Enjoy! TBBT is definitely not mine :)
Penn sat in Shelby's spot on the couch, watching with amusement as Hailey excitedly showed him some kind of internet video game. She moved past her normal, nearly constant, flirtation as she talked about it and he had to smile at her. He'd heard of these games before, he'd just never imagined girls, any kind of girls, playing them.
"This is one of my favourite places to kick back after a quest, they have a great house ale," Hailey explained, pointing to the image of a make-believe medieval style tavern on the screen of her laptop. Penn looked up at her face to see if she kidding around and quickly rearranged his features into serious interest when he realized she was totally in earnest. She nodded at him expectantly, clearly hoping he'd say something to validate her.
"Wow, cool tiger," he finally said, and watched her face light up. Hailey ran a hand through her short hair and shrugged one shoulder casually.
"Yeah, I've had him since level ten. His name is Buttons," she smiled fondly at the screen and Penn had to stifle a smile at how legitimately attached she seemed to the cartoon cat. Hailey continued excitedly, as if a wonderful idea had just occured to her, "Anyway, if you had your own game character we could hang out, maybe go on a quest together!"
Penn stared at her and swallowed, nodding his head vaguely. He got to his feet and feigned a stretch. Hailey's eyes followed his movements and he finally replied.
"Uh, sounds interesting," Penn managed, lamely, he thought. But Hailey nodded and smiled and half closed her laptop, hugging it to her thin chest. She shot him a huge grin.
"So you'll think about it?" She asked hopefully. Penn had to smile back.
"Oh, I don't think I'll be able to stop thinking about it," he answered truthfully and he walked into the kitchen to grab a water bottle. It was weird to be in Shelby and Lenore's apartment without them, but Hailey had said they always came and went as they pleased (although she made sure to mention that oftentimes this practice drove Shelby up the wall).
He glanced at the clock and wondered what was taking them so long. He was certain that Kira was home, she said she would be when Penn had texted her earlier, letting her know a couple of his friends were coming by to pick up his bag.
"We're home." He heard Lenore's dejected voice behind him and spun away from the clock. His jaw dropped when he saw them both wrapped up in multi-colored beach blankets. Lenore's glasses were stained in red streaks, as was her face, and her hair looked clumpy.
Penn glanced over at Shelby and flinched. She looked like a stunt-double for Sissy Spacek in Carrie. Her face was coated in a total covering of red, her neck streaked with it. Her hair hung in thick, crunchy looking strips around her face. Her blanket dress revealed her bare, pale shoulders, with just thin white bra straps breaking the creamy display of skin. He blinked hard. Focus, he told himself.
"Oh, my God, what the hell happened?" His voice was raised as he walked towards them with genuine concern. Rajni's face was frozen in a mask of horror, one plump hand covering her mouth. Hailey had leapt to her feet at her friends' appearances and was dancing from foot to foot in agitation, not sure what could have possibly happened.
"Is that...wine?" Hailey spoke skeptically, sniffing the air. Shelby glanced over at her and nodded, her full, purple stained, lips pressed together in irritation. Penn looked back at Lenore.
"Seriously, what happened?" He asked again, spreading his hands in the air before himself. Shelby fixed her frank, blue eyes on him and he couldn't stop looking over at her.
"Well, your ex-girlfriend sends her regards and I think the rest is fairly self-explanatory," Shelby spoke tersely, but didn't betray any further emotion as she stared back at Penn. He shook his head and paced back and forth for a moment.
"I'm so sorry, I never imagined she'd behave like such a bitch, especially to two strangers," Penn apologized, and he glanced down at Lenore who gave him a tentative smile, taking a step towards him.
"No, it was a valid hypothesis," she said, comfortingly. Shelby huffed a breath of irritation and stalked past them, somehow regal in the patterned blanket. She gave Penn a wide berth as she walked by him and made her way to the hallway that led to the bathroom, pausing before the step. She suddenly spun back around and crinkled her brow at Lenore in confusion.
"That was a valid hypothesis? What is happening to you?" She asked her friend, as if Lenore had suddenly grown horns. Penn had to hide a smile at Shelby's somehow grand anger. He took a couple steps away from Lenore, leaning up against the island in the kitchen.
"Really, thank you so much for going," he started, glancing at Lenore and then over to Shelby who was staring at him like he was from another planet. He continued lamely, surprised to find himself shy under her scrutiny, "And thanks for trying you're, uh, you're so terrific. I'm so sorry about Kira, I'll talk to her..." Shelby raised an eyebrow at him.
"I think you speaking to her is exactly what she wanted from this scenario. Besides her need to vividly display to us both that she is the alpha female in your life," Shelby replied in her clear and concise voice and Penn looked away for a moment, knowing she was right.
"That makes sense, thanks Shelby," he responded, and smiled winningly at her. Her expression didn't change, but she swallowed hard before nodding at him.
"Look ladies," he glanced over at Lenore and their other two friends to include them in his statement, "why don't you shower, put some clothes on, and I'll get my keys. Dinner is on me, okay?" Lenore's face lit up happily.
"Really? Great!" She cried, before trotting over to the hallway next to Shelby. He walked out of the apartment, turning back to shut the door behind himself and saw Lenore prancing down towards the bathroom, while Shelby stood still, staring back at him, as if trying to figure something out.
"Thank you," she said calmly to him, nodding her head, before turning around and following Lenore down the hallway. Penn nodded and shut the door, standing for a moment in the hallway and wondering what the hell tall girl-physicist was doing to him.
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Shelby caught up to Lenore in the hallway, "A) I will be having a shower first," Lenore nodded at her and Shelby continued, "and B) You're not done with him, are you?" Lenore looked up to Shelby, her face happy, her eyes shining. Shelby sighed inwardly in exasperation. Lenore stuck her chin into the air in a small defiant gesture.
"Our babies will be smart and beautiful," she said haughtily, only half-joking. Shelby gaped at her, honestly surprised by the statement. Could she really be that delusional? Shelby worried to herself. She finally shook her head at Lenore's crazed statement, deciding that the best thing to do would be to allow nature to take it's course and for Lenore to have her heart trampled on when Penn inevitably turned her down.
She turned and walked away from Lenore, opening the bathroom door. Shelby paused in the doorway and said over her shoulder, "Not to mention imaginary."
Lenore huffed in frustration at Shelby, but she could clearly hear her small friend squealing away while she chose an outfit in her room. Shelby started the shower and heaved the disgusting car blanket onto the ground. She pulled out a large towel and a smaller one for her head and placed them on the small stand next to the shower, a stand they had there specifically for waiting towels (that Penn had so clearly over-looked earlier today, causing all manner of embarrassment).
Shelby thoroughly washed her hair and body, scrubbing at the red stains with a washcloth. It took several applications of her face wash, but she managed to get all of it off of her face, leaving her skin there tingling and flushed. When she was done, Shelby tossed the car blanket and her underthings into the hamper in the bathroom and wrapped her towels tightly around her hair and her body.
She walked past her room and knocked on Lenore's bedroom door.
"It's all yours," she called to her friend. Lenore opened the door and popped her head out, replying happily, "Great, thanks Shelby."
Shelby nodded and went into her bedroom to get ready. She left her hair wrapped up and went to her closet, selecting her emergency outfit. She chose her full outfit for each day of the coming week every Saturday, folding them neatly together. She kept an emergency outfit prepared in case of unforeseen accidents. When she pulled it out from the closet, her gaze brushed over the rack hung with all her other planned outfits. Casual party, dress party, family dinner, outdoor concert, beach wear, unexpected parental visit, fundraiser at the university, the list went on and on. She found that having specific outfits for almost every possible situation took a lot of the stress out of getting ready for them. There was no need to plan, as each choice had already been made.
She lay the emergency outfit on the bed, which consisted of a pair of fitted, bootcut, dark blue khakis, with several slim pockets down the legs. She matched this with a long sleeved grey shirt, made of thin material, fitted as well, like all her long sleeved shirts were (the better to fit underneath her t-shirts).
She picked up her t-shirt, smiling lovingly at it. It was one of her favorites. She pulled the navy blue t-shirt on top of the fitted undershirt, and smoothed it out. The bright green raptor on the front holding a rubix cube made her chuckle every time. "Clever Girl", the shirt proclaimed below the raptor. The joke had made her laugh for almost five minutes when she first saw it. Besides, she knew she was also what could be called a "clever girl" and the double entendre made her grin.
Shelby spent a few minutes blow drying her hair, not paying attention to styling. She never did. It was just hair. She used a blow dryer to prevent herself from catching a cold due to a wet head. She wore it long because she always had, ever since her mother insisted she at least try to look like a good little girl, if she wasn't going to act like one. When she was done, she didn't look in a mirror, she didn't need to; she was aware of what she looked like and thought she was unlikely to have changed since the last time she saw herself.
She got out to the living room and saw Hailey and Rajni still sitting there. Hailey looked up and smiled.
"Hey Shelby," Hailey greeted her. Shelby inclined her head in return and sat in her spot, listening as Hailey continued with, "Penn came over and said he's taking Rajni and I with you guys, as thanks for helping him carry his stuff up." Shelby smiled at her strange little friend, wondering if Lenore knew; she was certain Lenore would not appreciate any competition.
Shelby was secretly glad for more people to serve as a distraction. She had felt Penn's eyes on her a lot this afternoon, and even though he carefully kept his face neutral, she was certain he was judging her. She could feel the weight of his potential criticisms pressing on her the whole time he'd been there.
Not that she cared. She was elevated beyond such petty states as envy, lust, desire and bodily admiration. She repeated that to herself again. And again. Something about that man made her mind swing off course. She knew she had to start avoiding him so that she could concentrate again, and not on him... and his eyes...and his skin... and the vivid memory of his bare behind.
Huffing out an angry breath, Shelby popped off the couch, startling Hailey and Rajni as she stalked into the kitchen, ripped the fridge door open and yanked out a bottle of water. She pulled the cap off, drank it too quickly and got a painful headache from the cold almost instantly. Shelby pressed her hands to her forehead and groaned.
"Dude, what's wrong with you?" Rajni spoke from the couch. Shelby winced at Rajni's insistent use of the word 'dude'.
"Rajni, as I've said before," she choked out, the brain freeze making her terse, "I am neither a male, nor some kind of surfing, skate boarding, aficionado." Rajni didn't reply and she saw that Penn was back in the room. She rolled her eyes and turned away from him, taking her hands from her head.
Hailey spoke up helpfully, "Is your auto-pilot on the fritz?" She chuckled and so did Rajni. Shelby turned back to them and, sitting carefully on a stool at the island, she made a face at them.
"How droll," Shelby said flatly, making them laugh harder. Penn walked over to her after looking back and forth during this exchange. He was staring at her chest and she felt suddenly embarrassed. Quickly she brought her arms up, crossing them over her chest. His eyes met hers and she glared at him. He looked blankly at her for a moment and then started to laugh.
"Sorry, Shelby, I was trying to get your shirt." She felt relieved and so nodded, raising her eyebrows at him, but leaving her arms crossed.
"Clever Girl, huh?" He said, sitting next to her. She glanced over at him.
"It's a pun, a joke based on -"
"Jurassic Park," he finished for her, glancing over with a smile on his face. "I like dinosaur movies as much as the next person," Penn said, laughing a little. Shelby nodded and got up, uncomfortable with how close he was sitting. It was most distracting to have his arm so close to hers, to be able to smell him and feel the heat radiating from his skin. To see the muscle in his arms beneath the cloth of his shirt.
She shook her head a little as she walked over to her spot on the couch, plunking down next to Rajni. Get a grip, Cooper, he's just a man.
Hailey sat up from her laptop and rubbed her stomach. "What's taking Lenore so long?" They all shrugged, except for Shelby, who knew that Lenore was very likely going overboard with her appearance in an effort to impress Penn.
"I have a man-sized hunger," Hailey said, standing up. Shelby watched in amusement as she saw Penn flinch just the slightest bit. Hailey raised an eyebrow at him, her 'seductive' face back.
"I meant food, but if you're interested..." Her voice trailed off and Penn stared at her blankly before responding with, "No thanks, Hailey," as politely as possible.
Just then Lenore walked out and Shelby had to look down at her lap to hide the horror on her face. Lenore was wearing one of the two skirts she owned, a dark denim material that came down almost to the floor. Over top she was wearing a strangely cut frilled green blouse.
Shelby knew immediately it was the shirt Lenore's older sister had sent her for Christmas a few years back. Lenore hadn't worn it then because it was incredibly low-cut, and it was a little bit too tight on her. Together, the denim didn't look especially bad with the color of the shirt, but Lenore was baring more skin than Shelby thought was proper in the ill-fitting shirt. She had applied gel to her hair, trying to bring out her curls more prominently, a move which Shelby knew would inflame her scalp problems, and besides, now her hair just looked slick and wet.
Shelby's eyes darted up to Lenore's face as she walked into the living room, smiling at Penn and gathering up her purse. Lenore was wearing make-up. Make-up! Shelby had no idea Lenore even owned make-up. But she had on blush, lipstick, a strange orangey-pink color smeared on her eyelids and mascara clumping her lashes together. To Shelby it was a looked that screamed of inexperience and a lack of knowledge in the make-up arena. But, what did she know? She had zero experience with it herself.
Shelby glanced over at Penn, who hadn't reacted at all to Lenore's appearance, who was in fact walking towards Shelby, holding out her purse. She stood up and took her purse from him, smiling quickly in thanks. Everyone filed out ahead of them and Penn put a light hand on her shoulder to help guide her out and she refrained from flinching rudely as she had earlier today, and instead stepped away from his hand in a way that she hoped looked natural.
As Shelby shut and locked the apartment door, she tuned out Hailey and Lenore as they started chattering excitedly to Penn and to each other. Penn walked a step or two in front of Shelby, glancing back at her every couple steps. She pretended not to see him, not sure how to arrange her facial features each time he looked at her. Shelby glanced over at quiet Rajni, walking beside her, her dark eyes fixed dreamily on Penn, but her lips pressed together tightly, as she was afraid her selective mutism might disappear and force her to say something stupid.
They walked in a companionable clump to the parking garage and reached Penn's car, a rather beat up looking SUV. He unlocked the doors and Hailey and Rajni clambered into the backseat. Penn turned to Lenore standing next to Shelby, one arm hanging down in front of her taller friend, as if to keep Shelby pushed back.
"I think Shelby might fit better in the front seat, Lenore," he said. Lenore's eye brows furrowed in disappointment and Shelby almost felt bad for her again. Penn seemed to feel the same way so he winked at her roommate and continued on in a friendly tone, "Not everyone is in a little package like you are, Lenore."
Lenore took this as a complement and flushed red in enjoyment, happily climbing into the back seat. Penn opened the passenger door and held a hand towards the seat, looking back at Shelby while he did.
"There you go, Shelby," Penn told her. She nodded at him and climbed inside. He shut the door for her, walked around the truck, and climbed into the driver's seat. When she realized how completely wonderful he looked sitting in the half-shadows of the underground lot, and how very close his seat was to hers, her stomach flip-flopped and she looked out the front window determinedly. This is going to take all of my concentration. Damnable mesmerizing man.
