i wish i was special

“Rewarding? How so?” Asked Clara, genuinely curious as she pushed her now-empty suitcase under her bed and flopped down on it. Penny, she was finding, was roughly 3000% more interesting that she’d expected- which was probably a good thing, because if she really was stuck with the girl all year, maybe her being not as awfully square as Clara had initially thought would be a good thing. 

Penny looked almost like she was pouting when she next spoke, and Clara chuckled at the girl’s forceful tone. “Are you so sure about that, Hart? The dark side has cookies,” She said, before dropping her voice down conspiratorially, “and we get laid.” 

"You know, you cheer people up, get on their good sides. I mean, not that you can please everybody, but it doesn't hurt to try." She argued, while feeling as though Clara might shut down the notion instantly. Simply put, she wasn't a girl you associated with the word 'nice', which Penny was aware of. But as she talked to her, she realized she didn't know if she was actually mean in general, at least intentionally. All the years of not interacting made her come to realize she almost knew nothing of Clara beyond the rumors she was always hearing. 

It caught Penny a little off guard to hear Clara bring up getting laid as a means of persuasion. Sitting down on her own bed, she quickly shook her head. "Oh, uh, I'm not really interested in that." It did seem that some kids their age were doing it, and sure, she had thought about it from time to time, but doing it was entirely different. Considering her image, she wasn't generally approached and propositioned in that regard, and Penny was thankful for that, because she would probably be entirely clueless on how to react.

Clara smirked at the somewhat confused look on Penny’s face. And…was that a blush? Oh, hopefully it was a blush. If this was how Penny reacted to Clara’s teasing, then they were in for a world of fun. 

“Huh.” Clara considered what Penny was saying. Technically, she’d never actually seen or heard of Penny being any kind of snitch- she just seemed like she was nice, polite, and generally kept her head down. Still, just being nice for the sake of it was a foreign concept for Clara. “So you’re just…nice. If not super lame.” She gave Penny an evil grin. “But we’ll make an accomplice out of you yet. You’re already agreeing to let me sneak out and have socks on the door, so.” 

The look of surprise on Clara's face was actually rather amusing. She supposed their differences were clear as day in that moment, but for whatever reason, Penny didn't find the fact so off putting. It was almost intriguing to hear the other perspective. Besides, there was no denying that as much as Clara stuck to her crowd, Penny stuck with her own. "Yeah; nice. Lame as it is." she repeated lazily with a soft giggle. "It is actually a little rewarding once in a while," she pointed out, in a pseudo-casual tone, as she disregarded her suitcase to the end of her bed.

She furrowed her eyebrows a little at the next comment, and tried not to wonder how often Clara might actually use the sock on the door rule. Penny had no intentions of having somebody over, but Clara’s plans couldn’t be as easily predicted. It was becoming apparent that Penny wouldn't have an easy time disregarding her unruly behavior. "That is just me being cooperative,” she asserted, hoping she sounded confident. “So don’t expect to join the dark side that easily.”

Penny was blushing, and it was actually..surprisingly cute, Clara thought to herself. She have a sigh of faux-disappointment at the brunette’s next words. “Shame, we could have had so much fun together.” She said with a wink, before placing the last of her things away and flopping onto her bed.

“You’re not? It’s not that a don’t believe you, it’s just… you’re so….good.“ Clara finished, trying to convey her point. In her mind, someone as polite and well behaved as Penny was surely a snitch. Hearing otherwise was a surprise, although she didn’t seem to be lying. “Well, that’s good to hear, thanks.” She paused, before smirking, “although you’re right. I do insist on making inappropriate comments. You’re cute when you blush, so.”

Penny had been teased before, but mainly by her friends and the annoying boys in her class. Not by the bad girl of the school. It was honestly a bit of a surprise that Clara was even tolerating having her around, but the suggestive comments sort of threw Penny for a loop. And then, was that actually a compliment?

She chuckled a little nervously, shaking her head, and averting her gaze to the carpet below her feet as if it were the most interesting thing in the room. "Okay, well... I may be good. But, it doesn't have to be at anyone's expense." She wondered if part of the reason why Clara never approached her was because of that very assumption. She'd always figured the blonde must have some sort of annoyance towards her, or just didn't want to be seen around her. At least that was why Penny generally steered clear of her in the halls. Better to stay out of the way, she had told herself in the past. "That still doesn't make me, like, an accomplice or anything," she quickly added, not wanting to compromise her reputation.

“Oh, so you want to join us? Wow. I mean, if you insist..” Clara’s teasing continued, and she made sure to look the other girl up and down slowly, as if she was genuinely considering the offer. Penny is just too easy, Clara thought to herself. She was going to have fun with this, for sure. 

“Agreed. I think we both know that this isn’t either of our choice, so I think staying out of each other’s hair is for the best.” Clara paused, “Except for the threesomes that you seem so into.” Moving back to her clothes and continuing to unpack, she glanced back and smirked at Penny at the brunette’s next question. “Yes, Hart, I was kidding. If I want to leave, I’ll use the door, and I’ll do so quietly. I don’t really want you waking up and telling on me, so.” 

At this point, Penny was only feeling more uncomfortable, and she desperately hoped the deepening rosiness in her cheeks wasn't obvious. It was bad enough that Clara's words were getting to her; it would only make it worse for her appearance to give it away . "You know what, sock on the door is fine," she conceded, feigning nonchalance and waving a hand as if to dismiss it. Despite her attempts to put the topic to rest, she had a good feeling that the blonde wouldn't drop it so easily.

"That's a relief. Although I'm not a snitch, believe it or not." Penny was a little disappointed to find out that was the sort of impression she gave. She wasn't an advocate for bad behavior, but she also didn't get any satisfaction out of getting others into trouble. "It's not really my business so I have no intentions of ratting anybody out," she pointed out, sincerely. Considering they would be roommates, she hoped there could be some level of trust between them. "I guess it might come as a surprise to you, but really... I can be cool. Even if you insist on saying inappropriate comments about me."

The girls unpacked in silence for a few moments, before Penny turned around and started talking about rules. It figures, Clara thought to herself, the first proper conversation we ever have is based around rules, Penny’s favourite thing. Still, the blonde raised her eyebrow at the sock comment, seeing the perfect opportunity to tease the other girl. “Oh, so you don’t want me to put a sock on the door? Didn’t pick you for a voyeur, Hart. Kinky.” 

Still, Clara had to admit that the girl had a vague point. She didn’t want Penny’s friends up in her space any more than Penny wanted hers around. “But yeah, rules seem fair. Keep your shit to your side of the room, don’t be too loud or annoying, and minimal friends over? That kind of stuff?” 

Penny fell silent when a warm blush reached her cheeks, but it didn't take long before she backpedaled on her words. "That's uh, no, not what I meant." The sentence seemed to stumble out of her mouth, before she could control it. Don't say anything, it just encourages her, Penny mentally reprimanded herself, although she wasn’t exactly attentive in that moment.

"Right, stuff like that. No reason to get in each other's way." Grateful that Clara was being understanding, she actually grinned a little. "We can always alternate having friends over, or whatever." So far, it sounded like the living situation could be tolerable, but Penny wasn't keen on getting her hopes up here. Sitting down on her bed, she couldn't help but to wonder aloud another question that had remained on her mind. "You were kidding about the sneaking out thing though, right? Because I'm sort of a light sleeper..."

Clara raised an eyebrow in amusement as Penny stumbled over her words, clearly not quite catching the blonde’s dry tone. “Oh, you’re welcome!” she replied, giving Penny and cheery smile before she continued. “I also promise to always leave a sock on the door, and to never smoke or drink on the lord’s day.” Sure, she was probably laying the sarcasm on a bit too thick, but the earlier she annoyed Penny into requesting a new roommate, the better. 

“Uh, sure. I was planning to unpack during class hours, but I guess I can just nap then, instead.” Clara turned to her bag and unzipped it, before eyeing their small wardrobe with disdain. “So I guess we just take half each?” 

Penny wasn't a fan of back talk, not to mention that she had virtually no skills in that department. So when she heard Clara's comments, she chose to ignore it, merely clearing her throat to fill the silence. It's not like she ever expected the girl to be nice or even remotely friendly. In fact, she tried to not expect anything at all, but Penny wasn't ever good at that. Either way, the sarcasm she could deal with. She just hoped living with Clara didn't mean becoming associated with all the trouble she got into. There had to be some way to not let these circumstances interrupt her normal life style. She was rather afraid of upsetting the status quo.

"Yeah. Should be fine." Penny shrugged, and started on her own bags. She tucked a couple of books on the bedside table, before rummaging through the rest of her items. "Maybe we should have some rules,” she suggested, turning around to face Clara again. “Not sock on the door rules, but like, cleanliness, and loudness, and having friends over. Just to be on the same page?"

Besides going to the same school, Clara and Penny had very little in common. Penny, as far as Clara knew, was one of the good girls- one of the ones who attended classes and was polite to teachers and actually did her homework. Clara didn’t have a problem with Penny herself, per se; but more with that entire crowd- the ones that her teachers, parents, and all responsible adults kept telling her to be more like.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a key in a lock, breaking Clara out of her thoughts. She looked up when the door opened, sighing as a nervous looking Penny came through the door. Briefly, she considered helping the other girl, but watching her struggle with her bags seemed far more entertaining. “Yep. Picked the one closest to the window- thought I’d be less likely to wake you when I snuck out that way.” She gave a smirk, hoping to get a rise from the brunette. She was kidding. Mostly. 

"Oh," Penny started, pausing uncomfortably for a moment and hoping the surprise didn't show on her face. She found herself caught off guard by the frankness of the statement. And Penny didn’t like being caught off guard. She liked being prepared. She stuttered a moment, wondering if Clara was serious, but gave up trying to figure it out. "Um, well, thank you." It wasn't until after blurting it out when it occurred to Penny that Clara might be making fun of her. Besides, the words sounded completely foolish leaving her mouth, and she immediately diverted her eyes to her feet, hastening to change the topic. 

"We should probably start unpacking." She glanced around the shared area, quickly starting to feel like her room this year was much smaller than the last. "Get things out of the way before our classes start, don’t you think?" Is this what living together was going to be like? Already, she was feeling very out of place.

Clara dumped her bags on the bed in a huff, looking around the cramped space. It was the first time in the three years she’d been at this school that they’d denied her request for a single room; and now she was going to be spending her year sharing space with a girl she’d barely wasted two sentences on at their time studying together. 

According to the principal, the shared room situation was a ‘last chance’ attempt for Clara to get herself ‘back on track’, as though socialising with some complete loser like Penny Hart would somehow keep Clara from getting herself into the same kind of trouble she found herself in every year. Penny’s straight laced ways weren’t going to somehow keep her on the straight and narrow, Clara was sure of it. But just to be sure the girl kept out of her way, Clara was going to make the other girl’s life a living hell for as long at they were sharing the room. 

It might’ve taken a minute but Penny mentally urged herself to just unlock the door to find her new roommate on the other side. She smiled politely and rather shyly when the two met eyes. “Hi. You’re here. Good...” She started to pull her bags inside. “I guess you um, picked a bed?” It wasn’t much in the way of conversation, but Penny didn’t want to bear any awkward silence.

“Just kiss me!” Sabel demanded, her foot lightly stomping against the floor of the room. “Come on, you just have to tell me if I’m a good kisser or not.” The girl’s been trying to persuade them for almost a week now to no avail. This just goes to show the extreme efforts she’ll put into proving someone wrong. “One kiss, por favor?”