Pen Pal

-9-

By the way, the picture above was made by letsemologic isn't it adorable?! I love it so much and I love her so much. ❤️

Okay, back to the story:

Loud, consistent knocking rings through the house until it jars me awake. I huff as I get up from my cozy bed and make my way down to the front door. I spy through the peep hole to find Joey standing at my door, banging on it with his knuckles.

I succumb to opening the door and glare at Joey, who's obviously a morning person.

"Well hello there." He sends me a warm smile. Instead of returning the gesture, I scowl at him and cross my arms over his chest.

"What're you doing here at...." I begin to inquire, grabbing his arm and checking the time on his watch. "9:16 AM? It's summer vacation for Christ's sake!"

"Good morning to you, too." He chuckles.

"I'm in no mood for your chipper attitude." I state, grabbing the edge of my door as I start to shut it.

"How about I run to get you some coffee?" He suggests. "That may wake you up."

"How about you just run far away from here and let me rest?" I roll my eyes. "I don't need coffee. I just want some sleep."

"No need to be so harsh." He remarks, gazing at the ground for a few moments then looking back up at me.

"Sorry." I mumble, feeling guilty for my rude behavior. "You can come in but you've got to make me some muffins or something." The corners of his mouth turn into a small smile before he steps inside. I close the door as he makes his way into the kitchen.

I look down at my attire: large, red and black flannel pajama bottoms and a small grey tank top. Maybe a wardrobe change is needed.

"Hey, Joe, I'm gonna go change my clothes. I'll be right back." I go to the end of my staircase. "Please don't burn the house down."

"No promises!" He says in a sing-song voice.

I quickly dash up to my room and throw on some decent looking clothes; a pair of skinny jeans and a plain, grey sweater. I throw my hair into a messy bun since I don't really feel like messing with it and, just because I have company over, I put on some eyeliner and mascara. I grab my phone off my table before descending the stairs again and walking into the kitchen. Joey is checking something that's in the oven, bending down and peering into the smallish appliance.

"Making muffins?" I ask as I pad my way over to one of the stools and plop down on it.

"Yes, I am." He grins triumphantly. "Izzy, how come you can afford such a gorgeous house?"

"It was my grandparents. When my grandfather passed away, my grandmother was already deathly ill so she gave me the house. The land and house was already paid off so they knew I would only have to worry about lighting, water, and garbage." I explain to him, smiling at the remembrance of Mee-Mee and Pops.

"I'm sorry about your loss." He whispers.

"It's fine. It's been a while now." He sends me an apologetic smile before my phone buzzes in my hand. I look down to it to see that I have a message from Harry.

Good morning!
-Harry

I smile at the message then respond to it. We chat for a while, even after the muffins are done and Joey and I have finished eating. We text continuously for about an hour then he sends me this:

Can we hang out today?
-Harry

I ponder on it. I'd love to hang out with him but I can't necessarily just kick Joey out. I was already mean to him once this morning, I don't think I should do it again.