𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐋𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 ᵍⁱˡᵇᵉʳᵗ ᵇˡʸᵗʰᵉ

16

-🌸-

chapter sixteen

Penny's parents had argued again the night before. Again, it was about her.

She had gone to them explaining the words didn't sit the way they should and she wanted to see a doctor for her eyesight. Vance had said she just needed to study harder while Margot looked at her husband with an expression Penny missed. Rage.

Even though she had gone to her bedroom and read through a whole book, the words on her chalk board still looked uneven and mixed around. She was supposed to be learning math, but words to do with it still looked wrong.

Penny clenched her fists on her school desk, biting the inside of her cheek. Christian was getting blamed, her parents were fighting. If she solved this problem it proved she was capable of learning and going to college. Stress itched at her brain as Penny ran a hand through her hair gripping harshly at the scalp.

It was like she couldn't control it, the panic continued rising up her throat, blocking her airways. Penny clenched her jaw, she refused to break in front of everyone. She couldn't handle school, but she could keep herself together until the walk home.

Instead of focusing on her work, she turned her head towards the door to the school house as it opened. A smile rose onto her face as she reconised who interrupted the lesson. Bash stood in the doorway with an icepack over his cheek. His eyes flickered over to her and he gave her a warm smile. Penny gave one back.

She used to belive what everyone said. That coloured people were nothing but thieves and people that wanted to use the families of Avonlea for money and supplies. They were unemployed, lazy and didn't know how to support their families. Penny wanted to cry art the fact she had genuanly thought that about somebody in her life. Those beliefs and words had been pushed into her as a young child so she would grow up believing that. But now as she looked at Bash, who was smiling at her, she wondered how anyone could make up rumours about someone just because of the colour of their skin.

"Sebastian." Gilbert stood from his chair, watcing as Sebastian removed his hat. The rest of the students in the school house looked appaled that Sebastian was even breathing near them.

Gilbert, Anne, Christian and Penny were the only ones that thought to smile at him, let alone look at him with something other than disgust in their eyes.

"Good morning. I need to have a word with Gilbert, please," Sebastian said.

Mr Phillips raised his hands towards Bash, looking down at him like he was nothing but dirt. "I'd thank you to stay in the cloak room."

"You're not welcome here." Penny turned towards Billy as he spoke up. The blonde boy just shrugged, not even looking her way. "He tried to kill me at the Christmas Pantomime."

"If there's any threat in this classroom, it's you, Billy Andrews," Anne sneered towards him.

"Return to your lesson," Mr Phillips called out, his eyes snapping towards Penny. She was looking towards Bash and Gilbert, attempting to eavesdrop on their conversation. "Penny, head down. Out of everyone in this room I'd think you would want to focus extra hard."

Penny turned her head towards Mr Phillips, looking at him, uinblinking. As she stood from her desk, his eyebrows lowers in anger. "Sit back down, Swanson."

Penny gahtered the things on her desk, hoisting it under her arm. She walked behind Ruby's chair until she was standijng in the middle of the room right in front of him. "You're not a teacher. You're just a man that uses his power to torment children he doesn't approve of."