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“Come on, Colin!”
“We’re going now? I thought you said we were going later!”
“Yes!” Eloise said with an annoyed sigh. “I told you I was getting dressed!”
Colin poked his head out of the kitchen. “Oh. Well, everytime Daff says that, it’s always two hours later. I thought I still had time.”
Eloise narrowed her eyes. “Time for what? Colin, all the good snow will be gone if we don’t leave in five minutes!”
Colin knew she would smell the homemade pizza that was currently sitting on the counter, so he shrugged. “I made pizza. Like I said, I thought I still had time.”
Eloise rolled her eyes. “No. And besides, Penelope is already here.”
“She is?”
“ Yes. Do you not listen to me? I told you she was on her way over before I went to change!”
“Nope!”
Eloise glared at him.
“But since she’s here, go get her! I want to show you my creation. I call it ‘The Colin Supreme’.”
Eloise sniffed and made a face as he said the name of his pizza. “Is that pineapple I smell?”
“Maybe, maybe not. Go get her!” Colin said, trying to hide the fact that he had indeed put pineapple on his pizza.
“Can we finally go once you show us?” Eloise asked through clenched teeth.
Colin nodded.
“Fine. I’ll go get her. This is ridiculous,” Eloise muttered as she stalked off toward the living room where Penelope was waiting.
Colin couldn’t help but chuckle as he turned back to the kitchen. He set up three plates and cups, and had just grabbed the pizza cutter when the girls walked in.
“Ta-Da!” Colin said with a flourish.
Eloise stopped when she saw the monstrosity on the counter. “What is that?!”
“I told you! ‘The Colin Supreme’! Doesn’t it smell fantastic?”
“No! It smells like a trash bin!”
“Hey! Take out your annoyance on me, not the food!”
“I don’t know, I think it smells good,” Penelope said with a smile.
“ Thank you , Penelope! At least one of you has taste!”
“Taste? TASTE? Colin, you have pepperoni, anchovies, garlic, broccoli, ham, peppers, and…that is pineapple on there! I thought I smelled it earlier!”
Colin grinned. “I wasn’t about to give an ingredient away!”
“You. Are. Disgusting. Who puts pineapple on pizza with…all of that?!”
“So then you don’t want a piece?”
“Absolutely not. Come on, Pen. Colin can stay here with that mess. We’re going to build a snowman!”
“Actually…” Penelope chimed in.
Colin and Eloise stared at her. “Yes, Penelope?” Colin asked hopefully.
“I think it looks good?”
“Yes!” Colin hollered. Eloise was surprised he didn’t throw his fist into the air, too. Or jump up and down. Sometimes she wondered how she was even related to him.
“Penelope!” Eloise cried as she threw her own hands into the air.
“I’m sorry. It’s just, I’ve never had pineapple on my pizza, and I like all those other things, and well, I want to try it?”
“Don’t apologize to her, Pen. She’s just annoyed because ‘all the good snow will be gone’. Didn’t even know there was good snow.”
Penelope giggled as she saw Eloise’s face turn red. “You are so annoying! Of course there’s good snow! And you!” Eloise cried as she turned toward Penelope. “I can’t believe you’d rather stay here than build a snowman with me! Your best friend. ”
Eloise knew she was laying on the guilt, but she couldn’t help it. Penelope’s face fell at her words, but before she could say anything, her stomach responded for her by growling. Quite loudly, too.
“It’s been decided,” Colin said as he sidled up next to Penelope and put his arm around her shoulders. “Penelope is staying here with me. We’ll catch up later.”
“Ugh! I cannot believe this! First you make me late, and now you’re stealing my best friend!“
“There’s plenty of snow, Eloise. Relax. And I’m only stealing her if she wants to be stolen. Right, Pen?”
Penelope couldn’t stop the flush that spread to her cheeks. “Y-yes. My stomach and all. Hungry.”
“You’re just as bad as he is! Fine! I will see you later.” As Eloise departed the kitchen, she couldn’t help but look at the pizza one more time and mumble, “Disgusting.”
Once she was gone, Colin looked at Penelope. “So did you really want to try this?”
“Yeah. It looks interesting. In a good way, I promise!”
Another look flashed across Penelope’s face, like she wanted to say more. Something not about the pizza. Unfortunately for her, Colin was more perceptive than most boys. He had enough sisters to know when something was bothering one of them, and Penelope had that same look on her face. “Pen, what’s wrong? What’s the matter?”
“You’re just going to make fun of me.”
“I won’t, I promise.”
“I’ve never built a snowman before,” she whispered to the pizza. She couldn’t bear to see the look on Colin’s face. She knew it was ridiculous and childish, but she was embarrassed. What ten-year-old had never built a snowman before?
Colin tried to choke back his laughter, but Penelope heard it anyway. “You said you wouldn’t make fun of me!” she cried as she ran from the kitchen, the pizza forgotten.
“Pen, wait!” Colin yelled as he ran after her. He found her on the couch, face red and tears sliding down her cheeks.
“Penelope?”
“Go away,” she said as she looked down at the carpet.
Colin sat down next to her. “I can’t, I live here.”
Despite her being embarrassed and upset, a small smile still flashed across her face. “You said you wouldn’t make fun of me.”
“I didn’t! I was surprised, that’s all. I thought something big had happened.”
“I think not knowing how to build a snowman is pretty big,” Penelope said softly.
“It’s not so bad. I’m sure I had worse secrets than that when I was your age.”
“How many ten-year-olds do you know who have never built a snowman?” Penelope countered back.
“Well, none. But hey, it’s okay. I can teach you. If you want.”
Penelope sniffled as she looked at Colin. “Really?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Penelope stood up and threw her arms around Colin’s neck with excitement. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Laughing, Colin removed her arms from his neck. “Do you want to meet Eloise?”
Penelope’s smile fell as she shook her head. “I don’t want her to know. Can we do it here and keep it secret?”
Colin nodded. “Sure, Pen. Hang out here for a few minutes, I’ll be right back. I need to get into a proper outfit.”
“Okay. Thank you again, Colin! You’re the best!”
Ten minutes later, Colin had Penelope outside. She shivered in anticipation of finally getting to build her first snowman. “Pen, listen carefully. You have to make sure the snowballs are perfectly round. And the one on the bottom has to be the biggest.”
“Why?”
“Because it won’t stand otherwise. Or it will lean. I remember one year my dad was helping me and it started to lean and fell right on him!”
Penelope giggled and asked, “What happened then?”
“We had a snowball fight! It was awesome!”
“That sounds like fun. I bet you miss him, huh?”
“All the time.” Clearing his throat, Colin moved the subject back to the snowman. “Once you have the snowman stacked, you get to decorate him!”
“Decorate?”
“Yeah. Give him a face, make him warm, things like a hat, scarf, and gloves.”
“Oh, I’ll be good at that! I help dress Felicity all the time! Can you handle the snowman part?”
“No way! You’re going to build him, too. I’ll build my own next to yours, okay?”
“Okay. But can I decorate yours too?”
Colin laughed and answered, “If you really want to, then yes. Ready to get started? If you want, you can watch me and see how I do it. And then once I have the base, I can help you start yours.”
“Okay.”
Penelope watched Colin in amazement as he got to work. She was getting frustrated at how fast he was building his. He was already working on his snowman’s head while she was just finishing the base. She wouldn’t have even been that far if Colin hadn’t helped her get started. “How did you get that done so fast?”
Colin flashed her a smile. “Lots of experience. It comes with age.”
“Because thirteen is so much older than ten,” she said with an eye roll. Going back to her snowman, she gave the base a few more pats and started rolling the middle section, just like Colin showed her. Twenty minutes later, Penelope had her very first snowman completed, minus the decorations.
“Colin! I did it!” Penelope yelled as Colin cheered.
“Great job, Pen! Are you ready to decorate? Or do you want to eat the pizza? I’ll have to reheat it, though.”
“Decorate! What do we use?”
“Stones for his eyes and mouth, sticks for his arms, and I’ll have to see if my mum has any carrots for the nose.”
Penelope started searching the yard as Colin ran inside for carrots. When he came back out, Penelope had found everything she needed for both snowmen.
“Do you want to help me?” she asked as he attached both carrots.
“No, that’s okay. I’ll just watch. I want you to get the whole snowman experience.”
Once she was done, she stood back and admired her work. “What do you think?”
Colin came and stood beside her. Leaning down, he said, “I think they’re almost perfect.”
“Almost?”
Colin nodded and walked over to her snowman. Taking off his scarf, he placed it gently around the neck of Penelope’s snowman. Turning around, he gave her his brightest smile. “Now they’re perfect.”
Penelope beamed. Taking a look at the snowmen again, she laughed. Hers was lopsided and lumpy, nowhere near the level of Colin’s round and straight one, but she was okay with that. She was just glad she had finally built her first snowman, all thanks to pizza and Colin Bridgerton.