A Handful of Summer [Penelope]

[penelope raisa bainbridge]

June 2028

Although Penelope's conversation with Cordelia had taken an awkward turn, they seemed to recover from it, returning to small talk about how many siblings she had. It was a lot, as Cordelia said, and she was used to getting that reaction. There were some other families with a lot of children, or people with lots of siblings, but they tended to be slightly different situations than her own—adoptees or half- or step-siblings.

Really, there was only so much Penelope could say about being one of the youngest siblings in such a big family. In her childhood, there had been more fighting, but growing up had mellowed that out, mostly. And not living in her parents' house would probably help. Penelope was used to being lumped in as one of the triplets.

"Umm… If y-you need any help, f-feel free to ask m-me or Eli," Cordelia offered.

"Thanks, Cordelia," Penelope replied brightly. "And thank you again for the baked goods."

cordelia regan smith

[cordelia regan smith]

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It was nearing the end of the conversation, she thought, though these were the sorts of things that she was the worst at. Trying to figure out when to gracefully exit was tough, especially without Eli next to her. He always seemed to figure out a way to close things out and escape, even if he was a bit awkward about it. Overall, his way of doing things was far better than what she had, which was always a bumbling mess of confusion and fiddling around with the hems of her sleeves. So exactly what she was doing right now! Luckily her roommates and coworkers seemed to all understand. Penelope didn’t know that yet, though.

”You’re welcome,” she said, amazed that the two words escaped unharmed. That rarely happened with new people. ”If y-you like them…the bakery ha-has them most days.” She kicked herself mentally, instantly remembering that she had told Penelope where they came from at the start of the conversation. Cordelia knew if she wasn’t so hard on herself, everything would go a lot smoother.

”I umm…” Cordelia hesitated, wondering if this was the escape that she had been hoping for. ”N-Nice to m-meet you again and uhhh…I-I hope you like it here.” She did her best to smile at her new housemate before turning to head back towards her bedroom. In a way, this was a victory of sorts for her. Every conversation like this was a step in the right direction and she hoped it would be beneficial in some way. She couldn’t wait to tell Eli about it later.

[Cord End]

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