Bones ↣ Shawn Mendes

Chapter Two

When I pulled in I noticed there was a weird car in my driveway. Who the hell is at my house? I remembered my dad had talked about a surprise so I ran as fast into the house.

"Finally! You're home!" My dad said, greeting me at the door.

"Hi." I said, taking off my sneakers and looking at the lady standing next to him, "Who's she?"

"This is what I've been waiting to tell you. This is my girlfriend, Laura. Laura, this is my daughter Penelope."

"Hi! I've been waiting to see you for ever! I love you're name! Pen-el-oh-pee! So pretty!" She said, hugging me. She was sort of a ditsy blonde, but not really ditsy. More just overly happy.

"Thanks..." I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Penelope, sit down at the table! We're eating!" My dad said and I walked to the dining room with them. I walked in and saw my older sister, Lily, next to another boy who I didn't know.

"Sorry my daughter is so underdressed." My dad said, referring to my track suit, and don't worry. I wasn't sitting there in my sports bra, I put a sweat shirt on over it.

"No, Pete, it's okay." She smiled at him, "And, Penelope, this is my son Lance."

"Hi!" He said, smiling. The boy was around nine years old, had brown hair and freckles, and he had super dark brown eyes.

"Hi." I said, smiling back. He looked like such a cutie. I could tell I liked him.

"Okay, take some food. Eat, eat!" My dad said, handing me the plate of lasagna.

I looked at the dish of layered bright red saucy, greasy cheese, and dark brown meats. The cheese oozed, and it was steaming.

"Can I just have salad and bread, please?" I asked giving him a half smile.

"Why not? You used to love lasagna." He said, shoving it towards me. I knew he wouldn't give up, so I used the best method I knew.

"That's because mom made it." I said, pushing the tray away. I saw his smile turn to a frown. I felt bad for doing that. He loved my mom more than anybody. He says I look just like her. I know he still loves mom, and I know he loves this new Laura girl. You can love more than one person.

"Okay. Just have some salad then." He said, handing me that salad bowl. The room was super quiet and awkward.

"So, mom are you going to marry him like you did with dad?" Lance told his mom.

"Oh, Lance too early." Laura said, resting a hand on his shoulder.

     I poked at my salad, putting the little grates of cheese to the side. It a good thing I hate cheese unless it's melted, or else my life style would be extra hard. I took a big fork full of the leafy dish, putting it into my mouth. I love salad, I don't understand why people hate it. I've always loved salad.

I grabbed my roll and stuffed it with the salad. I took a bite of the homemade sandwich, and savored the taste. The softness and the crunch of the lettuce was what I lived for. I love food.

And I know what you're thinking. Penelope, you're anorexic how can you hate food? But you're wrong.

People think that anorexics hate food. They couldn't be more wrong. In fact, we love it so much, we let it take over our whole lives.

"So, Lily, how was that math test?" My father asked my sister. She had a big math test to see if she could get into Algebra, only being twelve that was the advanced math course.

"I think I did really good. The questions were super easy." She said, shoving her face with the lasagna. I cringed at it, thinking of all the calories. All the fat.

"Well, Laura is a math teacher in the high school, so you'll have her as a teacher some time if you make the test." My dad said, staring into Laura's eyes.

I've never seen Laura around my school. What is he talking about?

"How come I've never seen her at school?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because she works at a different school in the district." My dad said.

"But you just said I'd have her as a teacher." Lily said, looking as confused as I am.

"Oh, right. We have some news to tell you kids. Me and Laura have some news. Since we've been seeing each other for a few months, we've decided to move in together." My dad announced. I choked on my sandwich, and began coughing.

"Moving in? We just met her! I thought you guys have been seeing each other for a few weeks, not months! How could you hide this from you're kids and then just ambush us with this!" I yelled.

"Well I'm sorry, Penny, but we've already settled on this." He dad said while looking at me sternly.

"How could you do this? How could you do this to us? And mom? Do you not love her anymore?" I shouted, slamming my hands on the table.

"You can lie multiple people, Penelope. I still love you're mom and I love Laura." My dad raised his voice. His voice is scary as is, he's a big man. He's a fitness trainer, so you'd expect that.

"So you're just going to forget about us?" Lily said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Lily, you know that not true." I said, running over to her, hugging her.

"Oh so now you're being nice?" My dad questioned me.

"Paul!" Laura scolded.

"Well, why can't my daughters be happy for me? I've finally found love again! The passing hasn't just been hard on you guys, it's been hard on me, too! And now that I love somebody as much as I've loved your mom, you can't handle it?" My father screamed, storming out of the room.

"So, you're mommy'a dead?" Lance whispered to me.

"Yeah, bud, I'm afraid so." I was still hugging Lily.

"My daddy's dead. He died a while ago. I was almost eight!" He said, still remaining to be happy.

"Wow, that just a little bit older than me when my mommy was gone." I smiled. Lance was really strong about it. None of us kids really had the opportunity to have both of our parents, especially Lily. She was only three when my mom was killed.

"I'm really sorry guys, I didn't mean to do this." Laura apologized, her head swinging low.

"No, it's not your fault. It's ours. We just kiss our mom, that's all. It's nothing against you." I told her. She looked up at me and smiled at my apology. I managed to fake a smile at her, "Lily, let's go upstairs. Lance, you can come along if you want."

"Sure!" He said, his face lighting up with delight. I grabbed both of their hands and walked up to my room.