Scars to your Beautiful

04. She Smiled.

The next time Penelope opened her eyes, she felt that the surroundings were in a different dimension.
Everything was white.
She tried to get up.  A strike of pain bursted from her left arm, following with a sharp beep from the apparatus behind the bed.
She raised her hand and took a look.
Several needles are inserted in her arm, connected with hundreds of wires to the apparatus. Her left arm was wrapped with thick layers of gauze.

Three quick knocks on the door broke the silence.

Not knowing who's at the door, Penelope yelled "You can come in."
A boy came in. Penelope barely recognised him, but somehow he seemed terribly familiar.
"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" She asked, gently.
"Oh, we go to the same school..." He answered shyly. He kept his hands at the back, holding something but forbiddens to let Penelope see.
Who are you? Where are my parents? Where am I? What had happened?...A series of questions popped out of Penelope's head.
  Penelope's confusion has written it all over her face, Hayden spotted it and explained.
"Don't worry, I'm here to visit you. Your parents are outside, they just checked on you."
Penelope sighed in relief. Then she went back to guess who is the boy.
"The same school?..." She pondered for a second. "Oh, are you the boy who were at the cheerleading auditions the day before?"
"Hehe, yes indeed. My name is Hayden."He introduced.
"Wait a minute, you're the cheer captain's boyfriend, aren't you? What... what are you doing here?" Thinking about the cheer captain, she started to wobble.
"Well. That's a long story..." He grabbed a chair and sat beside her bed, still keeping his hands at the back.
"So you see... Yesterday, I saw you were trying out for the cheerleading team. Lilia treated you really badly, and said a lot of hurtful words. I feel very sorry and wanted to do something. I asked some of your classmates and found out that you actually live a street away from me. I decided to give you a visit and come to comfort you. When your mother and I came into your room, I saw something that I will never forget in my life. It was horrifying, yet poignant..."
Penelope wasn't paying attention to the story. In her eyes, she only saw Hayden. Where there is 512 students in her school, only Hayden chose to come and visit. He is her one in a million. Those murky brown eyes are closely connected to hers, never wanting to lose her out of sight. This was some feeling that she had never felt before in 17 years of life. It was extraordinary.
She froze, gazing at his features.
"Hey, Penelope, Penelope ...Earth to Penelope?..." Hayden suddenly interrupted.
"Oh, um I'm sorry..."
"Are you okay?"
"Oh, yes, I'm totally fine!..."She chuckled awkwardly.
"Well, anyways, that's the reason why I'm here. By the way..."
He finally revealed whats behind his back.
"I got you some flowers and a card!" He brought out the things that he's been hiding all the time. It was a basket of red roses and a "get well soon" card.
"Awwww. Hayden I love them so much. Thank you! I never thought someone at school will get me this, you're the first one who had done such thing to me, thank you..." She reacted excitedly and smelt the roses.
"I'm glad you liked it so much. Well, I got soccer practice in an hour, so I gotta get ready. Call me anytime if you need me, I'm always happy to help you!" He did the telephone hand sign and waved to say goodbye.
Before he could step out of the door, Penelope stopped him.
  "Hey Hayden, just one more thing: please don't tell Lilia that you came to see me, or else I'll end up really bad when I get back to school..."
  "Ok then, I guess this is a secret between you and I. I'll see you soon...Pretty Penelope." He blushed and quickly walked away.
  Penelope smiled, once in a very long time. His words warmed her heart, and was completely immersed in her soul.