Page 9 of Becoming Cinderella

“Penn, this is Liam. Liam,” I turn to him. “This is my best friend, Penn.”

Liam steps around me and offers his hand to Penn. “Penn, it’s lovely to meet you. Thank you for letting me join in on your Tuesday Taco’s”

Penn subconsciously runs a hand through her hair, staring at Liam’s hand reaching out for hers. Her eyes are wide and even though I just closed her mouth for her, it slightly opens again.

I clear my throat to try to get her to snap to attention and she blinks before she takes Liam’s hand.

“Oh, yeah, it’s umm, lovely to meet you true. Too? Also. As well.” She’s working on stringing together a full sentence but considering I just showed up with the boy whose face covers both our bedroom walls, she’s taking it considerably well.

She’s still holding Liam’s hand, slowly shaking it.

“Um, Penn, can we come in?”

This pulls her out of whatever daze she’s in because she quickly drops Liam’s hand. “I’m sorry, yeah of course, come in. Please, come in.” She bows as she gestures for us to come inside.

I turn to Liam and mouth an apology as we head towards her kitchen.

“Carter, can you chop up tomatoes? Liam, um, can you just dump these bags of cheese and lettuce in some bowls?” Penn directs as she comes into the kitchen behind us.

“You got the hard task.” I whisper to him which makes him smile. I set my bag on a barstool as I walk around to the sink to wash my hands.

“So, Penn,” Liam starts, following me to the sink. “Is that short for Penny or-”

“Penelope.” She finishes, pulling out two red bowls from a cupboard.

“Penelope. That’s lovely.”

She scrunches her nose in disgust at this. “I hate it actually. Penn is much more fitting.”

“Got it, I won’t call you Penelope.”

I watch Liam as he washes his hands, glancing up at me through his lashes. I quickly look down at the tomatoes, slowly slicing a knife through them.

“How long have you two been friends?”

“Since the sixth grade.” Penn answers, dumping beef in a pan on the stove.

“I live just down the street from here. It was basically an instant friendship when I moved here.”

“I bet you two have gotten into loads of trouble.”

“Maybe not loads, but we’ve definitely found ourselves in some sticky situations.” I turn to Penn who is watching me with an unreadable expression. I tilt my head at her, a silent question when she turns away from me to Liam.

“Here, do you mind slicing these?” Penn slides the tomatoes that were in front of me towards Liam. “I need to show Carter something in my room real fast.” Penn grabs my hand and starts to pull me out of the kitchen. “We will be right back.”

Liam tries to hide his smile as we leave the kitchen, knowing well that Penn isn’t taking me to show me something, but to talk about him.

Penn hurries up the stairs to her bedroom, keeping a firm grasp on my hand as she drags me along.

“Okay,” she closes her bedroom door and leans against it. “Liam Taylor is in my kitchen. You just showed up with Liam Taylor. Liam Taylor, Carter.” Penn steps towards me and shakes my shoulders like I’m unaware of who our dinner guest is. “How is he here?” She whispers to avoid being overheard, but with her excitement, her whispers are loud.

“I invited him.”

I can tell Penn is working not to roll her eyes. “Obviously. But how did you invite him?”

“I asked if he wanted to come to Taco Tuesday.” I’m downplaying the entire thing, but really, I’m struggling to remain calm about Liam being here too. I know if I allow myself to freak out with her, all Liam will hear downstairs is a bunch of squealing. I have to remain calm to avoid that embarrassment.

This time Penn does roll her eyes at me. “You know what I’m really asking Carter.”

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