camera, or was in the darkroom, or with his little sister, his face lit up. His usually storm cloud grey eyes would brighten into two little puddles of unicorn blood. If unicorns bled, anyway. Or, more importantly, if unicorns were real at all.

Snap.

Kaiser smiled at his subject, a five-year-old girl with shiny golden pigtails and bright, happy blue eyes. The girl was Kaiser's little sister, Kaitie.

"Kai! Kai! Did you get it? Did you get me doing my princess smile?" Kaitie asked, jumping around in excitement. Her light pink dress flounced around her knees and her heavy tan glowed. Kaiser smiled and nodded, setting his camera aside before running at his little sister and scooping her up in his arms. Kaitie giggled and thrashed as Kaiser blew raspberries against the thin fabric of her late summer dress.

It was obvious to anyone looking at them that they were not related, even if they were brother and sister. Kaiser's straight, naturally dark brown, almost black hair and pale skin contrasted Kaitie's blonde curls and dark tan. Their parents both had Kaitie's features, making Kaiser seem odd and unnatural. He was a bit odd, after all.

Kaiser had been fostered out to many different families, some decent, some unbearable, since his birth. It wasn't until Mason and Jenna Cygne, his foster parents since age ten, gave him a camera and a bit of much-needed love. Kaiser had begged to stay with them, and they had begged to keep Kaiser. Not but a year later, Kaitie was born, her name inspired by the adopted Cygne son.

"Kaiser, Kaitie, supper!" Jenna called from the open kitchen window, her voice light and airy. Kaiser took a moment to blow one last raspberry on his sister's belly before setting her down to fix her dress. He took her tiny hand in his and led her back through the thin wooded area on the Cygne's large property. He knew the trails in the woods better than he knew the back of his hand, which was riddled with small pink scars from his years before Mason and Jenna.

"Come on," Kaiser said, grabbing his camera and pulling Kaitie towards the house. It came into view very quickly, its periwinkle exterior and rainbow details painfully bright in the setting Californian sun. Kaiser was secretly glad the house was hidden behind trees from the road, for he didn't know if he could live getting off the bus in front of such a ridiculously painted house. Though even more secretly, he loved it.

The two walked up the long flight of wooden stairs to the small back porch and slipped in through the open screen door. Mason Cygne sat in the large sunroom with his newspaper spread in front of him. When he saw his two children enter the house, he neatly folded it and followed them into the kitchen, where Jenna Cygne was setting dishes on the rather small breakfast table.

"Yum," Mason said, "pork chops." He pulled out his chair and sat down, setting his napkin on his knee. Kaitie took her spot next to her father and swung her legs happily.

"I'll get that, you sit down," Kaiser said as Jenna reached for her oven mitt. She took a deep breath and smiled, hugging Kaiser lightly before pulling off her apron and sitting on the other side of Mason, across from her daughter.

Kaiser pulled the rolls from the oven and shimmied them into a basket. He grabbed the butter from the refrigerator and folded a deep red cloth over the hot rolls. Setting them on the table, he sat between his sister and mother, facing his father. His seat was directly in front of the window, so even with the blinds obscuring the setting sun, a small halo formed around his slim figure.

Everyone ate quickly, devouring Jenna's marvelous food. They didn't talk much until all the pork chops were gone and the collards were running out. Kaitie, who was not one for adult conversation, asked to be excused just as Mason laced his fingers together and braced his elbows on the table. She knew very well that position meant a long conversation in which she, at only five, had nothing to add.

Kaiser, who also didn't particularly like talking all too much, didn't have that luxury, though, since he was sixteen and capable of intelligent exchanges. Even still, he spoke only when spoken to, or when he felt he had something important to add, which was rare.

"So, Kai," Jenna began affectionately, " we know school is starting soon, and Greenley doesn't offer the classes we know you want to take, so we've been thinking, and we'd like to know if you might want to take some photography courses."

Kaiser's jaw dropped. He'd only ever taken one class before, and it was only the basics, focusing mostly on developing and printing in a dark room, which was helpful, considering Kaiser's preference for old fashioned film over modern digital.

"Is that a yes?" Jenna prodded. Kaiser nodded, his dark hair bobbing in its halo. "Well I'm glad, because we've already enrolled you. Sent in a few of your photos and a paper you wrote a while back on the importance of art, and we got a letter just the other day that you've been accepted. Also, it's in a little town about two miles out of San Francisco," she said, her blue eyes smiling as much as her lips were. Kaiser's jaw had yet to return to its normal position.

"I'd love to, but why didn't you guys tell me?" he asked, cocking his head a few degrees to the side.

"Well, we wanted it to be a surprise, and we didn't want you to be disappointed if you hadn't gotten in," Mason said, taking a sip of his dark beer. Jenna elbowed him with a reprimanding glare before turning back to Kaiser.

"You do realize that I'll have to deal with disappointment anyway, right?" Kaiser said, a small smile coming to his plush lips. Jenna let out a small laugh.

"We just wanted to save that for the arts world. Anyway, the school is called Princeton Academy for the Arts, and it's a boarding school that focuses on, well, art!" Jenna exclaimed, nearly knocking over her glass of wine.

Suddenly, Kaitie popped her head into the room. "Hey Mommy, can I go outside and jump rope?" she asked, pulling her best beggar's face. Jenna thought about it for a moment and then nodded.

"Sure, but stay on the concrete, okay? Don't go onto the asphalt driveway, alright?" Jenna said, shooing Kaitie out. As the little girl turned and left, a thought hit Kaiser.

"Wait. When will I be able to see Kaitie and you guys?" he asked, knitting his rather delicate eyebrows together. Jenna nodded, motioning to her husband.

“Over the weekends, mostly, but since we live a good two hours away from San Francisco, we'll only be able to come up to see you every few weeks. We've already told Kaitie and apparently she's done a fantastic job of keeping this 'super-secret secret'," Mason said, glancing lovingly at Jenna, who smiled sheepishly. "Anyway, Kaitie knows and she said as long as you call her every week or so, she'll be fine."

Kaiser laughed lightly, imagining those words coming from his sister's mouth. Surprisingly, it wasn't too hard.

"This just seems too good to be true," Kaiser trailed off. His eyes lit up as he smiled brightly. "When do I leave?" he asked, confidence and happiness drifting in his tenor voice.

Jenna's smile faded a little and the sun behind Kaiser dropped below the horizon, causing his halo to disappear. "That's the thing. You leave this weekend, and classes begin the Monday a week after that," she explained, her eyes dropping to the light, lacquered wood of the table. Kaiser's grin faltered, but remained present.

"I guess that's not ideal, but hey, I'm still going to a good arts school, right?" he said, unused to being the optimistic one in the bunch. Jenna looked up and smiled, nodding as she stood up and cleared the table. Mason followed her and began washing the dishes, sending his son a proud glance over the breakfast bar.

Kaiser stood and kissed his mother on the cheek before going outside to take more photos and watch his little sister jump rope.A