The Loosening of the Subconsiousness:
Penny leaned over her counter in thought, her hand resting on the counter in thought. Sighing, she starred at her door. Sheldon hadn't come back that entire night, so she supposed he would have gone to sleep. Of course, he didn't. He spent the rest of the night watching "Star Trek" reruns that he had seen over ten times each. Nothing new.
Crinkling her nose, she smelt the unusual smell of sand in her... apartment? Had she drug in sand from one of her weird parties? No, not that she remembered. Unless she was drunk... then who knows what came in and out of her house...
She shook her head and dismissed the smell. It's probably something that came with waking up before seven in the morning. Or staying up all night... either one, she guessed.
Her head pounded inside of her skull.
Flashback:
"Penny" a boy panted.
She turned her head to see the face a boy who was doubled over, his hands braced on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. His face was covered in sweat and his breathing was erratic.
"Have you been running?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow at him.
He nodded, looking over slightly to the men who were carrying boxes up the ramp into the moving truck. He frowned at the sight, at anyone's first glance it would be clearly seen as highly bothersome to him.
"Y-Yeah... I r-r-remembered that I f-forgot to give you s-something. Y-you gave me th-the necklace with th-the shattered piece of my old in-inhaler s-so I-I had to give you something that was of the same quality" He panted, shoving his hand into his jean pocket and yanking out his inhaler, taking a puff of it with a sigh.
"There was really no need to-"
"There was" He answered a bit shakily, straightening out his posture. He had finally grown taller than her. Of course, a year really did change someone.
She laughed slightly and rubbed the back of her head when she didn't know how to reply. She always did that. He always thought that it was cute.
"Well, what is it?" She asked him with that same smile little smile she always wore. The innocence of adolescene was always very adorable.
He rummaged through his pockets, searching frantically for it. There was a moment of panic when he thought he had left it at home, but then a sigh of relief when he pulled it from his pocket.
"I put together all of my allowance and award money to get it" He said with a slight smile.
It had only been about five-to-ten dollars. But hey, he was young. A dollar to buy two small pieces of gum was impressive to someone at that young age. You couldn't blame him for being proud that he put it together.
She blinked. It wasn't much. Only a very pink flower on a silver chain. The petals were rounded, rimmed in slight silver to put more emphasis on the pink and the yellow that made up the small circle in the middle.
At the time her favorite color was purple.
"I-I couldn't find it in purple and..." He rubbed the back of his head, "It's all I could find with five dollars"
She starred at it quietly, analyzing it.
"I-I can run and go get another one if you don't like pink! I know your favorite color, b-but I just thought this one would look nicer- it h-had more embelishment!" He said with a frantic exasperation and panic.
"N-No" She said, overwhelmed, "I like it!" Her face broke out into a full grin. "I like it, I like it! Don't take it back! I like it!" She said, shaking her head and burying her face into her hands. She could feel the wet tears hit her face.
"I-If you like it then why are you crying?" He asked a bit shakily.
"I'm crying because I'm happy, dummy!"
Nobody had ever given her something like that even thought they weren't obligated to. Not even her parents. Christmas and birthdays, that's all they usually got gifts for. Because they were obligated to. And her being an only child, they never worked like he had to.
"Th-That's absurd!" He said, "I can go get another one-"
She snatched the necklace from his hands and held it close to her chest.
"I'll keep it forever!"
It was a bit cliche, him giving her a necklace that she promised she would keep forever. But they were little, it didn't matter to them how cliche it really was. She smiled at him.
He smiled back,
"You can keep it to remember me forever, right?"
"Right!"
He didn't yet know how ironic it was to say this. Not yet, at least.
Her arms wrapped around his neck and gave him a tight squeeze. He blinked, his arms out beside her for a moment. It was a bit sudden, it had caught him off guard. Of course, he wrapped his arms around her sides and gave her a tight squeeze as well.
"Promise me you won't forget me?" He whispered a bit weakly.
"Promise" She whispered back.
Irony.
"Penny, we got to leave!" Her mother called from the door of their now-old house.
"I'm coming!" She called, pulling back from the hug.
He frowned at her. Somehow, he saw that coming.
She sighed a bit sadly, reaching up on her toes and pressing her lips to the side of his cheek softly and quickly before pulling back slightly. "Goodbye" She whispered into his ear.
"Goodbye, Penny" He said a bit solemnly.
She ran off, pulling the necklace over her head as she entered her car. Her parents entered the front of the car as well, starting it up. Soon enough, they were down the road.
He waved goodbye until she turned the corner.
Flashback End
"That's it!" She said. No, she didn't remember who it was. But she was closer!
She clambered straight to her feet and then rushed into her room, jumping over piles of clothes and shoes to get to her closet which she thrust open. Rummaging through all of the clothing, she pulled out a wooden box of jewlrey.
Her hands ran across it before she violently opened it, rummaging through it. There were some expensive jewlrey that she had gotten from past boyfriends, gold, diamonds, silver, expensive rose-shaped pins and necklaces. But, nothing was worth more to her than the small and cheap flower necklace she pulled out string-like.
She had always rummaged past it when she was going on dates and looking for accessories to wear, always shoved it to the corner of the box liked she unknowingly shoved it to the back of her mind. Sheldon had been right, there was something that kept it back from her. But that statement helped her remember. Granted, it wasn't enough to pin names to faces but it was enough to bring back the warm memory she had.
She clutched it in her hand with a huge grin on her face. She found it! She was one step closer to remembering!
Shuffling over quickly to the apartment of Leonard and Sheldon, she banged violently on the door.
"Open up!" She hollered from the other side.
The door opened, revealing a very confused and tired Leonard standing on the other side.
"Good Morning, Penny" He said, rubbing the back of his head, "What brings you over here this early in the morning? I thought you had a rule that said that nobody could wake you up before eleven unless they wanted to be punched in the throat" He said with a yawn.
"That doesn't matter! I remembered something!" She said excitedly, leaving no trace of her weariness on her body.
"What did you remember?" He asked tiredly.
"Something from my past!"
"What was it!"
She shoved her hand out to him, holding the very small necklace in her hand.
Leonard gave her a quizzical look.
"What exactly is this?" He asked her with a strange look.
"It's from an old friend! An old friend!"
She beamed at him.
He looked a bit flustered at her. Old friend?
"Wh-What old friend?" He asked, a bit shakily.
"Someone I met in first grade!" She grinned. "I can't remember the name! But it means that I'm one step closer!" She said, a bit excitedly.
He sighed when she mentioned that they were just first grade friends. Someone that she would probably never meet again. That thought gave him some comfort and security.
"One step closer to what?"
"Remembering who it is!"
"I see" He replied, "Would you like to come in?" He asked her, opening the door to her.
"Yeah! I have to show Sheldon!" She said, bounding on in.
"Whatever is this racket out here?" Sheldon asked, walking out from his room and rubbing his eyes. He was dressed in red pajama bottoms and a baggy-white T-Shirt over the top portion of his body.
"I found it!"
She held the necklace out in her hand,
"I'm closer to remembering!"
He starred at her hand with slight disbelief. Had she ... kept that all these years?
"Whatever is that in your hand?"
"A long time ago, I had this friend in Texas. I think we were best friends, and he gave me this necklace so I would remember him" Her eyebrows furrowed together, frowning, "I didn't keep my promise..."
Leonard was genuinely confused as Sheldon moved to go make his normal morning-coffee, scooping out the instant coffee from the red tub.
"What do you mean?" Leonard asked, a bit razzled by the sudden hit of new information.
"I promised that I'd remember him forever"
"I see..." Leonard said, "Maybe he's still out there"
"Yeah!" She smiled at the thought, "Maybe I'll remember more!"
Sheldon didn't look up from his coffee whenever he said,
"I highly doubt he'd remember you, and if he did I don't think he'd care" His voice was slightly bitter, "That was nearly twenty-years ago"
"What the hell is your problem-" Leonard began.
Penny raised an eyebrow,
"How did you know how long ago it was? I never said that"
"Yes you did, I heard you screaming about meeting someone in first grade. I would assume that would be nearly twenty years ago, given your age" He said bleakly, finishing making his bitter-tasting coffee, taking a sip as he shuffled to the computer.
"Oh..." She frowned at him.
"I'm sorry about Sheldon..."
"No, No it's fine. I'm used to his blunt personality" She said, shaking her head in dissapointment. Though, like the human spirit always did, she was convinced that there was a slight chance that he was wrong, "But I think you're wrong" Penny said, determined.
Sheldon looked up from his computer, a raised eyebrow at her,
"I am never wrong"
"I'll prove you wrong, Sheldon Cooper. I'll find out who he is!"
Sheldon took a sip of his coffee,
"Good luck with that" He replied, eyes never breaking contact from his bright computer screen.
Leonard didn't quite understand the magnitude of this challenge.
