I loved seeing her smile. It made my day when I saw her shining face light up when she laughed. We sat around a campfire, Justin playing his guitar acting drunk while Luke was telling a story that scared Hamish who was screaming every five seconds.
"And then," Luke continued, "the grizzly bear slash money jumps up and scares the people away from their campfire but one didn't make it-"
"Okay!" Hamish yelled over the top of Luke and Justin's guitar playing. "That's enough story telling," everyone chuckled at Hamish's response, "I'm sure Penelope and Zack don't wanna hear it, right guys?"
Everyone turned to us, waiting for our response. "I love scary stories." I said, Penelope leaning into me. "And grizzly bears slash monkeys are the best kind of animal to eat you alive."
Lisa clapped and raised her fists in the air. "On with the story!"
Luke scratched the back of his neck, looking like he had run out of words. "Uh, that was it."
"Oh thank god!" Hamish sighed with relief, "I really didn't want to hear the end of that."
Molly grabbed another beer from the cooler, offering one to me which I happily accepted but Penelope declined. She hadn't taken a drink all night, did she not like alcohol or something?
Justin was singing out of tune to one of Taylor Swift's song, making everyone through sticks at him. I leaned into Penelope and whisper, "you know, your dad is not here. You can have a drink if you really want to."
She pulled away from my touch. "Nah, it's okay. I don't need a drink to have fun."
I nod, understanding her point. "Oh my god, shut up!" Shane yelled at Justin who was now really drunk, strumming his guitar really loudly.
Justin ignored Shane's protests and began singing. "Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone, I keep waiting for you but you never come. Wow, this Romeo is an asshole for leading her on like that."
Everyone bursted out laughing at his comment as the fire began to die down but, Shane and Daphne threw more sticks in it to keep it alive.
"You should so become a singer, Justin Bieber." Molly chuckled, wrapping her arm around Shane just as he finished putting the sticks in the fire.
"And I was like baby, baby, baby oh!" Justin's began singing but Luke took the guitar off him before he sang anymore. "Hey! I was winning American Idol!"
"You can try again next year, it's a no from me." Luke placed the guitar behind him with a chuckle.
"Dammit!" Justin poured, looking like he was about to cry, "I worked super hard to hit those notes right. Wait, what are we talking about?"
Amber wrapped her arm around Justin in a friendly way and chuckled. "Aw, too drunk to remember what we said?"
"Guys," Hamish whispered, "what was that?"
We all stayed silent, listening to an unknown sound that Hamish heard. "It's the grizzly bear slash monkey." Penelope joked, making Hamish shiver.
"And his best friend, the grumpy Justin Bieber." Lisa added, making us all laugh.
"That's me!" Justin yelled but Hamish shushed him, making him slouch in his seat.
"No, I'm being serious." Hamish whispered as a bush rustled in the wind.
"You're such a baby," Molly chuckled but, Hamish ignored her and it all fell silent from there.
"Dude, it's probably just the wind-" Luke was interrupted by Laura who jumped onto Hamish and tackled him to the ground. He screamed so loudly that my ear drops bursted and then he face planted into the dirt.
Everyone bursted out with laughter, clutching our stomachs and falling onto the floor. "You're such a girl!" Lisa snorted with laughter.
Laura for herself up and sat next to Penelope. "Are you really drunk?" Penelope whispered to Laura.
She chuckled. "Maybe a little."
Hamish brushed the leaves and twigs off his pants and glared at Laura who was looking up at the stars, completely forgetting what she had done.
"I caught it on camera!" Luke yelled as he held his phone up in the air.
"Nice one!" I shouted to him as he grinned, "you could post it on Facebook."
"Even better, YouTube." Lisa cut in as she wiped away her tears.
Hamish sat himself back down, not looking too happy. "I have the worst friends." He mumbled to himself.
"Oh, come on, Hamish!" Daphne yelled with happiness in her voice. "Lighten up!"
"That's easy for you to say, you didn't just shit your pants because your dunk friend jumped on you." He said, taking a sip of his beer.
It all settled down after that, we joked and laughed as Penelope was talking to Lisa, Daphne, Laura Molly and Amber. I, on the other hand was talking with the guys who were joking and messing around.
"How long have you and Penelope being going out for?" Luke asked, strumming Jason's guitar, making a soft tune. It was a little over midnight, making the stars shine right above us.
"A month." I said with a smile as I looked back at her laughing with the girls.
"Ain't that sweet?" Justin chuckled in a girly voice, still drunk.
"How did you guys meet Molly?" I always wondered why I never met any of her friends and Gray never mentioned them either.
"It was summer camp," Hamish replied, "about a year ago and we've become a close group of friends since then."
I nodded at his response. The fire was dying down a bit and no one was bothering to top it up, maybe it was nearly time to head back inside and sleep.
Shane chuckled. "Why don't we pull a prank on the girls tomorrow?"
Everyone grinned at Shane's idea. "What do you have in mind?" Luke asked, putting the guitar down and listening carefully.
Shane thinks for a minute while glancing over at the girls who were giggling about something. "I have a brilliant idea that will blow your mind."
*
After everyone had gone up to their bedrooms, Penelope and I laid on a double bed in our room. It was nice of Molly to offer the spare room, some of the others were sleeping in the living room as there were no more spare bedrooms upstairs.
"Did you have fun?" I asked her as she lied on my bare chest, her soft hand touching my stomach.
"I did." She said with a smile as I stroked her hair.
"I love seeing you happy, it makes my day." I said in a whisper, making her shiver with delight.
"You know," she began, hope in her voice, "even if I spend a whole day with you, I would still miss you the second you leave."
I chuckled at her sweet words that were music to my ears. "Why do you say that?"
I loved hearing her voice, I loved seeing her smile and I loved the way she could be herself around me. I almost forgot the part when I told her father that I loved her, did Penelope know that? I really wanted to tell her but I was afraid of rejection. She traced lines around my abdomen with her finger, making me tingle inside. "Because you're the one who makes me happy, nobody else."
I smiled at her words, glad that she could open up to me. Before I for the chance to respond, she said something else. "Don't leave me, Zack."
I leaned down and kissed the top of her hair, which smelt good by the way, and I whispered, "I wouldn't dream of it, sweetpie."