The Fleece Job (Olympus Drive Chronicles)

Chapter 2: Summer days

Penny

"How do you know if someone likes you?" I'm standing in my dad's house, and we're on either side of a work bench working on separate projects. He's fixing an automaton. I'm working on a pet project. A staff. I want to make it collapsible, but it's a bit tricky to get it as small as I want and still have it be sturdy when it opens up. I've tried a couple of different metals and now I settled with iron.

"Nobody likes me, Penny, so it's easy--------oh are you asking for yourself?' my dad asks, looking up from what he's doing briefly.

"Yes, sorry. I know I'm not good with non verbal cues and body language. And so I've been googling 'how to tell if someone likes you' but it's always very subjective so I'm not getting very far," I sigh.

"Is this hypothetical or---no?" he finishes when I shake my head, "Oh Satan's thumbprint it's not one of your miserable cousins is it--? Please say no? I realize it's not like actually incest since you're all just half cousins or something, but they're all idiots."

"Ev," I admit, fiddling with my metal baubles. They're magnet fidget toys that my dad gave me when we first met.

"Oh, they're all right then. They're your friend."

"I know! And I don't want them to stop being my friend if they know I want to kiss them," I groan, "And I've read that can happen."

"It can but---I'm sorry honesty is best."

"But isn't there some—body language way I'm missing to tell if they like me too?"

"No, Penny, there isn't. Everybody's clueless in love, we really are. Just tell them how you feel, and they can take it from there. It's all you can do," he says.

"How? What do I say?" I ask.

"I don't know. I don't know how you feel just—try to be honest."

"I don't know if they---like girls or guys or what. They haven't ever dated anyone maybe they don't want to date, I don't know if that's an agender thing or not but from my googling it could be," I say. Ev identifies as neither male nor female, which I honestly don't think about 90% of the time except it makes things like this confusing.

"Then ask them that first, who they're attracted to men or women or what, that's a start," he says, "I'm sorry. It's not easy for anyone but it's simplest to be-------wait a minute. What are you doing here? How long have you been here?"

"Working on my project," I say, pointing at the staff. "You said I could."

"It's your week with your mother---ergo you are not intended to be here. How long have you been here?"

"Four hours."

"Does your mother know where you are?"

"I doubt it, though I'm sure she can guess. She can text me," I say, shrugging.

"What ---you just left?"

"Yeah. I'm eighteen, therefore the custody agreement doesn't really stand anymore unless she gets herself declared my conservator or whatever like she talks about," I say, shrugging.

"What so you just---walked out of your house and drove two and a half hours here, came in, started work, and neither I nor your mother questioned it?"

"Correct," I say, shaking my head.

"Okay---okay Pen, where does she think you are?"

"I really couldn't say. Last time we spoke I was slamming my room door saying that I didn't want to meet her guests I'm busy and she was saying it was only polite.  Then I left via the window."