Chapter Seven- Poker Face
"Everyone, this is Penny!"
"We know…" the gang answered. Their tone reached new levels of monotonous, and startled Hera. She looked around at Zeus, Persephone, Ares and Hermes and scratched her head. How on Olympus could they know?
"What exactly is she doing here?" Atlanta interrogated. She didn't understand why yet another mortal would be introduced to the gods.
"Penny is the new member of the team," Hermes giggled. He fluttered around happily, ticking off things to do on his check-list. Introduced Penny to the team – CHECK! And now- Aphrodite's laundry.
"Excuse me, but the last time I checked we only needed seven?" Neil inquired. He liked the team the way it was, although Penny did look to be his type of person. Wait a minute? My type of person? Neil only loves NEIL!
"We decided that you need all the help you can get. With Jay…" Hera paused. She looked deeply remorseful. She did not want to say, expelled, because none of the teens knew. She could hardly begin to imagine the uproar that would create, if word got out. "With Jay gone, Odie on RxR and Theresa's impairment –"
"Hang on! She's not impaired - she's shaken! Don't talk about her like she's got some sort of disease or disability!" Atlanta spat. This whole new deal with Penny and Archie, and Theresa recovering, she was feeling the strain. She connected eyes with Artemis, who cocked her head to the side and gave her a quizzical glare.
"Sorry… You were saying?"
"… The team needs whatever help it can receive."
"Are we just dragging in randoms, or holding auditions?" added Neil. He shared a shy smile with Penny, who found his comment amusing.
"Penny is the descendent of both Perseus and Andromeda."
Archie's eyes widened. He couldn't believe his luck! "So what's her quality? Good-looks?" He smirked. The god's and Atlanta looked repulsed.
Neil raised his hand and chirped, "Sorry! Already taken!" He went back to adjusting his hair in his golden mirror.
"Much alike her two ancestor's, Penny is brave and does not back down in times of trouble. This should indeed be most helpful. We've already tested her in a number of hypothetical simulations, and she has passed with flying colours."
"Welcome to the team." Archie grinned.
Penny looked around nervously, and delivered a fake smile. What have I gotten in to?
Atlanta was glad for Sunday's. She had awoken at 5 in the morning to go for a very long "run" through the park. Waking up this early allowed her to rush at her natural speed, and not the "stroll" she compared others too. She had listened to all of her tunes and arrived back at the Brownstone around 8-ish.
As she gently let herself in, she realised she didn't have to be so politely quiet. It sounded as if the rest of the gang were already up, and chatting in the kitchen. Atlanta creeped forward, with the most puzzled look etched on her face. She pulled out her headphones and rounded the corner.
"Atlanta, hey! Do you want some breakfast?" Penny smiled, and showed her a huge stack of ready-made pancakes. Her eyes glazed over at the boys – Herry was stuffing in as many pancakes as he could, before turning his plate towards the sizzling bacon and eggs. Archie was content with just two slices of toast with maple syrup. Ha! I bet she didn't have to make him that! Little Miss Fancy Pants suddenly turn chef.
"Lannie. You want some French toast? Penny makes it with her own syrup. It's the best!" Atlanta's stomach flopped downwards several storeys, and grumbled, not with hunger, but with these weird unhappy emotions she didn't recognise.
"Urgh, no thanks. I'm not really that hungry." Atlanta turned around and headed towards the stairs. There, making his way down was Neil.
"Neil? … What on earth are you doing up so early?... And showered… And dressed?" Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked towards him, startled.
"Ha! And you thought I was up this early because of food! No, I have a life-changing photo-shoot at 8."
Atlanta looked down at her watch. "Urgh... Neil? It's already 8:30?"
"I know! That's why I'm leaving now! Geez!"
And so, Neil picked up his satchel (man-bag), grabbed his keys and practically strutted out the door. Atlanta shook her head, confused, before looking back at the group. Archie had maple syrup from his new batch of pancakes dripping down his lips. Penny had positioned her lanky body over the bench, and was licking and kissing it off his face. Atlanta stomach gurgled in that way when you're about to vomit. She sprinted up the stairs and into the bathroom.
Her head remained over the toilet bowl for a couple of minutes until the feelings of repulsion had somewhat decreased. She stood up and checked herself out in the colossal mirror, Neil had insisted on purchasing.
Her hair was pinned up into a messy but practical top-notch. Her navy blue sports-bra perfectly matched the insanely tight athletic shorts Theresa insisted she wore, so show off her "hot and toned legs". She ran her nimble hands over her stomach, playing with the natural contours.
"Why aren't I girly?" She whispered to herself, her eyes burning into the reflection she saw in front of her. Everything about her was practical, comfortable and plain. She never dressed to impress, unless forced upon by Theresa. Theresa. She's girly… Would she… mind?
Although she tried hard to resist, Atlanta soon found herself inside Theresa's wardrobe. She at first felt awkward and uncomfortable, looking at dress after dress after skirt after lingerie. She grabbed a few items and ran back to the bathroom.
The first was a delicate and very plain blue dress. It was around knee-length, so it showed off Atlanta's chiselled calve-muscles quite well. The next was a little red polka-dot number, complete with bright stiletto's. Atlanta could remember when Theresa wore this to the school's 50's night. The amount of guys in the room checking her out had made Jay even more stressed. She chuckled at their naivety.
She tried on a few more girly dresses, before staring at the last item. It was one that Theresa had given Atlanta for a present, but had never before dared to try on. Black lacy lingerie – she remembered how red her face went as she pulled it out of the box in front of the boys on her birthday. She could also remember how awkward Herry made it with his humiliating comments of "Nice job!" and "We know who's getting some tonight", whilst nudging Archie with his elbow.
It felt odd – not only the material and the entire sexiness of the piece, but the fact that she was actually trying it on. Why? This has been sitting there for months now… What's happening to me? Why am I trying on bazillions of girly dresses? BLACK LINGERIE! This isn't me!
Atlanta compromised, and dressed in a short red skirt and a strappy black singlet. She piled all of the borrowed clothes in their rightful wardrobe, all except the lingerie. It found it's new home under Atlanta's bed, waiting for the day that she would be "woman" enough to wear it.
