It's Sunday. Penny pushes open the door to Baz's room, sighing from relief as she drops her bag on the floor then flops down on the bed beside Baz, who is flipping through his book. "You wouldn't believe the day I had!" she says, slamming his book shut. Baz looks at her in anger - he has a huge assessment tomorrow - and opens his book back up. Penny closes it again, pulling it towards her. "Baz? Aren't you curious?"
"I'm always curious, Bunce. But I'm also studious," he says, reaching for the book. She holds it above her head.
"Baz, it's summer. What could you possibly be studying for?"
"I'm getting ahead."
She shakes her head and tosses it onto the ground, out of his reach. He groans but props himself up on an elbow to listen to her.
Penny tells him all about her long day - running errands, cooking, working - and the plethora of mishaps that happened along the way. After she's done with her little diatribe, Baz tells her about his fairly boring day: he's just been reading all day long. "Why are you dressed so nice, then?" Penny laughs, studying his posh outfit.
"I'm not a sloth, Bunce. I don't sit around in my pajamas all day like some people," he says, nudging her. The "some people" was referring to Penny. Though Penny was fully dressed today due to her busy schedule, she loves to stay in her pajamas when she has free time. Baz always reprimands her for it when he comes over, saying she should always "dress for company." "But you're not really company," Penny would laugh.
"You just don't understand true comfort," she says, rolling onto her back.
They sit in silence for a moment. Sometimes they just do that: they sit together and don't talk and just enjoy the feeling of having someone who can just sit there with you.
But Baz doesn't feel like silence right now.
"So how is it living with Mr. Snow?" Baz snickers, though his heat is beating rapidly.
A wide grin spreads across Penny's face. "Oh my god, Baz, he's wonderful!" She uses her hands as she talks, gesturing wildly as she explains what her new brother is right. "He's kind of an idiot - in like a cute, funny way. And he's like a puppy when it comes to . . . well, everything. He has so much energy during the day and he's always asking questions and always getting excited about the littlest things. He also eats all of our scones. Literally, all of them. Mum baked a whole batch of cherry ones the other day and they're already gone. Simon devours them," she smiles. "And he's always hungry, just in general. He'll eat anything. Mum likes it, though, because that means she can cook whatever she wants and at least someone will eat."
Baz watches her as she continues to go on and on about him. There's this glint in her eyes that Baz has never seen before. His heart drops a little bit.
"Penelope," he says, interrupting her description of his living habits. "Do you like him?"
"Of course I like him, Baz," she snorts.
"No, I mean . . . do you, like him?" Baz asks, feeling a bit ashamed. Penny and Baz have always been very open to each other about relationships. Neither of them have had any major relationships, but they always talk about crushes and such. Baz thought that Penny had her eye on this new American guy, Micah, but perhaps he was wrong.
"What?" Penny laughs, turning to face him. "God, no, Baz. He's my brother!"
"Yeah, but he's not related by blood. I would understand if . . "
"No, Basilton, no!" Penny cracks up, both mortified and hysterical. "Simon is great and I know we're going to get along well, but definitely not in that way. How could you think that?" She shakes her head before lying back down, still smiling at the thought.
"I don't know," Baz murmurs, turning onto his back as well, staring at the ceiling. When Baz was little he had those glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling. He peeled them off a long time ago, but if he squints hard enough he can make out the faint outline of the stars carved into the paint.
"Baz?" Penny whispers, her voice suddenly serious.
"Yeah?"
"Do you like him?" she says, her voice warm.
Baz swallows hard, his cheeks feeling hot. "I don't know," he whispers. And it's the truth. He's not quite sure how he feels about Simon Snow. At dinner he had felt something strange. But he's only just met him. How could he know so soon? "Maybe," he admits a moment later. Penny has tilted her head to look at him, but he doesn't look back. He keeps his eyes focused on the outline of a star in the ceiling.
"Okay," Penny replies, her face unreadable.
Silence. This time Baz embraces it.
After a long, long time, someone knocks on the door. Baz's younger sister, Mordelia, peeks her head in. "Dinner's ready, Basil," she says. She gives Penny a big wave and Penny smiles back. Baz thinks that Penny is her role model.
"Alright. We'll be down in a second," Baz replies, rolling off of the bed. Mordelia shuts the door. Baz goes to his mirror and fixes his hair, straightens his clothes. "Come on, Bunce. Let's go eat."
Sorry this chapter is so short but I wanted to get something up for you guys. Thank you all for the kind messages and reviews! I'm looking forward to hearing what you guys think about the next couple of chapters :) Thanks for reading!
