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into the boutique. She had an idea of what Liv was hinting at but refused to entertain the thought. Kieran took his position as marker far too seriously to mess with tradition like that.
    As she walked back into Bitsie's, she started to choke up at the sight of Charlotte. It was almost unreal for someone to look that beautiful.
    "This is the one," Charlotte assured with a smile.
    Penny glanced over the strapless white satin gown with a peacock blue sash, saying, "It's perfect."
    "I still need to pick out my veil but..." Charlotte shared before pausing to ask, "Oh, where's Liv?"
    With a slight shrug, Penny replied, "I think she went home."
    "Oh-kay."
    "She must really be upset," Amila chimed in, noticing Charlotte's irritated expression.
    "Yea..." Charlotte mumbled clearly disappointed at Liv's absence.
    Giving an apologetic smile, Penny walked back to the corner to sit down while Amila helped Charlotte out of her wedding dress.
    ~
    Seth's heart was pounding in his ears along with the music playing through his earbuds. After starting out with long strides, he had picked up the pace, running the walking path around his apartment complex until his body refused to keep going.
    What started out as an enjoyable way to clear his head on Saturday afternoon, had quickly turned into a race to get Penny off of his mind. It wasn't that he minded thinking about Penny, in fact, he enjoyed thinking about her. The more he thought about her though, the harder it was to talk to her when they were face to face. It was clear she wanted to be friends. That worked fine for him. She was sweet, funny and so pretty. Not to mention, being friends was a low-pressure way to spend time with her. A lot less is expected in friendship situations. The only problem was when Seth thought about Penny, friendship was the farthest thing from his mind.
    Swiping his gate card before jogging through the gate as he headed back to his apartment, Seth faintly heard a horn honk, through the music still playing in his ears. Moving to the side to let the car through, he saw Charlotte and Penny both wave at him as they pulled into the apartment complex. Seth stopped for a second, wishing his run had done him more good before continuing on his way.
    He could see Penny sitting at the top of the stairs on their balcony as he made his was closer. The thought of her waiting there for him and what they might briefly talk about before he headed into his apartment to shower gave him a second wind as he sprinted up to their building.
    Taking the stairs two at a time he stopped a step below Penny noticing the way the sunlight highlighted the redder strands of her auburn hair as he looked down at her. Her hazel eyes leaned more toward the green side today as they sparked up at him.
    As he pulled his earbuds out of his ears, he heard her ask, "How was your run?"
    "It was alright," he replied before asking, "How is your day going?"
    Without answering his question, she took a deep breath then exhaled before pursing her lips up into a smile.
    "Bad day?" he questioned curious as to why she didn't answer.
    Penny continued to ignore his question as she stood up and asked, "I'm going to The Dog House tonight, wanna come?"
    "Sure," he replied before realizing he just said yes to going out with her.
    "Good," she cheered before turning to walk back into her apartment.
    Standing there trying to think of something to say, Seth watched her open her apartment door before turning back to him.
    "I was thinking about nine but you can knock whenever you're ready to go."
    Smiling at her, he said, "Alright," suddenly feeling good about her asking him out.
    With a little laugh Penny shared, "Okay, see you later," as she stepped inside her apartment.
    Once her door was closed, Seth started towards his apartment when he felt his phone vibrate from his shirt pocket. He pulled it out to see who was calling and just like that all good feelings were gone.

 
    Eight
    Standing in front of Penny's door, Seth