After several weeks of Jeff fooling around behind poor Aubrey's back, he was officially kicked out of our clique. Julianna still held on to some kind of hope that he would stop being a dick to Aubrey but he didn't.
The same week he was kicked out, Penelope met my parents. They thought she was ambitious. She looked past their accents and tried her hardest to impress them. Every time she exaggerated something, I squeezed her hand. I wanted her to be herself and not anybody else.
I wondered how Erica would have handled everything with my parents... she was boring.
I met Penelope's mom a couple times, mostly because I spent that week at her house when Pen had her stomach flu. I knew at the moment that Pen and her mother weren't exactly getting a long. But Penelope was different, she was stubborn. She was hurt and could only see her pain but I knew there was something bigger going on with her mother. There were so many times that I wanted to sit her down and talk to her about it but I knew it was none of my business to do so. I kept my mouth shut. I did push Pen to talk to her mother a lot though. It never succeeded. Sometimes her mom would try and then other times she wouldn't. I tried my hardest to distract Penelope.
"I wouldn't mind getting a place with you" I said to her.
"You would do that for me?"
"For us" I said.
It was for us. It wasn't to escape everything which honestly we would be doing if we moved in together. It was because I wanted to be with her, I saw something with her. Ever since that short agreement, Penelope looked up apartments we could afford. At times we talked about pets and kids, I knew we were jinxing ourselves.
-
When I went home that night, I realized I hadn't talked to Emma in awhile with being caught up in Penelope. I felt like a terrible best friend. But what was I supposed to do? I couldn't put off my life for her? I could, I was too selfish.
I called her and told her everything. I was just relieved she wasn't mad at me but excited for me. And then I noticed it went quiet between us. We rarely ever had silence, it was weird.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's her."
Emma had been dating or better put, had a "thing" with a girl a year older than her. I didn't like her, she controlled Emma a lot and made her look stupid. Everything I ever said to Em was always ignored, she was her own person. Most importantly, it was hard for her to ever let go of people so easily even when they gave her a reason to. Em talked to me about her for two hours, about how they officially broke up because she went back to her ex boyfriend who faked his comas for attention. I told her this was for the best and she agreed.
I went to bed thinking about something fun to do in the next few weeks when my phone vibrated a couple times. I hesitated when I saw Katherine's number. We texted for a few hours, feeling guilty because I knew Penelope didn't like her. I sent Penelope screenshots of my conversation with her.
"I get you're being nice but you know she isn't a good person so end the conversation."
I listened. I tried my hardest to curve Katherine but I suddenly missed the days her and I would go to the park together. She was my best friend, we shared ice cream and swung on the swings for hours. I'd be lying to myself if I said I hated Katherine.
-
As the days passed the original squad broke up and Pen and I formed a new one. We finally included her best friend, which I honestly didn't mind. She gave me a warm vibe, the kind mothers sometimes give you. We got along extremely well together and I often gave her advice. She grew on me, wanting her company more than Penelope's.
When we all went to the amusement park together, Emma and Whitney (Penelope's best friend) ended up drifting away together. This is what Penelope and I wanted. They were a perfect match in our eyes, I mean us first and now our best friends.
Luca and Julianna did their own thing and left us to secretly make out on a bench at the park. I wanted to be alone with Penelope but Aubrey was with us. We didn't have anyone to go off with her and we sure as hell didn't want Jeff back in our group, even if Aubrey wanted him back desperately. I sucked it up, knowing good karma would hit me for it one day.
The night ended with the seven of us taking the city bus and walking home together. Julianna was on Luca's back, he was basically carrying her home. She fell asleep there, I'm sure he even tucked her in bed that night. Who knows what else they did but I'm sure they did it all at the park.
Penelope and I took the long way home after we walked everyone to their houses. We held hands, really tightly while admiring the sun setting. I leaned into her while we were walking and kissed her forehead. I guess it was a huge move that I made because she confessed every feeling she had for me.
I went to bed happy because of it.
-
The drama started gradually and slowly. As August came to an end, Penelope freaked out about me going to university. She claimed she would barely see me and how much it upset her. She was being silly because I had fewer classes than I did in high school. Of course I would have time for her. As if that wasn't enough, her mother was extremely drunk one night, kicking her out of her house. She crashed at her step father's place, on the couch. Although, she did spend a few nights in my bed.
Julianna and Penelope slowly had a fallout. I blame Penelope's other problems that made her full out yell at Julianna. She needed something to take everything out on. Julianna was the easiest out of us all. Soon enough Penelope couldn't stand Juli's personality, claiming she picked fights for no reason other than pure entertainment. This made Luca feel uneasy. Same with Aubrey.
All sorts of fights broke out, Luca vs. Aubrey, Luca vs. Penelope, Penelope vs. Juli, Juli vs. Aubrey, Penelope vs. me...
