Penny's Choice by Annette Archer Page A

t his new development so quickly.
    “So you're okay with it,” Thomas said. He stood next to his brother.
    Charles punched him in the face. Penny was sure that Thomas saw the punch coming, but was just letting his br other get it out of his system.
    “Not really,” Charles responded. He shook his hand out. Punching a vampire was not the easiest on your hands. “I think it bothers me because I just lost a girl to...you!”
    “Hello, girl right here,” Penny said as s he kicked Charles in the shins.
    “Whatever, Penny, you know what I mean, no one has ever broken up with me...period. Not only am I getting dumped, but I am getting dumped by my nerdy big brother! I'll get over it...whatever just don't do it again, okay Thomas?”
    “I promise. Penny is the only girl that I ever want to kiss ever again,” Thomas said , “so that won't be that hard.”
    “What a sap,” Charli said, giggling in the background.
    “At least someone knows how I feel,” Charles said as he pretended to g ag.
    Penny on the other hand thought that it was the most wonderful thing she could ever hear. She suddenly regained all of her energy and jumped into Thomas's arms. She pulled his lips down to hers and gave him a kiss that turned Charles green with envy. Charles kicked her in the butt.
    “Hey, how come I never got kissed like that?” Charles asked, curling his lips into an unhappy snarl.
    “Cause you never said things like that,” Penny said as she kicked him back. “Come on Chuck, you were always more of a big brother to me than a boyfriend. Admit it. I was just something fun to pass the time.”
    “You were more than just something to pass the time,” Charles said. He rolled his eyes and drummed his fingers on the table. “Thomas had me watching out for you from th e beginning.”
    “So, you knew that he had a thing for me? And you still went for me?” Penny remembered how her sister always did that to her. She wondered if it was some sort of sibling compulsion.
    “That's what Charles always does,” Charl i said, egging on the argument.
    “Okay, okay, let's not get in an argument here, kids,” The boys' father stepped into the room. Other than his height and light eyes, he didn't look like his children at all. He had straight reddish hair and a face full of freckles. Penny thought that perhaps they took after their mother.
    “Dad,” Charles jumped up out of his chair almost as fast as a vampire. He flung himself into his father's arms and gave him a big squeeze. Penny smiled. It was really the first time she had seen him get all emotional. “Dad, I missed you so much. I missed you all. I really did. Being able to see you guys all the time will be wonderful!”
    “What are you talking about we saw Thomas all the time,” Penny laughed, thinking about the tim es Thomas came to 'visit' them.
    Charles shrugged and ran his fingers through his hair. He grunted. “Yeah, I kinda have an overprotective big brother,” he said, wrinkling his nose.
    Penny laughed. She had a hard time thinking of Thomas as the older one because he had such a childlike excitement about him. And Thomas hadn't physically aged at all so he looked a couple years younger than Charles. But, he was right; Thomas was a really g ood overprotective big brother.
    “So what's the plan?” asked Mr. Wolf.  He still had his arm around his son.
    “Dad, I've gone over the plan a 10 0 times with you,” Thomas said.
    “Yes, I know, but we've never gone over altogether, plus we have an extra human that was not accounted for in the original,” Mr. Wolf said.
    “Oh, yeah, Penny,” Thomas said as he sat on the table. He looked over at Penny and smiled. “I've got it all figured out. Just give Penny a fire gun and she can burn the whole place down!”
    “Not funny Thomas!” Penny tried to tackle Thomas, but he just held her and the move just ended up looking more like an aggressive hug.
    “Can you be serious for a minute?” Charles said wi th an unhappy look