An Exchange

Chapter Thirteen - Decisions

Giles

The Taylor's arrived at church before us. I led my family in and I saw plenty of room on the pew beside the Taylor’s, so I went and sat next to Penny. She looked over at me with surprise, but smiled warmly. “Hey you.”

Sarah sat beside me. Since she had never officially met Penny and had only seen her in passing, she leaned across me and introduced herself. “I'm Sarah, Giles' sister.”

“It's nice to meet you Sarah. I'm Penny—”

“I know who you are.” She grinned. “Giles has told me a lot about you.”

I elbowed her.

She pulled back, grinning.

Penny patted my shoulder. “All good things I hope.”

“Oh yes. He says you're nice to everyone and help him do well in bio,” Sarah said.

I sighed, relieved she didn't say anything embarrassing.

I stayed with Penny as much as I could, glad she was more than happy to oblige. During sacrament meeting, she showed me quotes she had written on the blank spaces in her scriptures and quietly explained them to me and why she liked them.

We laughed and joked on our way to Sunday School, and during class, we managed to get everyone laughing and caused a great disturbance.

When we went into the third hour meetings, I walked her to Young Women's and hung around outside with her until she was called in and I had to rush to priesthood.

Jonas saved me a place with him up the back. As I slipped in, several of the guys around us glanced at me before turning around to face the front. But as we separated, they turned to me and Jonas asked, “So you've decided to pursue Penny then?”

I grinned at him. “Yes.”

He slapped me hard on the back. “Sweet! You and Penny, now that would be an awesome combo.”

The other guys around us watched, listening. I turned away. “We'll talk about this later.”

But we didn't. After church he dragged Penny around with him to my house. He gave her the grand tour and I officially introduced her to everyone. She had met them all briefly here and there, but my sisters and Mom were very eager to actually sit down and talk with her. Dad didn't get home until later, but he paused out of Penny's view and listened to her with us. I caught his eye and he nodded his approval before entering the room.

The girls barely acknowledged him, but Mom walked over to him giving him a quick kiss. “How were your meetings?” she asked softly.

“Oh you know, the usual.” He looked over at Penny as the girls talked to her loudly. He then looked at me again. “Giles, are you going to introduce me?”

“Yes.” I shot up. I pushed Cassie off Penny and gently grabbed her arm. “Penny, I want you to officially meet my dad.”

She stood and stretched out her hand for him. “I've seen you around, but it's nice to actually meet you properly.”

“You too, Penny. All these kids ever seem to talk about is you, especially Jonas and Giles. You seemed to have made a good impression on these two boys, which is impressive considering how exclusive they can be with each other.”

Jonas let out an obnoxious laugh. “Yup. Giles and I are brothers in spirit.” He saluted me.

“You weirdo,” Cassie grumbled and slapped him.

Penny giggled. “They’re both a lot of fun, and most of the time they put on a good show for me. I like keeping them around so I can have front row seats.”