Penny sighed as she sat on the swings. February 14h, the day she had always despised. Everyone was so happy on this day, but Penny never was. Love disgusted her. It felt like an old cardigan that was reused every time.
She pushed herself harder on her feet and swung forward, letting the swing move her. The wind ran wild through her braids, shoving them back. Every once in a while she would use all her force to get to a faster speed. Then the speed would go down again and she would be left with her thoughts alone.
In front of her, on one of the park bench, was a couple. If someone like Ricky or Noel would see them, they would say that's adorable or be jealous they cant have that. Penny though? She wanted to spit on them out of disgust. That couple was euining her day even more.
She rolled her eyes and groaned as she got up to leave, bending down and grabbing her backpack. All the essentials where in there. Keys, her phone, water, about 10 dollars, wired headphones and some chewing gum. Thats all one needs in life. Or at least, thats what Penny needs.
She put on her headphones and plugged them into the phone as she started walking in some direction. Uranium City was small, but you could still get lost without paying attention. Thats exactly what Penny was doing.
Walking aimlessly, the girl passed by many buildings, all blending into the background, except for one. One special building that brought her warmth. The smell of vanilla and fresh pastries coukd be felt from miles away. The warmest place in all of Uranium City. The Blackwood Cafe.
The one place where everyone was family. Once you were there, you were one of them. The first time Penny heard about the Blackwood Cafe and its magic, she thought it was another cult. But she couldnt have been more wrong. The Blackwoods arent a cult. They are lovely family that owns the Cafe which has been passed down generations by generations, for many many years.
Penny was passionate about the Blackwood Cafe. And about the Blackwoods in general. But, one of them, stood out to her. Constance Eleanor Blackwood. The oldest daughter of the family. Current barista and part-time croissant maker of the coffee shop. The person everyone perceived as "The nicest girl in town", to Penny, was the most radiant girl in town. Her personality could be described by the colours yellow and baby pink. Her smile brought Penny the comfort she never got from her broken family. Her laugh filled her whole heart with joy and made her feel like she would explode. Her voice was smooth and when she sang, she could feel the warmth that radiated from Constance’s vocal chords. Constance "Connie" Blackwood.
As Penny remained staring at the Cafe, someone popped up in front of her. The dark eyes, red glasses with beads wrapped around her neck and sweet smile of Constance Blackwood could have been spotted even by Penny's blurry vision.
"Hey" Constance said, as the brunette snapped out of it.
"Oh! Uh.. hi.." she said, shyly. Constance smiled.
"What are you doing here? Its really cold..." She chuckles and she looked at Penny, who was clearly underdressed for the weather. The girl shrugged. She didnt know what she was doing there either. Maybe she just felt like coming to see Constance. Or getting some food. But what can you even get with 10 dollars in these days? (Maybe a pack of gum? Do they even sell that at the Blackwood Cafe? Of course not! Its a cafe!!)
"Woohooo~ earth to Penny?" Connie said with a smile. Penny looked down at her again, sitting up straight. The shorter girl opened her arms for a hug and, Penny would be lying if she said she doesnt love Constance’s hugs. She hugged back. Why wouldnt she? She liked Constance. Enough to hug her. Unlike the rest of the choir, Penny wasnt too touchy. Noel liked hugging his friends, so did Ocean. Misha was a big cuddler and Ricky? Ricky liked holding hands with everyone. Constance was all of them at once.
She liked cuddles, something Penny noticed when they went to a choir trip together and Constance wouldn't let her leave her side, her excuse being "youre warm!!!". She liked holding hands, something she always does with Ocean and prefers it way more with Penny since "your hands arent sweaty like hers! And you dont swat my hand away!". And, of course, Constance loved hugs. She adored them. She hugged anyone, anytime she saw them. She hugged Penny most of their hang-outs. It was safe to say that Constance was a touchy person. Penny wasnt.
All her childhood, the only physical affection she ever got, was from hugging her little brother to make them both feel safe. A type of reassurance that they both needed in those moments. Penny never got any physical affection other than those small hugs from her brother, until recently. When the choir started getting closer, she was shoved between all of the physically affectionate people. She didnt mind it, obviously. It was nice getting to be like that with friends, but sometimes it could be a lot. Like that one time they all had a sleepover and they pilled one on top of the other? Yeah. Too much.
But Constance wasnt too much. Even if she liked everything that meant showing your affection to anyone more than the rest, she knew when it was too much. And Penny liked that about her.
Constance gently let go of Penny and took her hand, leading her inside the Blackwood Cafe. The warmth from the place, made Penny realise outside it was freezing cold. Man, she really underdressed for the occasion. As she looked inside, she realised the Blackwoods went all out, as usual. They had pretty pink and red plates decorated with hearts, heart shaped balloons, heart shaped garlands, love themed posters, love themed napkins and even their aprons changed. They were now red and pink checkered print rather than the baby blue ones.
"Oh wow... this place is.. romantic.." Penny said in shock. Why was she even shocked? The Blackwoods always decorated the cafe for special occasions. Even for holidays nobody cares about. Like Saint Patrick's day.
Constance nodded. "It sure is." She then pointed at one of the hanging decorations. A garland made out of paper that had hearts of various shades of pink and red. "Me and my little brother made that one last night. You should've seen how much glue he out on his face!" She giggled.
"I wouldve thought its origami." Penny said, staring at it. Red. A colour associated usually with violence or with love, depending on the context. If it was a garland made out of red biologically accurate hearts, it wouldve been associated with violence and murder. But its associated with love. Why are hearts seen as symbols of love? Is it because they pump out your blood and that blood can rush through your veins to your cheeks and thats how people blush? Hearts are gruesome. They are violent and supposed to be seen as disgusting. Everything penny liked was either creepy or disgusting.
"No! No. We glued some pieces. I cant really make Lucas have enough patience to do origami!" The shorter girl smiled.
Penny smiled back. Her train of thought has been interrupted before she spiraled deeper. Constance took Penny's hand and led her to the back of the place, where only the staff could enter. She then made Penny sit down on the flour covered floor. Everything was full of ingredients. Eggshells on the counters, a rolling pin or two, a milk carton left to sit out which was probably going bad at this point.
"You didnt tell me you were going out today! Its Valentines day! Shouldnt you be with someone? Anyone?" Constance asked as she rubbed off the flour off her pink shirt.
Penny shook her head. If it wouldve been by her, she wouldnt have gone out at all.
"Thats such a bummer!!" Constance pouted then looked down at the floor, a comfortable silence settling between the two. They could both hear each other's breaths. The silent noise the water droplets made as they hit the sink. The noise from the pther side of the door, inside the Cafe where people sat. Everything was calm and quiet.
"Hey Penny." Constance said as she hugged her knees and rested her head on them. Penny mimicked her actions
"Yeah?"
"Do you wish you had a Valentine?"
"I dont know... Maybe.. maybe not.. depends on who it is and what we would do. Depends on how i feel about that person a lot...Why?"
"Would you like to be my valentine?"