it's a date (the only problem is it's fake)

now, let the royal dance begin

Hope watches as Penelope puts the final touch to her hair. She's been wanting to tell some things to her best friends. Things about Landon, about Dana and more importantly about Josie. She's been pushing it off though, Penelope would ask questions and Hope would tell her 'later' or 'nothing happened'. Penelope knew something was wrong with her friend, and that she was definitely hiding something, but she didn't push. Hope was a private person, it wouldn't do any good to push her to talk.

"I'm ready! Let's get our dates." Penelope says with a smile.

She goes to leave the room, but Hope abruptly stands up.

"Wait!" Penelope stops and look at her questionningly. "I... I need to tell you something."

Penelope rolls her eyes. "Finally! Come on, spill."

Hope nods. "Okay, so you know that Landon's been acting really weird since the break up, right?" Penelope nods. "Well, Dana came to talk to me last week before practice. She wanted to 'make sure I am okay with Landon and her dating'. I mean what a freaking bitch, right? Anyway, that same day I saw Josie again and-"

"Wait, you saw Josie again?" Penelope asks with her eyes wide.

"Yes!" Hope says impatiently. "She invited me over to her house so we could go over some things before tonight. So I went and-"

"You went to her house? Was Lizzie there?"

"Stop interrupting me!" Hope says with a glare. "Lizzie was out. We were talking in her room and then her mother walked in. She totally thought we were dating. So we acted like we were actually dating in front of her parents and it worked."

Penelope takes the opportunity to talk when Hope makes a little pause. "Okay. Where is this going?"

Hope rolls her eyes. "You're so impatient!" She crosses her arms and looks at the ceiling, avoiding Penelope's eyes. "We cuddled on her bed."

Penelope doesn't say a word for the longest moment. It makes Hope nervous and she quickly glances at her friend. The short haired girl's face is neutral, but then she starts laughing. It quickly gets Hope mad, and she walks to Penelope and smack her on the arm.

"Stop it asshole!" Hope hisses.

"You..." Penelope tries to catch her breath. "You're having gay panic because your fake girlfriend cuddled you?"

Hope feels the blush covering her cheeks. "I knew I should have kept my mouth shut."

Hope rolls her eyes and walks out of her room, but Penelope is quick to follow her.

"Hope! Come on, I was just... you know."

"Laughing at me?" Hope says as she turns around.

Penelope shrugs. "Well, yeah. That's what I do, and that's why you keep me around." Penelope gets a little more serious. "But, hey, if you need me to be serious, you know I can be."

Hope rolls her eyes again. "Like hell you can!"

Penelope smirks as she watches Hope walk away. She shakes her head softly, she was glad her best friend was acting a little more like herself. Maybe she should thank Josie Saltzman for that. The short haired girl starts to walk again.

As soon as she's close enough to Hope, Penelope starts to sing. "Hope and Josie sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N- OW!"

The slap she receives from Hope is brutal and unexpected, but well deserved. So Penelope says nothing, but she pouts all the way to Josie's house.

*

Josie's putting the final touch to Lizzie's hair, when her twin decides to speak.