Don't Look Back Part I
The moment Summer Lane walked into Lawndale High, the whispers stopped. She glared around at the students clustered in groups along the congested hall, eyes narrowed in suspicion. After a moment, things returned to normal. Summer walked to her locker, ears pricked for any piece of gossip worth hearing.
Katie ran up while she was entering her combination. Her high-pitched voice was so distracting, Summer had to start over. It took two more tries to get the locker open, and she sill hadn't understood a single word Katie said.
"Alright, alright already!" Summer hushed the girl, and Katie stopped talking immediately. She stood by with that eager smile she had, which meant something worth hearing had fallen into her lap.
Summer finished changing books out i.e., dumping her textbooks and filling her bag with makeup, hair spray and the list of which guys had done her homework for what subjects. She also had a sketchbook and pencils for those rare moments when there was no one to talk to/about.
"Okay, so what's the big deal you had to pop my eardrums squealing about?"
Katie positively vibrated with excitement, her red curls practically shivering with tension as an ecstatic smile split her freckled face.
"It's about your sister!"
All levity immediately vanished from Summer's countenance. Her eyes blue steel, she grabbed Katie's arm and started dragging her down the hall.
"Come on."
o.o.o
The door to the unpopular girls bathroom was booted open. Summer glared around the room, making eye contact with each misanthrope.
"Out." The room emptied at once.
Each stall was kicked violently open. Once assured that they were, in fact, alone, Summer turned to her companion-come-captive and pinned her with a dangerous glare.
"Whatdid you hear about my sister?"
o.o.o
Summer checked her hair, carefully coiffed into an impeccable Flock of Seagulls style, hit it with a cautionary coat of hair spray, then stuffed another piece of Hubba Bubba into her mouth. After checking her teeth for lipstick, she grabbed her backpack off of the sink and unlocked the door. She was gone a moment later.
Katie counted to sixty before coming out of the stall and walking to the sinks. She rinsed her face with cold water, blotted with a paper towel, then carefully reapplied her makeup. Lipstick was easy enough, eyeshadow and mascara a snap. But when she got to eyeliner, her hands were trembling too hard to make a decent line.
Now you listen to me, and you listen good.
Summer, what—
You didn't hear anything about my sister.
But, I—
Shut it! If anyone asks you, you don't know anything. They don't know anything. There's nothing to talk about, 'cause there's nothing to know. And if anyone argues or says different, you come to me. Got it?
Katie took several deep breaths, but her hands continued to shake. She stared at her pale face in the mirror and listened to the late bell ring, green eyes unfocused and glazed with uncertainty.
She never made it to homeroom.
o.o.o
Track practice started immediately after school let out, and those on the team would head to the locker rooms to change into their sweats, gym clothes or uniforms. Penny Lane was relieved to be heading out to the track; after a long, strange day of hushed talk and sidelong glances, she was just glad she would no longer have to deal with her idiot classmates and their stupid gossip.
She was just walking across the gym when a voice called to her from beneath the un-collapsed bleachers. Sighing, Penny changed course and headed over to talk to her sister. It would figure that Little Miss Popularity would pull a stunt like this, though how she managed to remain popular with that haircut was a mystery Penny had no interest in solving.
"What is it, Sunny?" Penny dropped her gym bag on the lowest seat and ducked under the stands to find her sister, smoking a Pall Mall and looking bored. "I've got practice in five minutes."
"Practice can wait." Summer dropped her cigarette half-smoked and ground it out with the heel of her shoe. "You hear any of the shit going around today?"
Penny leaned back against the cool wall and shook her head.
"You know I don't listen to any of that crap."
"Well this time around, you're gonna want to listen up."
Penny scoffed. "Sunny, I don't have time for your little popularity games! If I'm late, Morris'll—"
Summer scowled. "This concerns her too, so keep your ass still until I'm done. This is some heavy shit for Lawndale High, even if it is a joke."
"Summer, why would I possibly care?"
Summer pinned her sister with an intense stare, and Penny realized suddenly that her little sister was uncharacteristically serious.
"Lemme ask you this, Penelope Purebred. What kind of extracurricular activities can a track star get into with a gym teacher when no one's around?"
Penny's face blanched until her scarlet lips were the only spot of color. With her red hair framing her face, she looked strangely like a porcelain doll.
Summer nodded, satisfied that the gravity of the situation had registered in her sister's mind.
"I don't know who's behind it yet, I've just been concentrating on squashing all the little gossip bugs whenever I find them." She jabbed a finger at the stunned girl, who was staring straight ahead at the boards that made up the stands around them. "In the meantime, don't do anything that'll add to this shit storm waiting to happen."
Penny came out of her stupor to find Summer gone, a smoldering cigarette the only sign she'd ever been there.
o.o.o
Penny was standing at the blocks, pulling her shoulder-length hair into a high ponytail when Craig Stevens walked up and slung an arm around her waist.
"Hey, Candy. What's eating you?"
Penny felt a smile curl her lips at the unintentional pun and gently poked an elbow into Craig s ribs.
"I'm trying to concentrate; if I break 12 seconds in the 100, I get the Girls' Track Record. You know what that means?"
Craig grinned; the corners of his clear blue eyes crinkled, dimples standing out in his cheeks and chin. The breeze ruffled his wavy brown hair and held Penny's attention until it died down.
"Hell, yeah! Trophy number six: the most records held by any student still at Lawndale High!"
Craig took Penny in his arms and the two did a quick waltz around the starting blocks.
Morris blew her whistle, the signal for the runners to get into starting position. Craig relinquished Penny and she tossed him a smirk as she crouched down, a twinkle in her spring-green eyes that had been missing earlier.
"Hasta, corazon!"
Then the starter's pistol cracked, and Penny was gone down the track.
o.o.o
Penny was lacing up her boots when she heard a pair of feet pace up to her left. She turned her head to see a couple of her teammates, Irma Wren and Kathy Gifford, standing a few feet away. Penny nodded to them and Irma took a seat on the bench, her gym bag between them.
"So you and Craig seemed pretty cozy out there," Kathy commented as she applied what looked like her sixth coat of mascara, face magnified by a large hand mirror. She had blonde hair teased into a frizzy corona around her head and a nasty personality.
Penny rolled her eyes. "We've been friends since we were three, Kathy. Take a pill."
"Yeah, well we've been dating since—"
"Last month," cut in Irma with a wink at Penny, bright hazel eyes set off by a mane of mahogany hair. Penny smirked at the conspiratorial gesture and finished tying her Docs.
Kathy bristled, face flushing an unflattering pink.
"Craig is mine! Why don't you run off to your little dyke girlfriend if you need your lezzy itch scratched?"
There were quite a few girls on the track team, most of them present to witness this ugly display of hate and jealousy. While Penny was far from a social being, she had many friends within her chosen sport and was not the first female member of the team to be labeled as a lesbian by some rival or other. However, this was the first time the L word had been slung by a comrade.
Irma was the first to react.
Kathy stumbled into the lockers at her back, stunned at the slap that stung her cheek and brought tears to her eyes.
"Take it back, Kathy." Irma stood with hand raised, now clenched into a fist. Penny was a step behind her, eyes blazing with another half dozen track girls ready to back her up.
"It's all over the school!" Kathy cried, threatening hysterics. "'Everyone's' talking about you two! It's your own fault for being a stupid—" The air was cut by an earsplitting trill, and the girls turned to see Coach Morris standing in the locker room door with her whistle between her lips. She glared around at her charges, hair pulled into a ponytail with side-swept bangs framing her severe brown eyes.
"Just what the hell is going on in here?" Morris demanded, and when she received no answer marched over to a tall black girl with Jerry curls. "Johnson. Speak."
Leigh Johnson dropped her eyes and shrugged.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Morris loomed over the girl like a vengeful god, then swept her eyes over the rest of the girls.
Nothing was the consensus. Disgusted, Morris stepped back and focused her glare on the center of the conflict.
"If there's nothing going on, clear out! Practice is over; you have no business on school property! Lane!" Her voice rang like a gunshot, and Penny's head snapped up on reflex.
"Coach?"
"I want a word."
The locker room emptied out slowly. Penny grabbed her bag and slouched out to Morris's office. She stepped inside, but did not close the door.
The woman, thirty-three years old and showing her years only through the lines around her eyes, watched her student for several long seconds. Her glare softened as she studied the teen, took in the slumped shoulders and averted eyes.
"What's going on, Penny?" Morris leaned over her desk, eyes working to burrow into Penny's mind in search of the source of malaise. "You know you can tell me anything."
Penny did look up, and the guarded quality of her gaze stung the woman at the other end.
"I have to get going," Penny muttered. She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her.
o.o.o
By the end of the month, most talk of Penny and Morris as a couple had been forcibly halted by Summer and her crew. The new rumor, which had taken the place of the lesbian gossip, was that Craig Stevens had dumped Kathy Gifford, though it was unclear why. Summer accepted this for the boon it was and concentrated on tracking down the source of the initial slander.
Katie Merrit was her go-to girl for this assignment. The petite redhead could find a niche in any social circle, and had a knack for being somewhere at just the right moment to hear a vital piece of info. Katie had been running herself ragged for days, trying to hear just the right combination of words to set the whole ugly web to unraveling, and at lunch that afternoon she finally got her break.
A smug smile stretched Katie's lips as she slipped out one of the back doors and tottered off to report to Summer.
It seemed cheerleaders were good for something, after all.
o.o.o
The track meet was over. Penny had shattered the school record for the Girls 100 meter dash as well as the 100 meter relay. She now held seven records at Lawndale High and was going home with two new trophies to add to her collection. Everyone had gone home by now, but she sat on the bleachers watching the light wear out of the sky. She was alone, and the quiet pressed on her like a weight.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Craig dropped himself onto the bench beside his best friend and bent forward to peek under her bangs. Penny's eyes remained on her feet, but a tiny smile broke through her melancholy. She bumped Craig with her shoulder and shook her head.
"Not funny."
"Come on, gum drop," Craig wheedled and dropped a heavy arm around Penny's shoulders. She grunted, but did not move to displace it. "You've been gloomy for days. I promise if you tell me, you'll feel better."
He ducked his head, hair hanging disarmingly in his eyes as he peered at her, pouting.
"Please?"
"Ugh!" A slim hand flashed out and mushed Craig s face, resulting in laughter and a brief bout of playful tussling. By the time it was over, Penny's head had dropped to Craig's shoulder, eyes closed as he held her.
"This is about those rumors, isn't it?"
Penny felt her face burn and pulled out of the embrace. She averted her eyes, tracing the lines on the track as she struggled not to give herself away.
"Ah." He sat up straighter and pulled his companion closer. "So it s really about..."
Penny turned her head and watched as his eyebrows rose. She dipped her head, hands clenching on her thighs. Craig sighed.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to; I'll understand. But," His expression was stern, almost brotherly. "If you're really serious about ending it, I'm here for you, lollipop."
A wet chuckle bubbled up in Penny's throat; her head shook slowly in incredulity at her friend's generosity.
"You don't even know what you d be supporting, Superman. How can you be so sure I'd do the right thing?"
Craig grinned, and his eyes lit up like a summer morning. Penny felt her heart contract at the sight, and her melancholy only grew.
"Hey, my lucky Penny's never failed me before!"
She groaned and batted at him, her actions playful, and Craig caught her hand. Her eyes widened when his grip tightened in a squeeze as he pulled her closer, and suddenly he was kissing her. A soft mewling elicited from Penny's throat, and her eyes slipped closed.
The sun set on the couple as they finally came up for air.
"Told you I'd cheer you up," Craig murmured as Penny rested her head on his chest.
"Your pits stink," came her reply.
The laughter that echoed across the campus was as light and free as a swallow soaring across the sky.
o.o.o
A satisfied smile split Summer's mouth as she marched across the campus in the direction of the track field. Katie had finally come through for her, and after over two weeks of threats, subtle implications and outright lies the whole matter could finally be dropped.
Kathy Gifford. It all came back to her.
Only an average performer when it came to track, she had felt overshadowed by Penny since sophomore year. Add Kathy's obvious interest in Craig Stevens, and the jealousy she felt about his and Penny's close relationship and BAM!
Kathy was popular, and had friends in a lot of high places. And there was nowhere higher on the food chain in Lawndale High than the cheer leading squad.
Laura Kirk was squad captain, and Kathy's best friend. If a word dropped from those bubblegum-pink lips, it was as good as law around the school.
All rivers flow to the sea, and all branches of the rumor stream led straight back to Kathy and her little crush.
The doors leading out to the track were just slightly ajar, and Summer peeked out before starting forward, that she might stumble onto something worth sharing later.
Penny was arguing with Morris. Their words did not reach where Summer stood, but she frowned at the message their body language was sending her. She stood stock still as she watched Morris reach out and grab Penny's shoulders, her expression pleading as the teen looked away. Penny said something, shook her head and shrugged free of the contact. She had almost escaped when Morris grasped her wrist and pulled her back.
Summer was getting ready to intervene, but something held her back. Expression grim, she pressed closer to the door and watched.
Morris was talking again, Penny shaking her head in agitation or denial. The older woman cupped Penny's cheek with her free hand, turned her face so that their eyes met. Penny's hand stroked the fingers on her skin, then she said something and Morris recoiled. The coach stormed off down the track to the exit at the other end. Penny watched her go, then turned away and started trudging toward the locker room door.
Summer was a storm of shock and fury. Before Penny had made half the distance, the younger girl pushed the door open and stood blocking the way. Penny looked up, surprised, and opened her mouth to speak. She never got the chance.
"You bitch," Summer hissed, hands clenched at her sides. Penny froze. "You fucking little whore!"
Penny recoiled at the raw fury of the exclamation, eyes full of shock and confusion.
"I trusted you!" Summer screamed, pointing with fingers clamped around a cigarette long forgotten in the upset. "I fucking defended you left and right, I spent two weeks of my life shutting people up, and the whole time you were fucking that dyke!"
The word landed like a blow; Penny staggered as her little sister advanced, features twisted in pain and betrayal.
"I don't even care if you like the crack or the cock, so help me," the enraged blond went on. "But the whole time I was fighting this fucking battle for you, it was all true! Everything they said, everything I denied on your behalf was true!"
"It wasn't true!" Penny cried, rigid with indignation and hurt. "I am not a dyke."
"Were you with her?" Penny hesitated, and Summer pounced on the weakness, pointing her smoldering cigarette in the direction Morris had fled. "Were you fucking with her this whole time I was telling people it was a lie?"
As Summer watched, Penny crumpled. Her shoulders slumped, head dropped forward, hands unclenched and fell limp at her sides. It was all the admission she needed.
"I will never defend you again," Summer breathed, backing away not only from her sister, but any relationship they might once have had; the shattered pieces lay at Penny's feet, broken by her own hands.
"Sunny," Penny whispered and Summer flinched as if struck.
"DON'T—" She caught herself, flicked her spent cigarette away and shook her head, bitter gall written into her every feature. "Just don't."
The heavy steel door slammed as Summer made her exit. Penny stood alone on the track, the place that had once been her sanctuary, and suddenly could not bear to spend another moment there. She turned and started running.
Penny ran out of Lawndale High, and once her feet hit the pavement, she kept running. Head down and eyes blinded by tears, Penny ran until darkness claimed her, and she never once looked back.
.o.o.