Falling Behind

Two

Penelope always had a tough time making friends. She used to try and hide it. Once I was at her house and her and her mother were talking about birthday party ideas. It was heart breaking to hear Penelope say she had no friends. It was even worrying to hear why. "School is for learning, not friend making"  It was school holidays and Penelope dropped by a lot. I knew she was there to see Fern but once upon a time she came round to see me. There were a lot of days where Penelope spent hours drawing with Fern but I chose this one to begin the book with because this day proved the kind of girl Penelope was. She spent hours, cutting paper snowflakes out of origami paper and when she ran out, she used newspaper. Eventually Fern got bored and after an hour of whining. Penelope organised to walk her to her friends house. It was what happened when she came back, that I really saw Penelope that day.

I sat, watching the re-runs of 'How I Met Your Mother', wondering if it was really nescerssary going back ten years to explain a five minute story. I still felt tired and emotionally drained from the morning. I think that's why i felt a bit annoyed when Penelope sat next to me. She smiled to me as she began watching.

"Hi" She pulled her face away from the screen to look at me. She smiled and nodded before looking back.

"I remember a time when you came here for me and not Fern" I know it sounds like a harsh thing to say straight off the bat but Penelope was used to it. She liked things straight and forward. She looked at me, no real readable expression.

"I like your sister, just like i liked you. Not my fault you grew up" Maybe it was my tone that set her off that day but I never questioned it. The thing about Penelope was that she was bubbly and quirky but she became sophisticated very quickly.

"Why do you do that? Why do you just snap? You were happy just a moment ago." She shrugged her shoulders as she watched the screen, seemingly dismissing her previous annoyance.

"I don't know, it's like a switch" She answered as if what I asked was an ordinary question. Without realising, I sat, staring at the side of her face, confused. She turned around and gave me this look, of 'what are looking at?'

"I don't understand you Pen" I turned, facing back to the screen. That's when it happened.

"I didn't ask you to understand, because to undertand is to feel. I don't want you to feel what I feel, the confusion, the horror, there aren't words to describe how it is I feel, Therefore you should not feel it." I looked at her. Her face lit up by the flickering light of the television. Her mind was brilliant, she seemed so poise. I wondered why she didn't want to grow up into the beautiful woman she would be.

"It's why I don't understand why you feel what you feel for me" I felt my jaw dropped a fraction. I stuttered for words.

"But you know how I feel, I don't even know... you, i used to,but now you always hide secrets from me even though I tell you everything." That was a lie. She looked at me, moving her jaw from side to side. Her next words haunted me for months, so beautiful yet terrifying.

"It's because they're secrets that it is the way it is. I can't tell you what they are, that's why thery're secrets. You hide them, push them down the well and when you feel it, you push them down further until they're so deep down that they melt into the core of the earth..., they become the earth, they become you." She stared at me intensely, as I processed her words.

"They are no longer the words trying to escape your mouth, they are the blood that runs through your veins, the air that you breathe, they are every factor of your own petty exsitence...And the only things you can do to hide it, hide the well... is to fill it up with dirt and plant some flowers." She looked at me up and down before sighing. Standing up, she left.

"Where are you going?" She looked at me as I hopped up on the couch, somewhat still hypnotised by her.

"I'm going to make some paper snow now" She walked into the other room leaving me alone.

Authors note- Hey so this is the second chapter. Hopefully you are beginning to understand who and what kind of person Penelope is. I learnt it is very difficult to write about Pen and how she acts, hopefully i can make it clearer in further chapters. Thank you guys for reading and voting and commenting, I really appreciate it. So that's it for this time, tell me what you thought of this chapter. And remember.

-Stay Minty ;)