04.

Penelope

School amazed me; I hadn't been there for a long time because of being home schooled, so I had forgotten what it was like, the amazing blur of colors, the mix of people, the mish-mash of smells and sounds and the buzzing energy that ran through the place all the time.

It was great to be back, as having my Mom as a teacher for four years I hadn't realized how interesting so many things were, I was a good student but my Mom's teaching wasn't at the same level as high school teachers, she didn't know the answers to all my questions on physics or math and couldn't talk to me in depth about modern literature.

I had already been placed in a few AP classes and the teachers had praised me for my good work and intelligence already, but I had been scolded as well for getting distracted or singing, or just wanting to go to the bathroom.

"Hey Penelope," Piper said in her little hoarse voice of hers when I sat down.

"Hi Pip," I said Pip was my nickname for her, she said she hated it but I knew she liked it really.

"Everyone is staring at us, it's because your back," she grumbled, she was in an inky blue mood today.

"Oh well, don't you like people looking at you? You know it just means their thinking about us."

"Were not all like you Pennie." She said ducking away from the views of our peers.

"Look at them all, your not some freak, I wish they would quit staring. God just look at them! Toby Hern, he thinks he can just gape, or Lucie Bench she's even laughing," Piper said looking over at one table.

"Just ignore them Pip," I chirped.

Piper ate the rest of her lunch in silence whilst I kept up the inane chatter.

"I'll show you the way to Art History," Piper said as we walked down another long nameless corridor.

"Oh my god, how come all the known people are in your class, is this AP?" she squeaked as she peeked inside the room and then hid around the other side of the door out of view of the people already sat down in the class.

"Known people?" I asked bemused.

"You know, people who actually go to parties, look Bobby Marks, Alfie Ross, Treecy Robinson, oh my god and Gio Longeterre."

"Oh, are they nice?" I asked peering in but she pulled me away.

"Like they would talk to you…" she mumbled,

"Just have fun Pennie, and I'll see you later, walk home yeah?" she asked and when I nodded she gave me a quick hug and darted off.

Most people were already sat at their desks bent over them talking to the people next to or opposite them. As I entered the room it went quiet and all eyes went to me, I smiled back delighted at their attention, maybe they wanted to be friends, but most of their faces did not seem friendly, and one of the boys expressions, who was sitting at the far end of the room, was pained more than anything else, he looked like a deer caught in a trucks headlights wide eyed and struck dumb.

I took the last empty seat at the front to the edge of the class and conversation started up again as if all the stares were just fleeting thoughts.

The boy didn't stop staring though, not until a pretty girl sitting next to him nudged him and he came out of his trance with a start and a grumble rubbing his bleary eyes, I smiled back, maybe he actually wanted to be my friend, he did look unhappy, maybe he needed my help, but I already had my eye on helping a teary eyed sophomore that glided around school like a ghost, but I could help him as well.

"Alfie, Alfie?" the girl said to him again tapping his arm.

"What is the matter with you?" she asked frowning.

"I just hate this damn place," he said glowering around the room and the girl shrugged.


"Hey Pip!" I called out; she was standing beside one of the big pine trees at the front of school.

"Hey Pennie, so your first day back, all in all how was it?" she asked truly interested.

"Good...great, i don't know," I said as she frowned clearly wanting a more detailed answer,

"-wanna run back?" I asked raising my eyebrows up.

She giggled,

"Sure I'll race you back home; I'm gunna race you, race you, race you, race you back home!" she called out in a sing song voice and like that we were off.

Clothes blown out by the wind and mud on our skirts, half way back I flipped off my shoes so I could go faster, Pip was fast but I was faster even with pebbles stuck between my toes.

We arrived at my garden gate panting and gasping but laughing so hard I thought I was going to burst.

"I beat you!" I chuckled.

"Of course you did, you would Pennie!" Pip sniggered,

"You definitely are a special one."

"Me, I think you are, want to come in?" I asked flopping down on my overgrown front lawn.

"I can't Mom will want me back, probably, to help with Joey you know," she dipped her head down.

"I'll come back and help!" I loved Joey, the cutest baby I had ever seen nothing wrong with him to me, but he apparently had downs syndrome.

"Ok, I mean only if you want..." she said quietly.


"Hey Penelope, how are you, I've got to out and teach, you gunna help look after Joey, he loves you, you know," Piper's Mom was a tired looking women, but she had been very beautiful in her younger years, she had a long thin nose and almond shaped eyes and snow white skin.

"Yeah, he's such a cutey," I said stroking his little baby soft cheek.

"Well thanks Penelope, see you later girls," and with that she hurried out the door.

Piper exhaled noisily and flopped down on to the couch, I never did understand why she didn't like Joey.

"You want to play don't you," I cooed to him,

"C'mon Pip lets all play," I plopped Joey down on the rug and started rummaging through his toys.

"No, I'm ok," she grumbled.

"Ohh it will be fun!"

"Stop it Pennie, don't try and make it all better, because it's not going to be all better!" she said sitting up off the couch her eyes filled with resentment.

"But there's nothing wrong Pip?" I said putting Joey back in his chair.

"Nothing wrong! You are so stupid! Living in your little dreamy world, well I'll tell you what's wrong, my Mom is never around because she's working three jobs and making hardly a cent from them, my Dad is gone because of him and he's just—he's not right, or had you not noticed!" she said pointing vehemently to Joey.

"Pip everything is going—"

"—it's not going to be ok; I think you should just go Penelope."

It's not like it hadn't happened before any of this, people not getting me.

Piper is my special friend because of all those things, life is so unfair to her, I wish I could help her more, make everything ok. I wish I had a wand and I could just wave it and everything bad in her life would go away, vanish with the flick of a wrist, but as people keep saying there is no such thing as magic.

So not true is what I say.

Raining again, the heavens had officially opened, I never really get that. When people say that, because if heaven was open wouldn't we be able to see all our loved ones who had died? Not that I would necessarily like that, but still.

No one home, probably out with Evie.

Sometimes I think I would like it if we lived in the 'Plains', that's what the big area by the center of town is called (which is so small I don't think you can really call it that), there all the houses are uniform, with picket fences and mail boxes shaped like little houses with perfectly manicured lawns and shiny cars sitting on the drives.

At the this time of day, twilight, it must be great to live there so many people to watch, people coming home from work, jogging, walking dogs.

But we don't.

We live in the 'Forests' it's not really very forest-like but in the 'Forests' is where all the old rambling houses are, mostly owned by old people who have lived there for years and when they all die they'll all get knocked down and pretty perfect houses will get built in their place.

We don't live in an old rambling house, we live in a faux-perfect house, Mom and Dad's compromise when we had moved here, Dad had wanted a house in the 'Plains' but Mom had said they had no character, new builds, and our house was in the middle, well Dad had moaned about it being in the 'wrong area' but it had been the only way to get Mom to live here.

Rain was still pouring down; I didn't feel like dancing in the rain today, I still wanted to make Pip happy again.