Fish Out Of Water

Tear Glands

"Um… hey. Can I come in?" Penn asked nervously. I buried my face in my hands and said a muffled yes. I heard him walk over and shut the door, and then the bounce as he sat next to me on my bed. I glanced up and looked at him nervously. 

"So… that outburst. It was about this other guy I knew, another Penn," I informed him. He cocked his head and raised on eyebrow. 

"Another Penn who crushed your heart and moved?" he asked. I gaped at him for a moment before shaking my head. 

"You did not crush my heart, you simply hurt my feelings," I told him. "And then you moved."

"C'mon, Luce, I know you had a crush on me," he began, but I cut him off.

"Number One: My name is not Luce. That is reserved for people I care about to call me. 

And number two: I did not have a crush on you," I told him. 

"Lucy," he said, saying it slowly, "I'm sorry."

I froze. 

"Well, that just sucks doesn't it," I told him, pushing him off my bed and to the door, and then out the door. 

"C'mon, Lucy," he was saying as I slammed the door in his face. He banged on it for at least five minutes before Claire came and told him to go away. I heard his footsteps walking down the hall, and I flopped on my bed, burying my face in a pillow as Claire entered. 

"Lucy..?" she said. 

"Go away," I told her, and she left the room. 

That's when I collapsed into tears. See, here's the thing about Penn: he has this weird little thing he does that makes me cry anytime I think about him. That's why it was so nice that he moved away, because I could finally forget and just stop crying all the damn time. At least, that's what I told myself. But it would be pretty hard not to react considering we were trapped on this boat with all the cameras. There were none up on the walls in the rooms, but if the cameramen picked up on shouting they were supposed to come in and film. Thank god I hadn't yelled at Penn, it would've ruined everything. 

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The next morning I woke up with dried tears on my face and very, very puffy, red eyes. "Crap!" I muttered, just as Claire woke up and looked at me. 

"Oh god," she said. 

"That bad?" I asked, and Claire nodded, jumping out of her bed and walking over to her makeup bag. She pulled out a huge bottle of concealer.

"For your eyes," she said, handing me it. I smoothed it around my eyes and after much work, they looked halfway not red. 

Just pink. And, you know, puffy. Joy. I sighed and pulled on a pair of shorts and a tank top, and we went to breakfast. 

Penn was already there, talking to Blake and laughing. He looked up when we got there, and I beelined it over to the bacon, but he made it there first. I shot Claire a look, and she nodded and got Blake in conversation about watermelon. 

"Are you okay?" Penn asked, touching my eye. I slapped his hand away. 

"I'm fine, Penn," I sighed. He looked at me. 

"Can we go up on the deck and talk?" he said, and his eyes looked so melty I just said yes. 

We went up, and I pulled my hair out of its clip, letting the wind run through it. 

"So…" I muttered. 

Penn stopped, and looked at the sky. "So, um, when you started ignoring me when I got a girlfriend, I just assumed you were hurt and stuff. I thought that you would eventually talk to me again, but you just… didn't," he said, and looked at me to gauge my reaction, but I just looked at him like he should continue. "Well, then I finally just asked, and you told me what she said to you. And I knew it was her fault, so I broke up with her. But then, that night, I was just thinking… why did you even listen to her? I just wanted to hang out with you. I was just so angry. Like, really mad, but, I never hated you. You were my best friend and stuff. But I told you I hated you, and I decided to give you a taste of your own medicine for a while… and then my mom told me we were moving. I figured it would be easier just to leave instead of trying to tell you how I felt and then mess you up even more. So… I left, and I'm sorry for leaving. Can we please start over and be close and we can talk today because we all have a week to get to know each other. And then the rest of time to hang out, please," he begged. I was kind of crying. 

"You make my tear glands get worked up," I sobbed, and bear hugged him. He hugged me back just as tight, until I stopped the nonsense that was tears. 

"Okay, let's get to know each other," I said, beaming. 

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"She really said that?" I asked, cracking up. Penn was nodding and smiling at my laughter. I fell down, laying my head on his pillow and giggling. 

"Yes," Penn replied, looking over my head and crinkling his eyebrows. "It's time for dinner," he told me. 

"You wanna bring me some here?" I said with a big smile. 

"Sureeee," he said, jumping up. "Don't wreck my room!" he shouted behind him. 

I wouldn't wreck it, but I would snoop in it. 

I got up off the bed, and walked over to his dresser, where a few pictures were glued there. Smart kid. There was a picture of him and his mom, laughing on a sunny day. There was one of him and some girl sitting in a tree, and I decided not to be jealous because I didn't count as a person in his life who got to have a valid opinion right now. Then, I glanced over at the last picture. It was him, all green eyed and eleven, and some girl who looked to be the same age with messy hair and flushed cheeks. 

Then I realized, she was me. Penn walked in then, and I smiled evilly. 

"Hiyaaaaa," I said slowly. His forehead crinkled as he put down the food. 

"Something wrong?" he asked nervously. 

"There's this picture, of this adorable little girl and you on your dresser, and I was just wondering why you have it," I said, walking towards him. He backed away slowly, but gave me a cheeky grin. 

"I always have it," Penn told me. 

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This probably isn't more then a page but I like the end of it so I just left it like that (: 

~S