AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The nightmare that woke me, while covered in a cold sweat, flashes before my eyes, making me freeze. No matter how many times I’ve gone through it, it’s like my body doesn’t care. There is no way one can get used to it. A part of me wished I could just forget what had happened, but another part didn’t want to forget. Because forgetting would mean erasing everything that had happened before, and I just couldn’t do that.
A soft hand lands on my forearm, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Bash? Are you okay?”
Shaking my head, I push the memories back, where I don’t have to deal with them, if only for the moment, and force out a smile because that’s what I’m best at. Faking it.
“Well, I do haveveryvivid dreams,” I say, my voice dropping a notch so she doesn’t miss the innuendo.
Penelope blinks as my words register in her mind. Color spreads over her cheeks, her lips parting, and my smirk grows bigger. I don’t know what it is about seeing her unsettled like this that makes me so pleased with myself, but it does, especially when I see that lover boy of hers glaring at me from the corner of my eye.
“You’re the worst.” Sliding the strap of her bag over her shoulder, she grabs the harness from the chair. “Henry, harness.”
The dog slides from under the table and gets to his feet, slipping between the straps. Penelope quickly secures them and straightens, her body bumping into mine.
“You haven’t seen anything yet, Birdy.” I raise my hand, brushing away a strand that fell in her face. “We leaving or what?”
“Y-yeah.” That blush on her cheeks deepens, but she quickly glances over her shoulder. “I’ll see you later, Enrique?”
Lifting my gaze, I look at him. His scowl deepens, which only makes my smirk grow bigger.
She’s going with me, buddy. Deal with it.
“Sure thing, Penny. I’ll see you soon.”
Is it just me, or did he put emphasis on her name?
Moving to the side, I wait for Penelope to give Henry the command. I give them a moment to get ahead of me before I turn my back to lover boy and follow after them. Most of the people have already left, but the hallways are filled with students rushing to their next class.
Instead of heading for the elevator, she opts for the stairs and down the hallway until we get to room 305.
She enters, not bothering to turn on the light. So I look for the switch, flicking it on before closing the door, only to find her already next to the piano. Petting Henry, she gives him a treat and lets him out of the harness.
“Why do you do that?” I ask as I watch her walk to the window, cracking it open a fraction.
“Do what?”
She returns back to the piano and slides her palm over the back of her dress, smoothing it down before she takes her seat, not once bumping into anything even though she doesn’t have Henry by her side. I move closer, the floorboards creaking under my weight with every step.
“Let him out of the harness. Isn’t it a hassle to always put it back on?”
“Not really. Besides, if we’ll be somewhere for a while, Henry deserves to be comfortable.”
Henry makes exactly three circles before settling next to the bench where Penelope is sitting, his watchful eyes landing on me.
“I guess that makes sense. I didn’t look at it that way.”
“Most people don’t.”
The way she says it so matter of factly like she’s heard the same question a hundred times before and is used to it. She probably has, and for some reason, that doesn’t sit right with me.
“So… What did you have in mind?”
Her question stops me from thinking of other ways that people made her feel inadequate to them.
“What do you mean?”
That stubborn strand slips from behind her ear once again, so she tucks it back in place. “How do you want to do this?”
“I don’t know,” I admit honestly. I didn’t think much about the process, just that I needed to hear her play again so I could feel that flicker of inspiration come back to life. “Why don’t you just do what you’d usually do, and we can go from there?”
