Cool for the Summer

Chapter 7

"Hey. I'm Peggy Schuyler," Peggy happily introduced herself to Green Eyes. "And these are--" She turned to see Angelica and Eliza running away. "Well, those were my sisters."

Real subtle, guys, she internally groaned.

The boy laughed. "I'm John Laurens." His gaze fell on her left hand, which he curiously took in his, studying the Deathly Hallows symbol she had drawn on this morning. Peggy felt her face burn.

"Oh, so you're a Potterhead, too?" he observed.

"You bet. I've been obsessed since sixth grade."

He grinned. "Nice. Which house are you in?"

"Gryffindor," she replied.

"So am I!"

And so it began. They talked about Harry Potter for about an hour, sitting under the shade of that oak tree (Peggy found out that they shared a turtle patronus). Then the conversation simply flowed into all sorts of subjects. John's interest in marine life, Peggy's interest in chemistry, 80's music, and Marvel movies. Peggy had never met anyone who was easier to talk to. Before she knew it, they were hanging out for the rest of the day. Neither her sisters nor his friends seemed to mind. She had actually met his friends as they were walking to the games room. After introducing themselves to her, they turned to John.

"We're still doing the marshmallow thing, right?" asked Hercules.

Noticing Peggy's confused look, Alex clarified, "At the campfire tonight, we're going to stuff twenty marshmallows in our mouths and try to sing My Heart Will go On."

Peggy laughed. She liked John's friends. They were cute, too. She made a mental note to tell her sisters.

"It's tricky, though," said John. "How are we going to get the marshmallows without the counselors noticing?"

"I'm good at sneaking around. I'll steal you a bag from the kitchens," Peggy volunteered.

John's eyes lit up. "You would do that for us?"

"I'm an agent of chaos," Peggy winked.

"Where have you been all my life?" he asked, amazed.

Laf coughed, and Alex and Hercules seemed to pick up on whatever cue he was sending them.

"Right, well, we'll be on our way now," said Alex.

The three of them walked off.

"Your friends are cool," Peggy told John.

John smiled. "Yeah. We've been friends since fourth grade. They're my squad."

"That's sweet," said Peggy.

"So, about those sisters of yours, are you guys triplets or something? Because you're all freshman..."

"Yep, we're triplets."

"Wow. But you guys don't--"

"Look alike?" Peggy guessed.

John nodded.

"We're fraternal triplets," Peggy explained. "Eliza has some fancy name for it—she's really, really good at biology. I think it was trizygotic."

"That's cool," said John. "You guys must be close, then."

"We are," Peggy smiled. "I love them more than anything."

They reached the games room and stepped inside, where a refreshing blast of air conditioning hit them.

"Ooh, I needed that," Peggy exclaimed. The summer heat getting sticky and stifling, and the warmth in her chest did not help matters.

"Me too," John waved a hand in front of the vent. "You wanna play ping pong?"

"Let's do it! I hope you're ready to lose," she teased.

"Don't hold your breath," John grabbed a paddle. "Side note, can we play some music?"

She obligingly pulled out her phone and turned it up to maximum volume. "Do you like 80's music?"

"That's pretty much all I listen to," he grinned.

"I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," she joked. Or something more, she added silently.

Little did she know, John was thinking the same thing.