Chapter 6

As Penny ended a quick day at school, feeling tired and devastated, she just realized that not only Chris didn't like her anymore but he was mad at her too. She closed her misty eyes as she packed her stuff in her locker and stopped herself from crying. She hated crying over things like this, especially when Roger left. She had to be stronger now. The last words Chris had said to her were still stuck in her mind, and it hurt so much. As it hurts, she thought of getting over it. As she walked down the hallways, looking down, she bumped into someone whom she didn't want to see.

"Oh, sorry, Stan." Penny said, and walked by him.

"Hey, Pen. What's wrong?" Stan said, and held her wrists. As Penny hated to explain what had happened, something popped into her mind that made her say,

"Stan, could you come with me for a second? I'm just gonna show you something."

"Okay."

She brought him near a corner of a bathroom where there was nobody passing by. There weren't a lot of people in school anymore since it was a bit late but some players still stayed. As they both stood there, Stan almost leaning on the wall, Penny was getting closer to him. She held his wrists and her hands moved all the way to his arm until it reached his hair. Her lips quickly touched his and her tongue twirled into his mouth. Stan started to kiss her back making her hands mess up his hair. Her hands moved down to Stan's jacket zipper and she tried to unzip it. As she did it, Stan wasn't wearing a shirt under it. Stan pulled away for a second and smiled devilishly.

"Have you been this doing a lot, lately?"

"No, just now."

And she quickly kissed him again, her hands tried to take off Stan's jacket but Stan quickly took it off already. Penny just thought about what Jadey had said if Penny had a chance of liking Stan like how much Stan likes her. When she kissed Stan, she felt something different. And it was something she couldn't understand. What if she did like Stan back? Was it the reason why she had fun all the time when they hung out? But she still had feelings for Chris. Although she didn't think Chris still had feelings for her. He hated her from now on. From their two-year relationship, she couldn't understand what happened. Well, nothing happened. But she could remember the times when they would argue about something. It was Chris being demanding that she hated so much. Guilt suddenly struck her, but something in her head kept telling her it was unnecessary to feel guilty and another voice that kept telling her not to stop. I didn't want to stop, she thought…

*---*

"So, we're here, Penny. What happened?" Jadey asked, as Penny called both of them and asked them to come to her house.

"I did something. And I don't know if it's right." Penny said.

"What did you do?" Roma asked, curiously.

"I…I kissed Stan." Penny confessed.

"You what?!" Jadey and Roma yelled, unbelievably and sat on Penny's bed.

"I did it."

"Why? Did you realize that you liked him back?" Roma asked.

"No, well, in case you guys wanna know, Chris hates me."

"How could you say that?"

"Because, we had a fight at school for one last time." Penny said. "And he said that he's over with this crap and he hates me."

"Ouch, and then Stan came?" Jadey asked.

"Well, I bumped into him and then that's where it all started." She explained.

"Did you feel anything?" Jadey asked.

"Well, I don't know. I mean, it's a lot different when it's with Chris."

"Guys, what if I do like him? What am I gonna do?" Penny asked, panicking.

"Nothing, just face it." Jadey answered quickly.

"Yeah, it's not your fault." Roma said.

"It's okay, guys. I can do this. And, I know it's easy for me to get over Chris. I really don't like the feeling when graduation's nearing."

"Yeah, me too. Have you guys applied yet?" Jadey asked.

"Yeah, in Michigan State University, where Denny studied." Roma said.

"I've been thinking of going there but Chris said we had to discuss things. He said he wanted to move out and go somewhere else but I said it's better to have College here and just move out after graduation." Penny explained.

"But aren't your plans changed already?" Jadey reminded her.

"Oh, right. Hey, Jadey, why don't we apply already?" Penny asked.

"Yeah, I'll tell my parents that I've decided where to go."

"So, it's final, Michigan State University it is." Penny declared, and started writing her plans for College and began finishing all her reports.

*---*

Penny was sitting at her lunch table and answering her college applications, after finishing, she stood up and held the papers and took them to her locker. While walking, she bumped into someone, making her papers fly everywhere.

"Sorry." They both said together and picked up the papers. Penny was surprised to see Chris, and she started getting all nervous. They both stood up and Penny looked at Chris, who was holding some of her papers. Chris glared at her and handed the paper when he read something like Michigan State University.

"You're applying for College?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I didn't want to apply too late since a lot of my plans have changed. Thank you." Penny said, and took the papers from him and walked away. Chris looked back, with regret in his face. Wishing that he didn't say those words to Penny. She had already changed her plans for college and she didn't want to go with him. He now had to think about where to go since graduation's coming and summer's too late for applying. He still had feelings for Penny. She planned to submit the applications tomorrow and deal with all the school work today.

"So, you'll be in my college too, huh?" Johnny asked Penny. Their mom wasn't having dinner with them since she had work to do and a date, so the kids ordered pizza.

"I guess."

"And mom said that her boyfriend's gonna be having dinner with us this Friday night."

"What? So, we're gonna meet her boyfriend or our father-wanna be?" Penny asked, surprisingly.

"Yeah. You can't say that you don't like him." Johnny said.

"No, I'm not saying that I don't like him. I'm just feeling uncomfortable with that." She explained.

"Don't worry, everything's gonna be fine with Mr. Wimbley." Johnny assured.

"Who?"

"Stefan Wimbley. Mom's boyfriend." He explained.

*---*

"Penny, listen about the other day I-" Stan said, walking after class with Penny.

"Stan, I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Why are you apologizing? After that kiss, I felt something. So, you do like me back." He realized. "Do you wanna be with me?"

"What do you mean be with you? Like your girlfriend?"

"Yeah." He said, and ran his fingers through his hair and grinned.

"Stan, I don't know."

"Come on, Pen."

"Stan, I'm sorry but, I can't do that right now. You don't know what I'm going through and it still hurts inside." Penny said. "Stan, I'm sorry. Just give me time to think."

"It's okay, Pen. Don't strain yourself. Listen, do you wanna go to my house on Saturday?" he invited her. "You could meet my parents."

"Meet your parents?" Penny said, nervously.

"Why? Haven't you met your friends' parents before?"

"Well, no, not really."

"Not even Chris's?"

"No." she said. She had never met Chris's parents before, since his dad was still the usual drunkard and beats up his own sons and wife. She had gone to his house for like, once when Eyeball took her. She shuddered at remembering him.

"I see. Come on, don't you wanna come?"

"No, sure, I'll come." Penny said.

"Great. I'll pick you up at noon." He said, and left for class. Penny submitted her applications after school and decided to have a little time with herself. While sitting in her room, thinking to herself, she wrote on a piece of paper "They're both jerks!!" and taped it on her closet. It meant that even Chris turned into a jerk like his own brother. Of course, that's his brother and he's like him, but in a slight way even though Chris had once said that Eyeball was no brother of his.

Friday came, and Penny was getting ready for the dinner with her mom's future husband and her future step-father. She took out a light pink turtle neck top and a pair of dark jeans. She dashed down the stairs and saw Mr. Wimbley come. He was wearing his outfit after work, and his hair was blonde with a little white ones, ocean blue eyes and looked like on his early 40's. Okay, it's mom's boyfriend. It seem to me that when they get married, he's gonna tell us to move out, Penny thought. Johnny was standing by her, wearing a navy buttoned up shirt and jeans. He glared at her, saying that Mr. Wimbley looks fine. Her mom was with him. They both entered and started introducing each other and all the things kids say to their future step-dads. While having dinner, Mr. Wimbley suddenly asked Penny about college.

"So, Penny, where do you plan to have college?" he asked her.

"Michigan State U, sir."

"I see. You know, did you ever plan about going to Yale?"

"Well, I don't know, sir. I never thought of that." Penny said. She remembered when Stan told her about going to Yale. Well, it was nice to go to Yale but she hated the part where she had to move out. What about her friends? And Chris? But she and Chris were done. And she thought about Stan. He told her about his plans of going to Yale. Maybe they might see each other there.

After dinner, and when her mom's boyfriend left, she started thinking about what to do when she meets Stan's parents. Damn it, why did I ever agree to this, she thought. She just forgot about it and jumped into her bed, and got ready tomorrow for another day.

*---*

Penny was getting ready for meeting Stan's parents. She grabbed another light blue turtleneck and tight dark jeans. Johnny was downstairs and was about to leave for his date with Heather.

"You have a date too?" he asked her when she came down.

"I guess."

"Where are you going?" he said. Penny didn't want to tell her brother about meeting Stan's parents but she had to stick to the truth since he'll find out anyway.

"Stan's gonna pick me up and I'm gonna visit his house."

"Stan? I thought you don't like him."

"Well, my mind changed." Penny lied. She heard Stan's car by her house and she knew she about to come.

"Since when did you like him?" Johnny objected.

"Since we started hanging out. And so what? I'm not dating anybody now so I'm free." Penny said, and went out of the house to Stan's car. It was a black Ford GT which looked just like Roger's car. She hopped inside his car and he stared at her and smiled. They arrived at his house from a 30-minute drive. His house was like a governor's house. It looked like his family was really fortunate. It was bricked and had three-stories. They both entered the house and saw Stan's mom. She looked young, more like in her early 30's and had straight dark brown chest-length hair.

"Hi, you must be Penny." His mom said, and kissed both of Penny's cheeks. That's how Spanish people greet each other, I guess, Penny thought.

"This is my mom, Carmen." Stan said. Stan looked a little bit like his mom. He had her skin tone and her nose. Penny noticed Carmen wearing a 4-inch bronze stiletto, and a beige dress. As soon as they entered the dining room, she saw Stan's dad. He approached both of them and smiled.

"Penny, this is my dad, Markus." He said, and Penny shook hands with Markus.

"Please, call me Mark." His dad said. He really looked like an entrepreneur, and the person who ran VanBolt Inc. He was wearing dark jeans and a navy buttoned up shirt. His hair was black and looked like Stan's. And Stan looked a lot like him. She saw in the kitchen a glass pantry with a lot of types of liquor and wine. She sat on their 12-seat dining table and they all drank some whisky. After that, Stan showed her around the house until they reached his room.

"So, this is your room, huh?" she said. His room was very spacious, and had a few soccer posters on the wall. He had an extra-large bed that could fit almost three people, a television and a small refrigerator. She stepped on the floor, bare-footed, and felt the vinyl-wood floor, which was cold. He had a closet with his name written on it.

"Yeah." He said and ran again his fingers through his hair. Penny sat on his comfy bed and stared at him.

"Listen, Penny, I'm not trying to invade your life or anything. I just wanted to know, what happened to you and Chris? I mean, when did you guys start dating?"

"Oh, that." She said, hesitant of telling him about it. It was the one thing that could hurt her.

"It's okay if you don't wanna tell me. I understand." He said, and paced around his bed.

"No, no, it's okay. This is what happened. In our sophomore year, I dated his brother, Eyeball." She said, and made Stan looked surprised. She laughed reluctantly and asked,

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, it's just that, I couldn't imagine you dating a Cobra. I mean, what could've happened to you?" he answered, feeling a bit nervous.

"Well, I don't know what had gotten into me but we just dated for a while. Because when I met Chris, everything changed."

"What changed?"

"Chris and I were just friends, but when something goes wrong with me and Eyeball, he's always there. When after one night, I got all dizzy on the street because of a broken glass stuck in my skin, he was there." She said, and saw all the images come back in her mind. "Then, he started asking me if I liked him back, but I couldn't answer him. That's what I hate about him. He's really demanding. And then when we were finally together, the Cobras started to hurt everyone. Until in the prom, there was a lot of drama and suspense."

"Oh, yeah. I remember when the police came." Stan said.

"Yeah, anyway, who was your date in the prom?"

"Lanny Davis. I used to date her." He said, which made Penny give him a disgusted look. "Why? You don't like her?"

"I can't believe you would date that bitch." She said.

"Aw, you don't like Lanny." He teased and started stroking her hair and held her cheek.

"Stan!" Penny complained, and stood up.

"Chill, Penny. C'mon, she's gone and we broke up already." He said. "Well, back to your prom thingy."

"Okay, well, after the prom, the Cobras were brought to jail and Chris said that Eyeball's gonna be in a heap of trouble. So, after that, I never heard from the Cobras anymore. So, after that, Eyeball's dad threw a fit and beat him up again when he was released, so, he got fed up and moved out. We haven't heard from them since, even the Cobras. We don't know what happened to Ace. But even though we got the happy ending, I hated it a bit."

"Why the hell would you hate it? You guys are lucky you got it."

"Well, because usually Chris and I would fight about something and it will be always my fault."

"What would you guys fight about?"

"Stuff. Like, you know, stuff you would want to do with your girlfriend but she doesn't wanna do it with you." She said, and breathed guiltily, remembering all the fights she had with Chris. She soon got misty eyes and she couldn't help but cry and bust out all the pain she had been through. "I just can't deal with him anymore."

"Penny, I'm sorry." Stan said, and sat beside her and hugged her around her shoulders, making her head rest on his chest. "I shouldn't have asked you that."

"It's okay, Stan." She said, and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you."

"Mmmmm." He murmured, his lips on her hair, and he kissed it. I hope you realize something now, he thought. As much as he liked her, Penny hasn't decided yet if she wanted to be together with him. She couldn't, she was scared. But their kiss had said too much. But she didn't regret it. I'll be waiting, he thought again. I'll think as fast as I can, Penny thought.

So, how was it? Okay, well, I just took a break from doing these, so it took too long. Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR!! C'mon, pls review??