Secrets [In edit]

Secrets - one (Penny)

Note: There will be some Filipino terms since the main character is Filipino-American. Don't worry--I put in their meanings in English. :)

edit: I dedicate this chapter to @hozrien, because she was the person who suggested I post my story(ies) here, and was the first one to comment! Thanks girl! <3

CHAPTER ONE

I, I'm a boomerang

Doesn't matter how you throw me

I turn around and I'm back in the game

Even better than the old me

Not Over You—Gavin DeGraw 

School was almost over for the summer. It was four in the afternoon with the taste of summer in the air. Temperatures in California were already starting to warm up in mid-May, and the cool spring breeze was finally beginning to die down. Inside KV’s BookCafe, however, the atmosphere never changed.

Being that the bookstore-and-café-combo was within a college town, the place was almost always completely filled with studious students. Midterms and final exams were always the busiest days. But even though students come and go, it was always that peaceful place, like equivalent to a library—at least for Penny, that is.

Penny was one of the loyal college student regulars of KV’s; not only she was a regular, she is one of its part-time employees. She was in love with the fact that this bookstore was unlike Barnes & Noble or the late-Borders, because it was actually a used bookstore owned by her aunt, Kelly Velasquez, hence the acronym of its name. Her aunt was certain that when Penny’s done with college, she would take her place. But as of right now Penny was enjoying her quiet solitude.

At the corner of the very back of the bookstore, Penny was slouched against the armrest of a couch that was placed near the Romance books aisle. She sat in her own little world, wearing her green-colored college-Sunshine University-hoodie and matching sweatpants, while listening to the soothing voice of Cat Powers through her headphones. The large, sound-blocking headphones fitted perfectly against her ears, pouring out the best sound of music she has ever heard. She felt her loose bun on her head move back and forth as she nodded to the music.

If anyone passed through the back, at a glance they'd assume that Penny was studying, except she wasn’t. Before her was a thick anthology propped open against her upper legs. She stared at the words with her intense chocolate brown eyes and her Filipino button nose almost inches close to the book. The small print of the book made it hard for her to read. She had to review various stories for her finals next week, but her mind was clearly into the music.

“Ooh, baby, baby it’s a wild world, and I’ll always remember you…like a child, girl…” She flipped the thin page of the book to the next and scanned through the pages slowly. Just as she continued to stare at the boring story of Beowulf, the next song started to play.

That familiar soft soothing rock voice of Tom Parker never failed to make her smile. She slowly began to smile as she listened to the lyrics. “Say my name, like it’s the last time; live today, like it’s the last night…” The next two voices she heard made her grin even wider. She hadn’t heard this song since her slightly depressed-era a month ago. “...We want to cry, but we know it’s alright; cause I’m with you…and you’re with me…”

Penny closed her eyes as she leaned her head back to rest. The song was definitely one to pause for. “Butterflies, butterflies, we were meant to fly, you and I, you and I…colors in the sky, we could rule the world some day some how, but we’ll never be as bright as we are now…” While she was listening to the song, someone was calling for her outside of her sound-proof headphones.