My brother is a gigantic ass-hat! He KNEW how important this one was to me. I made him promise to behave. All I wanted was my parents to focus on ME for a change. Just me. I wanted my whole family there to see me win, I didn't think that was too much to ask for is all. Instead he had to go and be a gigantic ass-hat!

Ever since Katie moved out with that guy, everything has changed. Mama cries about Katie, daddy yells at Jerry, and no body cares about me. Sometimes I think that I've turned invisible.

I worked SO hard at this! For months! All I wanted was daddy and Mama to see. They would be so proud of me! Didn't matter I guess. Katie was sick, she kept throwing up and stuff, so Mama went over to see her and couldn't come. Even when Katie moves out she still ruins everything! Mama didn't seem worried that Katie was sick though. She just kept laughing and saying that it was her own fault. How is it your fault you get sick? Mama never says it's may fault when I get sick.

I won though! First place and everything. I got a trophy and $100. I've never seen that much money in my life! Mama made me put half of it in the bank, but I get to play with the rest of it! I'm gonna get some new clothes, or maybe some new sneakers. One thing is for sure though, I'm gonna hide it from Jerry. My brother can't be trusted.


It was the perfect throw. The rope looped around the calf and brought it down almost effortlessly. Penny turned to the judges and smiled. She knew it was perfect. She had been practicing for months. Trying to get the right length, the right sized loop, the right flick of her wrist to make it obey her.

Penny left the arena and started looking for her parents. They would be so proud of her, she just knew it. She was definitely in the running for a trophy, maybe even first place! Penny's bright smile turned into a frown, she couldn't find her parents. Since she just completed her last category she headed out to find them.

Penny started wondering around, trying to find out where her parents got off to. Maybe they were planning some sort of surprise for her! She needed new buckles for her saddle, or maybe they would get her new cowboy boots. The one's that she had were starting to wear and weren't that pretty anymore.

She heard her dad before she saw them. They were yelling at Jerry again. So, no present then. He promised to behave tonight! He even pinky swore! Did that mean nothing these days?

"I just can't believe you Jerry! What has gotten into you? You used to be such a good boy and ever since you started hanging out with those kids all you do is skip school and get bailed out of jail! You better shape up or we will ship you out! I'm tired of this boy." Her dad was yelling. Great. Whenever he got mad it tended to flow over to her.

Before she lost her courage, she walked up to them. "Did you see me daddy?" Even if Jerry didn't deserve it she would deflect some of her dad's anger. Siblings before parents: it was her motto.

"Sorry Slugger, no I didn't. And you can thank your brother for that! He decided that right now was a great time to try to hot wire a car!" Her dad turned back to Jerry. "Don't think that this conversation is over young man. And you are staying by my side for the rest of the night."

So, no present then. Her parents didn't even see her! And for once she was textbook perfect too. Jerry had to ruin everything. Penny never got any attention because if Jerry wasn't screwing up, her sister was getting knocked up. Penny wasn't quite sure what that meant, but she heard her mom say it a lot lately.


Later, as Penny was receiving her first place trophy, she looked out into the crowd to find her family. There were no where to be found. She still put on a huge smile, this was going to be in the paper after all, and thanked everyone she could think of for supporting her.

Once she got home, she asked her dad why they weren't there. The answer was surprisingly simple. "Jerry needed to go to the bathroom. That kid is in a bad place right now Slugger, I need to keep an extra close eye on him right now. But I am proud of you baby girl." She gave him a smile and a hug before practically running away.

Once upstairs, safely tucked away in her room, she began to think. Anyone who knew her could tell you that was dangerous. Penny wondered why her brother and sister got all the attention. They did bad things all the time. They lied, they stole, broke curfew... Penny was good. She got straight A's for the second year in a row and always kept her room clean. She did her chores and helped out around the farm without being asked. The more she thought about it the more she realized that being good may be the right thing to do...but not being good gives you attention.

Absentmindedly, Penny began to draw little Hello Kitties over her diary. Maybe she was going about this wrong. Maybe she should stop trying to be perfect. Granny would be disappointed that she didn't try her best, but Granny had been gone to two years. She was the only one who really cared about her anyway.

A/N: That actually did happen to me. Not at a Jr. Rodeo, but at a band concert where I had a solo. Meh.