Edna looked up when a knocking at the door inturrupted the Turnblad dinner. Tracy did as well. "I'll get it, Ma." She sat her napkin down and got up, puzzled. Who could it be? She wished now that they had a peephole in their door.

When she pulled it open, she was suprised to see her friend, Penny, looking distraught. "Penny, are you ok?"

"I... Mother found out about Seaweed getting arrested... We... She..." Penny trailed off, looking lost. Tracy grabbed her hand and pulled her inside. When they entered the kitchen, Edna stood up. "Penny, are you ok?"

"Mother found out about Seaweed getting arrested. We had a huge argument. I left..." Penny didn't make eye contact, just shrugged and sighed. Edna pulled her into a hug.

"Oh, you poor thing. Wilbur, get another plate. And Tracy, grab her a chair? Have you ate yet?"

Penny shook her head. "I'm not very hungry, though."

"You need to eat. It's just pork and beans tonight, I'm afraid." Wilbur and Tracy returned, and Penny sat down without argument. She ate what Edna forced down her throat.

Tracy looked at her parents once she had swallowed the last bite. Grabbing Penny's hand, she smiled. "May we be excused?"

"You need to do the dishes," said Edna. Tracy and Penny took the plates and silverware and quickly disappeared into the kitchen.

Penny quietly grabbed the towel and offered a smile to Tracy, who was starting at her, mouth open. "Well?" she said.

Penny shrugged. "Well, what?"

"Well, what?" exclaimed Tracy, dropping the dishes into the sink and turning on the water. "Well, what!? What happened?"

"Oh. Um, she saw it all on the news, about everyone looking for him, about how Joey's in the hospital... She got mad."

Tracy scrubbed a plate and stared at Penny. "But, I thought... Didn't you tell her you weren't with him anymore?"

"Yeah, and she believed me, after making me go to confession and pray myself sick. But I guess she changed her mind."

"Penny! Why are you here and not home chained to your bed like normal?"

"Well, this time it didn't quite go like that. I stormed out."

Tracy dropped the fork she was holding. "You did what?"

"I... I left. I got mad. I feel really bad."

Tracy smiled and hugged her. "You go, girl! You needed to do that."

"The thing is, I sort of yelled at her...and now I've got no where to stay." Penny looked down, obviously feeling guilty.

"Of course you'll stay here!"

"What?" Tracy and Penny whirled around to see Edna in the doorway. "Tracy Edna Turnblad, are you telling me that Prudence doesn't know she's here?"

"Mrs. Turnblad, I'm sorry, but... She probably assumed I'd come here... But I've got no where to go."

"Ma, if you don't let her stay, she's going to be on the street!" Tracy held Penny's hand. Edna sighed.

"I suppose you can sleep on Tracy's trundle bed for tonight."

Tracy smiled and squeezed Penny's hand. "Thanks, Ma!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Turnblad."

"But I'm calling Prudence tomorrow!"

Penny just nodded. Edna returned to the living room, and Tracy smiled. "Come on, let's finish these and we can go make the bed. We'll pretend nothing's wrong and that this is a sleepover."

Penny smiled at her. "Ok." Giggling, they both turned back to the sink.