Chapter 7

"Penny, what are you doing here?" Tracy asked her surprised when she opened the door. "I was wondering if I could stay for awhile. My mom locked me in my room and I escaped out the window." She explained.

"Why did she do that? Did she find out about Seaweed?"

"Worse, she found out about Amber! Velma caught us together and called her! I had to leave, she was going to keep me in my room for at least a few weeks and I couldn't let her do that to me." Penny said crying. She knew her mom would be upset if she found out but she wasn't expecting her to go this far, and all because she made out with Amber. She couldn't help but wonder about Amber. She hoped Velma wasn't too hard on her and Penny was sure Amber's punishment wasn't going to be as bad as hers. "Oh Penny I'm so sorry. But you know my mom is not going to let you stay here!"

"Oh please Tracy! Just for tonight at least then I can figure out something to do" Penny said. She knew Tracy was still upset about her being with Amber in the first place but she was still her best friend and she knew she would help her especially since she really needed it right not.

"Fine you can stay for the night but you can't tell my parents you ran away." She said and let Penny in. Penny put her suitcase down in Tracy's room and tried to get relaxed as she watched TV with the Turnbalds and had dinner but she couldn't help worrying about Amber. "So I guess you aren't going to meet Seaweed like you planned?" Tracy guessed. Penny had forgotten all about that. She still loved Seaweed but now she couldn't pretend to have a good time when she was in so much trouble at home and didn't know what happened to Amber. "I'm not in the mood. I'll have to call him and cancel but I don't want him to know the truth."

"The truth about you and Amber?" Tracy said not disguising the disdain in her voice. "Tracy please don't start that. I already went through this with my mom."

"Well, you have to tell him. Especially now since you've run away." Penny couldn't disagree with that. Seaweed will have to know the truth but not really. She could easily tell him that it had something to do with them but she wasn't a good liar when it came to Seaweed. It would be hard but she knew she would have to do it.

"Tracy, can you do me a favor?" Penny asked suddenly

"Sure, what is it?"

"I need you to try to talk to Amber." Penny said. She wouldn't be able to sleep if she didn't know if Amber was okay. "What are you crazy? Amber isn't going to talk to me!"

"She will now because she cares about me and you are my best friend!"

"It doesn't matter. Velma isn't going to let me talk to her because she doesn't like me anyway. She's going to know I'm calling for you Penny." Tracy said

Penny knew Tracy was right, but she was going crazy wondering about Amber. She heard the way Velma was yelling at poor Amber. "I just want to know if she's okay," Penny said holding her head down. "I'm sure she's okay. At least she's better off then you are" Tracy said. They heard a knock at the door and since both of Tracy's parents were in the living room they didn't move. Penny heard what was definitely Amber's voice. "It's Amber!" Penny exclaimed. "What is she doing here?" Tracy asked. Penny didn't answer her and ran into the living room and saw Amber standing at the front door with a small pink suitcase in her hand. "Penny you are here!" Amber said excitedly. Penny moved past Mrs. Turnbald and went to the porch with Amber. Edna closed the door and Penny asked "Amber, what are you doing here? What happened I was worried about you?"

"My mom and I had a fight and she's shipping me off to boarding school! I'm not going, Penny! I've run away!" Amber said crying.

"I've run away, too. Your mom called mine's and she went ballistic"

"I know I'm sorry. I begged her not to but she did it anyway. Then she arranged for me to leave in the morning so I left. I didn't want to risk going to your house so I came here to ask Tracy to talk to you."

"Where you going to go?" Penny asked even though she knew she should be asking herself the same question. "I don't know but I'll figure something out. Anything's better then boarding school." She said.

"We'll figure something out together," Penny said. Amber pulled her into a hug. "Oh Penny you really do care about me." Penny nodded her head and said "Of course I do. I think I love you." She said saying the words out loud for the first time. She and Amber shared a tender kiss. Penny wanted the moment to last forever since she knew there was nothing but hell ahead of them.