When Saturday morning rolled around. Penelope was reconsidering her promise. It was 6:30 am, and she still needed half an hour to get there. Hoping that she'd be able to get coffee, Penelope decided to bring a mug this week.
Every week at the Saturday Morning Jump Club, they also had a mug of the week contest. The top mugs would be voted on during the week on Instagram. While Penelope never competed before, she recently received a piece-of-cake mug from her mom. (Unfortunately, it wasn't a fun joke from the food blog, but a degrading joke about her having her cake and eating it too with the new food blog.)
Deciding to bring it and enter anyway, Penelope triple-checked she had everything. Her phone, keys, and sunscreen were in the bag she pulled over her head. With one hand holding the mug, and the other holding a floaty, Penelope was ready to head out the door. She texted Eloise and Phillip her ETA.
On the other side of the town, Eloise was dealing with her brother. Now she loved her siblings, but they could be a lot.
Due to his standby status, Colin didn't get in until late. Then he begged Phillip and Eloise to let him crash on their couch instead of driving another hour to the family home. Of course, they gave in, but they also gave him plenty of warning about their early morning plans. Colin assured them it wouldn't be a problem.
Now that it was morning - Colin definitely wasn't complaining. In fact, he was insisting that he should come along. The only problem, he didn't have any clean swim trunks. Thankfully, Phillip had a pair in the closet that should fit Colin.
While the two went hunting in the room, Eloise looked at their selection of mugs. She grabbed two standard ones for her and Phillip and considered grabbing one for Colin. He wasn't the biggest coffee drinker, but Eloise was thinking she could take the mug that Francesca got her to be a paperweight. It was tiny and would make him laugh later. Making up her mind, Eloise grabbed the mug and put it in her mug to carry it.
"Let's go! Did you find a pair?" Eloise called out to them.
Colin popped out in only a pair of swim trunks. "I'm ready." He said confidently.
Eloise rolled her eyes. "No shirt?"
"No shirt," Colin confirmed with a smile. "When you look this good, you have to show it off."
"Phillip, please tell me you at least have a shirt on," Eloise said.
Phillip came out wearing a shirt and looking confused. "Um, yes."
"Good, let's go," Eloise said.
"Did you text Pen?" Phillip asked.
"Yup, she sent her ETA. We should get there at the same time." Eloise said. She didn't mention Colin to Penelope. Surprising her with a "fake" sibling would be more fun than giving her a heads-up.