Besides my anxious mind I soon drifted to sleep after Penny, a long while after Penny I might add. I awoke with my knees curled up against my chest and my arms wrapped around the pillow my head had been resting on, the way I usually sleep when I’d had a troubled sleep. I don’t remember having a bad dream or anything along those lines. But I do remember endless tossing and turning throughout the night, curse my restless mind. All night it kept jumping from thought to thought not allowing me to sleep in peace. And every time I did manage t fall asleep I would wake up at the smallest noise or branch tapping against my window. I turned over to Penny who was still sound asleep. I got up slowly from the bed not wanting to wake her from too much noise. I sat on the edge of my bed for a moment and rubbed my eyes, yawning continuously throughout the process. Eventually I managed to stand up without losing my balance and made my way over to the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror and scowled. Dried make-up covered my face and the inside of my mouth tasted of the warm grime that now covered my teeth. I covered my hand with my mouth and blew into it. Yuck! It smelled even worse than it tasted! Why didn’t I at least conjure up a teensy little bit of energy to brush my teeth last night? Oh well, what’s done is done. I then grabbed my toothbrush from the top drawer and covered it in toothpaste. I brushed for a very long time making sure I reached every single nook and cranny in my mouth. Every time I spit out in the sink I cringed at what I saw. I smiled at myself in the mirror, satisfied that I now had a clean mouth. But I still wasn’t entirely clean. Therefore I jumped into the shower.



The water was pleasantly warmed and relaxed me. I decided the shower was only making me more tired so I quickly changed the temperature to cold. That woke me up. When I got out of the shower I felt clean and rejuvenated. The shower had made my hair take its natural wave. I took in a whiff of hair and smelled the sweet scent my Peony and Freesia shampoo gave my hair. I put a dark purple robe that was hanging on hook on and returned to my room to find Penny just awakening. I slipped into an old tee-shirt and some shorts while she took her time waking up.



“Hey there sleep head!” I was glad I took the cold shower. It had fully revived me and made me extremely perky. Penny stretched and took a big yawn before responding.



“Morning. How did you sleep last night?” She obviously had slept through all of my tossing and turning which was no surprise. Penny had always been a heavy sleeper. I didn’t feel like telling her I slept badly so I just shrugged.



“Fine. How about you?” She smiled gleefully and hopped off the bed. It didn’t take her long to become fully conscious.



“Wonderful! It was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time.” I just grinned and started tidying up my room. Somehow nearly every single pillow had found their way in the floor along with many of my blankets from my bed. Penny hummed joyfully while she combed through her hair and the tune lifted my spirits. I recognized at once that it had been Ian’s song she had been humming. It truly was a beautiful song and I hope he took what Penny and I had said seriously. He really did have talent.



I finished promptly and Penny and I went to the kitchen to go make some breakfast. But by the time we reached the living room the delicious smell of bacon had all ready filled the air. I arrived in the kitchen to find Key cooking some scrambled eggs on the stove; the bacon was laid out on a plate on the counter.



“Mornin’ sweetheart, hello there Penny.” Penny smiled politely



“Hey Mr. Dawson.” She took a seat at the table while I greeted my father with a kiss on the cheek.



“Morning. Mmm bacon! Is there a special occasion I didn’t know about?” He kept his eyes on the eggs as I watched.



“No, nothing like that. I was just craving a little bacon, and eggs always go best with bacon.” He winked at me and I just rolled my eyes before taking my seat at the table next to Penny. After a few minutes Key finished with the eggs and put them on two plates for me and Penny along with a few slices of bacon. “Grubs ready!” He called into the bedroom and I heard Corinne groan from exhaustion, but in a few minutes time she was up and joined Penny and I at the breakfast table. Key served her the same plate as Penny and I and then pecked her on the lips adoringly. Blood filled her cheeks as he did so. Then Key grabbed a cup of coffee that he had previously set down on the counter and kissed me on the forehead.



“Bye Sammy, see you later.” He then blew a kiss at my mother who pretended to catch it and put it away in her pocket.



“Bye? Where are you going?”I asked while glancing over at Penny who by now was already stuffing her face and half the food on her plate was completely devoured.



“Work, remember? Just because you kids get the summer off doesn’t mean I do too.”Oh, right. I had completely forgotten about that. How could Corinne drop us off at the party if she was at work? Because my parents both worked long hours there was no way either of them would be home in time to drop us off at the party. Well, I guess we could just take the bus or something.



“Oh yeah, my bad.” He just patted my head and walked out the garage door. Before entirely shutting it he came back through and waved to me and my mother. “Oops almost forgot. Love you guys.”



“Love you too.” My mother and I shouted at him simultaneously just as he closed the door behind him. My mother only ate a portion of her meal before covering it in plastic wrap and sticking it in the fridge. I suspected she was running late because she then hastily got dressed and left for work.



“Bye girls! Have fun at the party!” She had said before leaving. Oh yeah, the party. And I was thinking that today was going to be a good one.



“Oh, what’s the matter with you?” Penny had asked while we were cleaning up the dirty dished from breakfast. “Don’t look so down in the dumps. This better not be about Kate’s party tonight! You already promised you’d go remember! You better not change your mind or I’ll call Ian and he’ll—“



“Sheesh! Calm down, I’m still going to the party,” I snapped. “I just don’t want to.” She rolled her eyes at me. She was sick of hearing me complain about going. We continued to wash dished in silence until all of a sudden I heard the front door open.



“Hello, anybody home?” My sister’s trill voice called from the front entryway.



“In the kitchen!” I hadn’t expected her to be home so early, but I didn’t mind. Unlike most siblings we got along extremely well. She was always more like another best friend to me than a sister. She walked gracefully to the table where Penny and I sat. Her walk was something she had inherited from my mother. Actually, she had inherited almost everything from my mother. It was funny how I got all my father’s genes and she got my mothers. She had my mother’s perfect blonde hair, sparkling blue-green eyes, and tall slender body. We both had our fathers face though. Small jaws with medium sized plump lips, high rounded cheekbones, and big eyes. Also everything on our faces seemed very symmetrical without looking too perfect. But the look always looked better on her. She was so beautiful and yet I was so normal looking. My mom said people used to get us confused when we were little and the only reason they could tell us apart was our hair. Hers long, straight and blonde and mine only medium length, brown and wavy. Even today we still look very much the same. But instead of mixing us up like when we were younger, now people didn’t even bother to look at me, just her. Even people in my grade and older would stop to look at her even though she was two years younger, yet no one even stopped for one second to acknowledge my existence. But I didn’t really mind, I never did like very much attention.



“Hey Sam! Nice to see you Penny!” That was another thing about her. She was always so nice, and polite. She was even funny too, not to mention smart. She really was the perfect person, no doubt about it.



“Hi Nicole! How was your sleepover?” I talked while Penny just watched.



“It was ok. Nothing really that extraordinary.”



“Oh, well that’s cool.” I answered not really sounding that interested.



“Yeah, it was the chilliest!” She laughed charmingly at her little joke and I joined in. “Well I’m going to unpack my stuff.” She then headed off to her room and Penny suggested we go get ready for the party. I looked at the clock on the microwave. It wasn’t even noon yet and the party started at seven. Penny just huffed and frowned when I told her getting ready this early most likely wasn’t the best idea. Instead I suggested we make cookies. Penny agreed with the idea, she was always up for anything that involved food.



Penny and I ended up eating half of the batter before the cookies were even finished so we ended up having to make two batches. The sweet smell of chocolate chip cookies filled the house and once Nicole smelled it she came out and began to help us bake.



“Two batches should be good, right Penny?” I asked while taking the second batch out of the oven and setting them on the counter to cool.



“Yeah, sure.” Her voice sounded as though her attention was occupied with something else so I turned my head around to see exactly what that was. She was propped up on the edge of the counter with her legs crossed licking the giant spoon we had used to make the cookie batter. I shook my head and went over to the sink where Nicole was now rinsing the dishes we had used and putting them into the dishwasher. Sensing that I didn’t get the reply I needed from Penny she answered the question as if it had been intended for to her the whole time.



“Probably, as long as we keep them hidden from dad.” I nodded at her response, it seemed reasonable enough. When the dishes were done I loaded the cookies on to a decorative plate and covered them in plastic wrap.



“Perfect!” I said while setting them down in the middle of the table.



“So what now?” It was Penny’s voice that I heard from behind. She was leaning over my shoulder staring hungrily at the plate of cookies. Her voice sounded bored. I tried to think up something we could do that might pass the time but thought of nothing.