The door to Penelope Marlowe's apartment swung wide open as she marched forth, letting the heavy door slam loudly behind her before she locked it. She put down the bags of groceries and her backpack which was weighing heavily down on her. 

A sigh of relief left her now that she was home and that, first and foremost, it was Friday, meaning the dreadful week of university classes and assignments was over AND her roommate would be gone for the weekend. What could be better?

Penelope made quick work of putting the groceries away before changing into comfortable clothes. After having a quick dinner and video chatting with her family for a bit, she settled in on the couch with a hot cup of coffee a.k.a. the nectar of the gods, and scrolled through her movie library on the TV.

As she sunk back into her squeaky leather couch with her plush blankets and her coffee in hand, Twilight began playing on the screen. A small smirk played on her lips, her mind already knowing what was in store for her. It would be two hours of nostalgia, but also yelling at the characters whenever they did something stupid and imagining what she would say/do in those situations.

・・・

"Bella, why?!" Penelope exclaimed when Bella said that she still trusted Edward even when he gave her very clear and concerning reasons not to trust him. She sighed in annoyance but kept watching the movie. "These people need professional help," she muttered to herself. 

She spent the rest of the movie like this and even added New Moon on top of it. For her, New Moon beat Twilight if only for the introduction of the Volturi. "Now that's a vampire," she commented praisingly as her eyes scanned the one good-looking vampire for her, Caius.

As the movie came to an end, she imagined herself in those very scenarios. Hanging out with the Cullens, watching Edward and Bella get together (though both of them needed some work), consoling Bella when she's abandoned, saving Edward in Italy, meeting the Volturi... now that would be fun. After washing her mug and putting her blankets away, she settled into her bed. Her eyes were focused on the ceiling above her, her earbuds playing the Twilight movie soundtrack while her mind danced with these visions.

She could almost feel it. Feel the camaraderie with the Cullens. Watch Edward's frustration when he couldn't read Bella's thoughts. Oh, the amusement she'd get out of that.

A smile crossed her lips as sleep soon settled in and the last thing she remembered imagining was Bella's first day at Forks High.

・・・

The next morning, the sound of the mourning dove filtered through her window as the rising sun slowly lit up her room. Penelope's breathing was calm as she gradually stirred awake. Stretching her arms and legs out and taking in a sharp breath, she slowly opened her eyes. Her hand instinctively reached out to fumble for her phone from where she had left it charging.

6 a.m.

While she contemplated going back to sleep or getting up to do something, she remembered what she had been thinking about the night before. A wry smile formed on her lips as she shook her head dismissively. "As if that was ever going to happen," she muttered to herself.

She continued to lay still on her bed, enjoying the warmth and comfort it provided her. She didn't really expect herself to wake up in the book, but man, it would have been cool. Her thoughts were soon consumed with readings and assignments she had to do before Monday, so she forced herself out of bed and got ready to sit in her living room all day to finish it all on this fine Saturday morning.

But as the day went by, her mind would occasionally drift back to those scenarios of her in Twilight. It almost felt like she missed it... but how could that be if she's never been there? She didn't let herself linger on that thought too much. There were other, more important things to do right here and now than long for a life that was impossible to have. Besides, it's not like she was unsatisfied with her life. She had great friends, a job, a loving family, and she was studying what she loved. There was a lot to be thankful for. Sure things got hard and stressful sometimes, but that was life.

The rest of the weekend passed by in a blur. She managed to finish the more pressing assignments on Saturday, leaving Sunday mostly free to get groceries and do laundry for the week while she finished her readings. Thoughts of Twilight did pop up in her mind quite often, so she placated herself by listening to the audiobooks of both Twilight and Midnight Sun. The drastic differences between Bella's and Edward's thoughts were hilarious to her and that small part of her still yearning to be there thought of how fun it would be to watch it all go down in person. 

・・・

But then came Monday and her mind was set back in school mode.

By 7:30 a.m., Penelope was settling in at her favorite study spot where she was sure to see her friends later on once it wasn't an ungodly hour to be on campus. The room was a small library on the top floor of a humanities building for students of her major, allowing them to see each other often and have access to the professors, who had their offices just down the hall.

So far, the building was quiet, which she greatly appreciated. Her first class wouldn't be until 10 a.m. but it wasn't a class she was personally taking, just a class she worked for. That was the perk of being in a small department, the professors were eager to take in students of their own major to work for them. She even held a second job as a tutor, but she wouldn't be holding tutoring today. She passed those few hours by being a good noddle and getting ahead on her work. Slowly sipping a coffee she had brought from home, she watched as students and professors alike gradually arrived for another day of work. Her yearning for a life in Twilight was long forgotten... for now. 

By noon that day, the small library was in full swing with the other students of her major. They all seemed to be in the middle of a spirited debate when she walked in. As soon as they spotted her, they immediately asked for her opinion.

"Penelope," said Lisa, a particularly unique and chatty friend of hers, "would you rather have a tongue as a belly button or a belly button as a tongue?"

Penelope sighed with a little exasperation, though the amusement on her face was clear. This kind of question wasn't exactly surprising for her, especially if it came from Lisa. She hummed for a moment while she thought about it. "Bellybutton as a tongue."

"Explain," said Lisa, all eyes now on Penelope.

"Well, I don't really want a tongue sticking out from my belly, and I feel like the tongue could be an easily overlooked aspect of someone's body." Penelope shrugged nonchalantly as she settled down in an open seat next to one of her best friends, Colin. Everyone else either agreed or went back to their own assignments while she got settled in again. 

Her head turned to Colin, who had been listening in on the debate with an amused expression, and offered him a small smile while she took her laptop out of her backpack. "How was your weekend?"

He smiled back. "It was good. Thalia and I got a chance to go out before I had to be on-call for work, so that was great. How about you? How was your weekend?"

"That sounds nice. Mine was pretty good..." she replied a little reluctantly now that she remembered her yearning to be in Twilight. She smiled wryly. "Watched Twilight again and got all my homework done."

"Cool." He paused for a moment, a knowing smile forming on his lips. He knew her too well. "Did you yell?"

"Of course," she replied with a playful smile.

"I expect nothing less," he remarked in a gently teasing tone.

・・・

The group studied together for another hour or so before their next classes. While she did like her alone time in the library, it also made her happy that there were other people coming here and helping each other out. It really took a group effort to survive college with your sanity intact knowing that other people are going through the same thing. And if you ever felt like going insane, at least you wouldn't be alone in your slow descent into madness.

After her last classes were done, she still returned to the library. Colin was holding his tutoring hours, but since it was late, no one from their major would be there considering they would have returned home by now. Penelope and Colin had a sort of unspoken agreement: she'd go to the library during his tutoring hours, keep him company in case no one showed up, and then he'd accompany her to the bus stop. It was a good system.

The elevators dinged open and she walked straight into the library. As expected, no one was there yet and Colin sat alone at the big round table.

"No takers?" She asked with a little hint of amusement as she settled in across the table from him.

"Nope," he said calmly.

Something on his laptop seemed to be taking a lot of his focus at the moment. She smiled in understanding. "Working on your fantasy football team?"

"You know it."

She chuckled quietly and left him to it before starting some work of her own on her laptop. They remained in companionable silence for most of the hour, occasionally indulging in conversation every now and then.

Once the hour was up, they left the building and made their way to the bus stop, walking side by side. They engaged in conversation as they walked on, mostly about school, friends, or work. Colin was an RA for one of the student dorms so he got to live on campus. Meanwhile, Penelope had to take the bus out to her apartment complex, or "the boonies" as some like to call it.

"You know, I'm sad our tutoring hours don't coincide this semester." He remarked in a sincere tone.

She scoffed playfully and rolled her eyes. "They could have coincided, but you never checked in to tell me what your hours would be."

His eyes widened in shock at the accusation. "I did! In theory..."

"Well we don't live in theory, do we?" She retorted teasingly, both of them breaking out in laughter. "If you just replied to texts in a timely manner-"

Colin groaned. He's heard her complain about his lackluster texting, as she likes to call it, before. "That really is my fatal flaw isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." She replied teasingly. She didn't take his lackluster texting very seriously though, but she did like to hold it over his head a lot. "Every semester, it's 'Oh, I'm going to be better at texting. I promise.' And then? Nothing."

"I'm sorry! I really do try, but then I forget..." He did sound remorseful, but both of them knew they weren't taking the conversation very seriously.

"Oh, so I'm forgettable, am I?" She faked an offended tone and scoffed. He just laughed and shook his head.

"No, you're not forgettable. I'm just 'lackluster.'" He replied teasingly.

"You're not 'lackluster,' I'm just giving you a hard time." She smiled playfully. They walked on in a few moments of comfortable silence. The bus stop was in their sights now as they calmed down from their joking. The smile remained on her face. She usually enjoyed her time with Colin. It was a helpful distraction from other things in life, like her Twilight obsession.

"How's life going? You hanging in there?" She asked in a softer tone.

"Yeah... things with Thalia are great, school's hard, but not that bad. You?" His voice was laced with nonchalance, but she felt like he was holding back. He looked tired, but she could only see it in his eyes.

Her gaze softened. "You look tired, sunshine." She commented in concern, ignoring his inquiry into her own well-being.

He chuckled softly at the use of one of his private nicknames. "I guess I am... but it's nothing a good night's sleep won't fix."

"Hm." She hummed softly. She wouldn't push the subject further unless it became a regular thing. They finally arrived at the bus stop and said their goodbyes for the night.

・・・

Once she was home, she had a quick dinner while listening to the Midnight Sun audiobook. Since she had gotten her assignments out of the way earlier in the day, she let her mind drift back to her thoughts of Twilight. She too had been tired from the day and sought some solace in the world she was slowly connecting herself to. 

Her roommate had returned and was now occupying the living room while she studied, so Penelope just decided to turn in early. She left the audiobook playing in her earbuds as her eyes fluttered closed and the scenes from the book played in her mind.

・・・

✴︎In case this is something that might have bothered you, I didn't label Penelope's major because a) I didn't feel it was too necessary but I hope you picked up it's a humanities major, and b) it could give you the liberty to fill it in with another field of study you'd prefer to imagine.