Love Out of the Middle

Chapter 11: Projecting a Win

September 30:

Penelope:

"Ready?" Sterling asks me. The paper on my desk and the tri-fold poster on his.

"Define ready?" I tell him "Public speaking is more of a Michael thing. And I sick to supporting him."

"You'll do great, we got this." Sterling says, "Lets just hope my grammar is the worst thing to happen in this class." He jokes. It wasn't, poor Sue grabbed the wrong bag from her house and then Axl shocked me by pulling the whole thing together in under ten minutes. But our project goes by just fine, just like Sterling promised.

"See, it wasn't that bad." Sterling says walking with me to my next class.

"It almost was, for Sue." I tell him, "But you're right, but still I'm going to leave the public speaking to my brother."

Sterling just laughs as we stop at my class. "I'll see you after class." He says before turning around. Classes are slow but lunch finally comes and I meet Michael and William in the courtyard for lunch.

Ding. I pick up my phone. I miss you, wish I could see you again soon. I read the message again and read the name. I put my phone down and look at my tray suddenly not hungry. "Do you want to talk about why Ares is still texting you after your breakup?" Will asks after Michael goes to throw his trash away.

"You knew?" I ask him.

"Penny, I know you." He says. "Better than you think."

"I'm seeing that." I tell him pushing my tray away. "How long?"

"Since you got the call from him when we moved." He says. "You two were close, so when you left him talking to someone else something was up. I put the pieces together after seeing a bottle of his cologne in the trash."

"Why were you looking through the trash?" I ask him.

"Michael threw one of my picks away when he was cleaning off the counter before dinner."

"I can't hide anything from you can I?"

"You could if you really want to," Will says. "But something's telling me you don't want to."

"Guys, they're here." Michael says putting the flyers on his binder. "They're actually here."

"They look amazing Michael." I tell him as he sits and thumbs through them. Happy for a subject change. Even if it's a bit of a random one. We look through his campaign flyers and agree to hang them tomorrow.

The bell rings and I stand up taking my tray to the lunch line.

"You're not eating again." Sam says. "You've got to eat something."

"I'm not hungry." I tell him softly.

"Penny." His voice filled with worry. "You know you can talk to us."

"Can I?" I ask rhetorically before walking away before he could ask for clarification.

~~~

William:

Penny walks away her food untouched and Sam stops her halfway to the tray return. Michael doesn't even notice. "I'm worried about Penelope. Michael, have you noticed she's been acting weird?" I ask him. He looks up from his flyers. "Are you even listening to me?" I ask him.

"What's wrong with Penny?" He asks.

"She's not eating again, she's quieter than usual, more docile."

"Is that even possible?" He asks. We both stand up. And I throw my own trash away returning my tray. "You think she misses Jones?"

"Probably, but it's too soon to replace him." I tell him stuffing my hands in my pocket, my book bag on my shoulder. "Something else is bothering her. She's not talking. Not to me. Not to Sam. Is she talking to you?" We walk to class together since they're next to each other.