Penny

“PENNY, COULD YOU PLEASE check the restrooms before the next showing. Someone puked in the trashcan again.”

“Yes, Mr. Roscoe.” Holding the broom and dustpan, Penny grips her growling stomach and grimaces as she walks toward the janitor’s closet. She’s been here since six, and she hasn’t taken her break yet. It doesn’t help that she didn’t eat lunch either.

I’ll get paid on Monday. Then I can get groceries.

Turning the corner, she opens the cleaning closet, grabs the cart, and sighs. Although she might not want food after cleaning the lavs. She isn’t sure what to expect, but it can’t be any worse than the feces some kid had smeared on the walls last Friday night.

Wheeling the cart to the bathrooms, she places the Closed for Cleaning sign on the outside of the men’s door. She finds the disinfectant and a pair of plastic gloves. Just as she goes to open the door, the nearest theater lets out. She waits, as per her training, until everyone passes.

“Restroom?”

As a young man points at the door that she’s standing in front of, she shakes her head. “The one at the other end of the building is open.” The guy mutters a curse and stalks away.

As the last group of movie-goers exits the theater, obnoxious and overly boisterous, she sighs. She loathes working Friday nights.

Several of them pass by. The hair at the back of Penny’s neck prickles as her pulse pounds in her ears like a freight train. She knows a few of them from grade school. She turns away from the crowd, hoping none of them recognize her. She hasn’t seen anyone from RHHS for over a year. Everything that happened is still too fresh in her mind.

“Oh crap, is that Dotty?”

Penny whips around. Standing right in front of her are Christy Mefford and Addy Linbrook. Penny’s fists tighten. More than anything, she wants to give both girls a piece of her mind. Like a good little girl, she keeps her mouth shut. She needs this job. It wouldn’t look good if her boss found her mouthing off to guests.

Dark sparks of green shift in Christy’s eyes as she stares at Penny. “Go on, Addy. I’ll catch up to you.”

As Addy traipses into the women’s bathroom alone, Penny rolls her eyes. She has no idea why Mefford won’t leave well enough alone. Shaking her head, she mutters, “I don’t have anything to say to you.”

Christy smirks. “Wow, you’ve gotten a backbone since you left. Impressive.” Her top lip lifts into a snarl as she eyes Penny up and down. “So, you lost a little weight, and now you think Luke is into you?”

Penny glances at her body and frowns. She might have lost a little bit since she was placed on birth control pills, but she hadn’t realized it was noticeable. And Luke?

She snorts. “I haven’t seen Donovan in a year. I have no clue what that idiot is up to.”

Christy’s eyes widen dramatically. “Really? That’s how you’re going to play this?”

Penny mutters a curse under her breath. “Play what? I hate to tell you this, but I could give a crap what you and your boyfriend or your little coven do. I’m not interested. At all.” Turning to her cleaning supplies, she removes the plastic gloves from the tray.

Christy seizes her arm. “FYI, Luke is mine. Stay away from him. I tried to drill that into you two years ago, but you wouldn’t listen. I even tried to run you out of town, but you’re like a roach that won’t die because he still blames himself for all the crap that went down.”

Jerking out of Christy’s grasp, Penny huffs. “Good. He should feel bad. I hope he rots in hell with his guilt.”

“You think you’re so perfect? If I find out you and my boyfriend are seeing each other on the side—”

Stuffing her fists on her hips, Penny bites out, “I’m going to say this for the hundredth time, Mefford. I do not like Donovan. You wanna know the truth? I hate him. He ruined my life. He introduced me to you and your sadistic cousin, who set me up with Brandon. In my book, that’s just as bad as Hannah’s bullying. I blame him as much as I blame you.” She grabs the disinfectant and snaps on her gloves. “Excuse me. I have work to do.”

Christy blocks the door. “Little miss high and mighty wants to deny it, huh? Go ahead. I know the truth. You know those photos and that video? I have the originals. I wanted you out of Luke’s life, so Hannah and I set up the whole thing.”

“Big surprise there. ”

Confusion marls Christy’s face. “How could you know? Did Hannah tell you?”

Penny scoffs. “Are you as dumb as she is? I knew it was you from the beginning. You’ve always hated me. You think I thought you were being nice to me because you liked me? I’m not that naïve. Framing your cousin for something you started is manipulative as hell, and right up your alley. So, the fact that you just admitted you were the mastermind behind the whole incident isn’t really news. I’d say I feel sorry for Donovan, but you two deserve each other.”

Addy steps out of the bathroom, eyeing Penny warily. “Um, Chris? We should go.”

Penny glares at Addy. “You looked better with your chicken mask, Linbrook.”

Addy’s face blanches as Christy seethes. “I’m warning you, Ramsay. Stay away from Luke. I still have plenty of dirt I can post on you and your family. I have your journal, too.”

Holding her head high, Penny laughs. “So what? You don’t scare me, Mefford. You want to embarrass me more? Go ahead. Do your best. There isn’t anything more humiliating than waking up on someone else’s lawn and finding out you were raped.”

Addy chokes on a cough. “Jesus! Chris?”

Christy’s face turns ashen as she pulls Addy along. “We’re done here. Just remember what I said, Ramsay.”

Pushing through the men’s bathroom, Penny plants her hands on the sink as her heart rate spikes like a bad fever. What the hell? She’s never had the courage to tell anyone off, especially the mean girls. It feels good. But the burst of adrenaline forcing her pulse to race through her veins is out of control.

She takes a deep breath. And then covers her nose. “Oh my God, what in the world did that kid do?” The door opens, and she grouses, “Bathroom’s closed for cleaning.”

“Pen? You okay? Roscoe sent me to help.” Kennedy gags. “Jeez! Give me the deodorizer, stat!” A continuous mist covers the bathroom as she stares at Penny in the mirror. A look of concern creases her brow. “Pen?”

Penny almost breaks down. Inhaling slowly, she closes her eyes and pushes all of her anger and pain deep inside where it’s been locked away safely for a year. “I’m fine. Let’s finish this.”

Snapping on a spare pair of gloves, Kennedy lifts the other edge of the trash can and helps Penny remove the soiled liner from the bin. “I just saw little miss thing and her minion. Did they confront you?”

Penny shrugs. “It was nothing.” Kennedy raises her eyebrows as her ash-blond bob bounces at her shoulders. Penny rolls her eyes. “She warned me to stay away from Donovan. Again.”

Kennedy laughs. “Sounds about right. Mefford’s been a royal pain since she and Luke broke up.”

Penny halts. “Seriously?”

“Yep. Word is Luke got tired of her crap. He ended it last Monday.” She squeals. “Two weeks before Homecoming! Talk about karma.”

A slow grin spreads across Penny’s face. She’d confided in Kennedy about Hannah’s bullying and her threats to steer clear of Luke, and her assault last year wasn’t a secret since that video had surfaced.

Apparently, rumors about her had run rampant the weeks following the worst night of her life. After Hannah’s conviction, Penny hadn’t heard much about it. Not that she would. There’s no way she’ll join a social networking site again. And she doesn’t need to. Kennedy is a trove of gossip about anything happening at RHHS. That’s how Penny found out that Christy had ratted out her cousin and that Hannah’s father had paid off the school board to sweep everything under the rug.

Christy turned her cousin in. So, why does she have the pictures and my journal?

Penny bites the side of her lip. “Ken? Mefford said something interesting. It didn’t make sense.”

Tying off the dirty trash bag, Kennedy scoffs. “What’s new? Girl only accesses one brain cell or less a day.”

“I’m serious. Mefford said she has the pictures of me from Homecoming... and a copy of the real video.” And my journal.

Kennedy leans against the sink and frowns. “I thought Sparks planned everything.”

“I thought so, too. But she threatened me just now, like Hannah had then.”

Kennedy’s brow furrows. “What did you tell her?”

“I laughed in her face. Told her to go to hell. I could give a crap what that girl does. It can’t be any worse than—” Being raped?

Penny shudders. She hasn’t told anyone she was raped. Not even Kennedy.

Kennedy hugs her. “Oh, Pen, I’m sorry. This crap is so stupid. I’m glad you don’t have any of this craziness at your new school. If it makes you feel better, Pete Bridges told me Luke won’t participate in the Homecoming activities this year. He hasn’t gotten over what happened to you. He’s moody and withdrawn, and—”

Penny pushes away from her friend and clasps her hands over her ears. “La La La La La! I told you I don’t want to know anything about Donovan.” Dropping to her knees, she scrubs the wall. “I don’t want to think about him at all.”

“You still like him, don’t you?”

Like him? That was too soft a term. Luke would always hold a special place in her heart. And as much as she wants to hate him, it’s merely superficial. Just a bandage. Something she tells her damaged soul to placate it. It hurts too much to think about the boy who had been her knight in shining armor.

Even though she’s as far from a princess as anyone could get.

She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. Luke doesn’t think of me like that, and he never will.”

Giving Penny the pity smile she loathes, Kennedy says, “I can talk to him. He asks about you all the time.”

Penny knows that, too. All last year, Mrs. Donovan had tried to engage her in conversations about Luke, but Penny never took the bait. The only reason Luke asks about her is he feels sorry for her. Does Kennedy talk to him about her?

Crossing her arms, Penny mutters, “I didn’t think Luke knew that we hang out.”

Kennedy shrugs. “My car is parked in your drive at least twice a week. It’s pretty hard not to notice it.”

Fanning a new liner in the trash bin, Penny strips off her gloves. “Yeah, I guess.” Her friend’s bright yellow Volvo, a hand-me-down from her mother, stands out like a sore thumb. There are peace and love stickers littered across the back like a marquee.

“Just let me talk to him, Pen.”

“No. This thing goes beyond me liking him, okay? It’s a family issue. My brother doesn’t want me to have anything to do with him.”

Another cloud of disinfectant covers the room and Kennedy coughs. “I thought Luke was his best friend.”

“Was. I hate that their friendship was ruined because of me. But Colton won’t talk about him. I swear if my mother says the word Donovan, smoke comes out of his ears.”

Kennedy giggles. “I’d love to see that.”

The bathroom doors open. “Ladies? We have a crowd waiting for the facilities. Aren’t you finished?”

Mr. Roscoe’s mustache twitches, and his cheeks bulge as a cough escapes his throat. Penny presses her lips together to stifle a laugh. “It isn’t ready yet, sir. We just sprayed.”

He steps out and allows Kennedy and Penny to exit. Facing the crowd, he announces, “I’m sorry, folks. We’re still airing out this restroom. You’ll have to use the one at the other end of the theater.”

As the disgruntled guests file down the hall, Penny shrugs. “I’m sorry, sir. It was a mess.”

Kennedy seconds it. “We scrubbed vomit from the walls, sir.”

Mr. Roscoe shakes his head. “Jesus, I hate Friday nights.”

*****

Six months later

This is the private journal of Penny Elaine Ramsay. Do not read!!

APRIL 15, 2009

I’m tired of writing in this journal. Why my mother is sending me to yet another shrink is beyond me. Although Ms. Price is an improvement, definitely more knowledgeable than Sister Margaret. And more compassionate than Mrs. Caufield. Of course, I had to tell her about my journal. <note the sarcasm>.

I’ve tried to tell Ms. Price I can’t be fixed, but she won’t listen to me. Apparently, she agrees with my past therapists that I seem to benefit from writing. It’s a safe way to free myself from my emotional trauma. I hate to admit she’s right. Unfortunately, I use it as a crutch. Every time something goes wrong, I lean on it. Since my mother hardly speaks to me, it’s the only outlet I have. Especially since I don’t have any friends.

Not anymore.

Kennedy and I haven’t spoken in a few months. Not by choice. If I’d known she was supplying Luke with information about my life, I never would have trusted her to begin with. She was the first real friend I had. So why did she betray me?

Because she has a crush on Luke, too. After the whole movie theater smackdown with Christy Mefford, Kennedy used me as a way to get him to date her. They only went out a few times, but from what she said, he only wanted to talk about me.

She and I fought. It wasn’t pretty. She actually took Mefford’s side. Said she felt sorry for Christy because Luke is obsessed with me. Her words.

Which is completely stupid. I tried to tell her it isn’t obsession. The guy feels guilty. It doesn’t go any further than that. She didn’t believe me. She blamed me. Said I was manipulative and had Luke under some sort of spell like a witch. How stupid can these girls be? I haven’t seen him for over a year.

Kennedy didn’t want to hear the truth. Not that it matters. What she did was just as bad as what Christy and Hannah had pulled. In true Christy Mefford style, Kennedy spread rumors about me sleeping with my English teacher—which is even more ridiculous because Mr. Baccus is gay.

Unfortunately, word got back to my principal, launching an inquiry at my school. Ms. Price and Mrs. Donovan called Father Hudson in my defense and explained that I’ve been bullied in the past and the rumor was just another attempt at humiliating me.

But Kennedy’s rumors damaged more than just my reputation. Father Hudson wasn’t pleased to discover Mr. Baccus’ sexual orientation, and the school board ultimately fired him. When the rest of the student body found out that their favorite English teacher had been terminated because of some stupid rumors about me, I became a pariah once more.

On a side note, just before Valentine’s Day, Luke and Christy got back together.

They’re all crazy.