There she stood. With her curly reddish hair, buck teeth, missing canines, freckles, thick glasses and a generally outdated fashion style, Penelope was often ridiculed for being more like a boy or just an ugly girl.
Clyde hated it the most. Whenever he witnessed someone attacking her for her looks, he had an urge to punch her bullies. But he couldn't, he was too weak, too frail, he would only make a fool out of him. And every time he saw or heard her crying, it was like a fraction of his own heart was being ripped away from him.
I have to talk to her, she doesn't have any friends...but what if she rejects me? What if she mistakes me for a bully and I make a fool out of both of us, in front of anyone. But then again, I'm pretty sure that she would like to know that not everyone sees her as a monster, but as a friend or even something more...Clyde gave himself a facepalm.
What was he thinking? He's the ugliest guy in Royal Woods, the nerdish weirdo who had an unhealthy obsession with his best friend's oldest sister who was six years older than him! How many times did he make a fool out of himself in front of the Loud family by nosebleeding from his unhealthy crush towards Lori? But thankfully, that's in the past now, he's now looking for girls of his age, like he should have in the first place.
Clyde'll never forget his first attempt at having a girlfriend. He had asked Haiku out for an ice-cream and just to hang out around the town. Everything was going well, they were having fun, laughing, he really thought that this was the perfect girl for him until finally the moment came.
"Uh, Haiku, I wanted to ask you something, but I've only now gathered the courage to actually do it", Clyde put on a nervous smile as they were sitting on a bench in the park, and were watching the sun slowly going down.
"Feel free to ask", Haiku smiled, although she already could guess what was coming.
"You see...these past few months we really had a great time, it was so fun, I don't think that I have ever felt this good, not even with my bro Lincoln", Clyde gulped. Now comes the hardest part.
"I want to take this relationship to another level, I think we would make a great pair, and with you...", but Clyde suddenly stopped to catch some air. The fact that he managed to say all this out loud, was nearly supernatural for a boy like him.
"Oh Clyde, I knew that this was coming and I was preparing to be as nice as possible when you went through with it. Look, you are a nice, cute guy, and you should just ignore people who make fun out of you. Any girl would be lucky to have you by her side and so am I, but not in that way that you want it. I see you as more as my brother, my best male friend, heck, I think that I have told you some secrets that even Lucy doesn't know. I'm really sorry if I ever made you feel like I had a crush on you, I always tried to be platonic with you. If you don't want to be my friend anymore, that's completely fine and you have every right to", Haiku explained as she put her hand on Clyde's hand, her face showing a lot of compassion.
"It's okay, I kinda expected this. It was stupid to try and ruin this great friendship by my silly wishes. We will stay friends forever, right?", Clyde giggled.
"Of course Clyde, we will. Keep looking, I'm sure you'll find a girl for you more deserving than I am", Haiku smiled and hugged her best friend tightly.
"Uh Cly-Clyde, you okay?", a high-pitched, nasal voice suddenly interrupted Clyde's flashbacks. It was Penelope, and she was looking at him with a confused look, as they were standing in front of the school which was crowded with children, both in and outside.
"Hey Penelope, it's nothing, I was just remembering something, nothing inportant. How are you today?", Clyde replied, trying his best to sound as normal as possible.
"I'm fine I guess, I stayed kinda late last night, until ten, had a lot of homework to do", the girls said as she felt her cheeks getting warmer. What is going on with her?
Ten is late for her? Oh God, she's just so adorable.
"Four eyes meets four eyes. You wanna fuse into eight eyes?", a boy taller than both of them chuckled as he approached them along with his two thugs. They were Lynn's classmates, the leader wore a white t-shirt with a blue skull on it and with tattered sleeves, blue jeans and some chains attached to his pants. The other two goons were slightly shorter, one wore a baseball cap, a green long sleeved shirt and red shorts while the other one had a pompadour similar to Japanese deliquents, a black leather jacket over a white t-shirt and blue jeans. Kinda what Clyde would expect from movie bullies.
"Please, leave her alone, she's had enough. Beat me up if you want but let her go", Clyde warned them, with an unusual amount of courage. Penelope stared at him in shock and surprise.
"Oh, the four-eyed idiot now wants to fight? Just remember that this is not a video game, you can actually get hurt here", the leader grinned as he started to wave his hands around, seemingly getting ready to fight for real. Some kids turned around to see what this was all about.
Great, I'm dead now, in front of everyone.
"Get away from them", a familiar voice said from a distance. It was Lincoln, Clyde's best friend, who nearly ran towards them to help.
"You want to get beat up too, white-haired wimp?", the leader of the bullies rasped as he approached Lincoln who was standing in front of Clyde and Penelope.
"Dude, that's Lincoln Loud, Lynn's younger brother", the pompadour guy said as he pointed towards him. Lincoln, Clyde and Penelope exchanged confused looks.
"So? She goes on my nerves...I oughta beat her up sometimes", the thug leader grumbled.
"I'm just saying man...she beat up several guys when she suspected them of bullying him and even beat two older guys, who had knives! I'd say that we better retreat now."
"I see...okay then, be grateful to your friend, you four-eyed freaks", the leader rasped as he and his thugs left. Lincoln couldn't help but feel that they were afraid of what Lynn would have done to them if they touched him.
"Thanks man, that would have been ugly if you didn't arrive. By the way, if they go to the Middle School, then what are they doing here, in the Elementary School?", Clyde wondered as the trio slowly made their way to the classroom.
"Just to look for trouble, I guess. And we should all thank Lynn for her fearsome reputation, otherwise it would have been nasty", Lincoln replied.
"Clyde, you were brave out there, I'm just glad that you're not hurt", Penelope added.
Clyde glanced at her and she was looking at the floor, blushing madly. Clyde soon joined her into looking at the floor out of shyness. Lincoln noticed it and smiled at them.
That same day, after class finished, Penelope waved them goodbye, as she went the opposite way from Lincoln and Clyde.
Clyde could feel Lincoln grinning at him, the teasing was about to start.
"So when are you doing it?", Lincoln started.
"Do what?", Clyde tried to fake his obliviousness, he wasn't doing a good job, judging from Lincoln's smirk.
"Come on man, it's obvious. You both have a thing for one another, you could see it from space."
"You really think so? Remember what happened with Haiku..."
"I did warn you about that because I talked with Lucy beforehand. Haiku didn't like you in that way but you didn't want to listen. Now you have a girl who likes you back and you have to be a fool not to see it. If you don't take your chance now, you will regret it forever, the choice is yours."
That night, Clyde just couldn't get any sleep. His thoughts were eating him up inside. He saw Penelope blushing at him, as she was clearly concerned about him. He stood up to her, trying to protect her from bullies when no-one else did, stalling them just enough for Lincoln to arrive. His best friend was right, he had to do it tomorrow, there was no going back now.
The next day, as they were leaving the classroom and went home, Clyde stopped Penelope just before the front door.
"Is something wrong Clyde?", the girl wondered as she scratched her temple.
"Are you free today? I thought that maybe we could go out for some ice-cream, to walk around the town, chat a little, you know. Of course, if you don't have any business..."
"I don't!", Penelope nearly shouted, startling Clyde a little as her heart was beating faster and faster. She could feel her body getting warmer from the inside.
"I'm sorry for yelling but yeah, we can go. Should we meet in front of the Mall at four?", Penelope nervously asked.
"Y-yeah, sure. See you t-then", Clyde nodded and started to walk home quickly.
Penelope didn't move for a few moments.
He's finally asking me out, I thought that he also found me ugly.
Penelope let out a girlish giggle as she started to walk home.
A few minutes before four, Clyde had already arrived and was waiting for Penelope. She was a little late, but he didn't mind it at all.
"You came earlier, I'm sorry for being late", Penelopr shyly apologised.
"Not a problem really, let's go", Clyde smiled, causing Penelope to blush.
He's so cute when he smiles.
She's so cute when she blushes.
After that, they went to an ice-cream shop. They enjoyed their time there. Then they went to the arcade but since Penelope didn't really like it there, they didn't spend long there.
This was the thing that Clyde feared the most: their interests and hobbies couldn't be more different, and maybe their relationship could not be possible because of this. Maybe...
"Clyde, let's go to the park. I think we can be alone there, at least for a while", Penelope suggested while blushing.
She wants it too, this is my chance, now or never.
After walking for several minutes, they arrived to the park, which to Clyde's amusement, was empty.
"We can sit here", Penelope pointed to a bench, which caused Clyde to suddenly stop moving.
That's the same bench where...
"Is something wrong Clyde?", Penelope was curious.
Let's just hope that the result isn't the same...
"It's nothing, let's just sit down", Clyde smiled as the two of them sat down.
"What you did today for me Clyde, is the most beautiful thing that anyone has ever done for me. I really appreciate it you know", Penelope nearly whispered, as her voice got lower.
Clyde widened his eyes. Was this really happening?
"Thank you, that's nothing, really. Just did my duty. I'm sorry for not acting earlier, I was a coward, I...", but Clyde stopped when he saw Penelope sobbing with her eyes full of tears.
"Am I worth it...", Penelope sobbed as she took off her glasses.
"What do you m-mean?", Clyde gulped.
I screwed up again, didn't I?
"You could have gotten hurt...am I really worth it? Am I worth that much that a useless, ugly thing like me-", but before Penelope could finish, Clyde leaned over and wrapped his hands around her in a tight hug.
"Please, stop crying, I can't handle to see you like this. I have seen you many times cry in school because of those bullies, but was afraid to approach and comfort you. I'm sorry for not being there for you then but I'm with you now. I hope that I can make up for that", Clyde whispered into her ears, causing the girl to shiver.
"Clyde, you...", Penelope was stunned as Clyde slowly broke off the hug. He then proceeded to wipe the remaining tears from her face and put her glasses back on.
"You're prettier with them, trust me", Clyde gave a hearty laugh, causing both of them to blush.
"I never thought that you would like me back, Clyde, I was sure that you also thought that I was a freak. Sorry for doubting you, I feel kinda bad now", Penelope sighed but Clyde leaned again and this time he gave her a kiss on her right cheek. Both his lips and her right cheek were flaming hot, and they locked themselves into an eye-stare, where no one blinked for a few moments until Clyde broke the silence:
"I love you Penelope", Clyde said loudly, as there was no one around them.
"I think I love you too Clyde", Penelope giggled, and Clyde laughed too.
You are the most precious thing in this world, Penelope.
"Uh Clyde, can I ask you something?"
"S-sure."
"Can you do that thing, I mean kiss, my other cheek too? It felt so nice", Penelope could feel both of her cheeks burning.
"Of course, but only if you return the favor to me too", Clyde replied as he put her right hand in his right hand. She let out a girlish giggle again.
The sun was was nearly down and night was slowly creeping in. Both Clyde and Penelope were late, their parents were gonna scold them, punish them but they couldn't care less about that now. The only thing that mattered in this moment, was that the two of them had finally found their happiness, in one another.