Penny had just finished working on the accessory display at the store and was about to get started on cleaning the display case. She had been throwing herself into her work lately. She had never been so ambitious before but she would do anything to keep from thinking of Seaweed and Amber together. It made her cringe just thinking about them. Of course she still felt bad for breaking up with Corny. He said he understood but she could still see the hurt in his eyes whenever she watched his show. A part of her felt so bad that she wanted to go back to him but she knew it wouldn't be right to lead him on, so she had to get used to being by herself, even if she had to work twenty four hours and seven days a week.
"Penny, you need to go home now." Her boss told her.
"I don't mind staying." She said smiling.
"That's nice of you but you've been here since eight this morning and it's almost nine at night. Doesn't your boyfriend worry about you working all of the time?"
Her boyfriend? Ha! That was a laugh! She didn't have a boyfriend or even a friend in Baltimore right now. She really missed Tracy and staying at her house wasn't the same without her there. This was one of the reasons why she worked such long hours. She had no life, and the way things were looking now she really was going to be a lonely old lady like Amber said.
"Penny I really appreciate your hard work but I really think you should take off now, and take the day off tomorrow, too. You haven't had an off day in a week."
"No, I don't mind working tomorrow." She said smiling
"Penny come on I'm your boss and I'm telling you to take the day off. You are really the most dedicated employee I've ever had." He said complimenting her.
"Thanks" She said. If he knew why she was so "dedicated" he would think she was pathetic.
"Yeah I mean not only do you not mind working long hours but you are nice to everyone even that blonde girl who comes in just about everyday." He said talking about Amber. She had been coming in just about every day ever since she saw her at the cafe. Every time she came in she gave Penny a hard time, and made sure other people heard her. Most of the time she didn't even buy anything.
"She used to come in with her mom all of the time and they were always cruel to the sales girls but she has never been that mean before. It's like she has it in for you for some reason. I don't know why though. You're the nicest girl in Baltimore."
"Gee thanks. I don't know what her problem is either." She lied
"You always treat her with respect even though she doesn't deserve it. Why don't you go home and enjoy your day off?" Penny nodded even though she didn't want to leave. She got on the bus to go back home to prepare for another evening of watching television with Wilbur or helping Edna out. What a way to spend a Friday night, she thought to her self and put her head down. Her eyes fell up with tears but she tried to wipe them away. I'm not going to cry again, she said to herself. She was sick of crying but she couldn't help it. She simply just closed her eyes for a few minutes.
"Hello miss!" She heard someone calling her. She opened her eyes and saw the bus driver standing in front of her.
"Miss it's time to get off. It's the end of the line, everyone must get off here." He said. She must have dozed off and missed her stop. She had no idea where she was! She looked out the window and saw nothing but a few old abandon buildings. "But sir it's dark out and I have no idea where I am." She complained.
"I'm sorry miss but you need to get off here. There's a store a half mile up the road. You can call a cab from there." He said not offering to help her any further. She got off the bus and watched as the driver pulled off. Everything was so quiet that she could hear her shoes clicking as she went down the street. She put her arms around herself because it was so cold. She felt like it was taking her forever to reach the store. She couldn't help feeling scared. She walked a little faster and saw a couple of guys standing on a flight of stairs in front of building talking. They stopped when they saw her and stared at her.
"Hey baby, you lost?" One of them said and the rest of the guys laughed. She ignored them and kept walking. She suddenly felt someone pull her ponytail back and grabbed her by her waist.
"Let me go!" She screamed and kicked at the guy's leg. He immediately let go of his grip and Penny tripped and fell.
"Get her!" She heard a guy call out. She got up and tried to run away but she was grabbed by one of the guys. She noticed they were the same guys who were on the stairwell. He looked at her and smiled deviously.
"Where are you going sweetheart? We aren't done with you yet."
"Leave me alone!" She screamed and tried to kick the guy in the groin but was grabbed by the waist again. The guy put his hand over her mouth before she could scream again. Two other guys joined the guy in front of her. "Bring her to the alley." One of the guys said to the guy who was holding her. As he picked her up, she tried to kick out of his grasp. One of the guys in front of her punched her in the face and said "Stop it! You can make this easy or hard! It's your choice." He said. The guy behind her proceeded to carry her to the alley. She was so scared; she didn't want to let them do this to her but what was she going to do? She was pinned against the side of the building. She felt a blade against her throat as the guy took his had off her mouth. "Scream and I'll slit your throat," he said. She started to cry. Another one of the guys pulled her off the wall and pushed her to the ground. She felt the water in the puddle she felt in soaking through her skirt. She had to get out of this somehow.
"You get up and I'll stab you!" The guy with the knife said standing over her with it. A couple of the guys started to unbutton their pants.
"Please don't hurt me!" She cried.
"It doesn't have to hurt, babe." One of the guys said and got on top of her and ran his hand up her dress reaching for her panties.
"No! Stop!" She cried and kicked the guy in the groin and got up and tried to run away. She heard the guy scream out in pain, and yelling for his friends to get her.
"Somebody help me! Help me please!" She screamed as she ran. She was grabbed from behind again.
"Got ya!" The guy said and laughed. Then she was suddenly hit in the back of the head. Then everything went black.
She woke up and saw that she was in a bed. The light from the curtains indicated that it was morning. This wasn't her bed or even a hospital bed. It was very unfamiliar to her. She tried to sit up but the back of her head was killing her and she lay back down on the pillow. Where am I? She thought looking around the bedroom. It was small but very nice and organized. There were no pictures in the room to indicate who it might belong to. She couldn't even remember what happened last night after she was knocked out. She was sure those guys raped her and they probably did it over and over again. She cried at the mental image of it. She had officially hit rock bottom and wished she was dead. There was a soft knock on the door and it slowly opened. She pulled the sheets to her chin when she realized she was wearing nothing but an unfamiliar white t-shirt. Her heart started beating a mile a minute. What if this was one of those guys house and he brought her here so he could do it to her again? She screamed out and pulled the sheet over her head time the door opened. "Penny, it's okay! You're okay now!" The guy said and walked over to the side of the bed. She pulled the sheet off her head and looked up at him for the first time and saw Seaweed looking at her.