Summer of 76

Chapter 1

The sun shone through the shutters of Penelope's window waking her. She cursed herself for forgetting to close them the night before. Rolling over to look at the clock on her wall, Penelope saw it was 9:23 am.

"Lovely," she growled as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes knowing full well she wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep.

As Penelope got dressed, she danced along to her radio a bit. She hummed along to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. It had quickly become one of her favorites.

Her cat, Ginger, hopped up onto her bed, meowing his greeting. She scratched behind his ears then headed to breakfast after being satisfied with her overalls.

"Mom! Whatever you're cookin it smells great!" she exclaimed coming down the hall of her cozy home in New Iberia, Louisiana.

Her mom, Judy, was cooking at the stove and smiled over her shoulder at Penelope who plopped herself down on a bar stool at the counter.

The windows were open trying to provide what little relief there was to the heat of summer in the South.

"Whatcha cookin?" Penelope chimed trying to see what her mother was flipping in the pan.

"Pancakes. Your favorite." she smiled flipping one onto a plate and handing it to Penelope who drowned it in syrup then shoveled it in her mouth. Her mom simply chuckled at her strange but normal behavior.

"What's on the agenda today, Penny?" her mother ask leaning on the counter across from her.

"Probably just ride around like always. Some kids are going to the skating rink tonight. I was thinking about going." Penelope responded bored.

"OH! The skating rink? You should go!" her mom chimed absolutely beaming.

Penelope was not a very "girly" girl or your average American 15 year old. She was smart, independent, and spoke her mind which is why she didn't have many friends. She was seen as strange and arrogant. But Penelope had no problem with being by herself most of the time. In fact, she often preferred it that way. Her mother, however, was the social butterfly when she was Penelope's age and wanted the same for her daughter which is why she got very excited every time Penelope mentioned a party or any group oriented activity. She was concerned for her daughter's social status which was her main focus.

"Eh, I'll think about it," Penelope said hopping off the bar stool and walking toward the door.

"Are you gonna be back for lunch or do you have money?" Her mother asked reaching for her purse.

"I got it, Mom," she waved her off without turning around, "I'm 15 I can take care of myself."

With that she closed the door and walked across the lawn to her bike. It was a Ross bicycle, blue, and had a caramel brown leather seat that was well broken in.

Penelope rode her bike almost everyday and everywhere. It was easy and she enjoyed it. The slight breeze and effortless work out calmed her down and was quite pleasant.

She rode off in the direction of Rick's Corner Store, one of her favorite places to hang out. She passed a couple girls from her class who watched her ride past with a look of annoyance.

Penelope ignored them and kept pedaling. Finally arriving at Rick's, she hopped off her bike and parked it in the bike stand. As she opened the door, a bell rung and Mr. Rick strolled out from the back of the store. He smiled when he saw it was Penelope.

"Ms. Hawkins! Long time no see et?" he repeated the line that he said everyday when she came into his store.

Penelope chuckled a bit and shook her head walking up to the counter and jumping up to sit on it.

"How's business, Mr. Rick?" she asked as she always did giving him a serious expression.

"Business is business." he replied.

The two had this same conversation everyday. It had become a little joke they shared. Penelope always liked Mr. Rick as did all the other kids and teenagers. He was funny and so not serious like the rest of the adults. Also, he genuinely cared about the kids around here and understood them. Mr. Rick was bald but always wore a poker visor for a reason no one could figure out. When he smiled you couldn't see his eyes and he loved to smile.

"Say, Penny, I got to introduce you to someone." Mr. Rick said to her as he went to the back of the store again.

Penelope sat there trying to think of who he might be talking about and was almost certain he was pulling a prank when he returned with a guy.

He was lean and tall but you could tell he had muscles through the tight shirt he wore. His hair was a chocolate brown, shaggy and flared out at the nape of his neck a bit. The front from split down the middle and both sides swooped up and back making small arches. When he smiled it was crooked and she saw a dimple in his left cheek. His eyes were brown as well and shone when he smiled.

Mr. Rick stepped aside and motioned toward the guy, "This is Jack Schex. You might know him. Im pretty sure he goes to your school."

Jack smiled again and nodded giving a little half wave as he put his hands in the back pockets of his jeans that were a bit tight.

"What's up." Penelope nodded toward him and continued talking to Mr. Rick "I've seen him around. You play baseball right?" she asked looking toward him again waiting for an answer.

She had seen him around. She was pretty sure he was going to be a junior this year and that she'd heard some of the dimwits in her classes talk about how hot he was. Penelope never really paid attention to those girls. She found them and the whole high school experience overrated.

Jack looked up and nodded as he smiled brilliantly. "Yeah. Your gonna be a sophomore right?"

"Yeah. Though I'm not surprised if you don't know my name. Most people think I'm weird. But they don't see genius when it's in their face." Penelope retorted smirking a bit.

Jack chuckled and shook his head a bit. "Its Penelope right?"

Penelope eyed him suspiciously and wondered how he'd known her name but shrugged and said "Yeah. So you working here now?"

"Yeah. Gotta pay for my car and Mr. Rick offered so I took it." he answered smiling over at Mr. Rick.

"Well this here is our number one customer so treat her well or you're fired." Mr. Rick joked and pinched her cheek as she swatted his hand away and stuck her tongue out. He simply laughed at her.

"Will do." Jack answered saluting Mr. Rick's back as Penelope giggled. He looked at her and smiled winking at her. Penelope blushed and then rolled her eyes shaking her head at him.

'Well this should be an interesting summer.' she thought to herself still watching Jack.

Whats up guys! so i hope you enjoyed that and the next chapter will be coming soon. Penelope is on the right! Yes, that is the amazingly talented Birdy! Pictures of the other characters will be coming soon! Any way vote and comment and all that good stuff!! Love you guys!

-Lindsey