checkerboard chick

“he was a child. i can’t see a child not being innocent,” she said. penny bit her lip, looking at her outstretched hand and fiddled nervously with the end of her pigtail. “i’m --- i don’t mean to offend, but i’m a germaphobe, i don’t --- i can’t do physical contact. it’s something i should work on, really,” she said, hoping she wasn’t rude about it. “penny lou. it’s nice to meet you.”

“that’s how it is everywhere,” she said. she was used to it, honestly. danger was everywhere. even in her own home --- she knew how to look out for it.

"she's famous in baltimore. no one outside of town knows who she is, but... i think she'll make it. she'll be a household name someday. but even if that doesn't happen, she'd still be really excited and happy that she had the chance to do what she wanted. she's grateful and thankful for everything. i wish i was more like her," she said, trying to think back on an event she was grateful and thankful for. however, none came to mind because they all had to do with prudence pingleton --- world's most religious, looney toons mother. well, she was grateful and thankful for meeting seaweed. and for everything the stubbs family has done for her. and everything the turnblads had done for her. but those things were givens. "ended? ...but..." penny was confused now. segregation had been around her entire life. she was raised to be racist --- she just didn't have it in her heart to shut people out because of the color of their skin. "i didn't think the sixties would ever come around --- is it just my town that's still segregated then?" she asked. "it is terrible. it hurts, yanno? to be told that the love of your life is no good because he's black. that he's going to hurt me. that he's a thief and a liar. that he's just a skid row black kid that will never amount to anything or ever be successful. i mean... i know it's stuff they're saying about him and not me, but... it hurts my heart that people have said those things to him his entire life. i know what verbal and emotional abuse feels like, but from complete strangers... that has to hurt a lot more than from your own mother." penny's head nodded and a finger twirled around a strand of her pigtail. "i hope they have epinephrine shots. if they don't and i accidentally touch a peanut, i'm dead."

"wow --- tracy would kill to do all that. well, not --- not really kill, but she loves the spotlight. just not so much that it goes to her head, she's just very into it," she said. penny looked at her and shrugged. "well, yanno. segregation. blacks and whites being separated and all that. at our school, the black kids have their own bathrooms and water fountains --- they're not even allowed to dance with the white kids at school dances. they have to stay behind a rope. it's pretty dumb... my boyfriend and i get a lot of talk about us. we've had people tell us we're committing a sin. we're the bad kind of popular in baltimore. everyone knows us as 'the black guy and his white girlfriend' and it drives me more crazy than my mother could ever get," she said before sighing. "people just don't get it. we don't care what our skin looks like. we just love each other. i'd marry him in a heartbeat if he asked me. we’re gonna have some pretty cute babies some day," she said with a smile, which faded quickly as she remembered seaweed was nowhere around and how worried he must have been that she wasn't in baltimore anymore. "sounds good to me. i check everything before i eat it anyways."

penny sighed, fiddling with the end of her pigtails. “it’s not fair... what did we do to deserve being held captive? what did that poor little boy do to deserve getting murdered? none of it makes sense,” she said, shaking her head. her heart still hurt for that poor child. “okay. i’d like that, it’ll be nice to have some company.”

it was no secret that penny lou was a clumsy girl. anyone that knew her, knew she was the biggest klutz they'd ever meet. it was a daily occurrence that she'd run into something or someone, trip, or end up on the ground. so, when she ran into someone --- for the millionth time since she'd gotten to syracuse --- she quickly found herself stumbling backwards, but eventually caught her balance and fixed her glasses that had been knocked down off her nose. "i'm sorry. i'm sorry, i'm --- i'm clumsy," she apologized before even looking at the other. but as soon as she did, she knew exactly who it was and she didn't know if the flutter in her heart was due to excitement that someone she knew was here, due to fear that amber would completely demolish her, or fear and sadness that now her classmate was stuck in this creepy place for the rest of her life too. "amber! oh my gosh --- what are you doing here?" she asked.

"broadway," she said with slightly widened eyes. "that's like... the tippy toppy of acting. are you an actress? that was a stupid question, you wouldn't be doing a show if you weren't one," she said, immediately regretting the stupidity of her question. "i just stopped her cause i had a hypoglycemia attack and i knew where there's fun, there's food and sugar. now my sugar's back up but so is my blood pressure, this place sucks." penny's hypoglycemia was a serious problem --- especially for her because her sugar was already so low to begin with, and when it dropped, it dropped fast. "it's fantastic --- it's my favorite place in the world. well... the record shop and the turnblads house are my favorite places, but baltimore in general. it's great. aside from the segregation, that part really sucks... makes my heart hurt." segregation upset her long before she met seaweed. but it sure did bother her a lot more now than ever. she thought for a few seconds, thinking of the pros and cons. of course... there weren't many cons. except that her sweet tooth would kick in. but the biggest pro was that she'd have something on hand in case her sugar dropped. and the few times she went trick-or-treating as a child, she really had enjoyed it. "okay... but, anything that contains any kind of nut has to be sealed in some sort of wrapper. i'll die."

she hadn’t noticed that there was someone else around --- she’d been so caught up in her own little world she didn’t even notice the oxygen she was breathing. so when she heard the other voice, she flinched and looked towards the other girl. fixing her glasses, she shook her head. “no... i was just wandering around, really.”

she walked around, she had no interest in the treats that were up for grabs. she had her own to begin with --- but she also wasn’t in a festive mood. especially after hearing about the death of a child and learning she’d never go home. her plaid dress hung a little loosely on her body --- she had curves, but they were only noticeable if she was in something skin tight, which was only when she felt like prettying herself up, and that was usually only for seaweed. her knee socks were still perfectly in tact, thanks to the hairspray she used to keep them that way, her long pigtails were still on the cute side, but her poor, poor saddle shoes... they were no longer white and black, they were down dirt and dust colored from walking around the park. she wasn’t paying attention in the least when she walked a little to closely to someone else, thus getting smacked in the face with someone’s hair, her glasses unintentionally getting pulled from her face as a screw got stuck in the other’s hair. she was more worried about her glasses than anything else. as she reached out to catch them, she let out a small sigh of relief, but kept her glasses held up so they didn’t fall, but closer to the other girl so she didn’t pull her hair. “i’m fine. um... but the screw of my glasses is kinda tangled up in your hair and i can’t see it enough to get ‘em out. would you mind...? i’m legally blind, i can’t even see what your face looks like,” she said.

penny’s head shook . “nuh-uh,” she said. “i just... i don’t wanna be here anymore. i miss my home. i walk around when i’m nervous, i’m very nervous --- most of the time actually, but especially now because i don’t know anybody and i just --- i feel extremely out of place,” she said, snapping her fingers down at her sides a few times.

"did you run away too?" she asked before shaking her head, remembering that the amber lookalike just told her running away wasn't a good idea. "never mind, don't answer that. i forget things easily." penny nodded, sighing quietly but deeply at the thought of her home. baltimore, that is. not her literal house. "i miss it... my friends... my boyfriend... i should have just gone to tracy or seaweed... heck, i would've even gone to amber, she hates my mother more than i do. everyone does." the short brunette gave live a small half smile. "this isn't vintage in baltimore. it's not exactly... fashionable. but not vintage for sure. we all wear stuff like this." her head shook and she gave a soft hum. "huh-uh. my mother doesn't let me. she thinks it's celebrating the devil. besides, i'm getting too old for it. i just turned sixteen, i'm ancient compared to some of the kids around."

"you look exactly like a friend of mine... well, she's not really a friend, she's more like the mean girl that torments my best friend but is nice to me because she pities me," she rambled. “penny lou pingleton.” she'd heard that lecture before. she was eight years old and she ran away from home to the turnblad house. she was also ten and thirteen and fifteen. miss edna told her every single time she should never run away because it was dangerous --- but penny knew it was different this time. it was more serious this time. she wasn't just downtown crying in her best friend's mother's arms in baltimore this time. she didn't know exactly where she was. and that was the dangerous part. aside from a killer being on the loose. "i just need to get back to baltimore. if i never see my mother again, i'll be fine --- but i --- i need seaweed and tracy and... and miss edna, god i miss miss edna's hugs," she said almost in a whisper. she gave the girl a confused expression, tilting her head to the side. "what are you talking about costume? i'm not in a costume, these are my clothes," she said, unsure of whether she should be offended or not.