STEP TWO: LEAD AN INTERESTING LIFE
Sheldon frowned. Lead an interesting life? But he did. He read the section again. Refer not to failures, but that you tried. He shook his head. What an odd little book, but he had already completed step one, he was now committed. He sighed, and went across the hall.
Knock knock knock. "Penny."
Knock knock knock. "Penny."
Knock knock knock. "Penny."
He could hear her talking to someone on the other side of the door, as she came to answer it.
When she opened the door she was smiling. "Hey Sheldon, whats up?"
"You have company, this is a bad time."
"No." She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into the the room. "Mom, this is my neighbour Sheldon. He's a genius."
Sheldon shifted awkwardly. Penny's mother! He resigned himself. "Hello." He said. "It's .. good to meet you."
Penny's mom looked just like Penny, only older, her hair was darker too, more of a brown colour. She blinked up at him, and then whispered to Penny, "Is he the one that brought you ice cream and strawberries? Or the one that can't talk?"
"Strawberries." Penny replied, knowing that Sheldon could easily hear them, even though he was pretending he couldn't.
"Well, Sheldon, it's nice to meet you. What do you do?" Penny's mom smiled brightly at him.
"I solve mysteries of the universe." He replied. That was interesting right?
"Oh?" Penny's mom looked dubious. "How?"
Sheldon blinked. "Well, I led an expedition to the arctic this past summer." Leave out the part about the failure due to sabotage, he reminded himself.
Penny's mom was smiling at him, and touching him on the arm. He gave Penny a look, and she smiled and sent him a thumbs up.
He was utterly confused.
"Sheldon also plays paintball." Penny added. "He's a pretty good shot."
"I'm from Texas." He explained, wondering when Penny's mom was going to stop smiling at him. It was kind of scary.
"Oh, do you like football?"
"My brother was the quarterback on the local team." Sheldon hedged.
"You didn't play yourself?"
"Mom," Penny interrupted. "Sheldon went to university when he was 10, he didn't really have time."
"TEN!" Penny's mom exclaimed. "Good lord, you really are smart."
"I have two doctorates and have been lecturing since I was eighteen." Sheldon clarified, leaving out the fact that he had yet to win a Nobel Prize.
Penny's mom was smiling again. "What an exciting life you must lead!"
Sheldon looked at Penny. "You might say that." Staring at white boards for hours was not really exciting, though Halo night was fun.
Penny was smiling at him too. Interesting. He would be writing this entire transgression down in his journal.
"So why did you come over Sheldon?" Penny suddenly asked.
"Oh, I was wondering if you wanted.." He paused, sending a quick glance at her mother, "to join me in a expedition tomorrow evening?"
Penny looked puzzled, and then blinked. "The Belgians?"
Sheldon nodded.
"I'm in. See you there at seven."
He said goodbye and hurried out, but he heard her mother speaking as he shut the door. "Oh you're going to go on an expedition with some Belgian friends? That's so exciting!"
Sheldon doubted the Belgians would be so excited when Sheldor and Queen Penelope logged in and destroyed their castle, but then, he always enjoyed a good ransacking, so yes, he supposed it was exciting.
He snorted a giggle as he entered his own apartment. Step two accomplished. He was on a roll.