An Actual Nerd

44 * After Party

Chapter 44: After Party

"Penny, why do they think it's blackmail?" I whispered under my breathe. We were sitting crosslegged, back to back, but there were cell bars separating us. 

Penelope was being held at the local police station after her interrogation, still with more to come. She was being treated like an adult. 

"I made a back-up plan. I'm not going to let anything happen to your future."

"My future? What about yours?" 

"Bah." She laughed weakly. "My parents will pay it all off, and I'll go become a lawyer to redeem myself. Or a detective. I've always thought that the cops on CSI had it pretty cool."

"Come on, Penny."

"Just wait and see. It's the great joy of life: You can only wait sometimes." 

"When's the hearing?"

"Next Saturday. Why are you sitting here with me, in the local jail, instead of dancing your heart out with the rest of the school's population?"

"I wasn't planning on going to prom anyway. Even if I did want to go, I wouldn't have anyone to go with now." My head dropped down. 

"Oh, baby. What happened?" She shuffled around in her cell. 

"He thinks I'm crazy for helping you." 

"You totally are. You know what else is crazy? Us sitting here, talking, when I blackmailed and threatened the sh!t out of you."

"How?"

"Surprise. You'll see at the hearing. If I'm good for anything, it'll be protecting you. I don't care how long I'm in jail for: If you get to go to Cambridge, it's worth it."

Penelope was more loyal than any girl I'd ever met. "Wow...I...thank you. I can't believe you're jeopardising your life for mine." Cambridge...

"Did you accept it?" She asked eagerly. "The scholarship?" The letter arrived last night. 

"I don't know..." I rested my head on my hand. "It's so far away..."

"Pish posh, you've got family over there!"

"Not for much longer. They're trying to move everything to New York. It'll just be my father." I frowned. 

"Whatever. You'll regret it if you won't go. If you accept it, it doesn't mean that you have to stay there, you know that, don't you?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Don't let a boy drag you down. Forget him, if he's stopping you from getting the future you deserve."

"I guess..."

"There are hundreds of places out there for you. Go get 'em, tiger."

I laughed. "Are you sad about missing Prom?"

"I'll be honest: I totally am. I could have been Prom Queen."

"You could have."

"Beth probably will be. She's so perfect at everything."

"Still rocky?"

Penelope shrugged. "She's outgrown this place, which means she's outgrown me. But I'm proud of her. She's kickstarted her career before she's even graduated and I'm sitting in jail." She laughed. 

"It'll get better." I squeezed her arm. 

"Your half hour's nearly over. I should tell you: Keep an eye on Hayden. The main afterparty is Samuel Vice's at a rented lobby downtown called Top Shelf."