The Three Of Us Against The World

Chapter Two

Hope and Penelope bake some cookies. They go to visit Lizzie, who is home from the hospital.

"You add the butter and sugar together first, Penelope! Why on earth would you start with the flour?" Hope sighs.

"I don't know! You're the baker," Penelope shrugs, pouting adorably at Hope. Hope can't help but blush at Penelope's pout, having had feelings for her best friend for a while now, but being much too afraid of ruining their friendship to tell the raven haired girl how she feels. Little does she know, but Penelope does feel the same.

"True. Here. This can just be the dry bowl. Put the rest of the dry stuff in there and mix," Hope instructs as she passes Penelope the bowl with the flour in it. 

Penelope does as Hope instructs. As Penelope does the dry ingredients, Hope creams the sugar and butter together and then mixes the wet ingredients into them. 

"There. Now add the wet to the dry and stir. I'll grab the baking sheet," Hope tells Penelope.

Hope grabs a baking sheet from the bottom cabinet. When she turns around after spraying it with some cooking spray, she finds Penelope with her fingers in her mouth, looking guilty. It's clear that the girl has tasted the raw cookie dough.

"You ate some, didn't you?" Hope sighs, setting the baking sheet down. 

"Maybe. It's really good," Penelope shrugs.

"These are suppose to be apology cookies for Lizzie, and we can't make them if you eat all the dough," Hope scolds as if Penelope was a child.

"My bad. I promise I won't eat any more. What do we do next?" Penelope replies.

"We roll them into similar sized balls and place them two inches apart. Then, they bake for twenty minutes," Hope explains.

The pair work together to do just that. Penelope places the cookies in the oven while Hope sets a timer. Leaving the cookies to bake, the pair settle onto the sofa. It's just the two of them alone since Hope's parents are at work. Soon, a comfortable silence settles over the pair. Penelope feels the sudden urge to confess her feelings for Hope.

"Hey Hope?" Penelope asks.

"Yeah, Pen?" Hope replies.

"I..." Penelope starts, but is interrupted by the cookie timer going off, "Never mind. We should get those before they burn."

Hope nods, and the pair go to get the cookies. They leave them to cool while they make the simple frosting for them. Needless to say, when they are done frosting the cookies once they have cooled, the kitchen is left a mess as they rush to visit Lizzie, wanting the cookies to be nice and fresh. 

******

Lizzie opens the door to reveal Hope and Lizzie. She frowns at the pair. The blonde can't comprehend as to why they are here as they are part of the group of people that torment her at school.

"What do you two want?" Lizzie asks cautiously.

"We heard what happened and decided to make you some cookies. Can we come in?" Hope replies, holding out the plate of cookies.

"Oh sure. I'll let you two in. You've been so kind to me over the years," Lizzie sighs sarcastically.

"Yeah, about that, we really want to apologize. We've been really shitty to you. I know cookies can't make up for everything we've done, but we would really like the chance to explain," Penelope states nervously.

Lizzie stands there for a moment, deciding if she should let the pair in. Sighing, she steps aside and allows Penelope and Hope to enter. The blonde leads them to the living room where she takes a seat in a chair, motioning for the other two girls to sit. They do so, Hope placing the cookies on the coffee table.

"Talk," Lizzie demands, hoping she doesn't regret letting the two inside her house.

"We were only so mean because we were scared that if we weren't, we would become targets as well. We're so sorry for what we've said over the years. Honestly, we think you're really cool and would like to another chance," Hope starts.

"We could use another friend. Whatcha say, Lizzie? Forgive us?" Penelope adds.

Lizzie takes a deep breathe and eyes the pair. She can tell by their eyes that they are sincere and really are sorry. The blonde decides to go for it. Having some friends would be nice. She's been especially lonely since Josie moved to live with their mom.

"Okay. You get one more chance," Lizzie agrees, causing Hope and Penelope to smile widely at her, making Lizzie's heart flutter unexpectedly. 

As both girls take turns hugging her, Lizzie hopes she won't come to regret this decision. She has a strong feeling that she won't, however.