Chapter Twenty-Seven: Thanksgiving I

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The Romano's weren't meeting for Thanksgiving dinner until three p.m. and it took about an hour to get to there house in the suburbs. So after her and Quentin's walk, Penny thought it would be a good idea to make some food to bring to the house. 

After discussing with Quentin, he said it would be a good idea to bring some sort of dessert. Usually the family just has pumpkin pie; however, Quentin's face soured when speaking about it. Penny thought that it would be a good idea to make something different. 

Slamming the front door behind her after the walk, she shouted for Ms. Birdie's attention, claiming that it was time for baking. 

She actually enjoyed baking rather than cooking. With cooking, you can be free and mix and match what ever flavors to create the perfect dish. When Penny tries to do this, it turns out disgusting. She doesn't have that "cooking-gene". Baking was instructional, orderly, and clean. The bakers needs this much flour, this much sugar. There was no room for error when she is following it word for word. 

With Ms. Birdie in the kitchen, they asses all the materials in the kitchen and decide on making cupcakes. Actually, two batches of cupcakes: one chocolate and one spiced. They gather everything and quickly start to measure the dry ingredients. They work swiftly, rushing around the kitchen, close to bumping into each other. 

Once the cupcakes are in the oven, they wash the bowls to reuse for making two different types of frostings. Just like before, Penny works on one batch and Ms. Birdie works on the other. She couldn't help sticking a pinky finger in the cream cheese frosting every so often. She would let out a soft groan and get back to work. 

The edges of her lips started be pulled upwards, not controlled by her. She felt comforted, as if a warm blanket spread across her back and she was shoved in front of a fireplace. She never really had a home, but now, on the day she is suppose to feel the most grateful, she knows her place. She belongs with the Romano family. Every person has been, the least, kind and, the most, life-saving. 

She still has those sneaking thoughts of "I don't belong with people like this", "I only drag them down and use them", and "I'm not worth it". Over the course of the few days, she became good at not letting those thoughts express themselves in physical actions. However, at night, they are the only things she can think about, creating red-rimmed eyes in the morning. She still hasn't heard back from the casting director about her audition. She no longer has the effort of hoping she has a chance. She has been thinking of finding another job, but she is too tired to find another passion. 

Everyone around her are helping, but they are not the cure. She is terrified of rejection if she asks for help. 

Soon, the frosting was done, but the cupcakes still needed time to finish and cool. Penny untied her apron and placed the perfectly folded cloth on the counter. 'I'm going to take a shower," she states before journeying up the stairs to her room. She stands in front of her closet, perplexed in what she should wear. Was it a formal occasion, where she would be wearing a full length gown? She didn't think so. Was it more causal, where she could just show up in sweats? She doesn't think that either. She decides on a white, burnt orange, and brown plaid dress. With its thick, tank top-like straps and square neck line, she also grabs a white turtleneck to layer under. It was a nice outfit, very in-season with the orange, red, and yellow leaves. 

She takes a quick shower, only focusing on the most important parts. Outside, she dries off her body and puts her red hair into two tight braids. After zipping up the side zipper, she rushes downstairs to see Ms. Birdie frosting her set of cupcakes already. 

"I didn't want to touch yours. You still want to do them, right?"

Penny's heads moves up and down, and grabs the piping bag and starts swirling it around the cake. Ms. Birdie showed her how to do it after a few botched frosting attempts. It was a little harder than it looked, but very easy to catch on. 

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