(This is an alternate take on the episode "The Party" from the original TPF series)
The day had finally came for young Penny Proud where she would have her very first middle-school party. She had always wanted one (even creating an entire slideshow to show her parents just how much it had meant to her!), and now, it was time.
However, despite the excitement, there was a little problem. While the party was going on, she noticed that neither of her friends had shown up. Well, they did, but they had gone over to LaCienega's house to go to HER party instead of Penny's. Now, Penny did have guests, but they weren't her friends, mostly because (in Myron's case) she would never associate herself with them, or (in The Gross Sisters' case) they were people who gave her trouble. But, though she pulled a practical joke on them to try to get them to leave, it only got her into trouble for mistreating her guests.
Later that night, she heard a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" Penny then walked and opened it. To her surprise, it was Zoey, Sticky and Dijonay.
"Hey, girl! We're ready to party!" Dijonay said with a smile, thinking she could get away with what she did. Penny didn't have it but decided to play along. "Wait, let me check the list...", she said, cupping her hand as if a long sheet of paper was in it. "Hmm...oops! You're not on it!"
Dijonay was stunned. "Come on, Penny! We came over here just to be with you!" Again, Penny didn't believe any of her lies. "What happened? LaCienega ran out of food?" Penny asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms. Sticky answered, "Yeah. Some old lady and her dog came in and ate everything." He was referring to Suga Mama and Puff. Zoey then told her sadly, "And no Jennifer Lopez."
Dijonay tried to ask, "Can you believe her dad misunderstood her, and instead of booking J-Lo, he booked T-Lo?" "Who?" Penny asked, directing the question to Zoey. She couldn't even look at Dijonay right now.
"Trini Lopez." Zoey told her. "Some old guy singing 'La Bambi'." Dijonay clarified, but Penny didn't hear it. She didn't even care about the excuses her friends, much less Dijonay, were trying to pull to excuse themselves for deserting someone that's been nothing but a friend to them. How pathetic.
"Ohhh," Penny started, "so you mean that now that LaCienega's "Jammy Jam" wasn't all that, you want to come party with me?" Penny asked, pointing behind her to the inside of her house.
"Exactly!" Dijonay said, excitedly, thinking that she'd let her in. Penny thought for a moment, then said. "Oh, all right. Come on in!" Zoey, Dijonay and Sticky started to walk inside Penny's house, however Dijonay was immediately stopped.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Penny shouted, shutting and blocking the doorway from her. "Where do you think you're going?", she asked, prompting Dijonay to look stunned. "Uh...partying with you, girl? Heeeeey!" Dijonay started to butter Penny up to let her inside, but it didn't work. She didn't know it, but today was the day Penny had plotted to sever ties with her once and for all. This decision stemmed from earlier in the evening when she witnessed her, Zoey, and Sticky leaving to go to LaCienega's party, and remembering what Suga Mama had told her: "ditch that Dijon girl like she should've a long time ago". This was the day that she would do it. All Penny could do was stare at Dijonay, a dreaded excuse for a friend. Someone she still hung around for years. Someone who still helped her out and thought she could change into a better person, but that never happened. She never changed. After a long moment of staring with anger, Penny finally spoke.
"Party? With me?" Penny put a hand on her hip, trying to keep herself from lashing out at the fake friend of hers. "You really think that you deserve to party with someone like me, someone who's been there for you, always helping you, always including you, and even sometimes defending you, and still you left me behind?" Dijonay tried to speak, "Penny, I-", but was interrupted by her, who started yelling, "You're sorry. I know, I know. It's the same excuse EVERY SINGLE TIME. Do you think I forgot about all the stunts you pulled? The time you started that nasty rumor about me and Myron in the closet. That time you left me to babysit YOUR brothers and sisters when we agreed to do it together. And how could I ever forget the time you chose LaCienega over me for cheerleading?" Penny went down the list of things that she remembered that Dijonay had done to her. "Do these things sound like something a friend would do?" Penny asked rhetorically, "No, absolutely not. You apologize to me every darn time, but you never change. You say, "Oh, Penny, we're cool like the other side of the pillow" (she tried her best to imitate Dijonay's mannerisms and voice by swaying her hips and putting her hand down in a diva-like motion), but, I hate to break it to you, Dijonay, but we ARE NOT. I repeat. We ARE NOT cool anymore. All you've ever done is bring me down. When I went and rose above the rest in stardom and ditched you, back then I was wrong. Wrong for ditching LaCienega and Zoey, because at least, they've never gone so far to HURT me, and whenever they may have, they apologized sincerely and changed. You (pointing at her with a stare) however, are the exception, not the rule. I should've left you a long time ago, but, no! I kept taking you back as my friend. I kept being nice to you. Why? Because I'm not such a stuck-up, rumor-spreading, two-faced, ratchet, fake friend like you."
Penny then took a deep breath, then stayed silent for a while. Dijonay stood there, taking in all what she had said. She was right. Dijonay hadn't been such a good friend to Penny, and yet she was trying to come into her house to go to her party. After a while, Penny turned to her and was about to open the door. "Get off my property." Dijonay started to cry. "B-but...Penny, I-I..." She started, making Penny come near her threateningly.
"YOU'D BETTER. GET. THE. HECK. OFF. MY. PROPERTY. You are not my friend. You don't deserve to be here. Why would I let someone as rude as you in my own house? Goodbye." And with that, Dijonay ran away in tears as Penny went inside and shut the door. Suga Mama took note of her expression and asked, "Something wrong with my grandbaby?" Penny looked up and said, "No, Suga Mama. I'm just fine. I went ahead and ditched a friend of mine. "Which one? The Dijon girl?", she asked. Penny nodded. Suga Mama hugged her. "That's my girl! it's okay. I'm here for you." She was happy her granddaughter finally went and did the deed. Penny, however, was crying in her arms, as she was sad that she had to finally tell off someone she had called a friend for years, but that someone was holding her back.
The days going forward were a lot different. Penny still hung out with LaCienega and Zoey regularly, but as for Dijonay, she was nothing to her. Penny couldn't even bring herself to THINK about someone who treated her that way, after she's been nothing but nice to her. She had finally realized how bad of a friend she was. She had always apologized, but her apologies were just a nickel-slick way for her to slide back into Penny's life. She never acted this way with ANYONE else, but Penny Proud. It was disgusting and she knew it. She couldn't even bring herself to carry on, knowing that she had someone who was a true friend to her this whole time, and she had squandered the friendship, all because, she was fake.
(I hope you enjoyed this short story. I had gotten this idea to write this after finding out about the fact that Penny has a song about her best friends - look it up, it's actually good - and Dijonay is featured in it. I was like, "hold up, are you sure about that, Penny?". Pretty ironic stuff.)