First days..
Thanks to all that commented. Writing for these characters... who I do not own... as young children is interesting, but harder than I thought when trying to bring out their personalities. Enjoy
Leonard turned to see a rather large woman staring questioningly down at him. He ruffled through his bag to find the envelope his father had given him this morning at breakfast. Leonard shakily held it out to the woman. "Ummm I am Leonard Hofstadter?"
The woman immediately smiled. "Are you sure? Because you don't sound so sure…"
Leonard had no idea how to answer… he just kept looking at the woman when a man in sweat pants, t-shirt and sneakers came out of the office from behind the woman. "Gladys… what do we have here?" He took the envelope from the woman and looked at the typed letter. He then looked down at Leonard. "So… Leonard… it seems you need to get to class…" He turned to the woman. "Well… Mrs. Smith… where would you like me to drop Mr. Hofstadter off?"
Mrs. Smith went quickly into the office and took a folder off the counter. "Thanks Bob… Umm… Mr. Conner… It says he should be in Miss Deerform's second grade class."
Mr. Conner turned to Leonard. "Well son?... follow me." With that, Leonard followed Mr. Conner down the hall.
Penny came to a sliding stop just outside her classroom. Miss Jackson could hear the clatter of Penny's flip flops running down the hall and smiled as she turned to look away from the door. As Penny came to a stop, she peered around the doorframe to see if it was clear for her to come into the classroom. Denise had told her that if she was quiet, she could sneak around just about anywhere. Penny saw Miss Jackson looking the other way and took off her flip flops and tip toed into the classroom and sat at her desk before slipping her flip flops back on. A quiet giggle rose from the other kids in the class.
Miss Jackson picked up a piece of chalk and started to write on the blackboard. "Nice of you to join us today Miss Pettersson…." Miss Jackson tried hard to not show the smile creep in as she turned hearing the class giggle seeing Penny sitting at her desk blushing and putting her face into her hands. She knew that Penny was one of her more eager students, but she also knew that letting something like this go could set a bad precedent. She looked back at the little blonde. "Penny?... eyes up front."
Leonard entered Miss Deerform"s class and was directed to sit in one of the seats that were left empty in the back of the class. Leonard looked at the eyes of his classmates staring at him as he walked down the left aisle. About halfway down, Jimmy Speckerman stuck out his foot and Leonard proceeded to trip and fall, spewing the contents of his book bag for the second time that day. The class, much to Leonard's expectations, broke out in a hardy laugh.
Miss Deerform slapped her hands together immediately settling down the class. With a watchful eye on Jimmy's desk, she watched as Leonard picked up his things and took his place. Knowing that things Might be uncomfortable for her new student, Miss Deerform smiled. "Leonard, why don't you come sit up here in front"? Normally, that particular seat was kept empty and reserved for anyone who was disruptive, but Leonard actually preferred to sit near the board. He smiled and made his way up front skillfully navigating the suddenly extended foot of young Mr. Speckerman.
Leonard was no novice to this type of treatment from classmates. He had always been on the receiving end of acts such as these. He never fit in to the larger groups of kids in the school back in New Jersey and he never really told his parents about any of it. He figured they would just brush it off. Telling his mother and expecting some comforting words or advice past "Buck Up Sissypants" was not something Leonard ever wanted to experience more than once. And telling his father was usually not much more effective given that his father was usually pouring over the most recent journals and never engaged fully in any conversations put forth by his children. Leonard figured that was one of the primary reasons his sister really didn't have more of a problem when she was sent off to boarding school.
Recess time came soon enough and Penny was so relieved that she would now be able to get outside and into the fresh air. Inside the school was not really a place you wanted to be… especially with the hot weather. Schools were a fine place to be in the cold windy Nebraskan winters, but when the weather was hot, there wasn't really any cross drafts because all the rooms only had windows on one wall and the doors to the classrooms were always closed to the hallways. When the rest of the class got up for recess, Penny quickly jumped up.
Miss Jackson waited for the class to start filing out the door. When Penny approached the door she called out. "Penny… can you please come here?"
Penny slumped her shoulders and walked over to the teacher's desk. "Yes Miss Jackson?"
Miss Jackson smiled at the little girl. "Penny… I need you to stay in right now and sit at your desk. You were late for class this morning".
Penny looked horrified. "But Miss Jackson… It was only a little late…. And I was helping Leonard find the office…."
Miss Jackson looked puzzled. "Who is Leonard?"
Penny put a finger to her lips thinking. "Ummm… Leonard… Liam… Hops… someone…. He was standing right there in the way when I got to school…. Just a tiny bit late… you know… because my sister Denise couldn't get up on time… because she's in Middle school and that starts later… and then Mom wouldn't let me wear my pink dress… so I had ta put on these shorts because Mom didn't want me to… ummm… never mind… anyway… after I put on my shorts…. Dad wanted me to wear some sneakers… and it's just so HOT!. .. and I didn't want to…. Cause Mom only said no to the dress… so anyway… I put on my flip flops… cause they are really sparkly and pretty and then… BAM!... I ran right into him…. Well I couldn't just leave him laying there on the floor… so I helped him up and gave his some of his stuff… boy he carries around a lot of papers… then he asked me where the office was…. And then I just HAD to bring him there…."
Miss Jackson couldn't believe how fast and how much information came out of that little body in front of her. "Penny…. Penny… please… that's fine go join your friends…"
Penny smiled and ran out to the playground as fast as her feet could carry her. When she got to the grass, She kicked off her flip flops , reached down, picked them up and shoved them in her back pocket. She had no intention of letting them get in the way of feeling the grass between her toes.
Leonard took his book bag out to the playground and found a table by the side of the building. He sat looking out onto the yard. He thought that he would like to watch all the kids running around and playing games like kickball and tag. But really, he just didn't like being snuck up on from behind. He really didn't have any reason to think that the kids in this school would be like the ones back home in New Jersey… except for that Jimmy kid this morning… it just seemed like the prudent thing to do… considering his past experiences. Leonard opened his book bag and pulled out the newest Superman Comic Book. Superman was his favorite Super Hero… he actually had a lot of favorites, Superman just was his favorite favorite…. Leonard flipped through the pages and then put the comic book down and looked off across the yard. Off to one side he noticed the little girl that helped him this morning. He smiled when he thought of the bright smile she had. She was bent over picking up some wild flowers and then showing them to the other girls she was standing with. Leonard's smile fell just a little. He thought to himself…. "Those must be her friends". Leonard watched as Penny took a few of the brightly colored flowers and put them in her hair just over her eft ear.
Suddenly from his side, someone bumped him… "Hey…. It's the NEW KID… What ya got there?… That's a nice bag you have…. NANCY!" Jimmy Speckerman stood laughing.
Leonard grabbed his book bag and tried to get all his things together. Before he could, Jimmy scooped up his Superman Comic Book and started to flip through the pages. Leonard started to turn red. "Give that back to me Jimmy!"
Jimmy smiled and held the comic over his head. "Or What?"
Leonard didn't know what to do… 'Or what' never worked out well for him. Suddenly from behind Jimmy, a small voice spoke up. "Whacha guys doin?" Jimmy and Leonard looked over and there was a group of girls standing and staring at them. Penny and her friends Valerie, Anna, Tammy and Kim were standing looking at them... Penny was in the lead standing with her arms folded, not looking very pleasant at Jimmy AT ALL.
Jimmy slapped the comic down and stammered a bit. "N…n…nothing…" he then just went off in the direction of a bigger group of boys starting to pick sides for kick ball.
Valerie, Tammy and Kim ran after him wanting to get in on the game too. Penny stayed and looked at Leonard. "You wanna come? Us girls are gonna kill em!"
Leonard smiled. "No thanks… I think I'll just watch…"
Penny smiled and waved. "Suit yourself…" She then ran over and stood in with the girls. She was pretty loud saying that the girls could beat all the boys all the time. It wasn't long before there was a girls against guys game going on.
Leonard decided to just put his comic book away and watch the game. He couldn't believe how good the girls really were. Valeri had a strong kick, but it was Penny he was really impressed with. She ran all over the place after the ball and kicked some really good ones… and she didn't even have any shoes on…
Soon, it was time to go back inside for the afternoon session. It was getting a bit hot, sitting by the wall of the school, so Leonard stopped at the water fountain for a drink. As he put his head down, someone pushed his face forward and he got a face full of water. Leonard could hear the laughing from behind and turned around to see a bigger kid than Jimmy laughing. Suddenly Mr. Conner's voice could be heard. "Alright! That's ENOUGH of that Kurt…. Get to your room…" Mr. Conner looked down. "You Okay kid?"
Leonard just looked up. "Yeah…" He then wiped his glasses on his shirt and went down the hall. "Thanks".
After school had let out Penny had to wait for Denise to finish at Middle School so they could walk home together. She knew the way, it was just that her Mom didn't like Penny walking alone. So, she was just going to have to amuse herself until Denise found her way over to the elementary school and find her. Penny decided that the monkey bars were about her best bet. She climbed up to the top ring and sat on the bar, slipping over so she was hanging upside down. This was just the thing her mother didn't want her doing. Penny swung upside down until she noticed someone sitting at a table by themselves. It was Leonard.
Leonard was sitting looking through his folder at the homework that he had been assigned. He took out a pencil and started to figure some of the math problems when he could feel more than see someone looking at him. He quickly turned to see Penny standing by the table smiling at him.
Penny's bright green eyes stared back at him. "Whatcha doin?"
Leonard looked from Penny to his papers and back to Penny. "Ummm… homework…"
Penny made a face. "Already?" Suddenly Penny heard her sister call for her. Denise wasn't of the mind to come over and get her, she just called. Penny shrugged her shoulders. "I gotta go… see ya". Penny then pulled her flip flops out of her back pocket and slipped them on before she ran off to find Denise so they could get back home.
Leonard stared after her. "Bye Penny".
