A Normal Girl Part 3: Normal Is As Normal Does

Penelope

Penelope shifts uncomfortably in her chair in front of her computer, trying to look involved with something. She’s mildly irritated at how crowded the bakery counter has been for a Saturday afternoon, disrupting her view. With her final project for the semester completed a whole week early, she has time to relax over an iced tea and a sweet roll, hoping to catch Ryan again… Watching him.

Not a hair on his head is out of place, and when he helps customers, he’s always polite and cheerful. And his work, well, it’s perfect too. Neat, tidy, and exceptional. Suddenly she wonders if Ryan possesses any imperfections; some weird sexual play he’s into. She knows modern people are into all sorts of things—she’s kinky herself, and she knows it.

She sighs and drains her tea as Ryan hands a snobby blonde behind the counter a bag of something, remembering how it had been such a treat to finally speak with him the week earlier. He showed an interest in her work, even stared at her breasts.

Yes, he did stare. It had been blatantly obvious, giving her hope for something more. Sure as she is of herself, she hadn’t been sure about him.

Ryan failed to pay attention to her all semester, but then, he hadn’t gone out of his way to be cruel, either. A lot of the other apprenticeship students had, making it clear she didn’t belong among the cookie-cutter dress-code monkeys and their clean-cut, male-dominated, and technology-filled...