••••••••••••• chapter twenty six ••••••••••••••••
My hand shot over my eyes as I stumbled into somewhat of an awkward situation inside of my room.
"Oh my god, my eyes! My poor innocent eyes!" I cried as I heard shuffling and falling as the two perpetrators scrambling to get their half naked bodies off of my bed.
I peaked through my fingers to see Chris and Sunny stumble over themselves.
"Oh shit, Penny!" Chris nearly broke his ass trying to reach for his shirt that had been thrown on my canvas.
"Oh My God, Penny, I'm so sorry!" Sunny gasped as she slipped her shirt back on.
I sighed. This was awkward, gross, and now I have to get new sheets.
"Out, out, out!" I ordered. They quickly obeyed and nearly sprinted past me and back into the party. I quickly shut the door behind them and rubbed my frustrated eyes.
"Penny, I am so sorry!" Sunny exclaimed.
I'm going to be honest, I didn't think that she'd, of all people, would be the one I'd catch making out in my room at a party. I'm not upset, but rather actually a little impressed. I'm kinda glad she was able to get out of her shell and at least confirm her feelings for Chris...but did she have to do it in my room, on my bed?
"I swear, I didn't mean for it to happen! It just that one thing led to another and next thing I know we were making out and suddenly we're in a room and making out on a bed. I didn't realize it was your room until it was too late! Please, forgive me! I didn't mean to-"
"Sunny!" I exclaimed. "It's alright."
"What-" She murmured.
"I'm not upset. It's a party, everyone does stupid things. I was just caught a little off guard. It's not exactly everday that you see, nor want to see, your brother making our with one of your best friends on your bed."
Her expression quickly changed.
"...best friend?"
I furrowed my brow.
"Of course. You sound surprised." I chuckled as we wandered back into the center of the party.
I was walking towards the kitchen when I noticed she'd stopped walking. Confused, I turned to look at her. There she was, standing still, her eyes getting wetter by the second.
"Oh my god, Sunny? You're crying? Why are you crying?" I walked back up to her and rubbed her shoulders in a comforting manner.
She sniffed as a small smile tugged into her lips.
"I've never had a best friend before."
My eyes widened in confusion.
"Really? Not...ever?"
She gave me a sorrowful smile as I felt my heart shatter into pieces. She was so nice and sweet, how come she's never had a friend? I remember when I first met her and she said she had no friends. Was it because she wasn't rich? Talk about how capitalism has grabbed this society by the balls...
With a sad smile, I pulled her into a hug. She was a sweet girl. She deserved the world.
***
The next day, I awoke to the sound of a knocking at my door. Slowly, my eyes peeled apart to see the sunlight flooding my room. My head was pounding and I felt like absolute shit. Maybe partying so late wasn't such a good idea.
Another knock at the door is what made me get up. Without thinking about the fact that I was only in matching black lace underwear, I wandered over to the door.
I turned the knob and pulled it open, rubbing my eyes in the process.
The person on the other side of the door was a person I was not expecting.
"Parker?" I choked.
"Nice...uh...underwear." He chuckled.
Realization suddenly hit me.
"Oh shit!" I exclaimed as I rushed to get a t-shirt. Hungover me was not the best me. I grabbed a big T-Shirt (that I'm pretty sure once belonged to Tommy) and threw it over myself before walking back to the door.
"What are you doing here?"
"Well," he sighed. "Benny asked me to come and inform you that your father has planned a dinner for all of you tonight at Tommy's house since he's back in town and about to leave for Tokyo in a few days."
I sighed. That's just great. I have to eat dinner with the man who slapped me. Almost as if this pounding headache wasn't enough.
"Why did he send you so early?" I yawned. "It's like 8 AM."
He smiled.
"Actually, P, it's 5 in the afternoon. The dinner is at 7."
My eyes went wide as I glanced over to the clock on my nightstand to see the numbers 5:45 on them.
"Fuck!" My hand slid through my hair as I turned back to him. "Okay, out! I have to hurry and get dressed."
He pouted. "Aw? No kiss goodbye for your fake boyfriend?"
I rolled my eyes before roughly pushing him into the hallway and closing the door behind him.
This was going to be....a night.
The fall air was getting colder as the weeks go on, so after taking a well needed shower I threw on a relatively warm outfit.
Once I'd finished getting dressed and cleaned up, I pulled my hair into a messy bun and grabbed my keys and phone.
Leaving my room, I walked into the living room to see it was...surprisingly clean?
There was no trash or passed out drunk people, almost like the party never happened.
A throbbing pain shot through my head and reminded me that this hangover was kicking my ass.
"Yo, yo, yo!" A voice exclaimed, making the pain all the more worse.
I turned to see Benny and Winn waltz through my door, apparently ready for our "family dinner."
"Sup, P? You about ready to go?" Winn asked as he approached the kitchen.
"Why are you so loud?" I groaned while rubbing my temples.
"Hungover I see!" Benny chuckled as he yelled into my ear like a jackass.
"Fuck off, Benny!" I complained as I pushed him away. He only laughed and flopped onto the couch.
"Here," Winn chuckled while tossing a bottle of Advil at me. I caught it with ease and popped the cap off. After grabbing a nearby bottle of water, I took three pills and swallowed them. It'd only be a matter of time before sweet sweet relief would hit me.
"Lightweight." Benny coughed.
"Asshole." I retorted.
"Enough," Winn smiled. "Lets hit the road."
Within five minutes, we were on our way to Tommy's house to have dinner with out sadistic father.
I sat in the front seat while Benny sat in the back and Winn drove.
I watched the New York fade by through the window and we drove through the streets.
"So...you ready for this P?" Winn asked, briefly turning to look at me.
I shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?"
All my siblings knew how my father was a sensitive subject for me. I mean, why wouldn't it be? The man ruined my life and my art career by forcing me into a school that I don't want to be apart of for his own disgusting benefit. What's there not to hate?
Eventually, we arrived to the party. Hesitantly, I walked into the house and through the living room with Benny and Winn at my sides. Upon reaching the living room, I saw my Dad seated at the head of the table and I just...froze. It felt like I was in that situation all over again. It felt like I would never get rid of the sensation of my father's hand sliding across my cheek.
It felt like I'm in a hole I'd never get out of.
"Penny?" A voice asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. I blinked a few times to realize that Benny and Winn had already sat down, and Tommy was standing in front of me with a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
"You alright?" He asked, his voice low and concerned.
I cleared my throat and looked back to see my entire family seated at the table. Looking back at Tommy, I gave him a half-hearted smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
His eyebrows furrowed before he gave me a stern nod. Reluctantly, I followed him to the table and we took our seats. The plates in front of us were already filled with pasta and chicken and wine glasses filled with red wine.
"Nice for you to join us, Penelope."
I ignored him as I scooted closer to the table and picked up my fork. The table was silently eating.
"Jasmine," My father sighed. "I was informed by your Dean that you dropped out of Future Leaders of America. Care to explain?"
All eyes shifted to Jas who looked nervous beyond words. We already knew how stern Dad was, especially on her. She was valedictorian, prime student of Wadlington and member of almost 4 clubs. She even bested Tommy for Student of the Year.
"Well, Dad, I just...I had to. I had to drop out. Between juggling my classes, Student Government, my tennis lessons, the swim team, and—"
"Enough with the excuses, Jasmine!" Dad snapped as he slammed his hand on the table, making us all jump.
Jas looked like she was on the verge of tears.
"You will not amount to anything with mediocre effort! That's being lazy. You are a Weaver. Get it together."
Jasmine nodded and hung her head before picking at her plate.
Tensions in the air were high. Higher than ever before.
I sat quietly, hearing nothing but the sound of forks scraping against plates and heavy breathing. It was like that night all over again. The night when Dad told me he was unenrolling me from Art School. The night my entire world fell apart.
It was Dad's idea, this dinner. He wanted to "have a dinner with all his children before he left for Tokyo" like he was some sort of Saint.
He acted like he loved us when all he really did was exploit and use us for his own personal gain. We were just pawns to him, future employees for his dumb company.
He didn't love us, not the way some of us loved him.
I picked tirelessly at the pasta on my plate. This was awkward and giving me a headache. This dinner was nothing more than a way for our father to ask us questions about school.
"So, Thomas. Senior year, how is it going? All A's and plenty of extra curricular activities I expect." He put emphasis on 'extra curricular activities' before giving Jas a cold glare.
The room was oddly quiet, like none of us wanted to be here.
"It's, uh, good." And that was that. Tommy was always Dad's favorite. He didn't have to say much for Dad to be satisfied.
"Christopher?" Dad asked while chewing on some chicken.
Chris shrugged.
"It's alright."
My heart dropped as I felt like I knew what was coming next.
"Penelope?"
Of course.
"How is school going. Well adjusted, I assume?"
I chuckled. The irony was too much.
"Assuming makes an ass out of you and me, Dad."
Next to me, Tommy choked on the wine he was sipping.
"Penelope..." Dad started.
I knew exactly what was coming. He'd go into some spill about how Wadlington was the future for me and that I was a disappointment to him and I'd just take it.
But not this time.
"What do you want from me, Dad?" I asked while setting down my fork.
"I want to you be respectful! When I asked you a question, dammit, I expect you to answer it! You ungrateful child!"
Talk about anger issues.
"Oh, I'm ungrateful?"
"Penny—" Adam began, trying to put out the heat.
"No, wait! I'm the bad guy, right? I'm the ungrateful child, right? How am I ungrateful when you have 8 kids who you don't even care about?! All you care about is how far up our asses you can stick your corporate agenda!"
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" He asked as he slammed his hands on the table and stood from his chair.
"What makes you think your life is worth any more than mine?!" I yelled, standing from my chair too.
"What makes you think your life is worth anything at all?!" He retorted.
"ENOUGH!" Tommy yelled over the both of us.
"You are such a piece of shit!" I shouted, my eyes on the brim if tears.
"I can stand to even think about being in the same room as someone who would go as far as to hit their own daughter!"
Oh My God.
Did I just-
What did I just do?
a/n
im backkkk
thank you all for your support and well wishes I really appreciate it ❤️ so here, have a chapter
this has been long awaited
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-eboni