Penny
I should have known better, shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. Of course, those three wouldn't stop just like that. First day back from winter break, twenty minutes before my first class and somehow they have messed with my locker again.
The crowd hanging around near my locker should have been my first clue, with some of the trio 'hanger-on's here and there. But it wasn't until I was in front of my locker and smelled the stink of whatever those three crammed into it that I realized that the unspoken truce from the last trimester was over. Taking a breath I psyched myself to open the door and see the damage for myself.
"Salutations, locker neighbor." A chirpy voice startled me before I could open my padlock. "I am new here and I was wondering if you could answer some questions I have." I almost flinched when I saw that it was the red headed girl in front of the locker next to mine who was talking to me. Damn you, Emma. Luckily that's all that she had in common with my former friend. Her hair was shorter and Emma would never be caught dead wearing a bow, much less a pink one. Also, her light tan blouse and her grey dress with green highlights showed that her figure was closer to my stick like frame than Emma's curvy one. Lastly, her green eyes boring into mine held nothing but innocent curiosity.
"Eh. Yes?" I almost stuttered looking around to see if this was another layer of my bullies trap.
"Sensational!" I took a step back when she threw her arms up in the air enthusiastically. "My name is Penny, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Hello Penny, I'm Taylor." I said still a bit hesitant. This still could be part of the trio's latest prank but it costs me nothing to be polite just in case it isn't.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." She said again just as animatedly as the first time.
"You already said that." I noted taking another step back from the strange girl.
"Oh, so I did!" She happily exclaimed.
"You wanted to ask me something?" I asked trying to move the conversation along. Some of the onlookers were starting to get impatient, most of them were part of the trio's clique. So Penny wasn't part of whatever the three had planned, good to know. Still better end this quickly before she becomes a target too.
"Oh, yes. This is my first time in high school. Do all schools have a designed locker to store biological waste in it, and if so, why?" She asked earnestly tilting her head.
"No, it's..." Was she serious? Yes, yes she was. Ok, there's something definitely not right with this girl. "Someone must have thought that it would be funny to do that with mine." I replied looking around. I spotted Madison at the far end of the corridor. I bet that she was there to act as a look out. I had no idea were Sophia and Emma were but I was sure they weren't far.
"That's not funny..." She said trailing off and frowning a bit "Is it? Not very nice either. Do you require assistance? Should I find one of the janitors?"
"No, no Penny. It's okay, I'll handle it." Strange or not I couldn't drag this girl into my problems. She obviously wasn't all there in the head and if those three target her they'd eat her alive. "I'll just see how bad it is and talk to the janitor myself." I said turning back to my locker and unlocking the padlock not even bothering to try and keep the combination secret, after all those three have shown that they can get into my locker whenever they want anyway.
"Okay, if you are sure." Penny said tilting her head.
I opened my locker hoping against hope that the mess inside wouldn't be that bad. Of course it wasn't, it was worse, just the smell was enough to make my eyes water and make me feel queasy. And of course that's when someone grabbed the back of my head and pushed me inside, banging my forehead against the back panel of the locker and closed the door. Still dizzy I heard the clack of the padlock closing.
"Hey, why would you do that?" I heard Penny say. I guessed that she was talking to my assailant.
"None of your business, just run along and don't even think of babbling to the teachers if you don't want to be next." Sophia Hess, of course, no surprise there.
"That's not right. Don't worry Taylor, I'll get you out." Oh, Penny no.
"Penny, just go get a teacher..." I tried to say when I heard Penny fumbling with my lock but I was interrupted by the sound of her body being slammed against the door.
"Listen you retarded bitch, I gave you an easy way out. Do you want to see if you, Herbert and all that shit fit in there at the same time?" Said Sophia marking the end of each phrase by slamming Penny against the door.
"I don't think I like you." Was Penny's answer.
I'm not sure what happened next. I heard a scuffle and what sounded like a fist hitting flesh. Sadly thanks to Sophia I've been on the receiving end enough times to recognize that sound, and this one sounded like a punch that really hurt. It must have been quite a hit because the next sound was of a body dropping to the floor.
Inside the locker I was torn between panic and guilt. Panic because I didn't doubt that Sophia would try to go through with her threat. And guilt because poor Penny didn't deserve this just because I decided to respond to her question. Maybe if I hadn't...
I was jarred out of my musings when the door of the locker opened suddenly and I started to fall backwards. A pair of hands grabbed me under my armpits and kept me upright.
"I told you I would get you out." I looked over my shoulder to see Penny standing there holding me up with a sunny smile on her face. And on the floor behind her knocked out cold was Sophia Hess.
-oooo-
Half an hour later, after showering and borrowing Penny's gym clothes, both me and my new... Acquaintance? Friend? Well, me and Penny were sitting outside principal Blackwell's office waiting to be chewed out. Well, officially it was to give our side of the story but by now Emma and Madison must have had time to spin whatever tale they want and coordinate with their herd of psychopaths to back each other up. And to make matters worse I don't think Blackwell was very happy with the fact that her star athlete was in the infirmary waiting for an ambulance with a possibly broken jaw. Yes, behind her deceptively small frame Penny really packs a punch.
And on the other side we have the loner and pariah of the school, me; and the strange new girl. Yeah, you don't need to be a genius to see how this will play.
"This school thing sure is more eventful than I was led to believe." Said Penny. She was sitting next to me swinging her legs back and forth and ignoring the glare of the secretary in front of us. "What a first day."
"This isn't what it is normally like. And most people would have just walked away from a confrontation like that at the first opportunity. Not that I'm not grateful that you stood up for me."
"I only did what i thought was right. Mother always tells me to do so."
"So... you live with your mom?" I asked trying to keep the conversation going.
"I used to. She taught me almost everything I know but she said that I needed to interact with more people. You see, mother has a... condition -hic- and she can't really leave our home and were we lived was a rather isolated part of Canada with very few people around. So she sent me here to live with my father and get some experience with dealing with people and making friends."
"Oh, okay." Well that explained a lot about her. Being home schooled and growing up with so little human contact, no wonder she is so quirky. "And how is it going? The people thing I mean."
"It's a work in progress. Father gave me some pointers but mother vetoed most of them." She paused for a second and added. "I think he is worse at this than I am." Penny mock whispered.
"Well, I'm as far from an expert in dealing with people as you can get, but if I can do anything to help you just ask."
"Oh, I haven't made any friends yet." She said turning to me and leaning forward "Would you be my first friend here in Brockton Bay?" And that's when she turned those puppy dog eyes on me.
"Yes, Penny." Strange or not she was the first person that wasn't part of my family to give a damn about what was happening to me and do something about it. So why the heck not, she must already have drawn the trio's ire defending me and knocking out Sophia so turning her down for her own good wasn't a valid excuse. And we could watch each other's backs anyway. And maybe, just maybe a little part of me wanted to have at least one friend again.
"Sensational! We can try on clothes, paint our nails, talk about cute boys!" Penny exclaimed jumping up and startling the nosy secretary that had been keeping an eye on us the whole time.
"Penny" I said standing up too and putting a hand on her shoulder trying to calm her down. "Maybe we should start with something more simple, like hanging out on the boardwalk or something?"
"Of course, Taylor my friend." She answered almost glomping me.
"Penny, air." I gasped tapping her shoulder. She really is stronger than she looks.
"He he, sorry." She said letting go of me.
And of course that's when the door to the principal's office opened and Emma, Madison and a couple of their lackeys came out to ruin the moment. But, luckily, with the secretary and Blackwell present Emma couldn't do anything more than smirk at me on her way out.
"Miss Hebert, miss Wallis, you can come in now." Said principal Blackwell. Time to see what kind of tale Emma has come up with. At least for once it's not just me against most of Winslow, I've got Penny on my side. That's a one hundred percent improvement... right?