In Charlotte's Eyes

Peni Parker

Two years passed. As time went by, she learned more about the fun group of four. Aaron was attempting to live as an artist. Recently he finished setting up an online shop, hoping to sell some of his pieces. He was mostly a traditional artist, but dabbled in electronic art. He had minimal success so far, but he was never any less confident of his abilities. Carlos and Parker were similar in their goals. Both of them were doing college courses while working part time. Parker was working to be some sort of brand associate. Carlos was working to become an electrician. Carlos still had two more years of school before graduation. Parker, on the other hand, was finishing up his last year. And as for Suzuki, he planned to rise up in the company he already worked in. He had gone to college before, and even earned a degree, but he decided that he enjoyed working for the company he currently worked for, so he decided to stick with it instead of finding a different job. He became a manager in the company already. He hoped to rise up even further eventually.

Carlos recently moved in with Aaron and became roommates. Parker currently lived with his parents, but planned to move after graduating. Suzuki had a house, a small one. Charlotte, herself, lived in an apartment.

Parker invited Charlotte to his graduation party. His parents rented out a local park to use for the day. Charlotte showed up a little bit late. She had decided to take a nap, but ended up sleeping longer than she expected to.

She stepped out of her car, the clear air and sunlight hitting her skin. There was a breeze in the air. It was coming from the ocean. She could see it in the distance as she walked towards where the party was set up. She looked up in the air as a shadow flew overhead. She wore sunglasses to protect her eyes. A seagull was in the air, loitering. It was looking for any scraps of food that someone would drop.

She noticed Aaron's truck in the parking lot. It was decorated uniquely, so it wasn't hard to spot. She hoped that Parker wouldn't be discouraged by her late appearance.

She made her way into the crowd of people. Everyone was eating, talking. Music was playing. A bunch of foldable tables were laid out, along with foldable chairs. Balloons and decorations were colored in different shades of blue, mostly on the lighter side; Parker’s school colors.

An arm folded around her. “Hey, Charlotte!” A familiar raspy voice excitedly met her ears, surprising her. Suzuki was beaming at her, walking in pace with her. She smiled at him. “I was looking for you.”

“Oh.” She chuckled. “Is there a specific reason?”

“No, not really.” He removed his arm from her. “It would just seem weird to have a party without him inviting his only spelunking buddy.” By “him,” Charlotte assumed he was talking about Parker.

She chuckled again. “Yeah, I accidentally fell asleep.” She admitted. “I’m glad to see you’re here, too, Sue.” That was her nickname for him.

Before he could respond, a voice shouted at the two of them from a distance. “Charlotte!” She turned to see Parker’s exuberant smile. He was jogging up to her. “You’re here!” A figure followed behind him in a walk.

“Hey, Parker!” She greeted back with as much energy as he had, removing her sunglasses. The two exchanged a quick hug. “Congrats on graduating!” She smirked. “This party looks awesome.”

“It definitely is.” He chuckled. “All my favorite people in the same place, amazing food, a bunch of fun activities,” He sighed happily. “This feels so, so special.”

The object that was following him stopped next to him. They perked up, loudly speaking, “Because this is special, Parker! You graduated!” Their voice sounded feminine.

Parker looked at them. He smiled, chuckling nervously. He rubbed the back of his head. “I just feel so honored to be celebrated like this.”

Charlotte and the mystery person made eye contact. The object smiled at her, waving. “Hey, guys.”

Parker made a realization. “Oh yeah.” He looked at Charlotte. “I forgot to introduce you to my sister, Charlotte.” His sister waved at her again, beaming. “I introduced her to Suzuki, Carlos, and Aaron earlier, but you weren’t here yet.”

Charlotte laughed awkwardly. “Sorry, I slept in.” She looked at his sister. “Parker told me about you a few times,” She put a hand to her chin. “Is it.. Peni? Right?”

“Yup!” She beamed back at her. Peni was a wrapped piece of caramel. Her wrapper was a flat golden brown. She was an ellipse shape. The east and west sides of her wrapper were twisted to close her caramel body in. She was short. She had long legs, but it wasn’t able to make up for her small frame. She was about six or so inches shorter than Charlotte was. “Parker told me about you a few times, too.”

“Did he now?” She slimmed her eyes at the man in question. “What did you tell her?” She asked with playful intrigue.

He laughed. “Nothing important, I think.”

“He told me that you two go spelunking together.” Peni said.

“And Parker told me that you live in Kentucky?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“Woah, Kentucky?” Suzuki exclaimed in surprise. “You drove all the way from there to here?”

“Well, yeah, it was a really long drive, but," She paused, stretching. "I had to be here for my little bro.” She giggled, looking up at her younger brother.

Parker chuckled lightly. "Thanks, Peni."

"Sooo, do you have any more siblings, or is it just the two of you?" Charlotte asked.

"Just us two." Parker replied.

"Yep!" Peni chorused.

"Y'know, that reminds me," Parker put a hand to his chin. "I don't think I've ever asked both of you if you have any siblings." His eyes glanced at her and Suzuki.

"Oh, well," Charlotte looked away, a small smile on her face. Her right eye scrunched slightly. "I don't have any."

"I have a brother." Suzuki quickly responded after.

"Oh, really?" Parker smiled at him confidently. He was about to ask him a question, when another voice from a distance called his name. He turned his head to look. A group of three were waving at him, gesturing to him to come over. He looked back at his friends. "Oh-, sorry, guys. I gotta go."

"It's cool." Charlotte replied, a hand on her hip.

"Thanks." Parker turned and began jogging off. “Enjoy the party!” He shouted.

"Have fun!" Suzuki called as he left.

Peni looked at them and waved with a large grin before leaving, too. Suzuki and Charlotte looked at each other. "Well," Charlotte tilted her head slightly, smirking. "Since we're together already, wanna play a game or something?"

He chuckled gravelly in response. "You're on. Want to find Aaron and Carlos, too?"

"I'm down for that."

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