Amy went home that night and told her mother all about her first day at Pasadena High School. Although her mom was relieved to hear that she actually spoke to some of her fellow classmates, she did get apprehensive about her speaking to Sheldon.
"Amy, sweetheart. Don't start talking to these senior boys and getting in trouble. You're a nice girl. You'll ruin your education if you get pregnant."
Amy wrinkled her forehead. "Mom, I really don't think talking to a fellow classmate in multivariable calculus will result in pregnancy."
"It has to start somewhere, dear."
Amy rolled her eyes and went up to her room.
The next day, Amy got up bright and early for school. She put on a plaid mid-calf length skirt with a pink striped cardigan. She thought she looked pretty good, so she went off to school with a smile on her face. She made a few attempts to socialize with some of the girls in her morning classes to no avail. At one point, she even saw someone snickering and pointing at her. But luckily, she gained a thick skin at her last school, and carried about her day.
When lunch time arrived, she thought she would be sitting alone again like yesterday. But upon going to the shotty table by the door, she recognized Penny at the table in the back. Penny was wearing a tight t-shirt with stripes, similar to Amy's design, and a short black skirt. Amy perked up and waltzed over to that table.
"Hey t-shirt buddy. Can I sit with you?" She said confidently.
Penny looked over Amy's attire for a second, confused by the abundance of mismatched prints.
"Um, who are you?" Penny asked.
"Oh, my apologies. I'm Amy Farrah Fowler. We have gym class together. Although I can tell from the bra straps showing through your shirt that you heeded my advice on wearing more supportive undergarments. Kudos!"
Penny didn't want to be mean, but this new girl was officially freaking her out.
"Um, yeah this table is pretty crowded as it is. I'm sorry." She said as she turned back around to talk to a nice looking guy with his arm around her chair. He was partially laughing at Amy for everything she said.
At that point, Amy decided to put down her head and turn back toward her lone table. Upon walking away without looking, she bumped into Sheldon.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry…. Oh hey, it's you." Amy said.
"Yes, it is me. I don't know how I could be anyone but myself, but noneless, I am me. And you're forgiven for bumping into me. FYI, this cafeteria gets quite crowded. You may want to walk with your head up to avoid future collisions." Sheldon explained.
"Noted. I was just walking back to my table in the corner." She said as she nodded in its general direction.
Sheldon looked for a second and then turned back to Amy. "Oh, you don't want to sit there. One table leg is shorter than the other three, making it far too distracting to enjoy a meal on it. Plus, it has a higher gum to clean undersurface ratio than all the other tables in this room."
"I don't really have much of a choice. No one wanted me to sit with them yesterday. And my hopes for today are quickly diminishing."
"Well then, come sit with us at my table." He offered.
Her eyes softened. "Really? You'd be okay with that? I wouldn't embarrass you in front of all your friends?"
He looked confused. "I don't believe so. I assume you eat your lunch similarly to the rest of us. I can't imagine you would do something outlandish enough as to cause embarrassment. Of course, I'm basing this entirely on my evaluation of your personality from when we met yesterday."
Amy smiled. "Thanks Sheldon, you're really nice."
"I know. It baffles me that more people don't see it."
They walked together over to his table. Leonard, Raj and Howard were already seated.
"Gentlemen, this is Amy Farrah Fowler. She will be joining us for lunch today." Sheldon announced.
They all looked up and welcomed her. Leonard raised an eyebrow since this was the first time he saw Sheldon willingly speak to a female that wasn't his sister.
Raj pushed his food around and kept quiet, since he really only spoke in front of women if forced to during class. Especially women his age. He found them terrifying.
Leonard spoke for the group. "Hi Amy. I'm Leonard, and this is Raj and Howard. Aren't you in our world history class?"
"Yes, although I don't care for the subject matter, it is a core requirement that I must take to graduate." Amy explained.
Howard smirked. "Ain't that the truth."
"Yes. That's why I said it."
They looked at Amy, confused by her lack of understanding sarcasm. Sheldon was less than phased. "You have to excuse my friends, they speak in tautologies quite often. Not to mention bad English."
Leonard shook it off and tried to get her to loosen up. "So, Amy, tell us a bit about yourself."
"You'll have to be more specific Leonard. So I know what bits to choose."
"Um, okay well, how did you end up at Pasadena High?"
She sat up a bit straighter. "I took a bus here. Thank you for asking."
Leonard shook his head again. "No, I mean, I'm assuming you're new here. Where did you go to school before and why did you transfer?"
"Well, I attended River Valley Academy for two years, where I was ridiculed and bullied by my classmates to a point where my only friend was the school janitor. But then his wife called me a series of names and insisted that I was having sexual relations with him. My mother felt it was best to send me to a public school after that with a more varied student body."
Raj and Howard just stared at her, letting their mouths gape a bit.
Leonard made a weird face. "Oh um, great. Well not great, but it's great to have you here. I hope you like it."
Amy nodded. "Thank you."
They maintained their typical conversations and Amy contributed where she saw fit. She was mainly excited to have somewhere to sit at lunch that didn't involve a boiler room.
Toward the end of lunch period, Amy noticed Bernadette crossing the room with a coffee can in her hands. Amy waved and motioned for her to come to the table. Bernadette made a fake smile and walked in her direction.
Howard looked at Amy. "You know her?"
"Yes, Bernadette's my new gal pal from gym class."
She got over to the table. "Hi Amy, what's up?"
"I just wanted to say hi. Look, I'm sititng at a table with my new friends!" Amy said with a big smile on her face.
Leonard, Howard and Raj tried to smile, but couldn't help feeling like they just ended up with two Sheldons.
"Oh that's nice. I'm glad to see things are working out for you."
"What's the coffee can for?" Amy asked.
"I'm taking donations for the Biology Club. We want to take a trip to CalTech's microbiology lab." Bernadette explained.
Amy's eyes lit up again. "Biology club? That sounds really cool! Of course CalTech's research in neurobiology is far more interesting, but I'm sure it'll still make for a nifty field trip."
Sheldon just shook his head. "Ah yes, another bright mind lost to the trivial world of Biology."
Amy just glared at him.
Bernadette smiled. "Well, we're always looking for new members if you're interested. We meet on Mondays in room 202 after school."
"Great! I'll be there!" Amy said.
"Fantastic! I'll see you there! Bye everyone." She said as she walked back to Penny's table.
Penny kept one eye on Bernadette the entire time. When she got back to the table, Penny just shook her head. "Look, it's cool and all that you like cutting up frogs or whatever, but do you have to be President of the Bio Club all the time?"
"I'm just trying to do my part! I think that new girl wants to join. Seems pretty interested in the sciences."
"She should try taking an interest in fashion. I have never seen so many patterns clash at once before." Penny said with a lower tone. "And she really has to stop talking to me about boobs. If she's a lesbian, that's cool and all, but I do NOT swing that way."
Bernadette laughed. "I don't think that's what she meant by it. She's just different. At least she found those smart guys over there to talk to."
"Yeah, I guess everyone needs friends. Anyway, Next Saturday night, Josh is having a party at his sister's house again. It's BYOB, but I'm sure people will be sharing anyway."
Bernadette made a disinterested face. "Alcohol? I don't know Penny. I promised my mother I wouldn't drink in high school."
"So don't drink. You can drive my car home if you want. I'll probably just crash there anyway. Sam's brother Alex is home from college that weekend and he is looking HOT nowadays. So I'm gonna convince him to go and see what happens." Penny said.
"Um, okay cool. I guess I could stop by."
"Awesome. We should go shopping with Trish that afternoon first. They have these really cute strappy sandals at the mall that I'm just dying to get!"
"Sounds fun." Bernadette said. She spent most of middle school being Penny's best friend, but grew increasingly concerned as they got older that they were growing apart. Penny looked like a high school dream and had boys flocking to her all the time. She just hoped that Penny's new popular party girl persona wouldn't ruin their friendship.
After lunch, Amy and Sheldon walked to their class together. On their way, Sheldon noticed that Amy kept looking in Penny's direction.
"I'm sorry, but is there a particular reason why you keep looking at the blonde female over there?" He asked.
She sighed. "No reason. She appears to be a friend of Bernadette's. I think her name is Penny. Do you know her?"
"No, and I don't care to."
"Really? I feel like every guy would like to know her. Flawless skin, golden locks…"
"Aesthetics aside, she is just like everyone else in this place. Obsessed with clothes, boys, and whatever other hokum teenage girls explore." Sheldon explained.
Amy wrinkled her forehead. "But I'm not like that. And I'm a teenage girl."
"I know. That's why I'm talking to you."
She just smiled. Amy felt like she actually made a real friend.
They got to class and listened to a jaded review of their last calculus course. Sheldon and Amy just scoffed at the teacher, mocking the way he belittled basic calculus.
On their way out, Amy stopped Sheldon before he could walk away. "Sheldon, I don't suppose I could have your cellular phone number. It would be nice to be able to contact a classmate outside of school hours for homework or socially related issues."
He nodded. "I don't see why not. Considering Leonard, Raj and Howard are a year behind me in mathematics, exchanging numbers with you would greatly benefit me as well. Not that I would ever need help, but there's nothing like a heated debate on the pros and cons of complex multivariable calculus formulae."
They exchanged numbers and went about their ways. Amy went to gym class and changed quickly. She noticed Bernadette and Penny walking to the same spot in the locker room as before. She wanted to say hi, but she was convinced Penny wanted nothing to do with her, like every other pretty high-schooler.
She packed up her day clothes to put into her locker and avoided eye contract with everyone. Bernadette noticed her evasiveness and felt bad.
"Penny, we should talk to her. I feel bad, she's all alone in a new school."
Penny made a face. "Oh she's fine. Besides, she seems to be fitting in with her own kind at lunch. She's doing fine."
"Yeah, but they're all guys. I bet she doesn't have any girlfriends." Bernadette said.
"I'm not about to pick up some pet project just to make you feel better. You heard her yesterday babble on about God knows what. It's weird." Penny said.
"Trust me on this one." Bernadette said as she looked over at Amy. "Amy, come here."
Amy wrinkled her forehead out of confusion, but approached the blondes anyway.
Bernadette smiled. "I never formally introduced you to my best friend, Penny. Penny, this is Amy."
Penny faked a smile. "Right, you introduced yourself in lunch today. Nice to meet you. I'm Penny, like she just said."
"Nice to formally meet you too." Amy said modestly.
Bernadette quickly spoke up to alleviate the potential awkward silence. "So, anything exciting happen on your second day of school Amy?"
"Well, I did just exchange numbers with a guy."
Bernadette perked up. "Oooh, you sly one. Who's the guy?"
"Well his name is Sheldon. He's quite intelligent, tall, a bit gangly, pretty into science fiction… and he's a year ahead of me academically."
Penny finally became interested in the conversation. "He's a senior?"
"Yes, but he's 16. He skipped the 4th grade. He probably would be in college by now if his mother didn't hold him back." Amy explained.
"Mmm yeah, that would totally make him hotter." Penny said.
"What would?" Amy asked.
"If he was in college." Penny said.
"Yeah, apparently college makes guys hotter." Bernadette said while giggling at Penny.
"I guess he's kind of cute. In a cocky, intelligent praying mantis kind of way."
Bernadette flashed Amy a forced smile. "Yep, nothing says sexy like a praying mantis…"
Penny just shook her head.
Dating was the last thing on Amy's mind at this point. She was just thrilled to have met someone that had things in common with her. And now she was thrilled that girls like Penny and Bernadette were giving her the time of day.