Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Big Bang Theory
"George, look at him..."
Mary sighed sadly, nudging her husband with her elbow. In a lunchroom full of highschool students, her little boy was sitting all alone. "It just breaks my heart." She said.
"Poor little guy." George shook his head. "All alone."
"I don't see why his brother can't sit with him," Mary said, looking at her other son. Who was at a table surrounded by friends. There was even an open seat where Sheldon could sit.
"C'mon, Mary." George scoffed and asked. "When you were in high school, would you have lunch with someone like Sheldon?"
Mary glared at her husband. "Yes, I would've."
"Well, there's something wrong with you."
"I'm gonna keep him company." Mary took a step forward. Her little boy wasn't going to be alone, not if she could help it.
"Hey, Mary, you can't." George grabbed her arm, holding her in the doorway. "You gotta think this through. Right now, the other kids are just ignoring Sheldon. What happens if he's sitting with his mommy?"
"They could mistake me for a senior," Mary said, turning to her husband. His skeptical stare made her want to slap him. "Well, I look younger than you."
"Just give this time," George said. "Alright? It'll work itself out."
Mary hoped so. Sheldon had been going to Medford for nearly five years now, and he didn't have a friend in the world. She was starting to worry he never would.
"As a matter of fact, you know what Tom told me happened just this morning?" George asked, a sly proud smirk on his face.
"What happened?" Mary asked warily.
"Sheldon was supposed to show a new student around. This girl Penny, from Nebraska." George pointed at his son. "Sheldon let her hold his hand and drag him around the school. From what I gather, Sheldon didn't complain once."
"What?"
George nodded, chuckling at the look of his surprise on his wife's face. "I was just as shocked at you. Sheldon doesn't let anyone, but you and your mother touch him. Not if he can help it."
Mary turned to watch her son. Just in time to see a pretty blonde girl cut through the cafeteria, heading straight for her Sheldon and take the seat right next to him.
"Is that her?" She asked.
00
"You know your parents are watching you, right?" Penny asked as she sat down next to her only friend in the world. And she wasn't just being dramatic. Sheldon was literally her only friend in this new world.
Sheldon nodded and set his PB&J down on the lunch table. "I do. My mother is worried that I do not have any friends. I have not seen my old friend Tam so I will have to find a new friend to ease her worrying."
Penny rolled her eyes, a small smile playing on her lips. Even after all the years together, she still found it funny how someone as smart as Sheldon could be so clueless.
"You already have a friend, sweetie." She said. "And as your friend, I think I have the right to ask. Why the hell are we still here? Did your machine-thingy malfunction?"
Sheldon snorted. "Not likely. I've been using it for months without issue. It's more likely that Leonard, Howard, or Rajeesh broke my device, and we are now stranded in this world indefinitely."
"What?" Penny dropped the fry she was about to eat. "Sheldon, we can't be stuck in this world. I have a husband. You have a wife. We have to get home."
"Correction. You used to have a husband. And I used to have a wife. In this world, we are both unmarried teenagers." Sheldon pointed out.
"Sheldon!"
"Penny, I don't understand your objection to our current predicament," Sheldon said, shaking his head. "While I am sure you miss Leonard, you should, as they say, look on the bright side. From what I have gathered from multiple sources of fiction, most people would be ecstatic when given the chance to relive their life. There must be something in your past that you've always wanted to change."
"Is that what you were doing here?" Penny asked. "Changing the life for the Sheldon in this universe?"
"Yes. After my brother and I reconciled, I felt...bad about my past. That I had taken my life growing up for granted, I couldn't change that on Earth-Prime, so I created an interdimensional device and came here."
"Sheldon, sweetie," Penny patted his hand. "You understand that's crazy, right?"
"I'm not crazy. My-"
"Mother had you tested, I know." Penny cut in. She sighed and glanced at the windows across from their table. "Maybe this won't be so bad."
She was fourteen again. And after meeting the guys, she had come to some hard conclusions about who she was and who she used to be. She was a bully growing up. Sheldon knew. She had told him at his birthday party, and she was sure the other guys knew too. Or at least suspected. The hot blonde was never friends with the nerds. And her ex-boyfriends hadn't been the nicest to them. Not that they were nice to all of them either. So they were kind of bullies too, just in a different way.
"Penny, are you alright?" Sheldon asked.
"Uh? Yeah, I'm okay, sweetie. Just thinking."
"About?"
"About what I'm going to do. Now that I'm a kid again, I've got to figure out what to do with my life." Penny sighed. "And what am I supposed to do about Leonard? Should I wait for him? Are you waiting for Amy?"
"Heavens, no!" Sheldon announced, surprising Penny. "While Amy and I connected on Earth-Prime, there is no guarantee we will connect in this universe. She might not even exist in this universe. The same goes for Leonard."
"So you're saying I shouldn't wait for Leonard."
"No, I'm saying that I'm not waiting for Amy," Sheldon said. "You can do whatever you want."
Penny nodded. "Then I'm not going to wait either. You're right about Leonard and Amy. What if I move to California and Leonard isn't there because he doesn't exist? I can't build my life around a guy. No matter who he is."
"We're in agreement then," Sheldon said.
He picked up his PB&J and opened his mouth to take a bite. In his peripheral, he saw Penny staring at him. He sighed and set his sandwich down again.
"Yes, Penny?"
"Oh, nothing." Penny shook her head and picked up a fry. She glanced at Sheldon again and tossed it back onto her tray. "I'm sorry. It's just; you look so different."
"Of course, I look different. In this world, I'm my brother's twin."
"I know, it's just strange is all," Penny said. "I'm used to the old Sheldon look. This one's new."
Which was a massive understatement. Sheldon had never been bad looking. Tall and lanky, maybe, but he wasn't ugly. Now, he was like a seven on her scale to ten. His curly hair was cut shorter than his brothers but was still longer than old Sheldon's hair. And despite probably never working out a day in his life, he had muscles. He was no football player, but he was a lot bigger than what she imagined a teenage Sheldon would be.
Huh? Penny turned back to her lunch. Does this make me a creep?
Mentally she was past thirty, and she was rating teenage boys on their looks. Did it count if she was biologically a teenager herself? It was definitely something she was going to have to think about more.
"I have a lot of things I need to think about." She muttered to herself.
Of course, with his Vulcan like hearing, Sheldon heard her.
"There is quite a bit to think about, isn't there." Sheldon agreed. "For instance, what am I going to do without the internet? And should I send Disney an outline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so I can watch the movies sooner? And if I do, should I then send scripts for the rest of the movies I want to watch?
"Sheldon..." Penny sighed. "I was thinking about things a little more serious.
"Oh, what could be more serious than the largest connected cinematic universe ever created?"
"I don't know. What am I gonna do for the rest of my life? Should I still move to Pasadena? Try and become an actor again, or go straight for Zangen and become a salesperson?"
Penny dropped her head into her hands. God, there was so much stuff she needed to decide.
"You know, Penny, you don't have to decide what to do right now," Sheldon said. "We still have four years before we're adults again, legally speaking. Why don't you try out for a few school plays?
"That's a good idea," Penny smiled. "Thank you, sweetie."