A/N: Finally got this chapter done! Here we go!

Adrian's POV:

When I saw Penny's boyfriend, Eric, standing backpack-clad on our front porch with a smug smile on his face, I raised my eyebrows. I had never liked this little punk ever since the moment I laid eyes on him and I hated him when he started to date my sister. Seriously, enough went on in my life without worrying about the day when I might have to kick this guy's ass for hurting my little sister. I'm still worried about the abusive jerk the Aphry's still with and I have to with problems that I had with my father.

But there was something about how Penny responded to him being here that made me extremely suspicious. She looked scared at the very sight of him and slowly took a couple back away as though he were a deadly snake. Since nobody else was saying anything, I decided to be the first one to speak.

"Hey, Eric," I said, shifting my backpack weight on my shoulders and and putting a comforting hand on my sister's shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

Eric shrugged his shoulders and gave my sister a sly smile. "Oh, I just thought that I should walk Penny to school today," he said smoothly, "She is my girl after all."

My brown eyes narrowed. The tone of his voice sounded weird when he said the word "my", almost as if my sister were a favorite toy of his that he didn't want to share with anyone else. The grip I had on Penny's shoulder tightened a bit and Penny's chocolate eyes looked at me pleadingly, as if to say 'Please don't let me go with him'.

I cleared my throat to signify that I got my sister's message and said, "That's cool of you to do Eric, but Penny and I are walking with Troy and Aphrodite Anderson today."

Eric's deep blue eyes narrowed and he furrowed his brows into a scowl. His eyes flickered over to Penny and she seemed to have noticed because she whimpered and took a step back behind me. I was using every ounce of my strength to ot pin this guy to ground and demand to know what he did to my sister right then and there. But I couldn't do that though: I would get into serious trouble with the higher-raning Plumber officials. I'm still in training to become a official agent of the Plumbers like my dad, mom, and Uncle Ben.

"Alright then," Eric said, folding his arms across his chest, "but I get to walk her home right?"

I swallowed hard and said, "No, our dad said yesterday that he'd pick us up after school." That part was abosolutely true, believe it or not. My father can have some moments of parental affection if he wanted to and, this time, I was grateful for it.

Eric had a dangerous look on his face now and I felt Penny grab my hand and squeeze hard, nearly breaking my fingers. Even though I could tell that he basically wanted to strangle me now, I stood my ground and just simply stared at him, unphased. This little prick was not gonna get the better of me.

Eric eventually dropped his gaze probably when he figured out that it wasn't gonna work on me. "Well alright then," he said, shoving his hands in his jean pockets and turning his back to us, "Guess I'll see you at school then Penny." With that he walked off the front porch, down the front path, onto the side walk, and out of sight.

When he was gone I turned to my sister and gave her a comforting hug. I could feel shaking in my arms and I knew that she was on the verge of tears. Something was up, but I knew that Penny probably wouldn't tell me. But I knew someone she would tell though, and it was only a matter of time before he got here too. But the question remained: will Troy tell me or will he keep Penny's secret?

"Hey Penny! Adrian!" I could recognize that voice anywhere, the feminine voice that I could pick out anywhere. Penny and I both looked in the direction of the voice and saw Aphrodite Anderson. She was waving furiously at us with a gigantic gin on her face and her teal blue eyes shining brightly. Right behind her was my friend Troy, with a very small smile on his face, though they both did a little tired. They should be too, their house was like a mile away from our house.

"Aphry!" Penny screeched and ran down the steps of the front porch to give Aphry a huge hug. I followed her silently, quickly shutting the door behind me. When the girls stopped hugging, Aphry ran over to me and gave me a hug that nearly cracked several of my ribs and I'm pretty sure that Penny was doing the same thing to Troy.

"Aidie-kun, I missed you soooo much!" squealed Aphry, as her hug got tighter around my torso. Damn, this girl is strong!

"But Aphry, we saw each other yesterday when Penny and I came over to your house!" I said, try breathe and also trying to pry Aphry off of me.

"But that too loooong!" Aphry whined, still not letting go of me. I wished that she would though, some of her black and purple hair was getting into my mouth.

"C'mon Aph, let go of him," Troy said, walking over to us. Apparently he had better with getting my sister to let go him him than I was with his sister. When he got to us, he began to try to pull Aphry off of me. After awhile, Aphry finally let go of me with her face in a pout.

"Fine then!" she said turning her back to me and Troy, her ponytail swishing behind her. "Penny and I'll just walk ahead of you guys then. C'mon Penny let's go!"

With that both girls started walking down the street in the direction of Davis High School. Shaking our heads in amusement and disbelief, Troy and I followed. After a few minutes of silence and walking, I finally found my voice and spoke.

"Hey Troy," I said, my eyes on Penny and Aphry who were still ahead of us, "mind if I ask you something bro?"

"Sure man, " he said, adjusting his bacpack straps. "What is it?"

"Is there something wrong with Penny?"

"Yup."

"Are you gonna tell me what it is?"

"Sorry, I promised Penny that I wouldn't unless she wanted me to."

I raised my eyebrows at this statement. Why wouldn't Penny want me to know what's wrong with her?

"I wouldn't press it, if I were you, man," Troy said, as though he were reading my mind. "You know how your sister is. She'll come around sooner or later."

"Yeah, I know," I said with a sigh. She'll come around, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to give up on this so easily.

A/N: Chapter's done! Please review!

~Ellie~