A/N: Sorry for the wait! And I had to change the name of one my characters, you'll find out why later. But Nancy is now Anna. Anyway, here's chapter three, and don't forget to review!
Disclaimer: I own none of it. It all belongs to JKR and others.
The ride to the zoo was fairly uneventful until the end. Once they pulled up to the gates, the kids got a little excited and became harder to control. Penny didn't seem to mind the extra bit of excitement for she was smiling and laughing along with all the kids. Jules, however, was a little moody and avoiding helping too much. Penny walked into the zoo with one child attached to each hand. They kids were talking excitedly about all the different animals they would get to see.
"And elephants! We're going to see them too, right?" The little boy on Penny's left asked her. She looked down at him and smiled.
"Of course we are! We couldn't miss out on the elephants," said Penny.
Jules walked into the zoo last with his hands in his pockets, looking thoroughly annoyed. The two little boys who were holding onto Penny's hands let go and ran ahead with Anna and the other children. Penny waited for Jules to catch up with her.
"Are you alright?" Penny asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I just don't like kids too much. I'd rather not being doing this." He admitted.
"Oh, I see. That's alright, we'll just stay out of the way then, if that's ok." Penny said.
"Yeah, that'd be ok." Jules said, looking relieved. They walked along together behind the group in silence. The kids were having a wonderful time laughing and pulling faces at the monkeys and other animals. Penny smiled at the expression on a little girl's face when she saw her first monkey. Jules was watching Penny and couldn't help but admire her. She didn't seem to mind when a young boy from the group came running up to her and hugged her suddenly. He had left his dirty handprints on her clean clothes. She wasn't phased in the least. Jules seemed disgusted. He didn't comment on it though, but Penny noticed the expression on his face.
"You're not afraid of a little dirt are you?" She asked with a giggle.
"I'm not afraid, I'd just rather stay clean and respectable." He said.
"So you're saying that I'm not respectable right now?" She asked inquiringly.
"Right now, I'd say yes." He responded with and air of slight annoyance. Penny was taken aback by his harsh words. She quickly regained her composure and decided not to let her anger get the best of her.
"You do know that clothes can be washed and they're just like new again, right? Besides it doesn't bother me if I'm dirty. If it bothers you that's your problem, because I don't care what your opinion of me is." Even though she said this with conviction, it did matter to her what his opinion was. She wanted him to like her.
"Well that's just fine by me because I don't care what you think of me either." He lied. He wanted her like to like him too.
Thinking that this was a bad start to a friendship, Penny tried to seem like she was okay with this new information about Jules.
"So then just as long as we don't care what the other thinks we should get along fine." She joked. He noticed a little bit a tension in her voice,
"She does care what I think then." He thought to himself.
"So… err… which one is your favourite animal?" Jules asked, trying to sound as if they'd been having a conversation about hippopotamuses all along. Penny couldn't help but smile.
"Why, the monkeys of course." She said.
"Monkeys? Aren't they kind of gross?" Jules asked.
"Yeah, but they remind me of you." She laughed at the surprised expression on his face that changed to a grin once he realized she was joking.
"My favourite animal is a pig. You know, you've got a perfect pig nose, that must be why I like you so much." He said a matter-of-a-factly. She giggled.
"That make senses for you to like pigs. You must have a lot in common, it even sounds like you're grunting when you talk." They were both laughing at themselves by now. Penny was glad Jules was lifted out his sullen mood. The kids had reached the reptile house and were looking at all the interesting lizards, snakes and other scaly creatures. Jules and Penny stopped walking and looked at one particular specimen of snake. It was boa constrictor. Its scales were in a pattern of three different dark shades of green. They were staring and staring at this snake all the while wondering why they weren't moving yet. Penny and Jules looked at each other simultaneously, while both feeling confused and awed.
"I feel like this means something, but I don't know what." Jules said with a hushed voice.
"I know what you mean. But I feel like I should know," She responded.
"That exactly how I feel. I wonder what it means?" He questioned. Close by, a young boy dropped his ice cream cone and was screaming at the top of his lungs. This brought them out of their reverie. They made to walk out the reptile house and the feeling passed.
"You know what, it was probably nothing anyways." Penny said, and five minutes later the snake was long forgotten when they came upon a dolphin show. They laughed along with all the kids when the dolphins splashed them.
"Okay kids!" Anna said leading them out of the dolphin show, "Now we get to see the big animals. All these animals live on the savannah in Africa. Who's ready?" All the kids responded with a big, enthusiastic,
"Me!"
The kids were all eager to see the giraffes, zebras, and gazelles. Anna had to run to keep with the over excited kids, while Jules and Penny walked leisurely behind. Penny smiled when the kids `oohed' and `ahhed' over large grey elephants, tall lanky giraffes, and striking zebras. They walked along to where the lions were kept. All the kids were apprehensive about these ferocious beasts. For some reason that Penny couldn't explain she waked right up to the edge of cage and got as close as she possibly could.
"Penny, be careful!" warned Anna, "Don't frighten the kids." Penny didn't seem to hear her. A large female lion was approaching the cage where Penny was and roared a mighty roar. Penny was nonplussed. She just stood watching the majestic animal with rapt attention. A bizarre thing then happened. The lioness sat down in front of Penny and stared at her just as intently. Penny felt someone grabbing her arm and she turned to face Jules who looking at her with a concerned expression on his face.
"Are you alright?" She seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in.
"Yes. I'm fine. Sorry. I don't know what came over me." She responded.
"That's ok. But we have to go, they're loading the bus to go back to the center."
"Ok." They turned to leave and Penny stole one last glance at the lioness. She was still watching Penny and watched her until she couldn't see her anymore. The lioness got up and went back to the patch of grass she was occupying before.
The ride back to the center was just as noisy as before. They kids were all talking and laughing wildly at the fun they had today. Anna looked exhausted. She looked at Penny and Jules who were sitting quietly together at the front of the bus.
"Thanks for your help today, you two. I really appreciate it. I hope you had fun too, though." She said to the both of them.
"We had a lot of fun, Anna. Thanks for letting us come." Penny said.
"Yeah it was great. Thanks Anna." Jules said sincerely.
"Now I know who to ask for some help if I ever need to take all the kids to the circus. I'm just joking!" She added and laughed when she saw the slightly stricken look on Jules' face. Penny laughed as well.
"After this, I think he'd like to volunteer for some babysitting jobs." She giggled when Jules turned to glare at her.
"I'll have you know that kids love me so it'd be a breeze anyways." He said confidently. Penny and Anna laughed out loud.
"That's something I've got see one day." Penny said through her giggles.
"Oh, shut up." Jules said, though he was grinning too.
When they finally unloaded the kids, Jules and Penny were exhausted.
"Want to go to supper together?" Penny asked.
"Sure." They walked to the cafeteria in Penny's building. Grabbing their trays and supper of lasagne they sat down at a secluded table together.
"It wasn't all that bad, was it?" asked Penny.
"No, it wasn't all bad. I just don't like kids too much-you know that. I don't think I had a lot of exposure to them before." He said.
"You don't know if you had any brothers or sisters?"
"No, I don't know, but I think I didn't have any or a lot. Scott thinks so too. What about you, do you think you did?"
"I don't know either, but I know I love kids and I like being around a lot of people, so maybe I did." She took a sip of her drink and then added, "I know I don't mind sharing either."
"Then you must have a lot of siblings. Do you think they look as good as you?" She blushed and he said quickly, "I mean like you, look like you." He continued rambling. "I probably didn't have a lot brothers or sisters," he was saying, "Because I can't stand sharing. I know I like to keep the things I own, and I like to get what I want." He took a bite of his pasta hoping that Penny didn't think he was crazy.
"Really? Sometimes not getting all the things you want makes you a bigger person. I don't think my family was very wealthy, or maybe I lived alone without a lot of things. I'm used to living frugally, it's not a problem."
"That's the opposite of me. I wish my room were bigger at this place. I know it could be nicer. I also wish I had silk sheets on my bed."
"Silk sheets? But those are so expensive! Cotton ones are just fine for me." She said.
"I guess to each his own, or her own, if you'd like." They sat in silence for a bit and finished eating.
"Are you finished?" Jules asked after a bit. "Because I could walk you back to you room if you wouldn't mind." He asked. Penny thought he sounded a bit nervous. She smiled and said,
"Yes, I'm done, and you can walk me back if you want." They didn't say anything walking back to Penny's room. When they got there, she opened the door and looked at him. She noticed a funny look on his face, so she said,
"Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Right. Yeah, I'll err… see you tomorrow." He walked away rather quickly and Penny watched his retreating back confusedly. She went into her room and put on her pyjamas. Only then did she realize that he had wanted to kiss her. She flopped down on her bed with a big smile on her face.
Please review. :)
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