𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟏𝟕

"𝙳𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚃𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ

PENELOPE WAKES UP to a noise in the kitchen that sounds like dripping water.  She gets out of bed and heads to the kitchen to make sure that she turned off the faucet.  When she looks towards the sink, she sees Noah gulping a glass of water.  By the looks of Noah's appearance, Penelope can sense that she has not slept at all.

"Noah?" She cautiously says, "Are you okay?"

Noah looks up and sees that it is just Penelope.  The blonde noticed that the teen had jumped a little bit.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Noah answers.

"Have you slept?" Penelope asks.

"Yeah," Noah says and puts the glass down.  Penelope looks over at the couch and sees the blanket pushed to the end of the couch.  The pillow does not even have an indent that shows Noah had slept.

"I can make you another tea." Penelope offers.

"I'm good,"

"It'll help you sleep."

"I'll be okay, really."

"Come here," Penelope says and holds out a hand. Noah takes her hand and finds herself being pulled to the bedroom.

"C'mon," Penelope says as she sits in bed and pats the other side, "We can make it a true sleepover."

Noah silently lays down and pulls the covers up to her chest. She looks over and sees that Garcia is already bundled up with her eyes closed. She smiles at how her and Penelope never have to say the words; they know the love they have for each other.

—
𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺

Noah slept every now and then throughout the night.  She was in and out of sleep, but she felt a bit more secure next to Penelope.

The two had an easy-going morning.  Penelope made the teen a massive breakfast and got her to school right in time.  The day has gone perfectly.  Just as Noah walks down the hallway towards her Spanish class, she sees a crowd starting to build up to watch something.

The teen moves around the crowd as she tries to pass through to get to her class.  As she looks in the middle of the crowd, she sees a familiar head of raven hair.

"Parker?" Noah asks herself. She makes eye contact with the boy, who has blood dripping from his mouth.  Suddenly, Parker launches himself towards another boy.

Noah looks around in confusion and peers down the hallway.  She makes eye contact with a teacher and immediately jumps into the fight.  Parker pulls his fist back to throw another punch, but Noah grabs it and pushes it down.

"There's a teacher coming, c'mon!" Noah exclaims and grabs Parker's hand.

The boy follows Noah, holding her hand as they escape down the hallway.  They quickly take a turn and sprint down the corridor.  Noah pulls them into the nearest girl's bathroom and locks the door behind them.

Noah turns one of the sink faucets on and runs a paper towel under it. She walks over to Parker and grabs his chin. She wipes the blood that is trickling from the boy's nose. When she looks up at his bruised eye, it reminds her of her fight with Nick.

"What the hell were you doing?" She tuts as she shakes her head.

"Fighting—"

"Clearly." Noah chuckles, "I mean, why were you fighting?"