Revenge for Penny
I looked straight ahead, feeling faint. Shock was rooting my body to the ground, while the bitter acidic taste of sick was creeping up my throat. I looked at Dan, watched as his face drained of all colour and his eyes widened and turned blank with horror. I watched as his mouth opened and closed, as the words of comfort refused to be spoken. Did I look like him? I glanced at the cracked shop window to my right, and saw a reflection of a girl, illuminated by the street light, staring straight back. Her eyes were wide with horror and her mouth open in a never-ending, silent scream.
5 weeks and 3 days earlier…
"Pay attention please!" Mrs Robinson said again, over the chaos of our classroom. Of course, being one of the…less privileged schools in this area, no one pays the slightest bit of attention to anyone else, especially a teacher.
"I'd like to introduce-", but, this doesn't mean that everyone here is disrespectful enough to chuck a paper airplane at our teacher's head, but I can assure you that everyone will laugh when it hits the new girl right between the eyes.
"Penny Winters, who has recently moved into this area with her parents, and will be attending our school from now on, I'd like everyone to welcome her and help her fit in."
Now, this got everyone's attention alright. Not, of course, because the new girl is the most odd looking thing I've ever seen, but because Penny Winters happens to be the daughter of Samuel Winter, the guy who owns the channel, RMC, home of my favourite programme 'Weekly Frights', no less. And by the unusual silence that has fallen upon my classroom, I'm pretty sure that I am not the only one who realises this. I'm also sure that I am not the only one thinking, why in the world a family who has more money than everyone in this whole sorry school put together, would send their child to some dodgy public school, in an area full of stuck up private schools.
Because this girl is not going to fit in here, quite on the contrary in fact- she is going to be bullied. And why do I know this? Because I only have to take one look at everyone's face to know that they already despise the girl- who gives her the right to invade our school and rub it in everyone's face that she gets more pocket money in a week than our parents earn in a year?
5 weeks earlier...
"Hey how did it go?" I asked Dan, as he ambled up to me, oblivious, as usual, to the looks of admiration he was receiving from the female (and some of the male) population.
"Horrible, I must say. Since you deserted me, I had to audition with that weirdo, what's her name? " Dan asked, grimacing, as if he was being force fed pig lard.
"You know what her name is, that rich one. Penny Winters." I replied snappily, as we slowly made our way towards the courtyard, where the only thing you could possibly sit on was the two swings, well, one swing actually as the other had been vandalised earlier this year, and was now dangling in a pitiful heap on the ground.
"That's the one." Dan said, clicking his fingers and nodding knowledgeably, as he lowered himself onto the vandalized swing, while I clambered clumsily onto the other one.
A brief scuffle behind us told me that we were not alone. Looking around curiously, I saw a girl with pig tails and glasses fall to the ground, as two burly looking year elevens chased after her, roaring with laughter.
"HEY!" I yelled, jumping off the swing, suddenly furious. Dan was on his feet, too, but he looked weary. Looking at me, he shook his head slowly, as if telling me to leave it. I glared back at him. Honestly, Dan may be seriously good looking, but he was a complete coward.
"What do you think you're doing?" I demanded, ignoring Dan and advancing towards the year elevens. They stopped and blinked around stupidly, then, recognising me, they stopped guiltily.
"Aw, jeez. It's just a little bit of fun..." The bigger one of the idiots said, shrugging. But they ran for it quickly when they saw my eyes narrow. Like most people here, I have a reputation. People know that I have a temper. And I won't think twice. Or regret anything, no matter how much trouble I get into.
I turned towards the girl; she was slowly rising to her feet, trembling uncontrollably. There was mud on her face, but I could recognise her alright. It was that Winters freak.
I turned around quickly before she could thank me profusely for saving her neck.
3 weeks earlier…
"Hey, is Penny there?" I asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable standing in front of the woman who was undeniably Penny's mother, with her Titian hair styled elaborately into an elegant up-do, and bright blue eyes. I looked passed her shoulder to their gigantic hall, with a chandelier the size of a piano dangling from the ceiling. I'd known the Winters were rich, what with their massive swimming pool and 'exquisite' little ponds in their garden, never mind their billion pound mansion that I was looking into right now, but I hadn't imagined something as grand as this.
"Yes, of course. May I ask why you want to see her?" Asked Mrs Winters, sipping her glass of red wine and looking like the perfect dinner hostess. Except it was no where near dinner time, it was only midday.
"Well, we thought we would visit-" I began slowly, still craning my neck to see if I could catch a glimpse of Penny, perhaps, limping down the stairs covered in bandages. I shook my head slightly, disgusted at my own thoughts.
'You see, she wasn't in school today and we wanted to see if she was okay." Dan interjected helpfully, obviously noticing how uncomfortable I was with talking to a millionaire. Or the wife of one, anyway.
"Well..." Penny's mum mused, tilting her head slightly, obviously trying to choose the right words, as if we might attack her suddenly if she told us to go away too bluntly, "I don't know. It's very nice that you have come to visit her, but she is not in a fit state for visitors I'm afraid. She's quite ill."
"But, we-" I began to argue, only to be interrupted as Penny herself, padded into the hall in fluffy slippers.
I grinned, but for some reason, she didn't look too pleased to see us.
"Well! I'll leave you kids to it then." Mrs Winters said, and with one brief smile she tottered off. I listened carefully as her heels clinked all the way up the polished mahogany stairs, followed by a 'snap' of a closing door before I said anything.
"Penny, how come you're not in…?" I began, but stopped suddenly when I noticed that her lip was split in the middle. It didn't look that bad, but it must have stung, "Who was it?" I asked angrily, wondering which bully I had to beat up this time. But Penny shook her head.
"No one, I just bit into my cup yesterday and it made my lip bleed. How stupid of me, right?" She joked, attempting to make fun of the situation.
"Penny!" I began incredulously, "why the hell are you defending them?" That was what I said. What I was thinking was that the bullies must've threatened her into not telling anyone. Because that's what they are like, complete animals. And what made it worse was the knowledge that I could've been one of them. I was just as bad.
"I am not. Look you guys, this isn't the best time." Penny replied, attempting to shut the door, but I put my foot out to stop her just in time.
"What's that?" Dan asked sharply, pointing towards Penny's head where her red hair had parted to reveal a large scab on her scalp. It looked deep.
"Penny, tell us who it was" I demanded, as she nearly broke my foot in her haste to slam the door shut.
"I said, it was an accident, okay? I'll explain later, this isn't the best time" gasped Penny, as she kicked my foot and finally slammed the door shut in our faces. Furious, I turned to Dan, who was frowning deeply at the place where Penny was standing a mere second ago.
"What was that all about?" I asked, but Dan only shook his head. I had the distinct feeling that he knew something I didn't.
2 weeks and 3 days earlier...
"Ouch, that looks like it hurts" I said, pointing to a purple bruise on Penny's arm.
"Oh, it's nothing, I tripped the other day on my way up the stairs" Penny replied, shrugging. I pursed my lips, these little 'accidents' happened a lot around Penny, and I, for one, am not stupid enough to believe that they were what Penny claims them to be. Despite giving Donna a black eye for calling Penny a stuck up psycho, the message still wasn't getting through. People were still going out of their way to bully Penny, and I wasn't always there to knock them out for her. Besides, she didn't want me to, claiming that she can fight her own battles. Like that was ever going to happen.
"Are you sure? It looks infected." Dan said, observing the bruise closely as if he was a bruise doctor or something. Penny rolled her eyes exasperatedly but she was smiling.
"Come on you guys, give it a break. I'm perfectly fine, see?" She said, standing up and prancing about like a fairy. I laughed, though I still felt an unpleasant feeling in my stomach.
"Anyway, as fun as this is, I have to get going. I have around a million chores to do, and my mum is still really mad about me going to that gig last night" I said, grabbing my bag and heading towards the door.
I didn't know what had happened until around eleven that night, because I'm not really one to watch the news keenly. But my mum has always taught me that it's good to know what is going on around the world, because the world doesn't just centre on us, and what's more the actions of millions around us could affect our lives one day. When I finally switched to the news channel that night, it told me two things that would change my life forever.
Mr Winters was under arrest. For the attempted murder of Mrs Winters, who was now in an intensive unit, under critical condition and battling to stay alive.
Penny's mum was dying. And her dad was a murderer.
2 weeks earlier…
"Are you sure you are okay?" I asked for what felt like the billionth time today, watching Penny's face anxiously for some sign of emotion. And I was so worried. Ever since Mr Winter's arrest, Penny has been staying with her grandparents and had not said a word about the whole matter. What was far worse, however, was what she has to endure a load of idiots at school, telling her she deserves everything she gets. And she was refusing to fight back, not that she ever did…but it was different now. She doesn't even seem upset about it. She doesn't show any emotion, she is just…blank.
"You want to know something?" Penny asked softly, her eyes unfocused. I sat up straighter; this was the first time Penny had uttered words that were not along the lines of "I'm fine."
"Yes?" I prompted gently, keeping my voice light in case I scare her out of whatever she wanted to say.
"People have just judged my father, thinking he was a murderer. Well it's not like that. No one understands" Penny said, sighing. I stayed silent, hoping she would elaborate. But she didn't explain further.
"I understand" I told her, even though I didn't. I didn't understand how she could believe that her father was innocent, because from what I've heard there's a lot of evidence that says otherwise. But if that's what Penny wants to believe, I will stand by her.
1 week earlier...
'Did you see her...? Look at her, how hideous…Serves her right, rich snob…'
The words followed us as we pushed passed people, people who suddenly became quiet as we walked passed. But those were the better ones, they, at least, felt the tiniest amount of sympathy. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a girl smirk and point us out to her posse.
I glanced at Penny, worried that she would allow the whisperings to affect her. But her face was carefully blank, and her eyes stared straight ahead. She looked determined, but I couldn't help but wonder if she was completely oblivious. I know I couldn't have ignored it. Even though I knew they were not talking about me, I still felt anger poisoning my body and I had to restrain myself from lashing out at them. They didn't understand. How could they stand there and judge someone like that, when, if they were to go through an ounce of what Penny has been through this past week, they would probably be curled up at home, sobbing into their pillows and hoping that it was all a hideous dream? I wanted to scream at them, but I couldn't. I couldn't tell them the truth and even if I did, it wouldn't make any difference. So instead, I clenched my fists and carried on walking.
1 hour earlier.
I gripped the envelope, as Penny's voice repeated in my head,
"I want you to open this at seven o'clock tomorrow, no earlier and no later, okay? Promise me." And I had. And now it was seven, and I couldn't do it. Not now, not after all that had happened an hour ago. But I had to, I had given her my word, and a promise was a promise, no matter what. With trembling hands, I tore open the letter and read. Read until the last paragraph, which said in Penny's unmistakable writing:
'I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it to happen, but I just got so angry. I'm not denying what I did but I'm just trying to explain. Because of me a guilty woman is probably dead. Because of me a man who took his career and his reputation over his daughter, and his wife's problems, and stood by while his crumbling family hurt each other, is going to rot in jail, for the rest of his life but with this letter he will be set free, because no matter what he did he is still innocent. And I am asking you to choose what to do. Because I can't. I'm sorry.'
It was raining heavily while I read that letter, and when I finished, I looked up towards the heavens, only to see nothing but my own bedroom's white ceiling. Thoughts were whirring around in my head, but my last thought was, stupidly, 'are my walls leaking?' before my knees buckled beneath me and all lights went out.
The present…
"She's gone...' I said, more to myself than Dan. Was that really my voice? So croaky and emotionless? I cleared my throat, and forced myself to look at Dan. He was shaking his head and looking at the letter, but what startled me was the look on his face. It was a mask of pure, venomous rage.
"Dan…?" I asked, worried, "Are you…I mean, it's not our fault. It's not." I said, but Dan's expression didn't change.
"We were there. Her mum, did you remember? I knew there was something wrong. Penny wouldn't cover up for bullies. But for her…" Dan said slowly. The letter began to shake uncontrollably in his hand.
I looked straight ahead, puzzled. Dan was obviously blaming himself but…
And then it hit me. What he meant, and he was right. I knew there was something wrong but I hadn't been able to place a finger on it. But now I knew- no housewife drinks red wine at midday.
"Dan," I said, desperate for him to believe me, "It wasn't our fault."
"I don't know who you are trying to convince. Me or yourself. But you know the worst bit of all this?"
"Well, yes, I mean, Penny…" I was having difficulty saying her name, it was too painful.
"No. Not just that. Her…mother. She's recovered. It was on the news about an hour ago" Dan spat. And I felt scared, because I had never seen Dan so angry. It had always been me that lost it.
"Well, what do you think we should do?" I asked timidly, wishing, not for the first time tonight, that Penny was here. But the next word Dan uttered drove every thought out of my brain, because the Dan I knew was the calmest person I have ever met. But the Dan I knew was long gone.
"Revenge"