Chapter 5

Penny

Joe laughed at me before biting his pizza, I asked him to help me choose a house, he did help and now we were in the kitchen eating pizza and chatting, it was a two story house, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room and a huge backyard, I needed nothing more than that.

I told my parents that I bought a house, they were very happy about it and wanted to help me move in first thing tomorrow so I'll be expecting the whole family. "You used to be so cute"Joe says gushing over my highschool photo, he had my phone scrolling through it, "no I wasn't, I was ugly"I snort earning a look, "you weren't, honestly"he says smiling, I nod closing the empty pizza box, "so you staying the night or leaving?" I ask and he shrugged, "my girlfriend and I are not really on terms right now so I'm avoiding home as much as I can" "what's up?", he sighed.

Joe was a very cute guy, he was funny and smart, very cool guy to hang with. "She wants to have kids but I'm not ready yet, I'm only twenty four, I'm not ready for kids and my job barely pays me enough, she's a nice girl and all but I'm just not financially stable, we live in a house occupied by two other persons, her brother and his girlfriend, it's horrible Pen, her brother finds stuff to bug me all the time so we could argue knowing she'll just choose his side, she wants us to move out and find a place for ourselves but she wants a freaking Barbie Life In A Dream House kind of life, I don't have that kind of cash, I love her but I can't get her what she wants, especially not kids"he explained, I nod typing away on my phone, "did you hear anything I just said?" Joe asks chuckling, I smile at him, "I just texted my Dad, I told him about your college degree and stuff in finances and medicine, he says you can choose surgeon or office"I say and he looked me over, "funny".

"I'm not kidding Joe, you have great potential, I helped with the first step but you gotta walk on your own"I say and he just stared at me, "what?" I ask before he hugged me, "no one's ever done anything like this for me before, you're a true diamond Penny, you deserve nothing but happiness for the things you do"he says looking at me, "yeah well I'm not rushing anything, let's get you settled in, you can stay with me as long as you want" "thanks", I nod shoving my phone in my pocket, "I gotta go, see you later" "okay, drive safely".

"You're late"Trixie says when I walk into the room, "I got caught up"I say taking my jacket off and throwing it at Lucas, he huffed in annoyance, "you're so mean to him"Trixie laughed, so now she wants to be nice, well no. "Can we start?" Thelma asks and I nod, we have been doing this for only a week, it's tiring and me and Trixie aren't that best of friends, Demi is kinda worried but I'm not, I am genuinely hurt but I can't let it show.

After rehearsal, Trixie asked me to help her pick out a dress for after the wedding, but she also asked Natasha and Madison for help so here I was, trailing behind the trio like a lost puppy. They were laughing and having a great time, I just sat there staring at my phone in boredom, I gotta fly to Florida tomorrow for a meeting, maybe I'll just cancel and do it another time.

"Hello"

I look up at the girl, she smiles politely, her bleach blonde hair had pink highlights that made her skin tone even prettier. "Hello"I say waving, "I couldn't help but notice how bored you were" "aww, thanks" "I'm Tricia" "Penny, you seen like a nice person", she grins sitting next to me, we start a small conversation which ended up in laughter, she's very nice, I told her about my life and she told me about hers, she was a waitress not too long ago but quit her job because some customers were being too conceited and treated her like she was below them.

"Who's your friend?" Trixie asks standing before us, we look up at her slowly, "are you finished?" I ask ignoring her question, "yeah, Natasha went to pay for it"she replied, "okay, I'm gonna go hang out with Tricia"I say getting up and walking away with my new found friend, "why didn't you answer her?" Tricia asks "she doesn't deserve an answer, she's been a bitch to me since I got back" "oh, where are we going?" "wanna go shopping, for shoes?" "I don't have any money", I laugh grabbing her arm, "you're funny", she chuckles nervously, "you're filthy rich aren't you?" "shh".

"Well hello"Lucas says making me glance at him, "what are you doing here?" I ask annoyed, I took in his scent, gosh he smelled intoxicating, stop it Penny!. "Excuse me President Hilton"he says sitting at the table, I mentally groaned as Tricia watched us, "haha"I say rolling my eyes, "I thought I'd take you up on your offer and we can have lunch right now"he says shrugging, "I said that?" I ask in disbelief and he eyed me, "anyway, who's your friend?", I sighed, "this is Tricia"I say and they nod at each other, "and no, you can't bed her too"I say harshly, Lucas turned his attention to me in amusement, "you're quite interesting Penny, do you enjoy our bickering?", rolling my eyes, I scanned the menu and then made my order.

Lunch was suitable, Lucas was just like I remembered, he was funny and still charming but I still don't like him, he can try but I will never ever give in to his ways again.

My phone buzzed and I look at it, a message popped up on the screen and I open it. "I gotta get down to the hospital"I say to the two who were engrossed in a conversation, "you okay?" Tricia asks concerned, "I'm fine, I'll text you" "no, I'm coming too" "me too, I'd be damned if I let anything happen to you, let's go", I didn't argue with them, I needed someone by my side, I still haven't told my parents about it, maybe I will one of these days.

I look at Nick as he talked to himself, he looks like a mess, he didn't look like the man I knew before, he just looked lost and confused. "What did you say happened to him?" I ask the doctor, "Nick drifted into a state a few years back, he started drinking and taking all kinds of drugs until he became like this, sometimes he's talking to himself thinking it's someone else and other times he's silent, no one knows how he got let out of the asylum and ended up on the streets but we're glad he's back safe and sound", I nod then I walk over to him.

"Nick, hi, do you remember me?" I ask softly, he looked down at me from his chair, "no"he says blinking, I took out my phone and scrolled through the pictures, "do you remember her?" I ask, he looked at the picture, it was a picture of me when I was younger. "That's my daughter, do you know where she is, I need to find her before she grows up and forgets all about me"he says then started crying, it broke my heart to see him like this, I wanted him gone but not like this, "Nick, your daughter is all grown up already"the doctor says glancing at me, "no she hasn't, she's still my little girl, they took her from me!", I back away from him before he threw a fit, "I'll be back some other time"I say to the doctor, "alright".

I was in the car with Lucas, he told Tricia to take my car since she didn't have a ride home and I was in no condition to drive myself, she agreed and said she'd come see later. "You okay?" Lucas asks softly, "I never thought I'd see him like this, he's completely gone"I say wiping my tears but that didn't help, I broke down instantly, he's still my father, as much as he hurt me and my Mom, I still loved him. "At least he remembers you"Lucas says chuckling sadly, I look at him through teary eyes, "my Mom didn't even remember her own name before she passed away, she forgot all about us, but right before she died, she called my name and said that she was sorry, that had been ten whole years since my Mom called me by my name and not some silly name she came up with all the time".

"It hurt me even more knowing she was never going to be there again to see me become the man I am today, that's how my father changed, he's all focused on money and greed, blinded by his own self to care about anyone else, I'm still the one raising my siblings up till now, my sisters Liz and Lia, they're still in highschool and my brother just started college, I'm the one paying for their fees and feeding them, I have to make sure we don't go broke because of my Dad, that's why I'm in an arranged marriage, to save my company from going bankrupt by my father and his friends, so you're lucky to be this successful Penny, I know you're going through some hard times now, but I promise you it will all get better soon", I didn't know he was going through so many things.

I was silent, I just watched him in awe, "you okay?" Lucas asks and I blink, "wanna spend the night?" I ask before I could process the words, he looked at me like I was insane but nodded, great, you stupid stupid girl.