It was finally Friday and Penelope just arrived by my house.
I didn’t bother saying goodbye because the house was empty anyway. Monic was staying in the warehouse along with Jake while Adam was busy taking care of his mother.
I grabbed the house keys and my purse before stepping out of the house and slipped on some flats.
I don’t care who you are, ask me to wear goddamn heels and I will decapitate you on the spot.
You aren’t my friend if you’re rooting for me to break my neck.
I was dressed in an off shoulder white crop top and a high- waist shorts that ended on my mid-thigh. It showed just enough skin to not make me feel slutty or uncomfortable in my own skin.
I strolled towards the pink bug that Penelope drove and slipped into the passenger seat.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” I breathed out as I placed my purse on my lap and folded my hand to keep them from fidgeting.
“It’s okay,” Penelope chirped, casting me a cheery smile before stepping on the pedal and drove off to her house.
I realized then that she looked ready to go to the party with her make up on and hair done.
The second we reached her house, Penelope rushed me into her bedroom and sat me on the dresser whilst she took out all her makeup products and started with my eyes.
Before the mascara wand can touch me, I started praying for my life because let’s just say, I do not have a good experience with those sticks.
Dear God, if you’re listening right now. Please don’t let that God forsaken stick damage my eyes. Amen.
“Open your eyes, I promise I won’t poke your eye.”
I didn’t even realize I shut them close but I immediately followed her orders and looked into the mirror. I watched carefully as she started working on my lashes.
The mascara was the last touch and I scrutinized my reflection, gazing into the mirror with disguised horror. I could hear Dean Winchester from Supernatural muttering in my head.
Oh crap, I’m a painted whore.
I won’t say the girl I’m looking at in the mirror didn’t look anything like me because that’s bullshit since my button nose was as evident as the freaking sun but I’m glad nothing changed about it, it’s like a root that reminds me of who I am when my face is caked up.
Penelope managed to work on my cheekbones and they look more prominent now, thanks to the blush on. She added an extra inch on my eyebrows with her pencil, shaping it up a bit and making it thicker.
The shade of the eye shadow she put on me was light and it gave off a natural look. The applied mascara and eyeliner highlighted my brown eyes, giving a doe-like look to it.
I snorted inwardly, how ironic.
I was grateful for the help because God knows I wouldn’t have been able to do it on my own even if my neck was on the line.
“Thanks, Penny.” I offered a smile through the mirror and she gave me a similar one.
“That’s what friends are for, no?” We joked around a bit before deciding it was time to go.
“Okay, let’s get going, we won’t get any younger.” She ushered both of us to the car and we drove off to the party.
***
By the time we reached the venue, it was crowded, Luckily, unlike all the other times that I went to these kinds of parties, I have Penelope who was practically glued to my hip the entire time — or was it the other way around? I’ve got to admit, having a friend feels great.
She introduced me to a few of her friends that went to other schools and seeing someone other than the assholes that bullied me in my school was refreshing.
I was actually having fun and that’s not something you hear from party me everyday. Most of the time, you hear ‘someone give me a ride home before I scream bloody murder at the sluts sucking off bystanders faces’.
So yeah, this was a major improvement.
We spent the rest of the night dancing and chatting over sodas with a few of her friends casually dropping in and joining our random conversations.
It was a good night, I saw no traces of Maddison or Sonia so I guess that’s a good sign, no?
When we finally decide to head back home, it was already 11 and my feet were killing me with the endless throbs that were shooting up my heel.
“Oh my God, did you see her face?” I laughed when a flash of Mr. Thomas’ horrid expression wormed its way to my thoughts.
He had looked so uncomfortable and undeniably gob smacked at this one couple that didn’t know this was a supervised party and decided to dry hump each other in the middle of the dance floor.
Penelope and I spent the rest of the way to her car doubling over in laughter thinking about the fate of those two. When we left, Mr. Thomas was pulling them aside and yelling at them for inappropriate public display of affection.
The laughter, though, immediately died in our throats as the car jerked and coughed out fumes when Penelope started the engine. We looked at each other and I got out of the car, opening its front cap.
Now, Bryant taught me a lot of things but he told me nothing about cars. Well, I think he did, I just never paid attention because most of the time, he got too excited and spoke too fast for me to understand, thus, boring me to the point that I want to gag him with my grandfather’s socks.
If you have ever smelled his socks, dude, you’re going to need some CPR ASAP.
It’s just that bad.
One whiff, you’re out.
Try tasting them.
Good luck in trying to stay conscious.
Penelope seemed as clueless as I am so she dialed her uncle who, apparently, has a friend who knows some guy.
Okay, you know what; this is getting confusing even for me. Point is: She called an acquaintance who owns a tow truck for help in getting her car to some auto workshop.
Now, for us to get out of here.
How on Earth are we going to get home?
Taxi, apparently, wasn’t an option since there’s no taxi that was passing by in this time of the night.
Hitching up a ride with someone was counted as hopeless since all Penelope’s friends left earlier.
Basically, that left us with one thing to do.
We’re going to have to walk to the nearest street where cabs would most likely be passing by.
So we started the walk.
At first, we belted out from one song to another randomly and other times, we’ll tell funny stories about our childhood. Basically, we tried doing anything to distract us from our aching and sore legs.
My feet were screaming for rest after all that dancing and walking but I couldn’t stop now, not in the middle of the night where people might as well be cold-hearted killers disguised as junkies.
I continued to walk, clutching on my purse tightly. I can’t let my guard down when I’m walking with a girl that I doubt knows how to fight in the middle of the night in some deserted street. Plain idiocy, if you ask me.
We finally started passing by closed factories, banks, restaurants, until we passed this building. I think it was an office.
I saw a man, maybe in his late 50s, using a floppy hat, holding a broom, raking the leaves that fell off the trees to the streets in front of the gates. He was working silently, the broom brushing off the leaves onto a pile and as we passed him, my gut tugged at the sight.
It was late and this old man who probably has a family at home that was waiting for him, was working. A family he needs to feed.
With every step I took away, my heart sank that much deeper into my stomach and my feet felt like leads. I practically had to drag them to keep moving.
“Oh, fuck it,” I murmured under my breath as I opened my purse and took out 20 bucks and turned the opposite direction, abandoning a gaping Penelope for a second. I didn’t even need to tap the man’s shoulder to get his attention; he had his head raised to meet my eyes when he heard my footsteps bringing me back.
He was about to open his mouth, most probably about to ask me something but shut it after seeing my outstretched hand.
I had folded the money three times and he took it slowly before smiling at me. I felt the knot in my heart loosen and I was able to breathe again. I stared into the man’s clouded eyes. I sucked in a breath as he thanked me, feeling something tug at my heart.
I found myself offering him a soft and small smile before nodding in reply.
I turned on my heel and started walking towards Penelope in a rush.
I need to get out of there without bursting into tears and embarrassing myself.
She eyed me in curiosity as I dragged her along by the arm. “What was that for?” She asked and I could hear the confusion laced in her words.
I gritted my teeth in annoyance.
“An act of kindness? A good deed? What? Can’t someone do something for people and not expect anything in return?” I spat the snarky remark and she visibly wince.
“I-I, Well-”
I cut her off with a regretful sigh, immediately feeling bad on how I snapped at her. “I’m sorry for snapping, it’s just that- it aggravates me that such a simple act can surprise you, it just proved how much our generation has been degraded into ignorant and blind fools.” I huffed out a sigh in the end, but I’m far from done.
“I mean I know how the saying goes, that ignorance is bliss but sometimes people has just got to open their eyes and see what’s happening around them and stop being ungrateful brats. Not all of them are but it’s annoying the shit out of me. The way you looked at me was as if I just gave life to someone.
“It shouldn’t be like that. It should be an everyday thing that you see. However, I guess a girl can only hope that the future will be better.”
Penelope seemed to be pondering about something for a moment, a thoughtful look and something else crossed her face but it was gone in an instant.
I brushed it off, thinking nothing of it. When suddenly, a voice called out behind us and I felt the hair on the back of my neck rose in alarm and a chill ran down my back. It’s not the good kind either.
“Hello dearies."