Chapter Four <3

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Penny is brimming with a confidence the next time she stepped into the coffee shop a few days later. Her soul gives a little leap when she noticed that cute coffee shop guy was there, and her spirits lifted even higher when he spotted her and waved her over.

"Hey." Penny breathed happily.

"Hi." Cute coffee shop guy responded.

And it was adorable, the way he smiled softly, like he still wasn't fully awake.

"Did you stay up late last night?" Penny asked, knowingly.

He winced a little. "Is it that obvious? I found a really interesting article on fish last night, and then I just spiralled into a Wikipedia hole. Did you know that sharks on average kill about 12 people a year, where as people kill over 11,000 sharks an hour?"

Penny didn't really know how to respond to that. "Oh." Was all her brain came up with. "That's awful."

"Sorry." Cute coffee shop guy apologised. "I don't know why I said that."

"You don't have to apologise." Penny shook her head. "UM, uh... what else did you learn. You sacrificed sleep so your brain must be full of knowledge."

At this cute coffee shop guy's whole face brightened again. "There's this one really cool Jellyfish that scientist say could potentially be immortal."

Penny smiled. "Oh yeah?"

Cute coffee shop guy nodded enthusiastically, proceeding to spiel his knowledge on the subject.

Penny didn't end up asking for his number that day, but in her defence he seemed really excited to tell her all his newly found knowledge on fish.

*

She didn't ask the next time she saw him either. There was less of an excuse this time, there just didn't seem like a good moment to ask.

*

The third time she just chickened out. The words had been there on the tip of her tongue, but they died there too.

*

"I really don't know what you want me to do about it." Adam said casually.

"I told you what I wanted you to do. Come with me to the coffee shop." Penny begged, not for the first time that week (or even that morning).

"And then what? Intimidate him into giving you his number? I'm not going to help you harass this guy." Adam shook his head.

Penny gasped, clearly offended. "I want you there as moral support, not backup."

"Take Madison."

"You think I haven't asked her? She's so busy in the mornings." Penny groaned. "You're my only hope."

Adam pulled a face.

"Please. I'll buy you a hot drink."

"Watching you flounder over some hot guy isn't really my idea of a good time."

"Pretty please." Penny brought out her puppy dog eyes.

*

Adam did not end up coming to the coffee shop with her, because he was the absolute worst human ever.

Penny mourned and sulked as she forked out the money for yet another over priced drink.

She felt it like a physical blow as she waved her card over the card machine, the money draining away from her account like sand through a sieve.

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