“Hey, are we still on for Thursday?” Kendall asked.

“Depends. Do you still want to pass the class?” I giggled.

“Urgh. Yeah,” he sighed.

I know he didn’t want to spend his day off with me studying, but this was the only class he was having trouble in. Which is saying something since he is only taking two classes.

“I don’t get why you took anatomy if all you were going to do was sleep in class.”

“You know why I took it,” Kendall looked down at me and smirked.

“I don’t get why you just assumed I would let you copy my homework or cheat off on the tests —”

“Because you want me to have a better future,” he batted his eyelashes.

Well, he wasn’t wrong about that.

He lives alone, works full time, and he’s taking two classes this semester. I know he has a lot on his plate, but I don’t want him to cheat his way through college, even if it’s only community college. I know he can have a better future than working at the mechanic shop.

Kendall used to babysit me when I was younger, but as we grew up, we ended becoming close friends. I mean we’re five years apart, but I act more mature than he does, most of the time. Which is probably why he comes to me for advice or whenever he has problems. He’s basically going to college because I made him.

We walked in silence toward the parking lot.

“Hey, I forgot to text you, but why did you call me yesterday morning?”

“Oh. Wait, I thought I cancelled the call before it went through.”

He shook his head.

“I woke up late and I really needed a ride, but I hung up because I knew you had late hours at the shop.”

“Wait, so how’d you get to class?”

“Cedric,” I spoke into my jacket as we took a step outside.

Kendall looked down at me and unleashed a devilish smile.

“Oh, Cedric. Your new roommate,” he chuckled.

“Shut up,” I growled.

I probably shouldn’t have told Kendall that Cedric had caught me . . . pleasing myself. But I had no one else to talk to. It’s not like I could talk to my dad about his old college roommate getting a little slut show from his daughter. And it’s not like I could talk to Maggie from work since I knew she would end up seeing Cedric and get weird about the whole situation.

I let out a heavy sigh.

We stepped into Kendall’s car and waited a few minutes for the car to warm up.

“So, can I ask you something?” Kendall blurred out.

I looked over at him and waited for the question.

“Do you like him?”

I shook my head and looked out the window. I didn’t want to answer that question, especially since yesterday I had told Cedric that I didn’t like him and wanted nothing to do with him.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he smiled.

“It doesn't matter. He’s leaving next week and my dad told me he would only be in Baltimore for a few months until he has to go back to his office in Florida. Plus, you know what I want, you know my rule.”

“Yeah. Yeah. You want a serious relationship and not flings which is why you never wanted to fuck me,” he grinned. “But the offer is still on the table.”

I shook my head. I knew he was joking, but there was still some truth behind that sentence. He just likes to tease me at this point, mostly to get a reaction out of me, but it never works.

My phone buzzed. It was Maggie.

“Hello?” I answered the phone, dreading what Maggie was going to say.

“Hey, sweetie. I know it’s your day off, but is there a chance that you can come to work for a few hours later tonight?” Maggie sounded really desperate.

“Yeah, I can do that. What time?”

I couldn't say no to her. I’ve been working at the restaurant for over two years, and I know that I’m her best employee. She also wouldn’t be asking me to work unless it was an emergency. I got all the information I needed to and I hung up.

“Maggie?”

“Yeah,” I sighed.

“How come you didn't say no? It’s your day off.”

“Because she needs me. Plus, I am taking off the next two weeks for midterms and then for our Spring Break vacation.”

“Oh, shit! We’re going??? Did you talk to your dad?” Kendall started to get excited.

“No,” I spoke into my jacket.

“PENELOPE are you fucking serious!” he grunted as he gripped the steering wheel tightly.

He had a right to be mad at me.

We’d been planning to go on a road trip to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina since November and I still haven't talked to my dad about it. Kendall already asked for his vacation time, so there was no going back for him now.

“I’ll talk to my dad this week. But you know how he gets about you,” I shyly spoke.

Kendall let out a rough sigh. “Seriously, I don't get what his problem is. He needs to stop being so strict with you. You’re 18 for fucks sake.”

“I know. But you always do the opposite of what my dad tells you, which doesn’t help.”

He scoffed. “I am 23. I am a grown ass man. I thought he was strict when I used to babysit you because you were a kid, but this is just crazy.”

“I know,” I didn’t know what else to say.

I’ve tried to talk to my dad before about the strict rules, but he goes into his irrational dad mode and says ‘no’ to everything. Kendall pulled into my driveway and let out a frustrated sigh.

He turned to me, looking at me with his light brown eyes that matched his hair. “You need to talk to your dad before the weekend,” he used his strictest voice on me.

“I know,” I looked away from him.

“Penelope. I’m serious.”

“I KNOW!” I looked over at him, frustrated with myself for not being able to talk to my dad. “I’ll talk to my dad this week. Don’t worry.”

“If you want, we can bring it up on Thursday so if there are any problems I can talk to him. I just really want to get out of this cold and hook up with some beach babes.” His face started to soften when he thought about all the girls he could fuck.

I giggled, “Okay. I’m sorry. I’ll talk to him and we will go on this vacation. I promise.”

“Thank you,” he gave me a full smile.