A/N: This is further proof that I see slash at every possible opportunity. The pairing was a little challenge for myself to hopefully recover from a nasty case of writer's block, so ladies and gentlemen, I present Amber/Penny pre-femslash. I'm not even sure if this counts as a one-shot, but here we go. Read, review, and enjoy if you please.
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Seaweed Stubbs is a good man. He does not lead young ladies on, no matter what the rumors are, and he is faithful to every girl that has ever captured his heart. But Seaweed will not keep lady at his side, even a beautiful white one, if he feels his romantic inclinations slipping away from the relationship. That's why he broke up with Penny Pingleton last month.
And that's why, this month, Amber Von Tussle is fixating him with the most vicious glare he has ever seen. Her eyes watch him travel across the school lawn, holding hands with his new girlfriend and smoothing back his hair as if he can wipe away Amber's gaze. It is not the first time she has engaged in her inhuman observations, but it is making Seaweed increasingly nervous.
His legs twitch in an unfamiliar way: not the jittery tremble he feels before dancing, but the way he felt when his neighbor's Doberman chased him up a tree seven years ago. Seaweed Stubbs wants to run, long and far, and never come within Amber's view again. He unconsciously clenches his new girlfriend's hand tighter.
She asks, "Do you know that girl?"
"Baby, I wish I didn't," he replies.
Amber's face peels into a snarl, her white-blonde hair reminding Seaweed of a mother polar bear about to attack, and he tugs his girl away in fear. Even though he does not face her anymore, he can feel a pair of malicious blue eyes follow him to the bus.
xXx
Her heartbeat pounds in her ears, but Amber's poise remains steady. She stands in the grass and grinds her pearly teeth together for a moment longer until the bus full of her colored classmates rounds the corner.
Amber Von Tussle has never hated a human being so much in her life.
Not stupid, fat Tracy Turnblad. Not Link Larkin who loves stupid, fat Tracy Turnblad. Not her worthless father. Not even her spiteful mother.
She positively loathes Seaweed Stubbs for something that she shouldn't care about. It keeps her up at night when she should be getting beauty sleep. It distracts her in Geometry when she needs to pay attention because she's already failing.
Corny Collins even pulled her aside one afternoon to double check that she wasn't sick. He said she'd been acting strangely, but Amber snapped back with something bratty and stomped off the soundstage. No one else mentioned her behavior.
Amber hates Seaweed Stubbs because Penny cries for him.
After English class several weeks ago, Amber had gone to the girls' restroom to powder her nose, and found Penny wrapped up in Tracy's arms, bawling her eyes out. From her spluttered sobs it was clear that Seaweed had broken up with her. Amber said nothing, but made eye contact with the pigtailed girl for a split second, then backed away slowly and left.
Tracy had never seen her, and for that Amber is eternally grateful. Imagining the look on her own face makes Amber want to punch a whole through the wall with her delicately manicured hand. She looked like a child that had just seen someone kick a puppy, like a girl who watched her grandmother die, like someone who will never be happy again. Amber Von Tussle looked like she was more heartbroken than Penny Pingleton.
It made her sick.
Amber's stomach twists just thinking about the day she felt so much sorrow for Penny. She did not understand the sudden sympathy. Furrowed eyebrows and tightened fists came unexpectedly, and perhaps even more unexpected was the feeling that she should have been the one holding the weeping girl. It was so stupid!
She hardly knew her! Tracy has always been her best friend. Tracy never said mean things about her boyfriend. Tracy didn't criticize her clothes, no matter how pathetic and poverty-stricken they looked. It was right that Tracy comforted her. And yet, the last time she had felt such jealously she had lost her crown and boyfriend because of Turnblad. The whole bathroom encounter left Amber with the same bitter aftertaste in her mouth.
The next feeling that overwhelmed her mind was the urge to tear Seaweed's face off. She didn't care that she would go to jail like her mother. The satisfaction of knowing that he felt the pain of his ex-girlfriend would be more than enough for the young Miss Von Tussle. Prison would be nothing.
Amber stops reminiscing and sniffles daintily on the school lawn. Her pink pumps click on the sidewalk as she walks to her big, lonely house. She thinks that she'll have to stop by the market to buy some food to cook for dinner.
xXx
Link and Tracy have run off again, undoubtedly for another make-out session, leaving Penny alone during lunch. Amber tracks her movement through the crowded cafeteria, ignoring the meager meal set before her, and when Penny exits, looking downtrodden, Amber follows.
She doesn't know why she's chasing her, but she is.
When she catches up to Penny sitting on a wooden bench, Amber realizes she has nothing to say. The grey dress with little yellow flowers is the same one that Penny wore last Thursday, and Amber knows that her upbringing should fill her with scorn at the idea of such terrible fashion sense, but she cannot muster up the distaste.
The other girl looks up with a smidge of fear when she approaches, assuming the prima donna has come to torture her.
Penny says, "Hi, Amber."
A lollipop has stained her lips and tongue blue. Against her best wishes, Amber fleetingly thinks that she probably tastes sweet. She sits down next to her in a flurry, replying with a stunted, "Hi."
Penny twiddles her thumbs.
"Is everything all right?"
Amber flinches at her words, quickly groping for an excuse for seeking her out. "Yes. I –uh- I just wanted to know how you got your hair to stay like that."
"My hair? You must mean Tracy's."
Amber bites the inside of her cheek, "No, yours. Mine would never look like that without Extra-Clutch."
Her wide eyes open further, "I don't do anything to it. My hair just stays put."
"You must be kidding," Amber says sharply, unable to control her inner diva. "No one has hair that good."
The lollipop comes out of her mouth, and Penny holds up her little finger to the other girl. "I pinky promise! I pinky promise that I don't do anything to my hair," she says. It takes all of Amber's willpower to not break down into laughter at the childish display before her, but she manages to wrap her own pinky with Penny's.
Penny smiles brightly, and pulls their joined hands together to kiss her thumb. "Now kiss on it," she reminds her. Amber scoffs, but Penny won't release her finger until she brings her thumb to her own lips.
"There! Now that we've promised, you can believe me."
They sit in silence for a minute as Amber tries her best to remove herself from Penny without making it awkward. She pushes out the tingling feeling of their touching arms.
Penny asks, "Do you want a sucker?"
"What?" Amber chokes.
She pulls out a cherry lollipop and hands it to her bench companion. "You're missing lunch, so I thought you might be hungry."
"Oh," Amber says. She takes the candy gingerly, knowing how her mother would frown on such unhealthy eating habits. But Penny looks expectantly at her, and Amber unwraps the sucker and pops it into her mouth.
"Do you like it?"
Amber nods, and asks, "Does this really fill you up?"
"Nope, but they taste good," Penny smiles, spreading warmth across Amber's whole body. "My mom makes too much for dinner anyway. We'll have a week's worth of leftovers."
Amber mumbles, "Well I guess it's better than no food at all."
Deep hazel eyes turn to the now motherless girl and look with no pity and no judgment and no contempt. Amber feels completely naked under Penny's scrutiny, and she notices how constrained her breathing seems. This is how she feels right before a boy kisses her, only five times more intense. She has knots in her stomach, and Penny Pingleton doesn't even need to touch her, she only needs to look.
"Amber, would you like to come to dinner tonight?"
More time with Penny Pingleton is exactly what Amber wants, but she hesitates before answering. A shadow crosses Penny's features and she clamps her mouth shut tightly before she says, "It's okay, you don't have to come. I won't tell anyone I asked."
Amber's blood runs cold. She shouts, "No!" A surprised look lowers her words. "I mean, it's not that. Your parents don't know me, is all."
"Well that's all right! My mother doesn't like anyone the first time, but I'm sure she'll get to know you. Do you want to walk to my house after school?" Penny looks like she's just found a pile of gold, and Amber can't help but smile a little.
"Sure," she replies.
The bell rings for fifth period, and the girls realize they're already late to class. Penny waves an enthusiastic goodbye to a dumfounded Amber. She's just sworn away her Von Tussle dignity to her enemy's best friend by taking charity food, but she doesn't feel as guilty as she knows her mother would like her to be.
Instead, Amber replays Penny's words about meeting Prudy Pingleton "the first time." As in, there will be more than one time. As in, Penny doesn't hate her. Waltzing back to Biology, Amber has never been so excited for a meal.
xXx
Prudy sits rigidly at the head of the table, hands folded on her lap. Across from Amber, Penny is idly tapping the edge of her plate, staring into the mystery casserole before her. Some kind of meat, maybe some rice, and cheese are the only things that Amber can identify, and normally she would never touch something so barbarically prepared, but it smells delicious and she cannot deny her hunger.
She picks up her fork, and drops it with a clink when she feels a hosed foot glide against her calf. Amber swallows hard, looking up at Penny's bouncing pigtails as she shakes her head back and forth. Her eyes flicker to her mother, whose pursed lips are the only sign that she is still alive.
"Heavenly Father," Prudy begins. "Please bless this table and its occupants with an unwavering obedience and ever diligent souls to combat the foul smog of transgressions that has settled upon your flock. This we pray. Amen."
"Amen," says Penny cheerfully. Amber mumbles her response, unsure of herself. Her family has never prayed before dinner.
Prudy cuts her food into bite-sized pieces, but Penny dives right in without looking back. Amber notices that she keeps her mouth shut, as a lady should, but that food is rapidly disappearing from her plate. Amber gives Penny the smallest of smiles, and takes a bite of her own food.
"Now, Miss Von Tussle, what is your favorite subject in school?" Prudy sharply asks.
Opening her mouth, Amber catches herself right before she responds with something about hating school. A quick glance around the Pingleton's apartment reveals a meticulous cleaner, and the perfect placement of table pieces speaks volumes about a homemaker. Amber is nothing, if not sly.
"Home Economics," she smoothly says.
Bespectacled eyes appraise her from over the rim of her milk glass. Prudy nods once. "A good subject. One of the few I feel has any merit in the curriculum at all."
"I couldn't agree more, ma'am."
Although she is loath to admit it, Amber is slightly frightened of Penny's overbearing mother. She wants to be invited back, and she can tell that Prudy is not an easy obstacle to hurdle. But she sticks to her guns the entire time, acting more politely than she has in ages, and she audibly sighs when Prudy rises from the table. It seems she has passed the test when Penny drags her into her room.
It is a plain space, made more colorful when Penny actually inhabits it, and Amber thinks it is a far cry from her plush, pink room. But she likes it, knowing full well that she shouldn't.
"That was incredible! I think my mom likes you more than she likes me!" Penny is practically jumping off the barren walls.
"Yeah," Amber groans in response. "But I was lying."
Penny grabs her arms, and Amber shudders at the strange electricity that jolts through her body. "Who cares? I lie to my mom about stuff all the time! Like about dancing, and boys, and-"
Her words are stopped short when she realizes what, or whom, she is thinking about. Penny releases her grip to sit on the bed. The brightness in her eyes is gone.
"It's getting late," she says lowly, far more seriously than Amber has heard.
The standing girl knows she could lay a hand on her shoulder. She could hug Penny. Hell, thinks Amber, she could even tell her about her vicarious hatred of Seaweed. But she does none of those things.
Amber opens the bedroom door to leave, but Penny says, "I'm sorry, Amber. I didn't mean to get upset. Will you come back again?" Her big eyes stare with candor, leaving Amber with a renewed insistence to burn down her ex-boyfriend's house.
"It's not your fault Seaweed's such a jackass," she lashes out at the nonexistent boy. She gives Penny one last smile and closes the door behind her.
By the time she returns home, Amber is unaware that her final words left a mark on Penny's mind. But Penny can sleep easier, she can almost forget that she was dumped, when she recalls the anger in the dancer's eyes.
Penny likes the way Amber's pretty pink lips curl up to defend her.
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