Things are not so Rosy
Sorry for the delay in posting... work got in the way...
Some of the "complications" of High School come home to roost for this couple... that I do not own...
T.J had Leonard's notes and didn't give them back to Valerie before the assignment was due. This was the night before the assignment and Leonard opened his book bag and looked through his papers, not finding the material he was looking for. He was sure he had put it with his other papers. Now, he had to go to the library and find the material all over again.
Leonard was sitting around the corner from the study room that he, Karen and Kathy normally scheduled to use. The problem this evening was… it wasn't one of their regularly scheduled nights and the room door was closed, similar to the time he had seen Timmy leave after who he had assumed was Penny. Not wanting to "interrupt" whoever was in the room… Leonard just went and found a quiet cubicle. He didn't really didn't know what whoever were in the room were doing in there, but he had something of an idea... and interrupting them was not really an option.
While sitting in his cubicle, Karen Burbrick came up from behind and practically scared him out of his wits. "Hi Leonard".
Leonard spun around and practically fell out of his seat. "OHhhh… Hi… Karen. Catching up on some assignments?"
Karen sat down and shrugged. "No… not really… well, I am doing some work, I just like coming here to study rather than go home…"
Leonard looked confused. "Why wouldn't you do your work at home?"
Karen sighed. "It's just quieter here… sometimes my mom has a… friend… come over… and… well… it's just better here…"
Leonard was a little concerned. "Is everything okay? I mean… at home?"
Karen looked down. "It's complicated."
Leonard spoke softly. "Karen… it's okay… you don't have to tell me… but if you ever want to talk about anything… You can talk to me…"
Karen looked up and breathed in. "It's fine… really…. So what are you doing here?"
Leonard smiled. It looked like Karen perked up a bit. "I seem to have misplaced the assignment due for English class… I had it all finished and I was just going to go over it one last time and I … must have … lost my notes. It's due tomorrow… no big deal"."
Karen looked concerned. "When did you last see it?"
Leonard shrugged. "The last time we were in the study room with Kathy… last week."
Karen volunteered to get the references Leonard needed and it was actually in a pretty short time, Leonard had rewritten the assignment. He had remembered some of the wording he used in the original. He thought the turn of phrase he used were unique and thought the teacher would be amused by some of the passages.
Leonard quickly finished the assignment and asked Karen if she wanted a ride home. Karen declined saying that her mother was going to pick her up. Leonard waved as he left going to his car. As he left the school, he saw Penny standing and giggling with Timmy.
Penny was unaware anyone else was in within earshot. She playfully shoved Timmy back as she laughed. "Stop it… not here…" Leonard turned and quickened his pace to his car. He was glad he finished the assignment. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to be in the mood to concentrate on anything more complicated than blowing some obscure villain straight to HELL with the controller of one of his video games when he got home.
The next few days were strange for Leonard to say the least. Thursday during English class, Leonard was asked to stay behind as the other students filed into the hallway. Karen was one of the last to leave the classroom and looked at Leonard with confusion. All she saw in return was a mixture of confusion and dread.
Leonard approached Mr. Miller's desk and stood quietly as the teacher closed the door to the classroom. He turned and faced Leonard with his back to the door window keeping his weight on the door so an early arriver for the next period could not open the door. "Leonard… I need to ask you if you understand the ramifications for cheating are."
Leonard blinked his eyes quickly then stammered a bit. "I… I… Ummm…" Leonard closed his eyes tightly and grabbed his forehead with his right hand and massaged over his eyebrows. "The test or assignment will be graded as a ZERO credit and any homework credit associated with the subject in question will be forfeited".
Mr. Miller stood stone faced. "And?"
Leonard breathed heavily. "Detention… and… a breach of 'contract of conduct' meeting with my parents…"
Mr. Miller stood taller lifting his weight from the door. "Correct. Leonard… I have to say… I am VERY disappointed. We will discuss this further… I have another student to meet with. If you have any questions… I will be available after last period". He then stood away from the door and opened it. The students for the next period filed in and Leonard left the room both ashamed and bewildered.
Leonard fretted for the rest of the day, only half paying attention to the lessons and answering with wrong answers to what normally would be classified as cake questions. Karen followed Leonard into the hallway after Math class and tapped him on the shoulder. "Leonard… what was that about?... you know the material better than that!."
Leonard sighed. "Yeah… I know… it's just that Mr. Miller seems to think that I cheated on my English assignment… This is awful…"
Karen thought. "The one we worked on in the library?"
Leonard nodded. "Yeah… I have to find him and talk about it." Leonard then walked down the hall quickly in the direction of his English class… Karen just watched Leonard as he left. She thought that he looked a little different somehow. Less assured than she had known him to be…
Leonard turned to go down the hall and almost ran directly into Mr. Miller. "Ummm… Sir? Ummm… I really would like to talk about…"
Mr. Miller looked at Leonard as he hurriedly put on his jacket. "I'm sorry Leonard… this is going to have to wait until Tomorrow… I have an emergency at home… I will talk to you first thing in the morning… I will see both you and T.J. then."
Leonard looked on in disbelief as Mr. Miller walked quickly down the hall. He couldn't figure out how he could be associated with something like cheating… or T.J…. Sure T.J. was a friend of Timmy… but lately he had been hanging around Valerie's crowd…
That evening, it took all that Leonard had to make it to their regularly scheduled study group meeting at the library. Leonard didn't have any real interest in being there but could hear the droning of his mother in his head. "Leonard… we have made a commitment… and commitments are meant to be kept… purely by the definition of the word…" At least the room was empty and ready for them when he got there… typically the first of their group to show up. Never the less, he was not really into being there that evening and was deep in thought when Karen and Kathy came into the room.
Karen put down her things and could see that Leonard was preoccupied. "Hey Leonard?"
Karen saw that there must be something bothering Leonard. HE didn't snap to and sit up straight the second Karen came into the room or said something to him. "LEONARD! What's up?"
Leonard jerked his head in their direction. "What?... oh… hi… ummm… nothing…"
The girls sat down and Kathy pulled some papers out of her bag. "Hey… I found these in with my stuff… we must have got them mixed up last week…" Kathy held out the papers on the assignment that Leonard had handed in for English class.
Leonard looked at the material. "Huh… this is the stuff I had lost… and we worked on the other night". Karen just looked on nodding. Leonard put the things in his bag. "Have you had these the whole time?"
Karen cocked her head. "Well… yeah!... I don't use this bag except for when we come here… When I get some new work I add it in and take out stuff that I have done… otherwise, there's a bunch of general reference things in case someone else actually shows up here…Why?"
Leonard sighed. "Nothing… it's just that… Mr. Miller is going to talk to T.J and me tomorrow about the assignment. It's no big deal… you had the stuff and it was just a mistake…" The rest of the night went a little faster for Leonard. The three friends just sat and talked about nothing specific, just things that were happening and the big game the next night. Everyone in the school was excited… they were having a bonfire tonight to get everyone's school spirit up… the game was a big rivalry and everyone thought they had a good chance to win the game.
Karen smiled. "Hey… you guys want to go over to the bonfire? Everyone's going to be there… and nobody showed up here tonight… as usual…" Leonard and Karen looked at each other and somewhat reluctantly looked at each other and back to Karen. Karen was relentless. "Awww… c'mon…" She took her two friends by the arms and linked with them one on each elbow and made their way out to the bonfire… making sure she was between Leonard and Karen and particularly close and tight to Leonard.
When they got to the bonfire, everyone was really there… The whole football team and all the cheer leaders. Leonard could see T.J. and Timmy standing together along with some of the other team members. Penny was there with the other girls on the squad… She looked so cute in her cheer uniform… jumping up and down and waving their pompoms. Penny in return saw that Leonard was sitting with Karen and Kathy… WAY to close to Kathy…
The atmosphere was pretty energized and some of the team players took their girlfriends and found semiprivate places under the bleachers. Timmy grabbed Penny by the waist and gave her a squeeze which made her giggle and turn into his embrace. They briefly kissed and he leaned over and whispered into her ear. Penny's eyes went a little wide and then giggled some more and the two disappeared under the bleachers.
Leonard saw Penny leave and turned to the girls. "Well, it's kind of late and I have to meet with Mr. Miller in the morning… so… I think I'll be calling it a night..." The girls smiled and gave him a small hug… Kathy's was far tighter and longer than Karen's… something that wasn't missed by Leonard.
Penny and Timmy found a place under the bleachers that was away from the others that were trying to find some privacy. Timmy turned to Penny and proceeded to pull her in for a rather passionate kiss that turned into a full blown High School make out session. Penny and Timmy's hands were exploring each other's bodies… both above and below their clothing… Timmy had shed his pads so his Jersey was loose and easily navigated by Penny's eager hands feeling across his chest and stomach. Timmy found that the Cheer Leader uniform was a bit more difficult to navigate. When they pulled back for a breath, Penny reached under the sweater she had put on in the cool air and unzipped the back of her uniform. As usual, Penny had opted out of wearing a bra… as the uniform was tight enough and she didn't 'wiggle' too much during the routines. All the girls tried different things like that, all wondering if anyone that watched them could see any difference. Timmy smiled and repositioned his hands when Penny pulled him back in for another kiss. Timmy's hands, however had cooled considerably in the evening air and Penny chirped and jumped a bit as Timmy's hands found their target on Penny's now more accessible breasts.
The effect of their kissing and Timmy's hands had the effect of stiffly mounding Penny's nipples and Timmy smiled into the kiss as Penny moaned just a bit. The make out session progressed with the couple now laying on the ground with Timmy half on top of Penny. Penny had explored all she could above the waist and Timmy had in turn been more than pleased with the feeling of Penny's tight perky body. Timmy then moved down to Penny's thighs and started to massage them and move his hand beneath her skirt.
Penny immediately broke their kiss as Timmy's hand moved over her center. Penny gasped and sat up. "No… wait…" A thousand thoughts were going through Penny's mind… Denise… Brad… and her Mother were all fighting for their right to voice their opinions.
Timmy sat up. "What's the matter?"
Penny looked into Timmy's eyes and saw the confusion of what they were doing and what she had just done. Penny was thinking of what her mother had said about boys… and what it was like with Brad… and what Denise said about protection… Penny could hear the moans of some of her girlfriends on the cheer leader squad wafting over in the air… Without any more thought, Penny quickly blurted out. "I'monmyperiod".
Timmy sat back and looked at Penny… who had now looked down… not wanting to see the disappointment on his face. "Ohh...MAN!"
Penny again had a million things going through her mind. Fortunately… or unfortunately… depending on your point of view… the Denise voice in her head was winning out. Penny was thinking back to her conversations with her sister about times like these and then looked back up at Timmy and smiled. She had remembered how Denise told her that... all these times... were up to her... and she could take control of the situation…
Penny then pulled Timmy into another kiss and leaned down while reaching between them and unbuckled his pants. Timmy was hoping for more, he had been planning this for a while… When the guys on the team got together to tell their stories… he was going to come up short… again… but in the end he settled for what Penny had offered…
The next morning, Leonard went to Mr. Miller's classroom before Home Room and found him already talking to T.J. Mr. Miller was one of the more conscientious academic teachers in the school. That was one of the reasons that he was so disappointed in Leonard. He was also one of the teachers that was not on good standing with the sports team coaches. He always seemed to be the one teacher that would pull a student from the team and make them academically ineligible to play in a game and rarely could be budged. He had seen too many times that the students on the sports teams got preferential treatment and firmly believed that this set bad president and he would have none of it. Normally, the students had a chance to do extra credit or extra assignments because they were usually lagging in their grades for a while. This, however, seemed to be a clear case of cheating on a written assignment that involved plagiarism. He had a clear path to make a firm statement with these two students. One was the Quarterback on the football team… clearly a high profile position. And the other student was one of the academic elite, one that could easily vie for the top grade point average.
When Mr. Miller presented the information to the students in the presence of the Principal… there was little discussion as to what would be the consequences. Leonard had no explanation as to why Timmy's paper had almost identical unique wording for specific passages that were not quoted or cited sources. They appeared to be original conclusions. Timmy had nothing to say… avoiding eye contact with any of the assemble people. By the end of the meeting, it was decided that Timmy would be ineligible for the game that evening and the two boys would be in detention for the remainder of the day. Both their Parents would be notified and a face to face conference with Mr. Miller, the Principal, parents and student would need to be scheduled.
Lunch came and went, Penny sitting with Timmy and seeing looks from Valerie's table seeming to be pointing and giggling in her direction. Timmy did all that he could to distract Penny to no avail. The only thing that Penny was distracted by was the fact that Leonard was not at lunch that day. When Kathy sat down… Penny queried. "Where's Leonard?"
Kathy had no idea and voiced that opinion when Tammy and Anna raced over. "DID you here?"
The small group of friends all looked confused. Tammy could see the look on their faces. "T.J. was suspended from the game tonight… for cheating on his English assignment… and you won't believe who he cheated with…" Again seeing the questioning look of their friends... then, not able to hold it in any longer... Anna blurted out. "Leonard Hofstadter!"
Penny immediately threw a glare at Kathy who just froze in her seat. Penny was furious… she quickly realized what the pointing might have been about… but wouldn't let Valerie have her moment. Penny got up from her seat and walked out of the cafeteria as calmly as she could. Anna and Tammy could see that Penny was upset and needed to find her… she needed to be calmed down before she did something she would regret.
After the school day had ended, Leonard went to his locker and started to arrange the assignments he had just collected from the classes he had missed that day. His evening was going to be pretty busy catching up on the work he missed.
Penny walked up to her best friend. "Is it true? What they are saying?" Penny couldn't believe that someone as honest and good and sweet as Leonard would ever do something like this.
Leonard sighed. "No… somehow T.J. got my work… it's the only way… but he never asked for help or anything… it doesn't matter anyway… my GPA will be ruined… My Dad will be called… he will tell my Mom… who knows what SHE will do… probably have me enrolled in some boarding school like my sister… where they keep you behind a wall… or something."
Penny was horrified at the thought that Leonard would be going away again… Before she could tell him anything, Leonard closed his locker and walked away… Penny was speechless… but she wasn't helpless… she needed to find Kathy Geiger… and give her a piece of her mind.
The game was an unmitigated disaster. The team was literally getting walked all over… by halftime the score was 42-0. Timmy had been put in as Quarterback and did a miserable job… so much so… he was told that he wouldn't be playing the second half. He was embarrassed beyond belief… he had been good enough to sit on the bench and come in for some plays now and again when T.J. had run up the score, or play one of the receivers… but when the game was in his hands… he was awful… he was going to be the laughing stock next week.
During the halftime break,… Penny and the Cheer Leaders were trying their best to distract the families that came from the reality of the game. Timmy was sitting on the end of the bench when Lisa Peterson came over and put an arm around his shoulder to console him. She was one of the Cheer Leader alternates that was in the same boat. She wasn't good enough to really get into the routines, but did some basic cheers now and again. She knew just how Timmy felt. She also remembered what Penny had done to her ex-boyfriend in front of all the kids at the party in the park. Lisa leaned over and whispered into Timmy's ear. It wasn't long before the two of them were walking below the bleachers away from the crowd that was watching what could loosely be described as a football game.
Kathy Geiger had watched the Cheer Leaders finish their routine and was... for all she was worth… avoiding Penny. The look that Penny had given her at lunch was more than accusatory... Penny knew something and Penny had the reputation that she was someone you didn't want to mess with... Just as Karen was going to leave and get home, She was tapped on the shoulder.