An Exchange

Chapter Thirty-Five - A Rough Week

February 2005

Ryan

My relationship with Penny was rough that week. In the classes we had together, she moved away from me to her other friends, and during lunch she wouldn't let me touch her. But I had to be patient. I caused the problem and I was lucky she was giving me a chance at all.

On Tuesday in shop, Giles came straight to me as we began class. Our teacher, knowing how confrontational we were with each other, quickly separated us before he had a chance to speak his mind. So he waited outside our classroom and pulled me aside. "You're one lucky guy, you know that?"

"No kidding," I muttered.

"Penny doesn't deserve what you did to her, and you don't deserve her."

"You think I don't know that?" I responded harshly. "Penny's incredible, she deserves—"

"Just shut up." He groaned and rubbed his temple. "I really didn't want to argue with you this time. I just wanted to say that you better make this right because she’s hurting. She has enough issues with betrayal as it is without you adding to it."

Pain tugged in my chest. "She... what? Like what?"

Giles sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I can't believe I'm helping you." He groaned again then looked me in the eyes. "Some of Penny's best friends at her high school turned against her because she made the choice to follow the gospel."

"Can you maybe explain that?"

He glared at me. "You know how I feel about her, so this is all you’re going to get from me."

He walked away.

The next day as we all sat together in the cafeteria, I managed to coax Penny into sitting beside me. She wouldn’t say anything, and no matter how much I stared at her, she kept her gaze locked on her food.

Dylan came over, to my disgust. She stood behind Zoe and Maria who sat opposite us. "Ryan, where's Spencer?"

I nodded to the table where the guys from the football team sat, but didn't say a word.

"I think you should leave," Maria said, not even looking up at her.

"I second that motion," Giles muttered and waved his hand in the air. Slowly, everyone at the table followed suit.

"What a bunch of nerds." Dylan then waved a girl over.

When I saw her, I gagged on my food.

Penny looked at me surprised, then up at the girl as Dylan said, "Marissa just wanted to drop by and see how you were doing."

"Yes, Ryan, I was hoping maybe you were free this weekend so we could maybe give it another go?" Marissa smiled at me.

I felt sick.

Penny clasped Giles' leg under the table as she tried to hide her emotions at the sight of the girl I had slept with.

I quickly grabbed Penny's hand and drew her attention to me. "Penny, ignore them—"

"Yes, Penny, ignore us. It makes it easier for us to get away with fooling around with Ryan." Dylan laughed.

Marty turned calmly to Dylan. "Don't you have somewhere else to be? Like a minimum of two-hundred feet away unless it is unavoidable due to classroom sizes and school boundary rules?"

Dylan shot him a glare before motioning for one of the other girls to come over to stand with Marissa. Then she backed away to her legally allowed distance.