Popsicles

Chapter 17- Penny

Penny sat silently in the counselors office, looking down at her feet. To say the least, Penny had not wanted to be seated in the counselor’s office in the first place. She was emotionally tired, and the only thing she wanted to do at the moment was go home and take a nap. Not to be stuck in a counselor’s office waiting for who-knows-what. 

Penny had been cracking, that was a fact. Earlier in the day, she had heard lots of rumors, which she did not want to hear whatsoever. She wasn’t sure how or why those rumors had been created, but either way, they were slowly tearing her apart. She may have been overreacting quite a bit about the rumors, and what they were doing to her mind, but if you were in her situation, you would feel the exact same way. 

The rumors had said that Kyle’s father had been released from jail early. Once that rumor filled her ears, there was no way she could keep it inside. The man who had almost killed her, was out of jail and doing whatever he please, well at least that’s what Penny thought. Penny was definitely a gullible girl, almost believing everything that she heard. And this time, she believed it so much that she had a breakdown. 

She sat in the bathroom stall for thirty minutes, crying. Her teacher didn’t mind her going to the restroom, in fact, we was completely for it. Penny’s teacher’s saying was “if you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go”. But Penny didn’t need to go to the restroom at all, in fact, she just went to the restroom to cry. 

After a half an hour of crying, her teacher must have suspected something because he sent another student to go and get her back to class. Instead of taking Penny back to the classroom, the student who was sent to get her took her all the way to the counselor’s office. 

Once Penny was seated in the office, she had no idea what was going to come next. Would they call her mother? Would she have to take over an hour talking to the stupid counselor? She had no idea. All she knew was that there was a rumor going around, and she wasn’t very ecstatic about it. 

Suddenly, Katherine and Kyle burst into the office with concerned looks on their faces. Penny stood up from her seat, which was actually starting to bother her. The fabric on the seat had a weird texture to it, and constantly bugged her. Katherine immediately pulled Penny into a large hug. Katherine stepped away from Penny, letting her get a good look at Kyle. 

Kyle’s face was definitely confused, and filled with lots of sympathy. He couldn’t stand to see Penny with her puffy, red eyes and smeared makeup. He didn’t think of it as unattractive, he just hated to see her so pained. He quickly engulfed her in a hug, then pulled back while still holding onto her torso. 

“Those rumors aren’t real, you know that right?” Kyle questioned, staring into Penny’s eyes. Penny didn’t want to lie, so she simply shook her head. She had believed every word that those kids said, and had sworn that Kyle’s father was out of jail.

“He’s not getting out of jail in a long time,” Kyle said. “I promise.” And in that moment, something had hit Penny. It was as if a large brick wall was lifted out of her mind, and entered her into a whole new world; a new perspective. She quickly looked into Kyle’s eyes and realized something. She just realized that she completely and truthfully cared and trusted Kyle. She wasn’t scared of him anymore, nor was she mad at him. She knew that they were both on the same side; the same team. 

“Okay, I trust you.” Penny said, while she could see Katherine smiling brightly in the background. Kyle smiled, and pulled Penny in for another hug. 

Once everything was settled, Katherine, Penny, and Kyle all returned back to their classes. They had convinced the counselor that Penny was okay, but to be honest, she wasn’t. Thoughts and accusations constantly swirled throughout her mind and she couldn’t find a way to concentrate on her school work. She had no idea why that rumor was created, and kept believing that kids made it up just so they could mess with her head. 

Lunch time finally rolled around, and Penny was extremely grateful for that. She could’ve sworn that if she spent one more minute in one of her classes, she would’ve gone insane. She couldn’t concentrate on any work at all, and even got scolded by one of her teachers for “day dreaming”. She wasn’t day dreaming though, she just was lost in her thoughts. It wasn’t like she was dreaming about Zac Efron sweeping her off her feet. 

She sat down at her lunch table next to Max and Katherine, and didn’t plan on sitting with Kyle. She wasn’t sure if she was welcome or not, so she’d rather not take that risk. Plus, if Kyle really wanted her to sit with him then he would probably ask her anyways. 

Today, the school lunch was absolutely awful. It was hamburgers and mac and cheese, one of the cafeteria’s worst meals. All of the kids at Penny’s school loathed it, and on days like these, would bring their own sack lunch to school. But being the forgetful person Penny is, she made the mistake of not packing her own lunch. 

Just as Penny had expected, Kyle had come to her table. He simply sat down with his own sack lunch and cringed at Penny’s food choices. Penny shrugged and gagged slightly on her mac and cheese. Kyle chucked and handed her an apple from his lunch box. 

“Thank you so much,” Penny said, basically worshipping the apple. “You are an angel sent from above.” Kyle laughed again, and began to eat. Both Max and Katherine were confused, considering Kyle had never eaten lunch with them before. They didn’t mind it though, it was just a new change in the atmosphere. 

“So, who’s ready for the trip to Minnesota?” Kyle asked, fist pumping the air. Penny laughed at his awkwardness and lowered his arm for him. Kyle just smiled, and blushed a little. He didn’t mind looking like a complete idiot in front of Penny, though. It didn’t matter to him at all. Because the only thing that mattered to him was the fact he was sitting by the person he knew he was in love with.

A/N

Hey everyone! Sorry that this update is tremendously short. I'm also incredibly sorry for not updating in quite a while. I have been very busy, considering it's the New Years and Christmas has just now come to an end. I will be updating more, and this book is slowly but surely coming to an end. 

(If you listen closely you can hear my sobbing). But don't worry, I have more Kyle and Penny couple fluff coming soon. 

p.s. What should Kyle and Penny's ship name be? I don't even know. 

p.p.s Thank you so much for over 2,000 reads! That's truly awesome and you guys are awesome for getting me so far with this book. It brings me lots of joy...! 

Peace out home dogs.

<3 Maddie