From Very Real Pranks to Something Like Love

Penelope Harris; Death by Hiking

The gravel crunched under my feet as I trekked up the path, my breath coming out in ragged gasps. Jeez, I was really out of shape. I paused for a moment and panted, gulping in the chilly air as I tied my hair into a high ponytail, pulling hot sticky strands away from the nape of my neck. 

"Since when do you hike?" 

I whipped around, the end of my ponytail hitting me in the eye painfully, and peered at the boy who was a few feet behind me, my vision only slightly blurred as I blinked away the pain. When my vision came into focus, I huffed and continued walking, ignoring the fire that was running through my legs and ass.

"Oh, so you're just going to ignore me after what happened? Take on hiking as a hobby to blow off hot air? I never thought you were a quitter Pennywhistle." I screeched and spun around, stomping angrily towards him. I hoped I looked as intimidating as I felt, but with my luck I looked like an angry bunny rabbit or something. 

"Stop calling me that," I ground out, stabbing him in the chest. His eyes gleamed with wonder and for a moment--literally not more than two seconds. Okay...maybe three...--I was completely lost in his eyes, watching the colors swirl and the pupils dilate, the flecks of gold glinting in the early morning sun and his eyelashes framing the work of art that was his eyes. 

"Admiring the view?" He teased. 

Shit. 

Okay I lied, I was definitely looking for more than two or three seconds....but can you blame me?

"Could you be more cocky?" I asked haughtily. He smirked at me and tapped his chin, looking into the distance thoughtfully. Without hesitating, I took the moment to scurry away, using both hands and feet to crawl up the side of the mountain like a crazed mountain goat.

"Nice ass!" 

"Bite me!" 

"Gladly," he retorted, his tone sultry and smooth. I ignored him and continued climbing, the sun peeking above the hills in the distance. I stood quietly and faced away from him, the rays of sunlight hitting my face and warming my cheeks and eyelids.

I felt warm breath on my neck, sending shivers up my spine. I hunched my shoulders as goosebumps crawled across my skin, but I remained still. 

"Penny..."

I turned around and stared into his eyes, the colors hypnotizing me once again. I stared at him in wonder, my eyes drifting down towards his lips as they came closer and closer to mine...

24 HOURS EARLIER....

"You are so, so grounded Penelope Harris. You, you are grounded for longer than a lifetime, you're grounded for eternity." 

In case you couldn't tell, my mother was pissed. Well, she was more than pissed, but I don't think there's a word that exists in the English dictionary to describe her current level of anger...

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" She screeched. She had been pacing our kitchen for the past twenty minutes yelling...I'm surprised she hasn't lost her voice yet, to be honest. 

"I was thinking that I could get an awesome video of senior football players screaming little little wussy princesses," I retorted, crossing my arms as I slouched down in the kitchen stool. I heard my mother exhale slowly and I knew I was in even deeper doggie doo doo than before. 

"You listen here Penelope,"  my mother said, her voice low and lethal. I stared at her calmly. Since this prank war started and I broke more rules than ever in my life, I had become much more defiant and much less terrified of my parents. Although, I must say that my mother's face being inches from my own and in a state of pure anger was slightly unsettling.