Chapter 4: Friendship
The next term of school had started for Penny and Brady about a week later. The two began spending more time together, not too much to give some of Penny's friends the idea that they were finally going out, but more than usual. Although Brady wouldn't spend too much time near Bolt, even though Penny had assured him she told Bolt not to hurt him unless she said otherwise, he wasn't so sure about him, especially since he learned what he could do. Even with Penny around, Brady still felt discomfort around the dog, not just because of his powers, but for some reason Bolt continually eyed him, whether it was in class (for he was allowed inside) or outside or in the park, Bolt was always watching. Brady had already informed Penny of this, but she just laughed and told him to calm down and reminded him yet again that Bolt wouldn't hurt him without her permission. Brady had learned to ignore it most of the time and talk to Penny normally for once, at first it was a few more questions on how he could be a better person, but as time progressed they discussed normal events in the world or on TV like normal and plain (though they would be neither with Bolt) friends, with the occasional query about Calico or her two week absence, but otherwise, their lives were proceeding as normal. Penny knew that she would've hated hanging out with the 'old Brady', and she wondered if she would regret giving him another chance, but she didn't wonder anymore, in fact she was thankful. She even felt a little proud of herself, she had saved Brady from a life of selfishness, and after spending some more time with him, she felt something. She realized that she may have more in common with the real Brady than she thought, she had come to know and like him for who he was. But she was sure she would never love him. Not after what they had been through with the love chase, even though she liked him as friend, she still had no desire to go out with him. Then again, she didn't really have a desire to date anyone at the time. But if she did, she wouldn't look in Brady's direction. All he needed was a friend who liked him for who he was, not for what he had, nothing more.
Meanwhile, Richard was busy in his lab underneath Joe's pet store, trying to perfect his experiments which he had tested on a small, light brown hamster who spent most of his days in a plastic ball in front of a television. Richard hadn't try anything large scale on him, just a few drops of self made chemicals to see the effects, all returned negative. When he wasn't testing he was using the lab's scanners and radar to try and see if Calico had set up shop anywhere else. He had picked up a large facility under construction somewhere in Arizona, who and what it was for was classified. But he still kept his eye on it, just in case.
Suddenly, his phone rang, which he quickly answered, "Hello?"
"Hi daddy," Penny's voice came from the other line.
Richard smiled at this, "Hi sweetie, how are you? How was your day?"
"Fine, fine," she answered hastily. She didn't like giving stories about her day. "Hey dad, would it be okay if I could have a friend over this afternoon? I promised him I'd do my homework with him."
Him? Richard was startled by this for a moment, then calmed down knowing he had a history of assuming the worst when it came to Penny's friends, and besides, at least they were helping each other with school work, "Uh...uh yeah, sure baby. That'd be fine. I'll be home in a little bit, and get you guys some food, okay?" he answered as he began shutting down his computers and took Rhino out of his ball, turned off the television he was glued to, and placed him in his cage.
"Okay daddy. Love you. Bye," she responded and hung up.
"See you tomorrow, Rhino," he said as he packed his things and headed towards the ladder that led up to the store. He switched off the lights, leaving one on as usual for the hamster, and went up. Had he been down there two minutes longer, the radar would've been on to detect a unidentified aircraft entering the area. One of Calico's air craft.
